e could barely swallow. She was so incredibly lovely that his teeth ached.

“Come here,” he said as he held a hand out to her.

She rose and awkwardly covered her br**sts in an effort to maintain her modesty. She looked adorably shy as she slid onto the bed next to him.

He pulled her into his arms, loving how easily she fit. “How are you feeling?”

She nuzzled against his neck and pressed a kiss to the column of his throat. “Much better now.”

“And you say I have a honeyed tongue.”

She tilted her head and smiled. “Aye, you do. There’s no doubt after earlier.”

“I’m glad I pleased my lady.”

“Aye, you please me, warrior. You please me well.”

He leaned in to kiss her. He meant for it to be a brief embrace, but he couldn’t pull himself away. Their lips made a soft smooching sound in the room. Their tongues met and dueled. This time she was more confident and much more passionate, willing to meet him halfway and demand her due.

“We have a few hours before dawn. Come back to bed with me, Keeley. Let’s not waste the time we have left.”

Her smile lit up the entire room. Then her eyes glinted and her smile turned mischievous. She put her hands to his shoulders and pushed until he reclined on the bed.

“Granted I have no experience with these matters, but it seems to me that ’twould be just as easy for me to do the loving as it is for you.”

He lifted an eyebrow but his eyes gleamed devilishly. “That’s an arrogant statement, lass. Seems to me you have to back up that statement with action.”

Her hair fell in a curtain over her shoulder as she straddled his nak*d body with her own. His approval of her arrogance was evident in his straining arousal. The idea of her covering him with her softness and of taking the initiative in loving tested the bounds of his discipline and control.

He was a patient man, but at the moment he felt the insane urge to tumble her over and drive between her thighs until it was all either of them knew or could feel.

He glanced up her body as she sat astride him, following the line over her flat belly to her full br**sts and then back down to the slim curve of her waist to her fuller hips.

His c*ck strained upward, thrusting against her soft curls nestled at his base. His breath caught and wheezed out in a strangled gasp when she lowered her hands to grasp his cock.

Her expression was one of wonder as she gently caressed his length. Up and down, she drew the skin tight and then rolled it back down until the blunt crest had widened and blood had rushed to the tip.

It was nearly painful. Each touch drove him more daft by the minute. She was exquisitely gentle, almost as if she feared hurting him.

Finally, he was able to take it no longer, and he curled his hand around hers, tightening her grasp.

“Like this,” he rasped out.

He worked from the bottom up and then down, tightening and loosening until moisture formed at the tip and slipped over their linked hands.

“Ah, lass, you drive me mad.”

“ ’Tis a good thing, I hope.”

“Aye, the best.”

Her hand still wrapped around him, she leaned down, her br**sts bobbing like tempting apples in front of him. Then she lifted her h*ps upward but then seemed at a loss. She had good instincts, but she simply didn’t have experience. He found that it gave him great satisfaction to have to offer instruction. She was his. She’d never been with another man. It was up to him to teach her all she needed and to give her ultimate pleasure.

He grasped her h*ps and aided her in lifting up. “Like this, lass. Just like this.” He fitted her over his c*ck and carefully began to pull her down.

They both gasped when he found her heat and sank slowly into her. She paused and chewed nervously at her bottom lip as her body spasmed around him.

He raised one hand to stroke her hair, wanting to soothe her worries. “Easy. Nice and slow,” he murmured.

She trembled as she began a slow descent once more. It was the most excruciating agony of Alaric’s life and he wanted to die from the pleasure of it.

She surrounded him. Bathed him in her fire. Her velvety softness grasped him and sucked him deeper. She stroked his c*ck with liquid satin. She sheathed him whole.

Gingerly she settled her tiny rounded bottom over his groin as flesh met flesh. He was embedded as deeply in her as he could go, and still it wasn’t enough.

His flesh felt alive. Like a thousand insects crawled just below the surface. He needed to move.

Sweat broke out on his forehead and on his upper lip. His breaths came ragged, harsh in the silence.

Smooth, silken flesh seduced his fingers as he caressed her slim back and stroked over her hips. He wanted to give her as much time as she needed to grow accustomed to being on top.

She gave a tentative rotation, and he groaned aloud.

She stopped instantly, concern flashing in her eyes.

“Nay, don’t stop, lass. God, please, don’t stop. ’Tis wondrous.”

Placing her hands on his chest, she levered up, his c*ck gliding through her damp heat. Then she sheathed him again, pushing downward until her bottom met his groin once more. Then she rotated in a tight circle, watching his face all the while.

“You are a temptress,” he said raggedly.

“Angel no more. Am I back to being a demon from hell?”

“Wicked angel. The very best kind.” He rose up and circled her in his arms, the action pushing her further onto his cock. “My angel.”

She cradled him against her and then tilted their heads and took him in a savage kiss. She took his breath away. Possessive. Like he belonged only to her. And in this moment he did. No other woman existed for him. He doubted one ever would.

He reached down to curl his fingers around her hips. He needed her. Needed to push deep. To demonstrate his possession again. He lifted and then drove deep, arching his hips. They both cried out.

Her hands flew frantically over his shoulders, seeking purchase. With a growl, his lips found her neck, nipping and biting at the delectable flesh.

She arched her back, plumping her br**sts against his chest. The chords in her neck strained and bulged as he lifted and thrust over and over.

“ ’Twas I who was supposed to love you,” she said breathlessly.

“Oh aye, you were and you did. If you love me any harder, I’ll die from the effort.”

“Please,” she begged. “ ’Tis burning, Alaric. I can’t … I must …”

“Do what you must,” he urged.

She gripped his shoulders and began lifting herself out of his hands, pushing downward, harder and faster until she rode him as surely as he would his steed.

Unable to keep the position any longer, he lay back, hitting the mattress as she came down over him. He helped her, but she was a wild thing in his arms, her h*ps undulating as she took him over and over.

He’d never been so aroused by a woman. He’d never thought a woman so beautiful or giving. He’d never wanted a woman to be his as he wanted her.

His release boiled in his loins, rising like a tumultuous storm. Building, burning. Oh God, he wouldn’t last.

He slid his hand between their bodies, finding her slick heat. He stroked her pleasure spot and shuddered in ecstasy when she tightened spasmodically around him.

“I can’t last,” he cried hoarsely.

“Then let go,” she said, echoing his words from earlier. She leaned down and cupped his face in her hands. “I’ll be here to catch you, warrior.”

Her sweetness flooded his soul. With a strangled gasp, he let go and arched up. He barely managed to grasp her h*ps and tear himself from her sheath. He erupted in great liquid spurts as her hand cupped over him, holding him against her belly.

He continued to pulse against her flesh, his hands curled into tight balls at his sides. He twitched and thrust against her, unable to hold still as pleasure tore through his bones.

As he slowly lowered himself down to the bed once more, her grasp gentled and then she let go. She gazed curiously at his cock, now only partially erect and wiped her finger over a drop of liquid on the head.

She glanced back up at him before carefully sliding her finger into her mouth. Her tongue danced over the tip before letting it fall free, and he groaned all over again.

She lifted one delicate brow as his c*ck twitched and became instantly erect.

“I wondered at your taste,” she said huskily. “You liked me tasting you.” She cocked her head to the side in concentration. “Before, when you loved me with your mouth and tongue … is that something men like for women to do to them?”

“Oh aye,” he breathed. “Just imagining your sweet mouth around my shaft is more than I can bear.”

“Oh. ’Tis something I’ve never given thought to before.”

He chuckled. “I should hope not. Where would you have gotten such thoughts from?”

She smiled. “Only a few hours in your company and I find myself completely debauched. Surely other lasses don’t dwell on such things.”

“I don’t care what other lasses think about,” he murmured. “Just one particular lass, and I’m awfully glad she’s thinking what she is right now.”

“Is it too soon?” she asked hesitantly. “I mean for me to …”

“Let me clean myself. Then I’ll lie down so you’re comfortable.”

She reclined on her elbow and watched as he strode nak*d across the chamber to the pitcher and basin by the window. It was intensely arousing to watch him carefully clean the stickiness from his shaft. She glanced down at the smear on her belly and realized that she, too, needed cleaning.

She looked up, prepared to rise but Alaric had returned, a wet cloth in his hand. He reclined on the bed next to her and gently wiped away his sem*n from her belly.

His shaft distended stiffly from his groin, and he didn’t look comfortable. How could he be? It looked … painful. Swollen and thick.

Tentatively, she reached out to touch him. He jerked against her and made an odd sound in his throat.

“I’m not certain what to do. I don’t want to do it … wrong.”

Alaric smiled and cupped her cheek. “I guarantee you won’t do it wrong. Well, unless you use your teeth.”

She giggled and then trailed her hand over his abdomen and up to his chest. “Perchance, you could instruct me on the way of it.”

He kissed her, then nibbled at the corner of her mouth. “Aye, lass. I’ll show you the way of it, and then I’ll die a happy man inside your mouth.”

He rolled from the bed and stood at the edge. He held out his hand and when she took it, he pulled her to a sitting position. Then he arranged her legs so that her feet were planted on the floor and she was perched on the edge of the straw mattress.

She caught on immediately when she saw that his shaft was on perfect level with her mouth. He reached for her head, tangling his fingers in her hair as he positioned her just so.

“Open your mouth, lass. Let me inside.”

He dropped one hand from her head and grasped the base of his cock. Slowly he guided himself forward, past her parted lips and over her tongue.

The sensation startled her. He was incredibly hard, blunt and probing, and yet the skin was silky soft, the sensation intoxicating.

“Relax. Trust me and breathe through your nose.”

She hadn’t realized how tense she was until his words settled over her. Heeding his instruction, she willed herself to relax and she sucked in air through her nostrils.

He framed her head with his hands and held her firmly while he eased forward, deeper than before. His fingers trembled. It was the only sign of how affected he was by her attentions.

Never had she imagined such an explicit act. It seemed tawdry, a whore’s trick, something a lady would never contemplate, much less do. But it aroused Keeley. She wanted to please him—was desperate to please him. Her body did such odd things. Her br**sts plumped and swelled. Her most feminine parts throbbed and pulsed, so much so that the slightest touch would send her spiraling out of control.

His taste was as masculine as his scent. Strong. A hint of wood and smoke. She inhaled deeply, wanting his taste and his scent embedded into her memory.

A tiny spurt of liquid seeped onto her tongue. For a moment she savored it and allowed it to lubricate the deeper thrusts. Then she tenderly slid her tongue over the tip, sipping until there was nothing left.

He rocked up on his toes, straining forward as his fingers tightened on the sides of her head.

“Let me deeper. Swallow. Aye, that’s it, Keeley. Just like that. Take me whole.”

She swallowed against him and sucked him deep. For a moment she struggled to breathe, but he adjusted the angle so she was more comfortable.

He was inside her. All she could taste, breathe, or see was him. His heavy sac rested against her chin and the rough hairs at his groin tickled her nose.

When he retreated, he breathed so raggedly that the tortured sound was loud in the room. For a long moment he stood there, panting, his c*ck still distended a mere inch from her mouth while she, too, gasped for breath.