Mastered by Love (Bastion Club 8)

He glanced back at his bed, where Minerva lay sleeping. Her hair was a golden wave breaking over his pillows, her face madonna-peaceful, one white arm gracefully draped atop the crimson-and-gold covers he’d pulled up so she wouldn’t get cold.

He’d memorized the sight of her lying naked and sated, sprawled on his crimson sheets, before he’d covered her. She’d bled hardly at all, just a few streaks on the inside of her thighs, enough to confirm her previous untouched state, but not, he hoped, enough to make her hesitate over taking him inside her again.

His primitive side had gloated; he’d wanted her then, wanted to wake her again, but had decided to play civilized and give her a little time to recover. He hadn’t been inside her all that long; her sheath had been so incredibly tight her release had brought on his. Control in abeyance, he hadn’t held back, but that also meant he hadn’t pounded into her for long; with luck she wouldn’t be too sore to let him inside her again.

At least she was where she was supposed to be.

Keeping her there, ensuring she remained, was his next step. One he’d never attempted—wished to take—with any other woman.

But she was his. He intended to point that out—to propose and be accepted—once she stirred.

In considering that proposal, and how best to phrase it, his mind circled back to the surprise she’d had for him—the little secret she’d been hiding so amazingly well.

She’d never had any previous lover. Despite being so focused on her, despite his expertise, he hadn’t detected her inexperience; instead, he’d assumed, and been wrong.

Sunk in her mouth, as physically linked with her as it was possible to be, he hadn’t missed that instant of pain as he’d thrust deeply inside her for the first time; he was too experienced not to recognize when a woman beneath him tensed in pain, rather than from pleasure.

But even as he’d registered the stunning fact that she’d been a virgin, she’d started to climax. Just as he’d intended.

The unexpected surge of primitive feelings knowing he’d taken her virginity had evoked, combining with the intense satisfaction of knowing he’d succeeded to the last detail with his plan, had detached him from all control. From that point on, he’d had none; he’d operated on instinct alone—that same powerful, primitive instinct that was even now prowling just beneath his skin, satisfied to a point, yet still hungry for her.

He tore his eyes from the bed, tried to focus on the night-shrouded landscape instead. If he’d known she’d been a virgin…not that he’d had much experience bedding virgins—only two, both when he’d been sixteen—but he would at least have tried to be less forceful, less vigorous. God knew he wasn’t the easiest man for even experienced women to accommodate, yet…He glanced again at the bed, then took another sip of water.

As she’d done with him in every other arena, in lying beneath him, she’d coped, too.

Coped rather well, in fact.

The thought brought to mind her earlier fascination with his erection—a fascination he now better understood; she’d wanted to touch, to examine…the memory of her small hand and delicate fingers wrapped about his shaft had the inevitable effect.

Jaw setting, he drained the glass. Later, he’d said; it was later now.

She stirred even before he reached the bed. Setting the empty glass on the bedside table, he met her eyes as he let the silk robe he’d donned fall from his shoulders; lifting the covers, he climbed into the bed and laid down. She slid helpfully toward him; expecting that, raising one arm, he drew her closer; she hesitated, then came, tentatively settling against hi

m. He waited, assessing yet again the possible tacks he might take in the discussion he was about to initiate.

Minerva found his heat, the solidity of his body and the warmth that emanated from his muscled flesh, both comforting and luring. Nerves that had tensed slightly relaxed again. Greatly daring, she sank deeper into his light embrace; his arm tightened about her, and it seemed only natural to raise her head and settle it in the hollow just below his shoulder, letting her hand rest, palm down, on his chest.

She quashed an impulse to snuggle her cheek into the pillowing muscle; he wasn’t hers, not really—she should strive to remember that.

He lifted a strand of her hair from her face, smoothed it back.

She was wondering if she was supposed to say something—comment on his performance, perhaps—when he spoke.

“You should have told me you were a virgin.”

The instant the words left his lips, Royce knew they’d been the wrong thing to say. The wrong tack to take in introducing his proposal.

She tensed, gradually but definitely, then raised her head and narrowed her eyes on his face. “Understand this, Royce Varisey—I do not, absolutely do not want to hear a single word about marriage. If you so much as mention the word in relation to me, I’ll consider it the most inexcusable insult. Just because I was your mother’s protégée and just happened—through no fault of mine or yours—to still be a virgin, is no reason at all for you to feel obliged to offer for my hand.”

Oh, Christ. “But—”

“No.” Lips set, eyes snapping, she pointed at his nose. “Keep quiet and listen! There’s no point in offering for my hand—in even thinking of it—because even if you do, I will refuse you. As you’re very well aware, I enjoyed the”—she paused, then waved—“interlude immensely, and I’m more than adult enough to take responsibility for my own actions, even if our recent actions were more yours than mine. Regardless, contrary to popular misconception, the last, very last thing a lady such as I want to hear after lying with a man for the first time is a proposal prompted by said man’s misplaced notion of honor!”

Her voice had steadily gained in intensity. She glared at him, lips tight. “So don’t make that mistake.”

The tension investing her body, lying half atop his, was of entirely the wrong sort. His features impassive, he searched her eyes; he’d made a tactical blunder, and had to beat a strategic retreat. He nodded. “All right. I won’t.”

She narrowed her eyes even more. “And you won’t try to manipulate me into it?”