Eyes wide now, she saw him prop himself on one arm, keeping most of his weight off her. Her eyes met his and thought fled.
Such fierce passion in his sky-blue eyes. Annalisa only had to meet his look and she spiralled towards paradise.
‘Tahir.’ Every scintilla of longing and hope and tremulous desire was in that one word. And she didn’t care. All she cared about was having this one man who meant so much, here where he belonged. For this time it was right.
Her body softened, accommodating his hard length, readying for his possession.
A shudder racked his big frame and she saw the tendons in his neck stretch taut. Tenderness filled her at his vulnerability.
‘I had to come. I need…’ He shook his head, eyes squeezing shut.
She felt a spasm of sympathy clench her heart, seeing his inner turmoil, feeling the same driving force for intimacy.
‘I need too, Tahir.’
At her whispered admission his eyes snapped open. Cerulean fire blazed down, scorching her face, her lips.
‘Habibti.’ The endearment was a low hum of sound that curled up and wrapped itself around her, warming every last recess of her body. Emotion shimmered in each syllable.
He lay poised above her as her heart thudded out a rhythm that spoke of desire, need, love. A love she could no longer deny for this proud, complex man.
Acknowledging her love didn’t scare her when she saw Tahir at the mercy of his own emotions. Not just desire but tenderness, relief and regret. She recalled the stark fear on his face last night, the convulsive clamp of his arms around her, and wanted to soothe the remnants of his anxiety away.
She raised her hands to his face, to the strong jaw so smooth it must be freshly shaved. Over high cheekbones, feathering his brow, his ears, his nose and lips. She learned his face as a blind woman would, committing each detail to memory.
His tongue sleeked across her palm and she stilled. He clasped her hand to his mouth and kissed her there, laving and nipping and caressing till longing bubbled up inside and burst out in a throaty moan of bliss.
Then he was gone, rolling off her and leaving her bereft and wanting. Instinctively she turned towards him, but already he’d moved. He knelt, hands skimming up her legs, drawing the delicate silk she wore higher and higher.
Excitement rose as their gazes meshed. She lifted her bottom so he could push the fabric up. Then he peeled the dress over her shoulders and head, tossing it in a stream of pearly colour across the room.
Movement ceased as he loomed above, straddling her hips. His chest heaved, straining the buttons of his shirt. His gaze roved greedily.
A twinge of self-consciousness penetrated Annalisa’s heady pleasure. Had her waist thickened? Her breasts seemed fuller. Too full? Instinctively she lifted her hands to shield herself, but he clamped hold of her wrists and pulled her arms wide.
She felt his eyes on her skin, like the graze of flesh on flesh. Tiny explosions erupted within her. Excitement reached feverpitch just at the way he devoured her with his eyes. Her breasts seemed to swell against the lace of her bra and between her legs she felt dampness.
She revelled in his breathless regard. The way he looked at her made her feel like the most important being on the planet.
Deliberately he bent and planted a kiss to her belly, where her womb cradled the tiny new life they’d made.
Annalisa’s heart turned over, undone by the reverence and tenderness of the gesture. She slipped her hands free to cup his head in her hands, cradling him to her as a flood of emotion stole her heart.
Seconds later he was moving, slipping off her bra and panties with an ease that reminded her just how practised he was with women.
Yet even that knowledge didn’t give her pause. Not now. This was meant to be.
She welcomed his caressing hands, shifting under each sweep of his palm, each circling finger. She gasped as he bent his dark head to suckle at her breast, gently at first, then, as she held him close, tugging greedily, in a way that sent shafts of fire arrowing through her.
His hand slipped down, restlessly stroking her hip, her thigh, the secret needy place where his touch sent waves of pure pleasure rushing through her.
Annalisa’s heart raced. Her skin bloomed, flushed with sexual arousal and a soaring happiness she’d never known. Her hips lifted off the bed, towards Tahir’s caress. Yet he took his time, pleasuring her slowly, as if eking out every nuance of delight.
‘Please, Tahir,’ she gasped. ‘I want…’
Hooded eyes met hers. She drank in the sight of his desireridden face just centimetres from the peak of her breast. Dark burnished golden skin beside pale.
Her proud lover.
A tremor shook her, and another.
‘Then take what you want, habibti.’ He ripped open his shirt and tossed it aside, revealing his powerful torso. A moment later he shoved his trousers and underwear off and onto the floor. His feet were bare, and she had no idea if he’d come to her like that or shucked off his footwear beside the bed.