“Please…” she gasped, lost in the throes of passion.
With one last stroke of his tongue he tumbled her over the edge of pleasure, swiftly covering her body with his own as she shivered in bliss.
Her legs were still spread wide and he slid between the cradle of her hips. God, it felt as if she were born to hold him in this precise manner. And perhaps she had been. What other explanation could there be for the ruthless need that held him in its grip?
Not that he particularly cared in this moment what bewitchment she had used to ensnare him. All that mattered was easing the blazing inferno that threatened to consume him.
Cupping her face in his hands, Stefan found her mouth with a kiss just short of savage. Her arms circled around him, her fingers stroking up his spine with a tentative caress. Stefan needed no more encouragement. They had both wanted and needed this since the moment their paths had crossed.
Easing his kiss, Stefan allowed his mouth to drift down the curve of her cheek and along the curve of her neck. His hands explored her shoulders, her arms, and at last cupped her breasts so he could tease her nipples with his thumb. She groaned in encouragement, her nails digging into his back.
Stefan muttered a low curse, abruptly realizing he was dangerously close to a climax. Christ, what was the matter with him? The woman could make him feel like an overanxious school lad with no more than a few awkward touches.
Settling more firmly against her eager body, Stefan poised his erection at her entrance. He gritted his teeth, desperately reminding himself she was a virgin as he pressed slowly into her heat.
She stiffened at the intrusion, her breath coming in ragged shreds. Stefan forced himself to still until she became accustomed to his penetration, his body quivering at the effort. Only when he felt her tension ease did he begin gently rocking against her, his mouth returning to tease at her nipple as he slid a hand between them and rubbed her tiny bud of pleasure.
Murmuring encouragement in her ear, Stefan quickened his pace, the feel of her tight passage gripping his cock sending shock waves of ecstasy radiating through his body.
He was close…so close.
She arched her hips off the bed, rising to meet his thrusts, then she gasped softly beneath him, her passage clenching about him as she found another release.
The tiny ripples were like a spark to the tinder and, arching his back, Stefan allowed the looming bliss to slam through his body.
CHAPTER NINE
STEFAN WAS NOTHING less than furious as he stormed out of the stables at Hillside.
Not his usual mood after a night of satisfying passion.
But then, he had never before taken a woman beneath his own roof. He far preferred to meet his lovers away from Meadowland. And certainly, he had never had a woman who had sighed with pleasure in his arms disappear in a seeming wisp of smoke during the middle of the night.
“Damn.” He slammed the door behind him. “When I get my hands on her…”
“I trust that the her you are referring to is not my wife,” a dark, familiar voice drawled from behind him.
Spinning about, Stefan watched as his twin brother vaulted from the saddle of his snowy white mount and tossed the reins toward a groom who rushed forward to lead the horse away.
“Edmond.” He smiled, noting Edmond’s dust-stained appearance. Clearly he had ridden hard from London. Not that Stefan looked much better than his twin, he ruefully acknowledged. Although he had bathed and attired himself in black breeches and a jacket the precise shade of amber of Leonida’s favorite necklace, he knew his dark hair was tousled from the numerous times he had run his fingers through the curls and his cravat yanked off and stuffed in his pocket. “I did not expect your return so soon.”
Edmond wearily rubbed the back of his neck. “I spoke with the Queen’s advisors and did my best to persuade them that it was in her best interest to avoid unnecessary scandal, but I do not hold much hope. Even her closest friends are no longer capable of controlling her.”
“She is determined to attend the ceremony?”
“Yes.”
Stefan shrugged. “You have done your duty.”
Edmond gave a short, humorless laugh. “Let us hope the King agrees with you.”
“She is his wife, not yours.”
“Thank God.” Edmond’s hard expression softened, a certain indication he was thinking of Brianna. “And speaking of my wife, I am anxious to see her. Did she accompany you to Hillside?”
“No, she managed to slip away yesterday while I was occupied and came to Hillside to meet with the workmen, so I made it quite clear to my staff that she was to spend today resting.”
Edmond lifted his brows. “You are a brave man.”