His mouth was magical, his sensual heat creating a storm of sensation within Aurora. She felt want, yearning, need all rioting through her as they undressed each other with a feverish urgency. She was on fire, she was soaring, she was falling…
No, not falling. Nicholas had swept her up in his arms, his hot mouth still drinking deeply of hers. He carried her inside to the low couch, where he followed her down amid the silk cushions. She wrapped her arms around him, hot and feverish, wanting him desperately -
She barely heard the soft, intrusive rap on the door, but Nicholas gave a sudden shudder, as if striving for control.
"Wait, angel…" He took a deep breath and tried to untangle himself from her. "That will be supper. I asked that it be served here."
Reluctantly Aurora released him, missing his warmth already. He stood up fluidly, unfolding his nude body in a movement that was purely sensual, and with a final heated glance at her, let the gauzy bed curtain fall to conceal the divan where she lay.
Aurora drew the silk sheet up to cover her nakedness and waited impatiently. She could hear Nicholas admitting the servants and ordering the trays to be set on the table. Then the door shut quietly, leaving a hushed silence. A moment later Nicholas drew the curtain aside.
Aurora could feel her heartbeat quicken as she took in the sight of his magnificent body.
"Are you hungry?" he murmured.
"No… Yes… for you," she answered almost shyly.
His dark eyes met hers, shadowed flame. "You can satisfy your appetite, love, for as long as you wish."
Surprisingly, though, Nicholas turned away and went to the low table where supper had been laid out. Aurora watched as he inspected a bottle of champagne and poured some of the fizzing spirits into a dish.
His back was to her, and she found herself admiring the powerful, sinewed lines of his nude body. He was like the sensual prince in Desiree's journal – indeed, this entire room resembled the silk and sandalwood seraglio described in the journal, Aurora thought, her glance moving around the exotic bedchamber. Especially this low divan with its luxurious cushions and filmy curtains. She could almost imagine herself
in the Frenchwoman's place, waiting for her lover. Nicholas was her magnificent master, and she his captive, meant only for his heathen pleasures.
"The decor here," Aurora remarked curiously, striving for calm, "is very much like the palace harem in the journal."
"That isn't entirely coincidence," Nicholas replied. "I asked that we be given these rooms once I learned of their Eastern motif. You seem so taken with the journal."
He returned to her then and sat beside her on the divan, presenting the dish for her inspection. It held several small sponges soaked in champagne.
"Do you remember what the journal said about preventing conception?"
"Yes." She was strangely disquieted by their purpose – preventing a man's seed from taking root – even though she couldn't possibly risk letting Nicholas get her with child.
"May I?" he asked.
"Yes."
The clamor of her heart echoed in the quiet of the room as Nicholas drew down the sheet to bare her body to his warm gaze. When he slid a wet sponge between her thighs, Aurora caught her breath at the chill sensation.
With a murmur of apology, he gently parted her legs and pressed the sponge into her pulsing cleft, then farther still, until it was sheathed deep within her body. Aurora shivered, but then his mouth followed his fingers, warming her cool flesh.
Aurora gasped at the fierce jolt of desire Nicholas created, and arched against him. It was ice and fire… But it wasn't enough.
"Nicholas," she pleaded, her urgency suddenly returning. "Come inside me." Eagerly she stretched out her arms to him in welcome, wanting him with all the willingness of her ripe woman's body. She wanted his hot skin against her, his heat, his power. She wanted him filling her.
He understood her craving, for without hesitation, he stretched out to cover her body with his. Pleasure darkened his eyes as he eased her legs open, his lean, hair-dusted thighs brushing abrasively against hers.
"Yes," he whispered hoarsely. "I want to be part of you all night, Aurora. I want to fall asleep deep inside you and wake up with the taste of you…"
He kissed her again, urgently, and entered her in one long, slow thrust. Breathless, Aurora closed her eyes as hardness and softness melded into one ravishing sensation.
Nicholas began to move then, his rhythm quickening luxuriously. His thighs pressing hers wider, he claimed her in hot, slick strokes, penetrating deeper and deeper each time.
Her senses on fire, Aurora wrapped her legs around his hips and arched up in welcome. He wasn't gentle, but she didn't want gentle. The incredible, exquisite, painful hunger was building, until her arousal was as intense as his own. They were man and woman, filled with primal need. She could not get close enough.
He plunged into her, driving her to a place of wanton delight, filled with bright, hot pleasure. She wanted to weep with the beauty of it.