To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars)

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his body completely naked for the first time. He looked utterly perfect himself, she thought, her enthralled gaze wandering over his magnificent shoulders, his wide chest, his narrow waist and hips, his long, powerful legs.

Muscles rippled and played beneath the satiny skin of his broad frame, while his arousal thrust out thick and swollen from the juncture of his thighs.

The sight made Lily’s mouth go dry. She stared, hypnotized, as Heath came to stand before her. When he put a finger under her chin, lifting her gaze, she found herself drowning in the shadowy glimmer of his eyes.

She shivered as he urged her back upon the narrow bed, and when he joined her, stretching out his full length beside her, the muscles in her stomach clenched in anticipation.

Lily drew another sharp breath as their naked flesh touched. He felt amazing, warm and smooth and hard and muscular. Her senses came alive at the exquisite, profoundly male textures. The softness of his bare flesh, the heat and steel beneath. And his loins…His erection pulsed and strained against her abdomen, she could feel the scorching heat of it.

Stirring restlessly, Lily pressed her body against his, wanting to be even closer.

“No, keep still and let me pleasure you,” Heath murmured.

Obediently, she lay back

and let him have his way, but it wasn’t easy to remain still when he began to stroke her, his hand wandering over her skin, his touch skimming like a breath.

Her nipples were excruciatingly taut, and when his palms barely brushed over the pouting buds, a spark of fire kindled inside her and flowed downward to her female center.

Lily bit her lip hard as she surrendered to the deft expertise of Heath’s hands. She was enchanted by the pure sensuality of it…his magical touch, the quiet hush of the night, the muted moonlight pouring over them like liquid silver.

His hands left her breasts and tangled in her hair, while his mouth joined the tender assault on her sanity. His feathery kisses were a tantalizing caress on the underside of her throat before moving upward over her jaw to her cheekbone. Then, with the slow eroticism of a dream, his lips settled on hers.

Lily made a soft sound like a sigh as his mouth enthralled hers. For long heated moments, she lay there beneath him, drinking his breath, absorbing his taste, savoring his enveloping warmth, his masculine scent. Her sigh became a soft whimper as his fingers spread deliciously through her hair, guiding her even deeper into his kisses.

She was enraptured…held spellbound by his gentleness, paralyzed by his sweetness.

He continued to feed her the thick, dreamy pleasure, dazing her with his mystical power. Just now there was nothing in the world but the two of them, and yet her body yearned with the need to know more of him, stung with a hunger for greater fulfillment.

She was infinitely grateful when his hand returned to the naked swell of her breasts. Her nipples were aching and throbbing, and when he pinioned one between his thumb and forefinger, fiery sensations pulsed inside her, throbbing through her belly.

Then he cupped the mound in his hand and took the peak into his mouth, suckling, laving with his hot tongue. Lily dragged in a shuddering breath as melting heat began to blaze throughout her body. When he went on rousing her with pleasure, she sank her fingers into his hair, holding his head to her breast.

Heath, it seemed, was not content with merely tormenting her nipples, however. Breaking free of her clutching fingers, he trailed his mouth down to her abdomen.

Lily burned where his lips pressed, but she went rigid when he nuzzled her nest of curls at the vee of her thighs.

“Easy,” Heath murmured. “I won’t hurt you.”

Her heart feverishly pounding, she strove to be still, waiting while his large hands framed her thighs, holding her legs apart, exposing the heart of her to his touch. Then deliberately, he set his lips to her soft flesh, pressing a long, hot kiss against her feminine center, dredging a breathless gasp from deep within Lily’s throat.

Heath paid her no mind. Instead, he lapped at her slowly, teasing the folds of her cleft in deep, velvety strokes, sending lashes of heat to the very core of her.

He seemed to savor her, his attentions first long and slow and languid, then more intense…his tongue alternately delicate and butterfly light, then firm and rough and urgent.

Her breathing grew increasingly ragged, racing with her heart at the devastating stimulation. Her body was raw with wanting, the pleasure sharp and riveting, a feast of sensation. But Heath prolonged the delicious torture until Lily was faint with bliss.

Eventually he increased his rhythm, wringing a moan from her parted lips, and when he slid one finger partway inside her, wild desire flared through her.

Thrashing beneath his hot mouth, Lily gave in with fierce abandon. It was too much…too hot, too intense, too overwhelming. Emotions stormed her senses, desire and pleasure and want and need. She bucked and cried out, reeling with the shattering ecstasy.

When the firestorm finally receded, she became aware that Heath had stretched out beside her again and was watching her. As she looked up into the glimmering gold of his eyes, she saw myriad emotions reflected there: sexual hunger, tenderness, possessiveness, supreme satisfaction.

When his fingers strayed to her face, caressing her with the lightness of a drifting shadow, Lily found herself suddenly swallowing against the strange ache that had formed in her throat. Heath’s passion had called to the wildness within her, yet aroused a profound emotional turmoil as well. His tender intimacy stunned and awed her even more than the carnal release he had given her.

Feeling the foolish prick of tears behind her eyelids, Lily ducked her head and hid her face in the warm skin of his chest. She had never known such tenderness with a man, certainly not the kind that brought tears to her eyes. She hadn’t realized such a thing was possible. Her parents had warred constantly, their marriage a battleground.

She had little defense against tenderness.