Stranger in My Arms(66)

He entered her slowly, pushing into the yielding flesh so gradually that there was no discomfort, only the feeling of being stretched and deliciously filled.

Her body accepted the massive intrusion, the thrust penetrating deeper until she moaned in astonished delight.

Now fully joined with her, Hunter paused and buried his face in the fragrant curve of Lara’s shoulder. She felt his large body shaking as he struggled to contain an eternity of pent-up passion. “It’s all right,” she murmured, drawing her hand down the long plane of his back.

Her h*ps tilted in an encouraging lift, and he gasped at the small movement.

“No, Lara,” he said thickly. “No, wait… God, I can’t…”

She pushed upward again, managing to take more of him inside, and the silken undulation was his undoing. He groaned and cl**axed without even thrusting, his body coursing with pleasure.

A long, shivering minute later, he rolled to his side, bringing her with him. Still panting for breath, he kissed her roughly, his mouth flavored with salt and a provocative essence that was not at all unpleasant.

Lara was the first to speak, her face pressed against his smooth chest.

“Now may I turn down the lamp?”

His laughter rumbled beneath her cheek. He obliged her and left the bed for a moment, removing his clothes and reaching for the lamp. when all trace of light had been extinguished, he came back to her in the darkness.

Lara awakened from a dream about Psyche, the maiden who was sacrificed to a winged serpent and was carried away instead by Eros … the unknown husband who came to her at night and made love to her without being seen. Rolling to her back and stretching, Lara was almost startled to feel a man’s body beside her. Instantly she reached for the sheet, which had fallen to her waist. A large hand covered hers.

“Don’t,” came Hunter’s low murmur. “I like to see the moonlight on your skin.”

He had been awake, watching her. Lara glanced down at her body, gilded by the bluish white light shining through the half-open window, and she continued to tug at the sheet.

Hunter removed the linen from her grasp and pulled it completely away from her. He touched the tips of her br**sts, the silvery curves leading down to the shadowed hollow between. She turned toward him, seeking his mouth, and he gave her a kiss so satisfying and enticing that she felt her pulse quickening once again. His hands slid to her bottom, cupping the round shapes in his palms, gripping and pulling her closer.

The hard length of his arousal pressed against her stomach, no longer a weapon to be feared but an instrument of pleasure. Lara reached for it cautiously, encircling the shaft with her fingers, sliding them along the hot silken skin. Her touch made him shiver, his body responding eagerly to the caress. She sensed that there were things he wanted to show her, teach her, but for now he let her explore him as she liked.

She moved down to the pouch between his le~s, testing the pendulous weight, and slid her fingers up the shaft to the smooth, broad tip. He groaned and lowered his mouth to her throat, kissing her, telling her in guttural murmurs how much he wanted her.

Pushing her knees upward and apart, he settled in the lee of her thighs and took her, sheathing himself in a deep slide. Lara gasped and wriggled to accommodate him.

There was only an instant of discomfort before her body accepted him in dewy welcome. He began a steady rhythm, driving straight and sure within her, angling himself to press against her sex with each stroke.

She lifted herself up to him, cradling him with her hips, her hands gripping the dense muscles of his back. He was hard, delicious, riding her just as she wanted, covering her with his masculine weight, plunging deeper, deeper… The pleasure of it was overwhelming.

She cried out at the height of it, her body filled with a liquid rush of delight, a shudder of satisfaction. It was equally pleasurable to share Hunter’s fulfillment, to hold him in her arms and feel him shake with sensations he could no longer control.

He remained inside her for a long time while his mouth covered hers, caressing and tasting. Dreamily Lara stroked his thick hair and found the place behind his ear where the skin was soft and downy like a child’s. She felt his weight shift as he prepared to move off her, and she moaned in protest.

“Oh, don’t . .

“I’ll crush you,” he whispered, rolling to his side.

His thigh intruded between hers, and he played idly with the moist patch of hair, his fingers soothing and arousing at the same time. “Is this what you had with Lady Carlysle?” she asked, staring into his shadowed face.

“I’ve never had this with anyone.”

Pleased by his answer, Lara snuggled closer and rested her cheek on his chest. “Hunter?”

“Mmm?”

“what did Lady Carlysle say to you earlier tonight?”

The movements of his fingers stopped. She felt a new tension enter his body, and his voice was laced with exasperation as he replied. “Esther was disappointed when I made it clear that I had no interest in resuming our affair. So disappointed, in fact, that she claimed I couldn’t be the real Hawksworth.” “Oh.” Lara kept her face pressed to his chest. “Do you think she intends to make any sort of public accusation?” she asked carefully.

His shoulders moved in a slight shrug. “I doubt it.

The ton will assume any such claim would arise from wounded vanity.

And Esther has no desire to make herself appear foolish.”