Midnight Eyes by Brophy, Sarah (well read books .TXT) 📕

“If you what, Imogen? Tell me.”

She raised her hands and held on to his biceps to steady herself. She could feel the iron of his muscles under his tunic. He was so strong, she thought dazedly, but that strength was protective instead of threatening. Suddenly she longed for the safety Robert represented, longed to lean into it, to never have to be alone in the dark again.

“Kiss me.” Her voice was just a husky whisper, surprising herself as much as him. The silence that followed was deafening.

When Robert made no move, need drove Imogen to press a chaste kiss on his warm lips, but she realized with frustration that it wasn’t enough. She leaned up and kissed him more boldly. His mouth remained firmly closed until he felt her tongue flick along it with small, butterfly movements, then he groaned and pulled her close, claiming her lips as his.

She snaked her hands over his arms, along the contours of his broad shoulders. It wasn’t enough. She moved her hands down his sides, playing along the muscles, muscles she longed to touch, skin to skin. She pulled ineffectually at his tunic.

He pulled his lips free of hers and searched her passion-flushed face. “Is this what you want?” he asked fiercely, but all she heard was his gentle concern. It was that gentleness that made up her mind.

She was going to be daring and grab the elusive happiness her instinct told her this moment was going to give her.

In this place built for her torment she was going to, once and for all, destroy all of her memories of Roger violating her soul, if not yet her body. They were going to be replaced with the cleansing memories of this man, who gruffly waited for her to give him permission to do what they both wanted, to become her husband in deed as well as word.

“Take your tunic off,” she murmured, her hands moving desperately to the offending garment’s hem.

He carefully moved her hands up to his clothed chest and covered both of them with one of his. “I’m serious, Imogen. I’m only a man, and if we don’t stop now, I won’t stop till you are my wife in every sense of the word.”

She seemed to look him straight in the eye. “I don’t want you to stop.”

A rational part of him counseled caution, but it was drowned out by the desire that burned him clear through to his soul. He lifted his other hand and pulled off his cloak. The tunic followed.

She leaned forward and placed a kiss on the center of his bare chest. He closed his eyes for a moment as the air in his lungs turned to fire. He brought her face to his and captured her lips in a devouring kiss, and set about freeing her of her garments. He lifted his head briefly to see his handiwork.

The bodice of the dress had slipped off her shoulders, exposing her breasts to his hungry gaze, their alabaster perfection peaked by rose-pink nipples that tightened in the cool air.

“You’re perfect,” he said as he lifted a calloused finger to trace the faint blue veins under her white skin.

A nervous giggle caught in her throat. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Oh, no, don’t just take my word for it. Let me show you just how perfect.”

He lowered his head and she nearly levitated as his mouth followed his touch. She threw back her head to moan her ecstasy and thrust her breasts out closer to his touch. He lifted both of his hands to frame her soft beauty and lifted his head so that his breath scorched her moist flesh.

“See, perfect,” he said tightly as he lowered his head, once more trailing kisses from one breast to the other, quickly finding her other aching nipple.

He was right, this was perfection. And it was only beginning. Whenever she had dared to think about this moment, she had thought only of the pain and darkness she had known before, but with Robert she felt only wanted and cherished. When he reached round her and pulled one of the furs onto the floor she found herself clumsily trying to help him, wanting this precious moment like she had never wanted anything before. Carefully Robert covered its dusty surface with his cloak before gently laying her back against it, divesting her of the rest of her clothes.

The beauty of her naked body stole his breath away. From the white swell of her hips to the delicate curve of her instep, it was all beyond anything his lurid imagination had been able to create. He quickly shed his leggings and joined her, reveling in the way she greeted him with open arms.

She couldn’t stop herself from flinching instinctively as she felt his manhood press hot, hard and naked against her thigh, her bravery deserting her for a moment.

Robert frowned, carefully watching her face closely for any sign of fear. Gently, he moved her hands to that part of him. “I would have you know me,” he said roughly, guiding her hands along his arousal.

With curious fingers she moved slowly over the length of him. She ran a fingertip over the satin of his shaft, touched the pearl of moisture at the tip and buried her hand in the coarse hair at the base. She encircled him completely and gently squeezed.

He groaned out loud, and she smiled, realizing for the first time that in this, she too had a power, one that went far beyond mere physical strength. Teasingly she moved to pull her hands away but he stopped her.

“No. Stay,” he said raggedly and he withstood her exploration until his passion reached a fever pitch that could no longer be denied. He needed her.

With shaking hands he removed hers, wrapping her arms around his neck as he covered her body with his own, snaring her lips in another drugging kiss. His hands played over her body to tangle in the moist