To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)(31)

Auburn closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Eli, melting against him as the warmth of his kiss slid through her. He surrounded her, strong and protective, and she gave herself over to the gentle meeting of lips.

His light touch sparked a cascade of emotions within her as desire mixed with the quiet ache in her chest. The heat of him soaked through her gown and amplified the intensity of the simple kiss, filling her with yearning and a whisper of need. She kissed him back, her lips moving against his as she let instinct guide her.

Eli growled, tightened his arms around her, and plundered her mouth.

His lips were hot and hard against hers as his tongue parted her and thrust inside, claiming her.

The change in him made Auburn shiver, and she held him as pleasure stole through her. The scent of him, clean, rich and wholly masculine, intoxicated her and overwhelmed her senses. For the moment, there was only him and his searing kiss. She yielded to him, her body softening as she offered him all he wanted.

Eli groaned and shook his head as he pulled back from her.

He retreated, not only from her, but from all that was between them. She wanted this, wanted him, and was determined to show him. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she pressed another kiss to his lips.

“Auburn,” he whispered. He closed his eyes as he crushed his lips against hers, parting her as he again claimed her mouth.

Auburn gloried in the taste of him, dark, dangerous, and wholly sensual. His hard body felt like coiled steel as he held her, both powerful and controlled.

Heat burgeoned in her belly and slid through her limbs. Her years of training hadn’t prepared her for the onslaught of sensation. Hadn’t taught her how much she could feel. Letting go of reason, she gave in to her growing need and ceded control to Eli.

He slid her top down, trapping her arms at her sides. His lips never left hers as his fingers glided down the smooth column of her throat and feathered over the silken flesh of her shoulders. Stroking down further still, he teased his fingertips over her swollen globes, and her rosy peaks furled.

She savored his hard hands on her tender flesh, and heat bloomed under her skin as he explored her. He plundered her mouth as he stroked her bare flesh until sensation threatened to overwhelm her.

Heat snaked through her and pooled in her belly as fire flickered along her nerves. She moaned as desire burned her, igniting a deeper need than she’d ever known.

Tilting her head back, she offered him more.

Eli responded, teasing hot kisses over her bare flesh and bringing soft moans to her lips. Sensation cascaded through her, heating her until molten desire burned at her core, and she clung to him through the maelstrom of feeling.

Her daydreams paled beside the reality of his touch. She’d imagined him taking her since their first night together, but she’d never expected the scorching heat that flowed through her and sensitized her skin. Auburn arched her back, filling his hands with her, and she gloried in the fresh rush of desire as his thumbs found her pebbled peaks.

Eli lifted his mouth from hers, and Auburn’s eyes fluttered open. Pain pinched his hard features, and she could see how much it cost him to pull away.

“I shouldn’t. You’re still not free to choose.”

“Eli,” she whispered, his name thick as honey.

Before she could finish her thought, his lips were on hers again, hot, hard and demanding. He claimed her mouth, his tongue thrusting between her parted lips as he scooped her up carried her to the bed. Laying her down on the crisp sheets, he lowered himself beside her and molded her against him.

She felt softer, more feminine against his hard chest and strong thighs.

He cupped her breast, teasing it, hefting it in his palm. She gasped as his thumb and forefinger found the sensitive peak and fire skittered along her flesh.

With her arms trapped at her side by her gown, she could do nothing but submit, offer Eli all he wanted as he overwhelmed her with a storm of sensation.

His lips followed his hands, and he dipped his head and laved first one ruched peak and then the other.

Molten desire pooled as the wet heat of his mouth closed over one nipple while he taunted the other with his thumb. He nudged her thighs apart and eased up her skirts until his trousers prickled the smooth flesh of her inner thighs.

His tongue laved hot circles over her soft mounds as his hands teased up along the smooth column of her leg. Stroking her, he eased his hand higher and parted her until all he fully exposed her most intimate areas to him.

A whisper of fear and vulnerability skittered through her. Swallowing back the apprehension, Auburn reminded herself that she was safe with Eli. Protected. Maybe even... She buried the thought and focused on the flood of desire as he feathered his fingers over her the softness at the juncture of her thighs.

She shuddered under his touch and clutched the sheets as she tried to anchor herself against the swirling storm of desire and need. Heat burned through her, hot and molten, and her hips moved in time to his gentle touches. An ancient dance, one she’d been trained for her whole life but had no experience performing.

Auburn closed her eyes as she tried to absorb the onslaught of feelings. She had never known she could feel so much, never believed it was possible to know such pleasure.

He cupped her face and kissed her brow, her cheek, and then hovered over her lips.

“Tell me to stop before we go too far.”

His words whispered over her heated flesh. He was strong, powerful, and used to taking what he wanted. Yet, he’d stop if she asked him. Strange that he’d put her needs before his. She’d never met a man like him before, and she doubted she ever would again.