Rayne, however, stopped her by raising an imperious hand as he crossed to her. “I told you, love, it is my duty to do the seducing tonight.”
“Then why don’t you begin?” she asked impatiently.
His slow smile nearly brought her to her knees. Yet he took his own deliberate time removing her gown and underclothing.
When eventually she was naked, his darkened eyes raked over her, searing her. He was near enough that Madeline could feel the warmth of his splendid body—but still he didn’t touch her.
Instead, he began to undress himself, making her wait even longer. He shed his coat and cravat and shirt, then his shoes and stockings and breeches. Finally, at last, he stood nude before her.
In the simmering glow of firelight, Madeline drank in the sight of him—his powerful form, the hard planes, the rippling muscles, all as magnificent as ever. In truth, Rayne seemed to have grown more beautiful since the last time he had made love to her.
So beautiful he took her breath away.
His dark virility was a striking contrast to her pale softness as he stepped closer. She was hungry to touch him, yet he wouldn’t allow her to take the initiative. Placing his hands at her waist, he bent his head.
Even then he didn’t kiss her as she longed for him to do. His lips merely skimmed her mouth, her cheekbone, her temple, then buried themselves in her hair.
“I want this night to be perfect for you,” he whispered.
It would be perfect, she knew, savoring the feel of his deep voice vibrating through her. Madeline shivered in anticipation. She ached with wanting Rayne, loving him. She wanted desperately to have his strong arms wrapped around her, wanted to burrow beneath his skin.
Yet he was obviously determined to go slowly, to draw out the moment.
His movements languid, Rayne took the final step toward her, eliminating the distance between them. Feeling his warm, naked skin agains
t her at last, Madeline caught her breath. Then he slowly pulled her even closer, into the hard heat of his body.
The erotic sensation of his embrace—his sinewed muscles, his swollen member caressing her belly—intensified the painful yearning gathering inside her, even before Rayne raised his hands to cradle her breasts provocatively. Her nipples changed in a rush, answering the seductive caress of his palms.
Madeline swallowed a moan but instinctively thrust her breasts into the exploration of his hands.
“So sweet,” he murmured, his voice a husky rasp in her ear. “So beautiful.”
Her response was a helpless pleasure sound as her head fell back to give his mouth better access.
His thumbs passed in scorching circles over her nipples while he bent again to trail flaming kisses down the arch of her throat. The sharp delight of it stabbed Madeline in her midsection and deep in her loins.
Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she whimpered. Then Rayne’s mouth closed wet and hungry on a cresting tip, his velvet-rough tongue laving the peaked nipple.
The sensation streaking though her was so excruciatingly keen, her knees went weak.
He attended her breasts for some time, suckling, arousing, tormenting. Finally he slid both arms around her to embrace her fully, drawing her even closer to his body.
Heat and hunger flooded through her in violent waves. She needed Rayne to assuage the sweet hurt between her thighs, in her throbbing breasts.
She almost cried in relief when he lifted her up and drew her legs around his hips, locking her to him.
Carrying her to the bed, he lowered her to the silk sheets and followed her down. His eyes smoldered as he pressed his naked body against hers, letting her feel his hot skin, his rampant arousal.
Raising her arms to twine them around his neck, Madeline drew Rayne’s head down to her. She gloried in the way her body meshed perfectly with his, yet it was his lips—the taste, the texture, the warmth—that set her heart soaring.
His kiss was an intimate knowing of her mouth that kindled a wonderful, craving weakness in every fiber of her being. When eventually he broke off, she stared at Rayne, gazing deep into his eyes.
He returned her avid regard with a soft smile as his hand rose to trace her lips. “How do I describe all the ways I find you beautiful?” he murmured.
His fingertips brushed across her cheek with unbearable tenderness. “You are exquisitely lovely to me, Madeline, but your beauty comes from within as well as without. You’re exciting and intriguing and incredibly stimulating. The pleasure I get in looking at you rivals the joy I feel at simply being with you, in knowing you are my wife.”
He was intent on showing her his love, Madeline knew, a poignant ache welling in her throat.