The Rogue's Fortune

“I need you, Roark,” she said, her fingers clutching his bare shoulders. Her eyes burned with fever as she bent her knees and opened still farther for him. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

“Patience.”

Stroking with more purpose, he circled her sensitive nub and watched her pupils dilate. Her breath seized, body jerking as he grazed her lightly before moving on. He wanted to know every inch of her before claiming her.

“Roark.” Her desperation echoed his own driving need, but he continued to let his senses take her in.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured, spanning her waist with his hands to hold her still while he deposited kisses on her abdomen. As he dipped his tongue into her navel and registered her startled gasp, he paused to reflect how one day soon she would have a baby growing inside her. With surprise he realized he’d like to see her belly swell with her pregnancy.

“Stop stalling and make love to me,” she growled, squirming beneath him until he lay between her parted thighs. “I can’t take much more of this. I need you.”

“And I need you.” Never one to deny a willing woman her pleasure, Roark kissed his way back up her body, pausing to drag his teeth acro

ss her nipples and further inflame her impatience.

Only when her hand closed around his erection did he appreciate the serious nature of her frustration. Fireworks exploded in his mind as her clever fingers stroked him. He shuddered at the enormous pleasure of her touch and shifted until he was poised at her entrance.

“Wait.” He gasped as she shifted her hips upward and took him partway inside her. Sliding into her moist heat was the most incredible thing he’d ever experienced. She was so tight. It was acute torture to have to stop himself from driving all the way in. “You’re not protected,” he gasped, his lungs malfunctioning.

“I haven’t been able to get pregnant with a doctor’s help.” Sorrow shadowed her expression for a moment. “There’s no need for you to worry.” And with that she lifted her hips and took him in fully.

As they merged he kissed her with something close to desperation. Breaking free of her lips, he buried his face in her neck and began to move inside her.

She matched his rhythm as if they’d been intimate for years. As her body shifted to take him still deeper, he struggled to slow the building pressure. He’d never expected her to be like this. Unrestrained. Demanding. Her hunger a match for his. Nothing had ever felt so perfect before. He wanted to hold on to the moment, but already his body was racing toward its completion.

“I’m sorry,” he said, refusing to finish until he’d satisfied her. “I wanted this to take longer, but you feel so amazing.” He slid his hand between them and touched her most sensitive spot.

Immediately she cried out. Her body bowed. She scored his back with her nails, the small pain pushing him over the edge. As her orgasm claimed her, Roark surrendered to his own climax. It hit him harder than he’d expected, searing his nerve endings, knocking him off balance.

He lowered his weight onto her, becoming aware that she’d wrapped her thighs around his hips and appeared to have no intention of letting go. He cradled her cheek in his hand and kissed her tenderly.

“Are you okay?”

“Terrific.” She hadn’t yet opened her eyes, but her lips bore a satisfied curve. She dragged the tips of her fingers up and down his spine. “You?”

“Never better.”

Reluctant to disrupt their comfortable intimacy, he rolled them both onto their sides so she was no longer bearing his weight. She snuggled against him, boneless and relaxed, as if she had no intention of moving ever again.

Which is why her next words came as such a shock.

“It’s late,” she murmured, her soft sigh whispering over his skin. “I should probably get going.”

Six

In the glowing aftermath of their charged lovemaking, Elizabeth and Roark were using very little of his king-size mattress. Clasped in his powerful arms, her legs entwined with his muscular ones, Elizabeth wasn’t sure where her heartbeat stopped and his began.

“It’s late,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. “Stay.”

His lips moved against her temple in a contented fashion, mirroring her profound satisfaction. It was going to be torture to leave this moment of pure bliss. But to linger would open her up to hopes better left unexplored.

“Look, this was nice.” So very nice. “But I think it’s better if I go.”

Elizabeth heard the reluctance in her voice and winced. He was going to get the idea that she didn’t want to leave. And that would lead him to suspect other things. Like the fact that every second she spent in his company she fell a little further beneath his spell.

“If you insist on leaving, I’ll take you home.” With a fond hug he released her and shifted toward the edge of the bed.

She shivered at the loss of his warm skin. “You don’t need to do that.”