An Innocent Affair by Kim Lawrence Page A

too dry.
    â€˜No, there’s no resemblance at all,’ he contradicted. ‘Ingenuity is one of my strong points. I won’t let this—’ he touched the cast ‘—spoil things for you.’
    â€˜I was thinking about you.’ She applied her tongue to her dry lips.
    â€˜Angel, nothing short of divine intervention would spoil things for me at this point.’
    â€˜Alex,’ she breathed in shock, ‘you can’t do that!’
    â€˜I can.’ He sounded very confident about this.
    â€˜You can’t want to do that!’
    â€˜I do.’ His firm assertion silenced her feeble protest, and after the initial rejection she began to relax. It was electrifying, and the erotic friction sent her swiftly spiralling out of control. The rhythmic lash of his tongue instilled a primitive urge to fight for possession. She needed him to take her completely. In a husky, faltering voice she told him this—she screamed it as her clawed fingers tangled in his hair.
    Alex’s taut smile was filled with male triumph. He wanted to extend her need to its ultimate limit, even though doing so was a form of torture. To feel her shudder and frantically writhe with want, and to know it was his name on her lips, was more arousing than anything he’d ever experienced.
    He was sure this level of intimacy was new to her. But this wasn’t the time to wonder at this unexpected discovery.
    Alex knelt between her splayed legs and pulled her across his steel thighs. He distributed her weight more evenly as his hands scooped her buttocks. She didn’t need to move her injured leg; it was firmly anchoredbeside his hip. This display of strength was a lot more than impressive; it was primitively arousing.
    Tongue caught between her teeth, Hope looked at the point where his sex nudged the triangle of damp thatch between her legs. Hot need flooded through her, and just as she thought she’d die from sheer want he slid forward and up, sheathing himself inside her.
    He’d positioned her so that he could set the pace, but she could and did urge him on with her strong pelvic muscles and hoarse but enthusiastic cries of encouragement. She sensed he was holding himself back, and she had no intention of allowing that. She wasn’t fragile; she didn’t want tentative.
    â€˜Is this what you want?’ he growled.
    â€˜Yes, oh, yes!’ she cried as he buried himself up the hilt. She greedily absorbed him. Her hands fought for purchase against the glistening skin of his back. Her head fell against his shoulder as he continued to thrust into her. Her laboured gasps scalded the skin of his neck as the pressure built.
    When it came, the release shook Hope deeply. The wave of delight invaded each separate nerve-ending in her body. Her body arched backwards and, head thrown back, she cried his name. Her cries were almost instantly drowned by Alex’s gratified groan, and feeling him pulsing within her brought tears of emotional fulfilment to her eyes.
    Once she’d started the tears wouldn’t seem to stop. Alex’s alarm was only brief, and then he appeared to instinctively recognise them for what they were, and he was content to soothe her body until only the occasional hiccough shook her.
    â€˜I’m sorry.’ She couldn’t put into words how profoundly the experience had touched her.
    â€˜I think it was a compliment.’ He touched the dampness on her cheek.
    â€˜It was.’ She placed her cheek against his chest and felt the heavy thud of his heartbeat.
    Â 
    She did eventually sleep, and when she woke up Alex was propped up on one arm, watching her. His expression was enigmatic but promising.
    â€˜Hello.’
    Alex caught his breath. Where he’d been half anticipating wariness and caution, she was all uncomplicated warmth.
    â€˜Hello,’ he responded huskily. She stretched lithely, hooking one arm above her head and brushing tangled strands of