He reached up and slid his fingers behind her nape. Time suddenly seemed suspended as he drew her head down. He meant to kiss her, she realized, her pulse leaping in an erratic rhythm.
His mouth was amazingly soft and tender when it touched hers briefly, yet it stirred a riot of unruly emotions within her. She wanted to turn and run, but when he drew back slightly, his fathomless gaze locked with hers, imprisoning her as surely as any chains.
Aurora felt her heart hammering as Nicholas leisurely took the towel from her limp grasp and let it fall to the floor. Hooking his arm around her waist, he urged her closer, between his spread legs, till her breasts brushed his chest. A tremor rippled through her.
With some futile thought of self-preservation, she pressed her palms against his broad shoulders, staring at him. His eyes, dark and sensual, told her clearly he didn't intend to stop at a kiss.
"Your wound…"
"Will survive. But I might not if I don't taste you soon."
Still holding her lightly, he slowly lay back on the bed, drawing her with him. Heat spread in her, catching hurtfully in her stomach as she found herself stretched fully on top of him, cushioned by his powerful body. She trembled at the stunning intimacy of this simple contact, the unfamiliar hardness against her softness, the warmth of his frame beneath her thin silk gown.
"Open your mouth this time, lovely Aurora," he murmured as he delicately teased her into parting her lips.
The intrusion of his tongue was slow and sensual, more erotic than anything she had ever felt before. For a long moment she remained rigid, experiencing the foreign sensation of his open mourn tasting deeply of hers. He was drinking of her, savoring her. It was tantalizing, the warm stroke of his tongue inside her mouth.
She could feel herself softening, her breath quickening in steady arousal, but her simple pliancy still was not enough for him.
He left off kissing her long enough to murmur in a husky voice, "Kiss me back, sweetheart," before his mouth found hers again.
Dazed, she let her tongue shyly move to meet his and was rewarded by his low, guttural sound of approval.
The pressure on her mouth deepened. A heavy ache began forming in her lower body as his intoxicating lips and tongue taught hers about kissing. His hands stroked down her back, bringing her hips even closer to his, exciting her further.
For long moments they lay together, tasting each other in the heated silence. Aurora lost any perception of time, any sense of herself. There was only the captivating awareness of Nicholas, of his raw masculinity and his sensual, drugging kisses, of his hard-muscled body beneath hers.
Eventually his caresses became more ardent; he claimed her mouth fully, dragging her into his kiss and sending delicious liquid sensations flooding through her defenseless body. Of their own volition, her fingers moved from his shoulders to curl in the waving silkiness of his hair. His mouth was a searing flame that stole her breath.
Helplessly she pressed closer to him, longing for something she couldn't name. She felt boneless, on fire… She felt as if she were falling…
It was only Nicholas, nudging her onto her back on the soft mattress.
Her eyes fluttering open, she stared up at him. She was trembling, her cheeks hotly flushed, her senses spinning.
His eyes watched her as his hand moved to the empire-waist bodice of her gown; she felt herself drowning in their shadowed depths.
When his fingers curled over the low decolletage, she tensed, but he bent to her again, his mouth hovering just above hers, heating her lips. "Don't be afraid to feel, angel. Tonight you can abandon reason and just let your senses rule."
When she made no protest, he gently tugged on the neckline of her bodice, then drew down the edge of her chemise over the top of her corset to expose the swell of her breasts that were pushed up by the stiffened fabric. With expert skill, he bared her nipples to the night air, making her shiver. When his bold fingers found one hardened bud that quivered there, she moaned involuntarily at the delicate-sharp sensation that shot through her.
"Has no one ever touched you like this before?" he whispered in her ear, his breath warm.
"No…" The word was a breathless gasp as his thumb moved slowly over the sensitive crest, circling and teasing.
Aurora shut her eyes, giving in to the pleasure he was determined to rouse in her. His warm, commanding mouth returned to claim hers as he gently tormented her aching breasts, leaving her whole body fiery with shame and excitement.
She was scarcely aware when he slowly drew up the hem of her gown or when he reached beneath the edge of her chemise. But then his stroking palm moved higher, brushing the soft, swollen flesh at the apex there, lingering.
Aurora went rigid. When she tried clamping her knees together, he insinuated his hand even deeper between her thighs.
He was breathing deeply, his lashes a dark sweep against his tanned face as he cajoled in a husky voice, "Open your legs for me, siren, and let me touch you."
Unable to deny
him, she did as she was bid. Coaxing her further, he stroked the soft curling thatch of her womanhood. A moist, aching weakness pulsed to life in the secret place between her legs. She felt so strange, melting, throbbing… Instinctively she whimpered and arched her back, longing for some fulfillment that seemed to elude her.
Yet he seemed to know exactly what she wanted, needed. With exquisite care, his finger slipped between her cleft lips and penetrated her.