Colin looked at her, perched like an angel on the bed, her hands a deathgrip in her lap, her cheeks flushed crimson, her eyes trying not to meet his. She looked scared, uncertain—but of what? Of him? At this moment she seemed so innocent, so unready, so virginal. She had been at court for six years, but Colin had a growing sense that he might be the first man she'd ever known. But as much as he wanted her, as much as his desires were boiling to the surface at even the sight of her, he wanted her to understand that he would never force her to do anything that she wasn't ready for. With time and patience on his part, Colin knew, she would want him as much as he wanted her. And he wanted her, not just for tonight, not for a short while. He wanted her for eternity.
“Celia, I will not take advantage of you, of this situation we are in,” Colin said soothingly. “We will have other times and other places together.”
Her eyes shot up to meet his. He could see the look of gratitude in them. She was not ready. And he would wait.
“But you're going to have to be more helpful,” he said with a half smile.
“What do you want me to do?” Celia asked solicitously.
“Get under the covers,” Colin ordered.
She moved under the blanket in one swift movement, pulling it all the way to her chin.
“Stay on your side of the bed,” he continued. “Do not touch me. Do not look at me. Do not even think about me. Do you understand?”
She nodded with a slow grin, turning her back to him as he continued to undress.
“Trust me, you'll pay for this,” he said, smiling and pulling the blanket back to get under it.
The cold breezes of the spring morning brushed across Colin's naked shoulder where the blanket had slipped down. Still more asleep than awake, he snuggled closer to the warm back that had fit itself to the contours of his abdomen.
He was not entirely conscious of the leg that was lying between his own, nor of his own arms that had encircled her body. Celia's head lay on his arm, and her back was pressed snugly against his chest. The shirt that she wore had ridden up, and the skin of her legs lay warmly against the skin of his.
Colin's hand was resting on her full, round breast, and when he moved, Celia responded to his tightening embrace by pushing her body even tighter against his.
As she did, Colin's hand brushed lightly across the sensitive aureole of her breast, and her nipple hardened in response.
Colin came fully awake as he felt Celia react to his unconscious touch. They had gravitated toward each other with a natural magnetism during the night, and he had not even been aware of it.
In her dream Celia was adrift in a golden sea. The boat was filled with flowers of every color, saturating the air with an aroma that intoxicated her. She lay on a bed of gold, and the blue sky above was unmarked by any cloud. She felt the warm, gentle breeze rippling through the thin linen that covered her body. Suddenly she was aware of a man beside her—holding her, touching her.
She felt herself being drawn into him. While one hand held her close, his other softly stroked the skin of her face, her neck. As his touch spread, Celia felt herself extend to his hand. She felt the smooth linen move against the skin of her breasts. Her nipples rose to the fingertips that circled the sensitive spot, driving waves of pleasure deep into her body.
By now, Colin was fully aroused as Celia's warm body pressed ever tighter against his own. Her scent mingled with the fresh breeze coming in the narrow window opening, and Colin was somewhat overwhelmed with the mixed feelings of tenderness and desire that he was experiencing for this woman lying so contentedly in his arms.
His hand continued to explore her breasts, cupping the fullness of one, and traveling to the other, gently squeezing with a pressure that caused her to breathe in sharply. He pushed aside the heavy gold medallion and chain.
Into Celia's dream vision came seabirds, wheeling high above—wild, flashing, specks of white in the brilliant blue of the day sky. His hand left her breasts and moved down across her belly to her hip, where the linen of her shift ended. He lifted the light fabric, and his fingers slid upward again across her smooth skin to her breasts. Shivers gave way to shudders as she felt him gently massage and pinch the erect nipples.
Celia was now awake and deliciously conscious of the warm closeness of him behind her, around her, enveloping her. She had awakened to the magic that his hands were working in her. She felt no fear, only desire and intense anticipation as his lips found the soft angle of her neck. His lips were hot against her skin, and Celia rolled her head along his biceps to give him better access. Her skin seemed to rise in response as he placed hot kisses along the smoothness of her neck. His teeth and lips were gentle as he took her earlobe, suckling lightly.
With a gasp a single word escaped her lips, “Colin.”
Colin lifted his face slightly to take in her beauty.
“I'm here, love,” he whispered.
With those simple words that came so naturally to Colin's lips, Celia's spirit was lifted into a new world. Lying there in Colin's arms, she felt safe, cared for, desired.
Colin wanted to make love to Celia now, to share with her pleasures that he sensed she'd never before experienced. He wanted to release the passion that he knew she had within her.
Celia turned slightly in his arms, facing him, opening herself even more to his tender touch. Their lips met in the frenzied white heat of desire for each other, frantically devouring each other, tasting each other with insatiable tongues that danced and probed, rubbed and met within the soft recesses of her mouth.
Colin could hear the sound, originating in his own head, the low roaring that he knew would build and eventually block out all other sounds. But as it grew, a sign of his own surging passion, he wanted to bring Celia with him to those heights of ecstasy that he knew lay ahead. Trying to focus on her, a task that would require all the discipline he could summon, Colin turned his head slightly, moving his lips to her chin, tracing hot tracks with his lips and tongue down the front of her neck deep into the V of the shirt’s neckline into the valley between her breasts.
Lifting one breast with his strong, tender hand, Colin's lips tantalized her by suckling her nipple through the thin linen of the shirt, causing Celia to moan as her back arched to the sensation.
Tremors shook Celia's body as his hand left her breast and moved down her belly to the small triangle of soft hair at the junction of her thighs. Instinctively, her hips rose to his pressure, her legs slowly scissoring open as his fingers lightly explored. In an instant, flashes of red and white were now streaking through her vision, and Celia could feel her breath shortening as her body began to pulsate to a rhythm she had never known...and always known.
Celia found herself fighting back a sense of urgency that was sweeping through her. Desperately she wanted to feel his skin beneath her fingertips, to hold his body close to her, to make him feel the things that she was feeling. She turned to face him completely as Colin lifted his mouth again to hers. His hand moved over her hip to the firm, round flesh of her backside, pulling her firmly against the erect presence of his manhood.
Celia gasped at the feel of the throbbing hardness against her skin of her thighs. It was like nothing she had ever felt against her body before.
“You slept with nothing on,” she exclaimed, thrilling at the sensations that were flooding through her. She moved her fingers across the contours of his powerfully muscled chest.
Colin paused as her words penetrated the whirring roar that was filling his head. He moved one leg over her, keeping her on her side and pressed against him, as he reluctantly pulled back his face. He looked into Celia's angelic face, at her expression of mild shock, of wonder, of curiosity. He wanted to prolong this moment if he could, to savor it.
“Mmm...do you like it?” he growled, his hand and leg tightening her against him.
She was a bit overwhelmed by the pulsating organ pressed against her belly so intimately. She nodded tentatively.
“I do, Colin,” she whispered, hesitating before she continued. “But I'm frightened, too.”
“Why?” he asked vacantly, caressing the silky skin of her lower back.
“Because I have never done this before,” she answered, her eyes fixed on his mouth.
“I knew you were a virgin,” he said. Full of mischief, his eyes drew her gaze to him.
“What do you mean?” she asked seriously, raising both hands to his chest. “What ever made you think that?”
“Because you've had plenty of opportunities to ravish me, but you haven't...yet.”
Celia shoved Colin over on his back, and he let her, pulling his leg back from its position over her thigh. She rolled onto him and, putting her weight directly on him, propped herself up on his chest with her elbows. Her necklace dangled from her neck, and the medallion lay on his skin.
“Ravish you?” she exclaimed, smiling down on him. “Is that what you're accustomed to?”
“If you're the one doing the ravishing, I could easily get used to it.”
“You are not answering my question,” Celia said, taking his face in both her hands, sliding her body up his torso to kiss his lips. As she did, her hip ground softly against his arousal, and a groan was his only answer. Her mouth descended on his, and she kissed him lightly, nibbling at his full lips, her tongue darting out to tease him, to tantalize.