Tempted by Virginia Henley Page B

needed the thrust of his shaft.
    She tasted the texture of him and caught the scent of hisspecial maleness. Her fingers tangled in the black night of his hair, and she felt she would scream if he aroused her further or die if he did not soon give her release. He lifted his mouth from hers and his hands lightly caressed her back “Is the Gypsy your brother?”
    Every sense was filled with Ram Douglas, so it took a moment for her thoughts to organize themselves. “No, Heath is not my brother.”
    “This Heath—is he your sometime lover?”
    She puzzled over the questions, not wanting to talk. “No, no. He has no desire for me, no claim upon me at all. Do not worry, my lord.”
    “He prefers redheads,” said Ram Douglas.
    Suddenly she knew. Zara knew exactly what he wanted —precisely how he would go about getting it—and yet she did not care. She wanted something from him, and if she could, she would make him pay the price in full She untangled her slim brown legs from his body and stood upon the bed. “I told you, my lord,” she said playfully, “I do not know her name.”
    Ram Douglas smiled inwardly. By her denial, she had just told him she knew the girl’s name as well as she knew her own. It would be child’s play to coax it from her. He could be a most persuasive man when he put half a mind to it. He spread himself across her bed and pulled her down on top of him. He slid his hard shaft into her hot, wet cleft and rubbed it back and forth in a most seductive and tantalizing manner.
    Zara reached down between their bodies and tried to guide him up inside her. Ram’s hand slid down to cup her and form a barrier. Holding her whole mons in his warm, strong hand, he squeezed and massaged her expertly. “I really don’t know her name,” she gasped stubbornly.
    His hand came up to grasp her chin, and as his mouth lifted to take hers, he growled, “Hush” His kisses were like heaven. His mouth was so firm and so demanding, she gave herself up to him totally. He rolled her onto her backand held her captive between his muscular thighs. He was torturing her, and he knew it—damn him to hellfire!
    “I—I think her name is Tina,” she whispered. The name meant nothing to Ram, but he rewarded Zara for the scrap of information He braced himself above her on his arms, then thrust deeply inside her. She cried out her pleasure, digging her nails into his massive shoulders. He thrust savagely three times, filling her completely until he was buried to the hilt Then suddenly he withdrew and said, “Let’s go outside now that it’s darker This small caravan makes me feel trapped.”
    Zara knew it was a cruel game he played. She knew also that before he was finished with her, she would give him the rich lady’s name. Hellfire, Ram Douglas would arouse her to the point where she’d give him her soul if he asked for it!
    She wrapped a shawl about her body and slipped outside. Ram followed her naked. He was one of those men who enjoyed being naked. He was totally at ease without his clothes, never feeling threatened or vulnerable, as others did when they were bare. It was the animal side of him. It felt natural, and like most animals he was well furred.
    He took her to the riverbank and laid her back in the long, cool grass, stroking the most vulnerable, intimate places of her straining, healthy young body. He kissed her temples, her eyelids, her high cheekbones, and then he hung over her in the moonlight with his hungry eyes upon her mouth. The tension built until it was unendurable. “She lives west.”
    Ram’s fingertips traced a line from her taut nipple, straight down across her belly and directly to the swollen bud high in the slit between her legs. He took it between his finger and thumb, rolling it gently, then squeezing it rhythmically, keeping time with her heartbeat.
    Zara’s hand reached out to cup his heavy sac, and she used the same technique on him, gently rolling his balls one against the other to