Ecstasy (Notorious 4)

Raven felt the same intense heat as his hard, str

aining body moved against her, branding her with his desire. He ravished her with fierce demand, yet she wasn’t afraid; she welcomed his fierceness.

Shuddering under the force of his thrusts, she rocked forward against him with desperate yearning. A roaring sounded in her ears as the exquisite pressure built. Raven tossed her head wildly, pumping her hips against him with frantic need.

Suddenly his muscles clenched. His head thrown back, his neck corded, he drove into her one final time. A moan burst out of him as his orgasm exploded in a powerful stream, pushing Raven over the edge. With a scream, she sank her teeth into the raw silk of his bare shoulder and gave herself up to the savage, unrestrained pleasure ripping through her.

They clung to each other in the aftermath, gasping for breath. An eternity later, Kell returned to earth to find Raven hiding her face against the base of his throat, her heart beating in a frenzied echo of his own.

Concern swept through him. His use of her had been devastatingly thorough; he had taken her with a pirate’s passion, with little regard for her inexperience.

Leaning back, he studied her flushed face, her swollen, bruised lips. “Did I hurt you?” he rasped.

“No,” she said quickly. And yet there was a vulnerable look about the mouth he had just ravished.

Searing heat and fierce tenderness filled him. He wanted to make it right. Next time he would show her more gentleness.

And there would definitely be a next time. He was tired of fighting his desire for her. Raven was his wife, and he wanted her; he should be able to have her.

Surely he could command enough strength of will to enjoy her body without falling for her. To slake his urgent need and still resist her incredible allure.

It would be difficult, but he was through denying himself.

His arms tightened about her for a moment, crushing her naked breasts to his chest. Keeping her legs wrapped around his hips, he managed to open the door and carry her to the bed, where he laid her down and stood staring down at her.

The room was dark but for the low-burning fire in the hearth, but Raven had no trouble seeing the glimmer of heat in his gaze or her own dishevelment. Her skirts and bodice were both tangled around her middle.

Blushing at her near nakedness, she stirred restlessly. “My gown is ruined…” she murmured, plucking at her bodice.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he replied as he began to strip her of her garments.

“Kell…what are you doing?”

“Undressing you. You’ll stay here tonight. You haven’t fully satisfied me yet.”

“Kell…” Raven bit her lower lip. She had agreed to attend to his sexual needs, not spend the night in his bed. “I don’t want to stay here with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because…it could lead to unwanted complications.”

That made him pause. “Physical intimacy can breed too much emotional intimacy, is that what you mean?”

She shivered. “Yes.”

Without replying, he removed her clothing completely, then eased the covers from beneath her hips and drew them up over her naked body. After going to the hearth and stoking the fire, Kell returned to the bed and slid in next to her. For a moment he lay beside her, staring at the ceiling, his arms laced behind his head. Finally he spoke.

“Do I understand your reservations correctly? You’re afraid to have a real lover because you’re determined never to fall in love?”

“Yes.” In a defensive gesture, Raven clutched the cover to her breasts.

Kell turned onto his side, supporting his head on one hand. “And yet sex and love are two entirely different matters. Passion doesn’t necessarily lead to love. If it did, most of the men of the beau monde would be in love with their mistresses.”

When she didn’t reply, he reached out to brush a tendril of hair from her cheek. “I see no reason we cannot be lovers, Raven. A relationship based purely on sensual pleasure. Like you, I’m not interested in anything deeper.”

Raven held herself rigid, wanting to look away from his eyes that seemed too burningly intense.

She couldn’t deny that she was afraid. Passion was dangerous; it could lead to terrible vulnerability. Yet perhaps Kell was right: the true danger didn’t lie in physical intimacy but in that of the emotional kind. A man could take pleasure from her body, but if he ensnared her heart, he took control.