Her back arched in surrender as she offered herself up to that pleasure. One of Cedric’s hands was caressing her other breast, and she felt suddenly weak as burning heat coursed through her whole body. She offered no resistance as he moved them further into the bed so he was now lying on top of her. She wanted this, wanted Cedric.
The smoldering fire inside Cedric ignited.
The taste of blackberries and sunshine filled his head, a bright explosion of sweet and tart, and suddenly he couldn’t think. It felt as if he’d been waiting half his life for this moment. He wanted more. And he wanted it now.
Everything fell away. His father. His brother. His mother. All the pain in his heart that he told himself he didn’t feel and all the anger underneath it. All of it was gone. There was only this. Only her.
Her sweet mouth and the heat that leapt between them. And the hunger that followed hard on its heels.
He’d had plans for her. Plans to make their first time special, to go slow and take his time. Ease the trepidation he sensed in her. Gradually coax her flame high and hot, and only then would he take her. But all those plans burned to ashes on the ground.
Fabric ripped as he clawed her nightie from her. He wasn’t seductive or sensual. He was a beast as he tore away the material and then pulled at the fragile lace of her underwear. She didn’t protest, her entire body shivering as he bared her, her mouth as hot and hungry as his, her arms tight around his neck as she pressed herself against him.
Yes, he’d had plans for their first time. He’d had ideas. A wide, soft bed strewn with rose petals, and champagne to toast their marriage. Instead, at the moment, it felt like he barely had enough time. Her body long and lithe and a pale, creamy gold. Slender thighs and shapely hips. High, perfect breasts with the prettiest pink nipples. A soft nest of curls between her legs. Utterly and completely beautiful.
He didn’t pause to look at her, to appreciate her the way he’d planned. He didn’t stroke her to ease any nervousness she might have had. He didn’t kiss his way down her body the way he should have, or murmur seductive praise as he did so.
Because she reached up to him and pulled him down, her mouth demanding on his, and then he was pushing her thighs apart while clawing at his robe. Pushing down his boxers and getting himself ready. And then he positioned himself. He should have waited then, should have tried to build even the smallest amount of anticipation. But it was beyond him.
Then she wound her arms around his neck, arched her back, closed her legs around his waist and he was pushing inside her, and then there was nothing but fire. She shuddered, gasping against his mouth, her hips lifting against his, trembling.
He kissed her harder, deeper, tasting her, exploring her. She felt so hot around him, so slick. Clasping him so tightly. Her body was a wonder, silky and smooth, and he felt his grip on reality loosen. He began to move, an insistent, demanding rhythm, slipping a hand beneath the small of her back, guiding her to match him. And she did. Her kiss became feverish, her legs around his waist tightening.
He felt feverish himself, half-crazed. He moved harder, deeper, faster. Her scent was around him, sweet and musky, and somehow her hair had come down from its bun and was in his hands. And, as he’d thought, she was fire in his hands and she was burning. And so was he. Fire and magic, and raw, intense pleasure. It was everything that had been missing from his life and he hadn’t even known until this moment. Everything he had never thought he wanted.
Her passion made him real, somehow. Made him feel as if he existed, as if he was alive. Truly alive, not just going through the motions of it.
You definitely want more than a night with this woman. The thought was crystal in his brain, sharp edges and glittering planes. And then she writhed beneath him, her teeth closing demandingly on his bottom lip, and the thought exploded into sparkling shards in his brain. There was no thought any more, only the most primitive of physical responses and the pleasure that spun like molten mercury through every part of him, searing him straight through.
He moved inside her, driving them on, and there was no time to savour. No time for anticipation or for being lazy and easy. There was only the fire of her and her gasps of pleasure in his ear, the hoarse demands she made. Her nails dug into him, and he had enough of himself left to ease a hand between them, down to where they were joined, giving her her pleasure first. And then as she cried his name, he took his own.
It came for him in a blaze of light, the bonfire of her rising up around him, consuming him. And he flung himself into the flames and burned himself to ash in her arms.
_____________
Anna lay beneath Cedric, panting, feeling as if every part of her had shattered and then been put together in a strange and new and wonderful way.
Pleasure echoed through her like the tolling of some vast bell, a pulsing deep inside that made her shiver and shake. And for a second all she felt was wonder. His weight was heavy on her, but she didn’t feel crushed. She could hear his breathing, as fast as hers, and she swore she could almost hear the thudding of his heart too.
She’d never been this close to anyone before, not physically, and the feeling of being surrounded and contained made her feel calm and safe, and relaxed for the first time in what felt like years.
His absence these past two days had made her doubt that he really wanted her. But the truth had been there in his gaze and in the heat of his body, in the stroke of his thumb across her cheek. Desire burned there and she knew it was for her.
This was only physical, he’d told her, but she didn’t need anything more. Right now, that was enough. Especially when she kissed him and the veneer of the lazy playboy had cracked apart completely, leaving a hungry panther in its place.