Force of Feeling

She tensed briefly as he entered her, but there was no pain, no fear; only a wonderful feeling of rightness, of relief and then of dazzling joy as she became aware of her body’s instinctive response to his powerful thrusts.

What began as the smallest trickle of sensation built up so quickly that its climax took her by surprise: a fierce storm of sensation that made Guy cry out her name as he lost himself completely within her.

She felt the release of his body within her own, felt it and rejoiced in it with a primitive sense of power she had not known existed. Her body ached, but it was a pleasurable ache, a triumphant ache. She felt Guy leave her, and her flesh grew chilled, but he was simply pulling the bedclothes back over them, his body cushioning hers, warming it, cherishing it.

She drifted off to sleep on that thought.

* * *

When Campion woke up it was dark, and she was so thoroughly disorientated that for a moment she could barely remember who she was, let alone where. Guy lay sleeping beside her. She turned her head to look at him. Her insides quivered and melted, and then surged with quickening desire.

She quelled the sensation, disconcerted by her own sexuality, but the tiny, burgeoning ache refused to go away. Was this how Lynsey would have felt? Or would she have been angry with herself for allowing herself to feel like this for a man whom she felt she hated? She would not have expected to find such pleasure in her marriage bed, and she would resent its discovery and the power it gave Dickon over her.

Silently, Campion got out of bed and found her robe. Ten minutes later she was downstairs, typing furiously, lost in her work. So lost, in fact, that she didn’t even hear Guy coming downstairs himself.

He asked wryly, half an hour later, ‘Can I interrupt?’

She almost jumped in shock.

‘If this is the effect making love with me has on you, I can see we’re going to have to do it more often.’

He was teasing her, she knew, and she was grateful to him for lightening what could have been a very difficult moment.

‘Why did you sneak out of bed like that?’

She looked at him. ‘I thought you were asleep. I didn’t want to disturb you.’

The way he looked at her made her blush, and he laughed when he saw it.

‘I don’t suppose I can tempt you away from that typewriter for long enough to show you exactly how much you do disturb me, can I?’

For one crazy moment, she actually contemplated getting up. What on earth had he done to her?

‘I…I really ought to finish this.’

‘Yes, I know.’ He bent down and, to her shock, she felt his lips move against her neck. A pulse point started to thud beneath his mouth. She badly wanted to turn to him and let him know how he was making her feel, but she was still too unsure of herself, still too new to such sensations to feel entirely comfortable with them.

‘I…I suppose we ought to be thinking about something to eat…’

‘Right now, what I want to eat is you.’

The words shivered across her skin, conjuring up images that made her feel weak and dizzy. Unlike her, Guy had dressed, and when he looked at her she felt acutely conscious of her nudity beneath her robe, but she had been so anxious to get to her typewriter that she hadn’t even thought about getting dressed.

‘You frightened me to death this afternoon. Do you realise that? If I’d lost you…’

The anguish in his voice shocked her. She turned her head to look at him, and something elusive and haunting in his eyes vanished, as though he didn’t want her to see his feelings.

‘I tell you what, I’ll make dinner, but first you have to pay a forfeit.’

‘What? Promise to wash up?’

‘That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.’

The way he looked at her as he drew her to her feet made her insides turn over. As he bent his head to kiss her, his hand slid inside her robe. The sensation of his fingers against her breast and then her nipple made her moan softly beneath his kiss. Instantly, his touch har

dened, demanded, and just as instantly she responded to it, aching to feel the hard strength of his body against her, aching to experience again that delicate rapture she had never known existed.

She wanted to cling to him when he realeased her but, instead, reluctantly she opened her eyes and looked up at him.