To Bed a Beauty (Courtship Wars 2)

He took her naked breasts in his warm palms, measuring the weight and fullness, then bent his head to suckle her. His tongue swirled over her nipple, tightening it into a knot of aching need, inflaming her nerves all over again.

Gasping, Roslyn arched against the delicious sensation, while a fevered longing filled her. His hot mouth attended her nipples as he pulled the hem of her chemise up to her waist, baring her to the warmth of the fire.

Excitement shimmered through her as Arden raised his head to survey her, his gaze burning. There was hot desire in his eyes, a passion she could feel.

Holding her gaze, he splayed his fingers low on her belly, then skated the flat of his palm downward. As if he knew exactly where she craved his touch, his hand slipped down to tangle in the moist thatch that adorned her mound.

A whimper escaped her as he parted the soaked curls between her thighs with his fingers. With exquisite tenderness he stroked her pulsing flesh, intimately caressing each soft fold until she felt faint with desire. And when he found the secret point that quivered with aching need, her blood turned to liquid fire.

Then he slid two fingers into her drenched cleft, and Roslyn moaned out loud.

Her breath was coming in broken gasps of pleasure when he finally eased over her, holding her captive beneath the sensual weight of his body.

But there Drew hesitated, his hard arousal nestled in the warm folds of her sex.

He drew in a deep, ragged breath as he stared down at Roslyn, searching her exquisite, flushed face. She lay beneath him, silken thighs spread, her bare skin glowing like a pearl in the soft light, her blue eyes hazed with desire. He recognized all the signs of a sexually aroused woman. She was more than ready for him, her body pliant and vibrant in his arms, lush for the taking.

And yet no carnal union had ever seemed this crucial. He’d never before made love to the woman he intended to wed. If he had any doubts whatsoever, this was the point to draw back…before he claimed her for his wife.

But he wasn’t going to change his mind, Drew knew with certainty. Gently he smoothed back pale tendrils of hair from her beautiful face. It bewildered him, the tenderness he felt for Roslyn. His chest was tight with a deep ache, a fierce, elementary need to fill her up with himself. Any regrets he had now would be for causing her pain, for not being able to satisfy her as she deserved. He wanted her pleasure, more than he remembered wanting to pleasure any woman.

Raising himself up enough to kiss her again, he guided the engorged crest of his arousal just inside her pulsing cleft. Her eyes fell shut as he slowly, carefully penetrated her.

She tensed at his invasion, her inhalation sharp and faltering, the resistance of her tight sheath proclaiming her virgin innocence.

Pressing soft kisses over her face, Drew rested there for a long moment, letting her grow accustomed to his male possession. Then he eased deeper inside her, slowly, slowly, slowly pressing in farther.

Eventually her taut body relaxed, softened, and he found himself welcomed by her slickness. Her feminine muscles tightened around him, enclosing him in tantalizing heat.

With infinite care, Drew sank more fully inside her, then withdrew and slowly thrust again…long, lingering strokes that stoked the fire building within them both. To his delight, Roslyn began to move beneath him, lifting her hips to match his rhythm. Every time he drove into her, he shook with the pleasure he felt, with the blinding need to claim her.

When the fiery waves of pleasure started to engulf her, he felt them too. Her cry was a sob as the riveting swells flowed in wave after sensational wave. His body shook at the shattering release, with the powerful convulsions of desire that rocked him.

When the turbulence stilled, he collapsed against her, burying his mouth in her hair. His ragged breaths filled with her scent, Drew tried to make sense of what had just happened. They had consummated their union in a stunning explosion that had cemented his claim to her. Roslyn was his now; she had given herself to him.

Fierce satisfaction filled him. She would have to wed him now. The knowledge swelled the emotion that gripped him.

He lifted his head, his burning look surveying her pale, tousled hair, her kiss-swollen mouth, her high firm breasts. Her hair was drying in delicate wisps around her face, which was gilded by firelight, but it was the dreamy wonder in her eyes that made his breath catch anew.

“Are you all right?” Drew rasped hoarsely.

“Yes,” she murmured, sounding dazed. “I have never felt anything so…”

“So what?”

“Amazing.”

Nor had he, Drew thought to himself. This astonishing pleasure was unique in his admittedly extensive experience; the fiery sparks of their passion extraordinary. Nothing in his memory had ever felt this sharp, this intense.

He had never felt euphoria like this, either, along with a whirlpool of other emotions he couldn’t even identify. There was tenderness and hunger and possessiveness-

Drew gave up trying to sort them all out. Whatever he felt for Roslyn, he only knew he wasn’t letting her go.

Withdrawing from the soft haven between her legs, he eased his weight off her and rolled onto his side, gathering her close, so that her face pressed into the curve of his shoulder, his chin resting on the top of her head.

She lay there in his arms, fitting perfectly.

Drew shut his eyes, his fingers playing in idle circles over the heated silk of her skin as he pondered the remarkable effect she had on him. Surely his softer feelings for her would fade in the cold light of day. Yet he knew his hunger wouldn’t easily be sated. His loins were already hardening again, his arousal swelling.