She needed him. Needed to appease that hollow feel inside of her, her body hot, and yet increasingly empty.
They’d reached his bed and Tair pushed her down on his bed cool and smooth with luxurious silk coverings. Tally reached for the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her, on her.
“But I want to look,” he said, drawing back.
“Yes, but I want to feel,” she answered, cupping the back of his head and bringing his face to hers. Her eyes closed as his lips covered hers, the sensation again electric. His kiss felt unlike any kiss she’d ever known before.
Tair stroked the length of her and when she couldn’t stand the coiled tension inside her any longer she tugged at his robe, and then his trousers wanting him naked.
Lashes lowered, Tally watched Tair strip, her breath catching in her throat as all the clothes came off and he was even harder, prouder, more gorgeous than she’d expected. He was all muscle and sun-tarnished skin, smooth, cut, fiercely made. She’d seen men with gym-toned bodies but Tair’s was shaped by life and battle, desert, wind and sun and she knew then she loved him, knew she loved him in a way she hadn’t thought possible.
He was the man she’d been searching for. He was the love she’d looked for all these years.
Stinging tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away before Tair could see.
“Come to me,” she whispered, reaching up to take his hand.
Tair’s eyes were dark, nearly black and the expression in them scorched her.
He was all fire and danger and she was running straight into the flames. She was tugging him down to her and as he settled over her, he parted her thighs with his own. She muffled a groan as he explored the indentation of her waist and then the flare of her hips and over her hip bones to her flat belly. Every place he touched grew hot, while her insides felt wicked, liquid, hungry for him. Ready.
But Tair wouldn’t be rushed. He seemed to delight in her body, in the curves and shapes, the softness of her skin, the pale globes of her breasts, the shadow between her thighs. And as he explored, he paid attention to each of her soft gasps, remembering what she liked, how she responded so that he could play her as if she were an instrument and his alone to enjoy.
Tally felt mad with all the sensation. No one had ever touched her like this, making her want at so many levels, making her body feel both familiar and strange. She’d never thought she was passionate, or physical but as Tair cupped her full breasts, his thumbs grazing her nipples, all self-consciousness fell away. She’d do anything for him, anything with him. Somehow he’d found a way into her heart and now her body wanted him, to be joined with him, now and forever.
He entered her with a smooth, hard thrust, confidence in the way he took her, confidence in the way he moved in her and Tally wrapped her arms around him, her heart and mind and body wanting him like she’d never wanted anyone.
An expert lover, Tair took her to the highest pinnacle of pleasure, driving her to the point of no return and beyond until she shattered in a thousand iridescent pieces, falling apart in his arms, held safely by him in great arms against a hard, muscular chest.
With her body still trembling she laced her fingers through his and held on. If only this moment could last forever. If only she could feel this way always…
Heart thudding, Tally pressed her cheek to his chest just above his heart. She could feel the scar tissue from his wounds against her cheek even as his powerful heart beat a steady rhythm against her ear.
All she wanted now was to hold him, touch him, remember. Remember not just him, but the way it felt to be held like this. Closing her eyes, she tried to memorize every muscle, imprinting his warmth and strength and scent in the deepest part of her.
“You are a very complicated woman.” Tair’s voice rumbled from him and idly he lifted a heavy strand of hair back and drew it from her face. “And yet when I hold you like this, you are so simple. You make perfect sense.”
“I could say the same for you.”
He suddenly lifted her, moving her higher on his body, up into his arms so that he could better see her face. “You’re beautiful. I’ll always marvel at the way you were put together.” He grasped her jaw, lifted her face, studying it in the candlelight. “This jaw, the nose, the cheekbones, such wide clear eyes. Such clear intelligent eyes. You must know your beauty. The effect you have on men.”
“I’ve no effect on men.”
“No effect? You’ve turned my life upside down, Woman. I’ve chased after you across the desert far too many times to count—”