“I will, Mom. I love you.” She kissed her mother on the cheek, hugged her father. “I love you, too, Dad.”
Scott put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Go along now,” he said, his voice gruff with unshed tears. “Call us when you get home.”
With a smile, Shannah took Ronan’s arm and they slipped out of the hotel to where the limo was waiting.
The driver opened the door for them, closed it, and climbed behind the wheel.
Ronan slipped his arm around Shannah’s waist and drew her into his lap. “You’re mine, now,”
he said, running his knuckles lightly over her cheek. “All mine.”
“Yes.”
“So it’s okay if I muss you a little?”
“You may muss me all you wish, Mr. Luard Ronan Moss. Luard,” she said, chuckling. “I can’t get over that.”
“It was a family name,” he said, shrugging. “I always liked it myself.”
“Sure you did,” she said dryly. “That’s why you never told me what it was, you were afraid I wouldn’t marry you.”
“Ah,” he said with mock despair, “you wound me to the quick!”
“Can you turn into a little wolf?”
“Want me to show you?”
“Not here!” she said, casting a frantic glance at the driver.
“You worry too much, do you know that?”
“I can’t help it. Now, Mr. Luard Ronan Moss, why don’t you stop talking and kiss me?”
“Always my pleasure, madam,” he said, and covered her mouth with his own.
His hands moved over her, eager for the time when he could bare her body to his gaze, feel the satin of her skin beneath his hands.
Shannah was on fire when the limo pulled up in front of their hotel. Ronan tipped the driver, then swung her into his arms and carried her swiftly into the hotel. He didn’t wait for the elevator but carried her quickly up five flights of stairs, down a long carpeted corridor and into their room.
Kicking the door closed with his foot, he murmured, “Alone at last,” as he slowly lowered her feet to the floor. Her body slid intimately against his own.
She leaned into him, nibbling on his chin as his hands moved to unfasten the back of her gown.
He pushed it off her shoulders and it fell to the floor to pool at her feet.
His gaze moved over her, hotter than any flame. Her scanty undergarments revealed more than they hid. She was as beautiful as he had known she would be, her body slim and perfect.
His body tensed as she began to undress him, easing his coat from his shoulders, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, unbuckling his belt. The touch of her fingers against his skin was intoxicating.
He shivered with excitement and anticipation as she unfastened his trousers. He toed off his boots. She stepped out of her white satin pumps.
He removed her nylons, his hands bold as they caressed her thighs, slid down her calves. Her skin was smooth and silky beneath his fingertips.
He peeled off his socks, then swung her into his arms and carried her to the king-sized canopied bed. He lowered her gently to the mattress, then dropped down beside her and quickly gathered her into his arms.
Shannah pressed herself against him, loving the feel of his body against hers. Her hands moved over him, eager to explore. She ran her tongue over his skin, over the pulse throbbing in the hollow of his throat. His body was hard, his skin smooth, cool beneath her questing fingertips.
He endured her exploration for several minutes and then began an exploration of his own.
There was no hesitation in his touch. Each stroke of his hand, each kiss, branded her as his and only his.
He kissed her and caressed her until she writhed beneath him, yearning for the release that only he could give. She was glad now, glad that she had waited for this man, this moment, glad she hadn’t squandered her virginity on some other man. This was how it should be, a once in a lifetime moment, and one worth waiting for, just as her mother had promised.
She lifted her hips to receive him, moaned with pleasure as his body became a part of hers.
They moved together, slowly at first, and then with greater intensity as the passion between them grew stronger, deeper. She felt his fangs at her throat, cried out as the pleasure of his bite mingled with the pleasure of her release.
He groaned deep in his throat, his body convulsing, his eyes blazing until, sated, he collapsed on top of her, his forehead pressed to hers as he whispered that he loved her.
She clung to him when he would have left her. “Not yet.”
“I’m too heavy for you.”
“No.”
Rising up on his elbows, he gazed down into her face. “Any complaints, Mrs. Moss?”
“Just one.”
He lifted one brow. “And that would be…?”
“It was over too soon.”
He smiled, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “Then we shall have to do it again.”
“Can you?” she asked. “I always heard that men, well, that they had to wait a while before they could…you know, do it again?”
“Ah, my lovely wife, you forget, I am not a mortal man.”
“Yes,” she said, grinning broadly, “I did forget.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips. “It will be my pleasure to remind you, and often.”
She ran her fingertips down his chest, her nails lightly scraping the skin. “I promise to pay close attention.”
“And I promise to never disappoint you.”
“Never?” She lifted her hands to his nape, let her fingers sift through his hair. It was thick and silky.
“Never, my love.”
He rolled off her, drawing her body against his, his arm holding her close while their bodies cooled and their breathing returned to normal. And then he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.
Shannah was somewhat surprised when he put her in the shower, then stepped in beside her and closed the door. He turned on the water, picked up a bar of scented soap, and proceeded to wash her from her neck to her heels.
The touch of his soapy hands moving languidly over her body was the most sensually erotic feeling she had ever known.
Picking up another bar of soap, she decided to treat him to the same and found, to her surprise, that washing Ronan was even more arousing than having him wash her. His body was firm and muscular and beautiful. And aroused.
In minutes, the shower’s glass walls were thick with steam and only part of it came from the hot water.
Taking the soap from her hand, he dropped it on the floor and drew her into his arms. His body was wet and slick against her own.