Lovers Forever by Shirlee Busbee Page B

sweet kisses across his face, she murmured, “Then I think that I had better stay, don’t you?”

Chapter Six

    W ith something between a groan and a laugh, Nicolas swept her into his arms and carried her across the room to the waiting bed. Together they sank into the welcoming softness of the quilts on the feather-filled mattress.
    If Tess knew even a moment of uncertainty, it vanished the instant Nicolas’s mouth closed on hers. His kisses were every bit as intoxicating and drugging as the brandy, and with a sigh of pleasure she offered her mouth and body and pushed aside all the doubts and fears of the day. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about who she was and the consequences of tonight. Right now, she needed this man, needed his warmth and power, needed the sweet sense of belonging, the sure feeling that this was meant to happen.
    He kissed her hungrily, his tongue seeking entrance to the honey warmth behind her lips, and shyly, hesitantly, Tess opened her mouth to give him what he sought. Nicolas gave a small satisfied groan when his tongue surged into her mouth, and Tess’s fingers unconsciously dug into his broad back at the explosion of feeling that erupted through her at that betraying sound. The warm intimacy of his tongue leisurely exploring her mouth was a revelation to her, the notion of something so simple giving so much pleasure, arousing so many new emotions within her, utterly overwhelming. Her body felt as if it were on fire, her breasts swelling, yearning for his touch, her loins aching and demanding release from the increasingly voluptuous sensations that racked her.
    It was an intoxicating madness to lie in his arms, to have his knowing mouth wreak its rapture on hers, to feel his hard body pushing hers deeper into the soft mattress. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, her restless fingers tangling in his thick dark hair. Until this moment, Tess had never been so vitally aware of the elemental difference between men and women. His broad chest was crushed against her breasts, his lower body was half lying on hers, the rigid bar of flesh between his legs pressed insistently against her thigh, and she was both excited and frightened by the wanton certainty that whoever she may be, whatever her past, after tonight she would never be the same again.
    But it didn’t matter; none of it mattered, except that she be freed from these sweet demons that rode her, that she find her way with this man to the thrilling pinnacle she knew awaited them. How she knew what great pleasure she would find in his arms was a mystery, but she knew it, knew it with every fiber of her being.
    Nicolas’s lips slid from her mouth, down her throat, and Tess’s clothes suddenly felt too tight, too restricting, the worn material pressing too tightly against her breasts, rubbing too persistently against her entire body. She twisted helplessly beneath him, and as if guessing her discomfort, he laughed low and brushed a teasing hand over her breast, lingering on her nipples.
    Tess gasped, her eyes flying open at the sharp sensation that shot through her as his fingers toyed lightly with her peaked nipple. Astonished, she stared at his dark, lean face, hardly able to believe how desperately she wanted to be naked—to have him touch her again in just that manner, but with no barriers between them. To her mortification, she saw that her own questing hands had already half pushed off his shirt. The sight of his near naked chest, of that smooth, heavily muscled expanse of golden skin, made something clench deep within her body.
    Nicolas smiled at the expression on her face and said with far more lightness than he felt, “I think it’s time to dispense with these infernal bits of cloth, don’t you?”
    Dazedly Tess nodded, watching breathlessly as he rose from the bed and carelessly shrugged out of his garments. In naked splendor, one brow cocked quizzically, he stared back at