His biceps bunched and flexed beneath her palms as he held his weight off her while easing inside with slow strokes that went deeper each time. Finally, he gave one last thrust that buried him to the hilt and locked their hips together.
“You good?” he asked, his voice tight.
Bottom lip caught between her teeth, she concentrated on the amazing sensation of their joined bodies and nodded. Then she quickly opened her eyes. “You?”
“Yeah.” The white of his teeth flashed with his smile as he withdrew his hips and then drove home again. “I’m definitely good.”
She smiled back and lifted her hips to meet his next thrust. His low grunt conveyed his approval when she matched the rhythm he set. He bent his head to capture her lips, and a tingle started deep inside as his tongue mimicked the steady pistoning of his hips.
Inarticulate sounds of pleasure that she had no control over fell from her lips. Sensation built again, moving her hips faster, urging him faster. She reached with both hands to grasp the iron bars behind her head for an anchor while he moved over her, each thrust deep and hard, hitting just the right spot inside.
He pushed up higher on his arms and reached one of his hands to cover hers on the bar. The new angle had her seeing stars a half-dozen strokes later. As waves of pleasure crashed over her, his fast rhythm faltered before his whole body tensed and he climaxed with one final thrust.
He collapsed on top of her with a low groan of satisfaction.
“Holy shit,” he muttered into her hair moments later.
Yeah. Holy shit is right.
The weight of his body on hers was a pleasure she hadn’t expected. Arms wrapped around him, she lightly stroked her fingers up and down his back. Her couple of times with a boyfriend back in co
llege couldn’t hold a candle to what she’d just experienced.
What she’d shared with Loyal.
He shifted and rolled to the side, bringing her with him before reaching down to flip his cape over them like a blanket. She laid her head on his chest as his fingers threaded through the length of her hair. Until he hit a snarl, then he started back up at her scalp, and moved down again.
Hay bales weren’t the most comfortable mattress even with a blanket, and still the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath her ear had her drowsy lashes drifting down.
Your true love will be Loyal and true.
The voice from her vision echoed in her mind, only this time Loyal flashed in her head as a name, not a word.
She snapped her eyes open. Her heart skipped and then raced with panic.
What was she doing? She couldn’t lay there listening to his heartbeat, feeling his chest move up and down with each breath, fall asleep wrapped up in the warmth of his strong arms.
First of all, they were in the stables!
Second of all, she wanted a forever love like Asher and Honor’s, and he couldn’t give her that—wouldn’t give her that.
Pain constricted her chest, but she couldn’t blame him. He’d been totally up front with her—even tried to walk away. She’d pulled him back and agreed to the stipulations.
One night. No more. Now she had to honor the agreement.
Roxanna counted ten more beats of his heart before she forced herself to push up and lean over to place a kiss on his lips. She fought the urge to linger, pulling back before he could use his tongue to make her lose her mind and her will to leave.
“Thank you,” she said as she scooted off the blanket covering the hay and looked for her thong.
“Thank you?”
Bewildered surprise colored his voice as he sat up. She snuck a glance at his raised eyebrows while she pulled on her underwear and swiped up her cat suit. With him watching her every move, she’d never felt more exposed physically or emotionally.
Drawing on whatever inner dignity she could muster, she stepped into the legs of her suit and pulled it up her body. “Yes, thank you. That was amazing.” Her voice came out formal and stilted, the words sticking like sawdust in her dry mouth. “Not only are you exceptional at kissing, but everything else as well.”
She zipped up and bent for her socks, then tugged on her boots. That was everything—no, wait, her mask. A frantic glance yielded nothing, but she didn’t have time to care as Loyal clutched the cape at his waist and slid off the hay.
“I’ll see you around,” she said.