The Prince of Pleasure (Notorious 5)

As if he shared the same feeling, Dare pressed his lips to the exposed curve of her neck, his touch hot and tender. It wasn't the fiery caress he usually used to seduce and inflame her; this had a poignancy that went directly to her heart. Julienne arched backward in mute appeal. She wanted Dare so desperately. She wanted to fill herself with him.

His long fingers cupped her jaw and slowly turned her face to his. His features were tight with emotion, as she knew hers were.

Julienne drank in the sight of him, committing him to memory. The moonlight illuminated the flaring elegance of his cheekbones, gilded his hair. He was such a beautiful man, she thought, surveying the aristocratic angles of his face.

"Julienne…"

He started to speak but she pressed her fingers to his sensual lips. "Just make love to me."

He obliged her at once. His mouth descended to hers with throat-tightening gentleness, dredging a sigh from deep in Julienne. For this moment, there was no past, no future.

They undressed each other without haste, taking their time, their hands searching each other with silent hunger. Her heart beat in a slow, heavy cadence when they both stood naked.

Then Dare kissed her again. He drank from her mouth as if he could absorb her, and the knot of tension in her stomach pressed up into her chest and turned searing. She arched against him, craving for his hands to soothe the aching fullness of her breasts.

His drugging, demanding kiss continued while the rhythm of his hands became urgent. Julienne felt passion rising powerfully from deep inside her as he roused her.

"Please," she whispered as his mouth left hers to trace a burning path down the side of her throat.

Needing no further invitation, he took her hand and led her to the bed. Laying her down, he followed with his body, his manhood, rigid and needy, settling intimately in the cradle of her femininity.

Julienne met his wantonly ardent gaze as he remained poised above her. Dare had made love to her many times, but never with such graveness.

Reaching up, she drew his head down to her, tasting his breath, feeling his hands cherishing her body as his thighs pressed hers wide.

He entered her with a sureness that kindled a soft cry from her, but sh

e welcomed him eagerly, sliding her legs around his hips. Suddenly fierce, he withdrew only to surge into her again, then again. His relentless claiming threw her breathing into a series of sharp gasps, yet she responded with his same intensity.

Their lips met bruisingly in a fevered urgency as his body enveloped her, covered her. They clung to each other as the burning need built, holding on with a tight, quiet desperation. Their bodies twisted together, entwined, mating savagely, striving to become one with each other, fighting to deny anything but the primal moment.

The explosive conflagration came without warning. Julienne cried into the hollow of his shoulder as shudder after shudder shook her and swept Dare along with her.

When it was over, they lay gasping for breath, the sweat cooling on their overheated bodies. Julienne felt her eyes sting with fresh tears. That had been their deepest bonding, and the power of it made her heart ache. She wondered if Dare had felt the same way.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing away the wrenching thought, vowing not to cry.

It was a long moment before Dare eased his weight from her and gazed down at Julienne's passion-flushed face. She lay naked, shimmering with moonlight, her hair spread upon the pillow, flowing like dark silk.

Desire poured through him, filled him. A feeling so strong it was pain. And yet his yearning for her was edged with fear.

He gathered her in his arms, cradling her so she was cupped in his body. There had been something different about her passion tonight. He didn't understand the whisper of sadness in her eyes, but it disturbed him even more than his fear of the danger she might face on the morrow.

He didn't want her risking her life to deal with Caliban. His heart clamored with the need to keep her safe, to hold and cherish her forever. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Not when he loved her so fervently.

Love. The emotion he'd denied needing the past seven years abruptly swamped him. What a fool he'd been to think he could ever live without her.

He had been only half a man without her, a hollow shell. Julienne completed him-he knew that now. She filled the emptiness inside him. She had dispelled the barrenness in the dark, hidden recesses of his heart and made him feel whole. Making love to her had been like finding the missing pieces of himself.

He wanted Julienne to be part of him for the rest of his days.

Dare's breath caught in a hard knot in his throat. What he wanted might not matter. He hadn't earned the right to have Julienne love him. He didn't deserve her-he knew that better than anyone. He wasn't worthy of her.

But he could change. He could prove himself worthy.

And he would, Dare vowed solemnly. When this was all over, he would win Julienne's love, even if it took his last breath.

Chapter Seventeen