Bound by Love (Russian Connection 2)

“Do not tempt me.”

With a chuckle he lowered his head to lick the juice from her lips. “That is precisely what I am attempting to do,” he whispered.

“Stefan.”

“You taste of strawberries.” He stole a kiss. And then another. “I love strawberries.”

Her hands lifted to his chest, but she did not press him away. “You have not finished your meal.”

“What I hunger for cannot be found on my plate.” He traced her lips with his tongue, then kissed a path to the curve of her neck, halting at the edge of the pearls. “Christ, I have missed you, Leonida. The feel of your skin, the scent of your hair, the soft moans you whisper in my ear.”

She shuddered, her head tilting back in silent encouragement. “We should not be here.”

Stefan continued downward, exploring the line of her shoulder with slow, lingering kisses.

“Do you want me to return you to your home?”

“I…”

“Leonida?”

There was a long, agonizing pause. Continuing his soft caresses, Stefan swallowed his urge to demand she put them both out of their misery. He had waited this long for her willing capitulation; he would not ruin it with a few ill-chosen words.

Preparing himself to endure yet more frustration, Stefan nearly shouted in relief when Leonida heaved a soft sigh and her arms curled around his neck.

“No.”

“Thank God,” Stefan growled.

Rising from the chair, he scooped Leonida in his arms and carried her to the nearby sofa, tenderly laying her on the cushions before straightening and tugging off his clothes.

Acutely aware of Leonida’s heated gaze watching his jerky movements, Stefan was fully aroused as he knelt beside the sofa. Who the devil knew that stripping for a woman could be so erotic?

Grasping a handful of golden curls, he leaned forward to claim her lips in a greedy kiss, his free hand slipping beneath her to tug at the ribbons of her gown.

She tasted of strawberries and sweet temptation. A heady combination that spread through his body, drowning the world to leave only Leonida and his aching need. Roughly pulling her gown off her slender body, he impatiently struggled with her corset and thin shift.

Once rid of the bulk of her attire, Stefan dragged his mouth from her lips, spreading kisses down her throat before pausing to savor the tightly budded nipples. He smiled as she moaned in pleasure, her back arching as he continued his path over the flat plane of her stomach.

She was so tiny, so delicate. Like a fragile jasmine blossom.

Stroking his fingers down the backs of her legs, he tugged off her slippers and followed them with her silk stockings.

Slowly pulling back, Stefan studied her bare form lying against the sofa, her golden curls shimmering in the slanting sunlight.

She was stunningly beautiful, of course. But that did not explain why his heart squeezed with an alarming sense of fulfillment. As if something vital had been missing from his life until this moment.

Dislodging the dangerous thought from his mind, Stefan shifted to kiss the tips of her dainty toes, ignoring her breathless giggles. He intended to taste every delicious curve, every elegant line.

His decision made, he explored the slender length of her leg as she squirmed beneath him. At last reaching her upper thigh, Stefan tugged one leg off the sofa to spread her wide for his caresses. He moaned as he realized she was already damp with anticipation, her musky scent making his erection jerk in response.

He had dreamed of this precise moment for far too many nights. Now his body threatened revolt before he could fully savor the delectable encounter.

With a tortured moan, he shifted to run his tongue through her moist heat, delighted by her choked shriek of pleasure. This was how he wanted her. Warm and wet and boneless with need.

Stefan continued to tease her tiny bud, reveling in her soft pants and broken pleas for release. Only when he was certain she was on the crest of her climax did he poise himself above her, gazing down at her smoldering gaze with a sense of awe.

His woman.