He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the low, flat sofa, spreading her along the length of it and covering her body with his. Moaning, Mira lifted her breasts against the cupping warmth of his hands,impatient to be rid of the barriers of cloth that separated them.
"The laces…"she gasped against his mouth, fumbling with the cords that held the front of her bodice together. He brushed her hands away and yanked at the laces, his expression harsh with desire. They both sighed as the cords gave way and her dress opened, the edges of it spreading apart like the petals of a disheveled flower. His palms curved under her breasts and lifted them upward, his teeth grazing the dainty peaks. Mira's fingertips dug into the brocaded upholstery of the sofa as the damp velvet of his tongue feathered across her nipples, as he drew the tip of her breast into his mouth and held it there possessively. His hands slid under her bare back and he shifted her higher.
"Pull up your skirt." His whisper tickled in the gentle valley between her breasts. Mira felt a blush stain her cheeks, even in the darkness, but she obeyed him with clumsy haste, feeling cool air touch the places that the velvet material had covered. Alec rewarded her with a long, deep kiss, tasting the inside of her mouth and sliding his arms more tightly around her back. "Now your pantaloons…" he said thickly. She hesitated and then unfastened the dainty white garment with trembling fingers, pulling it down over her hips and down to her ankles. He said nothing then, the ragged sound of his breathing becoming more pronounced in the quietness, and Mira touched the fastening of his breeches, shivering as she felt the thrusting hardness beyond the cloth. One by one, she undid the buttons, releasing his hot, full maleness, and her delicate fingertips brushed over him, caressing him lightly. Alec groaned deep in his throat, lowering his naked hips to hers. He muffled her thin cry with his mouth as he entered her, taut, heavy, hard with arousal. Despite the urges of his raging desire, he pushed into her slowly, giving her body enough time to accept himcompletely. Mira quivered, burning with desire, and she opened her thighs hungrily, feeling him press in-side her until there was no more he could give her, no more she could take.
They entwined in a damp tumble, and Mira felt the violent power of his thrusts all through her body. Helplessly she fumbled with his clothes, trying to slip her hands underneath them to his skin… but then her overcharged nerves focused only on the pounding force of him within her, and she was not capable of doing anything but cling to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her knees flexed as she pushed against him strongly. Feverishly she answered his driving movements, faster and harder, until she was seized with an upheaval frightening in its intensity. She arched upward, making a sharp, broken sound. Alec murmured something tender in her ear, cradling her quaking body in his arms, moving within her in a way that stretched out her pleasure as long as possible. He kissed her bared throat… he denied the fulfillment of his own release in order to thrust into her with slow, purposeful strokes. "Let it last…" he whispered to her, glorying in the feel of her, suspended and paralyzed beneath him. And then, as he allowed himself to follow her into that arena of savage pleasure, Mira felt a hot burst of warmth inside her. His big body tightened against hers, the muscles of his sturdy shoulders bunching under her palms.
Unconsciously she murmured his name, a trail of wetness slipping from the outside corners of her eyes down to her temples. The taste of her tears was on his tongue, and Alec cupped her head in both of his hands as his lips skimmed over her face. Pleasure sifted through her in silky ripples, like light moving through water. His hands stroked her body, his fingers and knuckles lingered in the warm, damp crevices of her, and she found herself floating in a dream world… she was part of the silence and the darkness, writhingunderneath the slow, knowing movements of Alec's hands. The tip of his tongue traced the silkiness of her inner cheeks, delving repeatedly… his fingertips drifted over the softness of her abdomen, massaging gently until the hunger began to stir inside her once more. "Oh…" she breathed, pulling her mouth from his, "… you can't, we just…"
"What have you done to me? Damn you, it's like this with no one else. No one. Do you understand that you're the only one I want? After that night, I couldn't forget you—I can't leave you alone, and I'll be damned if I'm going to give you up again." His middle finger traced a path through the downy curls between her legs to a small secret place that was painfully oversensitive. She flinched and tried to jerk away. "Don't!" she gasped in protest, and the stroke of his fingertip became so light that she could barely feel it. Sucking in her breath, she relaxed and accepted the gentle, tickling touch, concentrating on that tiny circling of his finger… she groaned and shifted underneath him, and he stifled her restless sounds with his mouth, continuing to knead her with that same teasing slow- ■ ness until there was a hot, satiny wetness between her 1 legs.