A Momentary Marriage(82)

He rocked his mouth against hers, giving, inviting, teasing. The little noise she made deep in her throat, the way her fingers dug into his shoulders, were his reward and his temptation, making his heart slam in his chest, his nerves sizzle.

Their kiss deepened; it was she who stretched up to him, her lips insistent, her tongue eager. James jerked the tie of her robe undone, pushing the dressing gown back and down so that it fell from her. Now there was only the thin material of her gown between them, a barrier so flimsy it was more arousing than any sort of protection. He slid his hand down over her back, feeling the heat of her skin through the fabric. It was the most delicate, delicious torture.

He kissed her mouth, her cheeks, her throat. He took the lobe of her ear between his teeth and worried it gently until Laura’s breath hitched and she pressed her body into him, her hands sliding beneath his jacket and roaming over him. It was all he could do not to throw her back on the bed and take her right there and then.

James stepped back, ripping at the impediment of his clothes, wanting more than anything to feel her hands on his bare flesh. Jacket, shirt, shoes all came off haphazardly. His hands went to the buttons of his trousers and then stilled as he watched Laura reach down and take her nightgown in her hands, pulling it up and off over her head.

The simple cotton gown slipped up over her skin, more tantalizing than the boldest display of flesh, revealing her to his eyes inch by inch. The cloth snagged for an instant on her nipples, and that alone was enough to send a shudder of desire through him. Then her breasts were in full view, rounded and soft, centered by pale pink nipples, already tightened with arousal.

She stole a glance at him, her cheeks bright pink, her expression a curious mixture of embarrassment and pleasure. James came closer, his hands reaching out to cup her breasts. His voice was low and thick. “You are so beautiful.”

He slid his arms around her, pulling her gently against him. He kissed her again, and this time his mouth was hungry and insistent, drinking her in. He slipped a hand between them, gliding down over the satiny skin of her stomach and stealing between her legs. Laura started in surprise but did not pull back, instead parting her legs a little to accommodate him. He smiled against her mouth. Her willingness, even eagerness, ratcheted up his passion.

He was hard as a rock, aching to plunge into her, to feel her close and tight around him, but he held back, stroking and kissing, teasing the slick satiny folds until she moved against his hand, mutely urging him on.

Sweeping her up in his arms, he laid her on the bed and, quickly divesting himself of his remaining clothes, he lay down beside her. Her wide, solemn blue eyes were on him the entire time, warm and faintly dazed. Her mouth was rosy from their kisses, soft and faintly damp. It made him surge with the need to kiss her again.

He settled in to kiss her, as if he could spend the rest of his life on this only, but as his mouth moved on hers, his hand explored her body. Finally, when he felt he must shatter under the force of his desire, he slipped down her body, his mouth finding and caressing every place he had touched her.

Laura’s hands moved restlessly, her nails digging into him when he took her nipple into his mouth. She moaned, her pelvis circling. “James.”

“Again,” he murmured, his lips against her ear, and nipped at the fleshy lobe. “Say my name again.”

“James,” she responded. “James, James, James . . .” She curved her hands down over his back and dug her fingertips into his buttocks, surprising a groan from him. Laura turned her head, pressing her lips to his shoulder. He buried his face in her neck, stifling the words that threatened to flood from his mouth.

He moved between her legs, and she opened to him. As he began to slide into her, Laura tightened for an instant, but James continued to caress her, his hands light, his mouth soft and coaxing on her breast, and she relaxed. Again he moved, and he felt her give, and then he was deep inside her, her body clamped around him, so tight and hot that he went still, struggling to hold on to his control.

He hung there for a moment, poised on the edge between instinct and restraint. Laura slid her hands up his arms onto his shoulders, her touch tender, and it filled his chest with such an odd sweet feeling he could hardly bear it. He bent his head to kiss her and began to move within her. He heard her sharp indrawn breath, and he almost stopped, thinking he’d hurt her, but that was followed by a low hum, almost a purr, and she smiled up at him, her eyes lambent.

Now, at last, he let slip the leash of his control, stroking in and out in an ever-building rhythm. He felt as if the world were hurtling through him, sweeping him toward some other unimaginable realm. She was soft and yielding beneath him, her heat drawing him in, surrounding him. And when she let out a soft cry as the pleasure took her, he surrendered to his own surging passion.