Seized by the need to lie with her, he plucked her off her feet and cradled her in his arms, carrying her to the high bed. He climbed onto the soft down mattress, the feather stuffing flattening under his knees as he shifted his weight to make her more comfortable.
He wanted to take his time. To square the pillow beneath her head and smooth her hair from her shoulders. To breathe kisses along her collarbone and up the creamy arch of her neck. But she was already making quick work of the buttons on his shirt, skimming the fabric off his shoulders until he had no choice but to ease it to the floor beside the bed.
"We have to go slow," he reminded her. "Be careful."
"I can't go slow." She shook her head, sending dark curls wriggling on the pale sheets. "I need you. I need this."
"I don't want to hurt you." Grinding his teeth as she pressed a kiss along his jaw, he hoped he had the fortitude to ensure he was careful with her.
Six weeks ago she'd delivered a baby. And although she looked more beautiful than ever, and she'd kissed him with enough heat to scorch the sheets, he would make damn sure he took care of her.
"You won't hurt me." She twisted her leg so that her foot stroked up his calf, the movement causing her thigh to shift against his, her hips cradling the hard length of him against her softness.
"Tatiana." He had to close his eyes against another heated rush of longing. Hunger.
"Please," she whispered in his ear, nipping the lobe before she licked it with a deft swipe of her tongue. "For a little while, I just want to be a woman and not a mother."
Her confession called to the most elemental need and he tunneled his hands beneath the nightgown to touch her naked body. Hips, waist, breasts. He reacquainted himself with her curves in long, possessive strokes over her skin.
The touch unleashed something in her, a reserve that she was only too glad to set aside, her kisses growing more fevered.
Rolling her on top of him, he skimmed the gown up and off of her, her dark hair falling all around him and veiling their kiss in curls. He cupped her breasts, heavier than they'd been the last time, but the tips tightened just the way he remembered.
With the lemony scent of her hair in his nose and the golden glow of candlelight flickering over her creamy skin, he could have explored her body all night long. But he didn't want to wear her out. Instead, he flipped her to her back on the thick feather bed and proceeded to give her what she'd asked for.
Because it would be his intense pleasure to make her feel like a woman.
"Jean-Pierre?" Tatiana blinked up at him as he stretched out over her, his powerful body making her feel tiny beneath him despite the extra weight the pregnancy had left behind.
Shirtless, he was a mouthwatering sight. But the fact that his mouth trailed kisses lower and lower down her newly curvier body made her self-conscious no matter what he spouted about her beauty. Her stretch marks looked like white vines had a stranglehold on her hips.
"Too late to change your mind," he warned her, his breath fanning over her belly as he spoke. "I'm on a mission."
His tongue swirled into the hollow of her navel, sending pleasurable shivers across her skin along with a rush of heat between her legs. Even seeing his strong shoulders pinning her thighs to the bed was enough to hurtle her affection-starved body toward release.
"I didn't know you would embrace the task so, er...wholeheartedly." She'd had visions of the missionary position. Lovely, fulfilling visions where she could simply close her eyes and lose herself in the feel of all that male strength around and inside her. "Did I mention I'm feeling self-conscious?"
He trailed kisses to one hip and then the other, peering up at her with dark eyes as he licked her. Thoroughly.
"For a little while tonight, you're not a mother." He parroted her words, punctuating them with a kiss on the waistband of her simple cotton bikini panties. "You're a sexy, tantalizing woman." His teeth latched onto the elastic enough to edge them lower on her hip, before his hands slid them off completely. "My woman."
The kiss centered between her thighs was her undoing.
A gasp caught in her throat, the feel of his mouth administering wicked pleasure an experience too good to be tainted with hesitation. Her eyes slid closed, her body melting at his touch. His kiss.
She lost herself utterly, her brain latching on to the sensation of his fingers gripping her hips and his mouth teasing a response from her body faster than she would have imagined possible.
Her release hit her hard, coming in wave after wave of pleasure. He cupped her with his palm, capturing her release and helping her to ride out each heady spasm.
By the time she dared to slide open her eyes, he was already off the bed and undressing the rest of the way. Grateful she hadn't missed the sight of him naked, she savored the burnished gold of his muscles in the candlelight, his back tapering to narrow hips and strong thighs.
Reaching a languid hand out to touch him, she met his dark gaze and shivered anew. The satisfaction that weighted her limbs and curled in her belly was a release he hadn't found yet-a release he'd delayed for her sake. Even as she appreciated his restraint, she wanted desperately to distract him from his methodical seduction. He deserved the kind of passion that had taken hold of them ten and a half months ago like a fever in their blood.
Infused with new purpose, she levered herself up on an elbow and then to her knees, shuffling over to the edge of the bed where he stood. The glitter of frank male interest in his eyes gratified her, his gaze traveling all over her more generous curves in a way that gave her as much confidence as she could have ever wanted. She twined her arms around his neck and aligned their bodies again, her breasts molding to the hard planes of his pectorals.
With a growl of approval, he banded his arms around her, fitting them together tighter. Harder. Her heart rate sped up as the kiss became more demanding, his fingers spearing into her hair to cup the back of her head, angling her to receive the lush thrust of his tongue.
Lowering her to the bed, he followed her down, one hard thigh claiming the space between hers. He took a condom from the nightstand; he must have left it there when he shed his clothes.
"I've got it." Peering out of the corner of her eye, she took the condom from him. "I don't want you to stop touching me for even a second." Fingers fumbling, she opened the foil package and reached to roll the condom into place.
"Wait." He manacled her wrist with an immovable grip, surprising her. "Your touch could be the end of me." Releasing his hold, he took the condom back. "Let me."
Touched to learn she could affect him like that-this man who had groupies, for pity's sake-she caressed his bristle-roughened jaw and peered into his eyes once he had the protection in place.
Tenderness for him, for all that they'd shared, filled her chest. There'd been a time when she'd been certain she'd lose her virginity to him. A time when she'd dreamed of it in detail-repeatedly.
"Are you okay?" His question brought her back to the moment. Unwilling to let her runaway emotions spoil this, she brushed his dark hair from his forehead.
"I'll be better with you inside me," she told him honestly, needing more of the fulfillment only he could bring.
His gaze narrowed, becoming heavy-lidded with sensual focus. Lowering his mouth to her breast, he teased one tight peak with slow, circling kisses while his fingers dipped between her thighs to play in the slick heat he found there.
Her throaty moan must have encouraged him because he wasted no time positioning himself between her legs. He whispered seductive encouragement in her ear, cradling her close as he entered her. But she felt too good to go slow and, arching her hips, took more of him.
He exercised that iron grip again, holding her there for a long moment, but whether it was for his sake or her own, she couldn't say. All she knew was that it felt perfect, sharing her body with him and sharing this undeniable heat and chemistry that had never really died between them.
Eventually, he moved within her, finding a rhythm that drove them both to the brink and beyond. As she hurtled toward release, she felt him find his, the hot surge of him inside her driving her higher.
The moment went on and on as they clutched each other in the big feather bed, clinging until every last wave of pleasure had been exhausted. Only then did they fall into each other's arms in the candlelight, allowing the cool gulf breeze to soothe their overheated bodies.