Page 36

S he had been wondering how she would manage when she returned to her room that night, how she would face weeks or months of uncertainty.

Leo’s hesitation had sapped whatever little confidence she’d summoned to make such an extraordinary request. Perhaps she could avoid sleeping all together, or sneak into her little sister’s room.

The garden had originally been a last resort to calm her mind in hopes that the idea of a two-month engagement wouldn’t trigger more nightmares.

But then something kindled in his eyes, and he was kissing her exactly how she’d needed him to.

With intent.

With hunger.

She wanted to be claimed so her mind would finally rest. So the only thing she could focus on was the truth of what it was like to lie with him.

What it would be like to be not only a wife but his wife.

She wanted to connect something to marriage other than the feeling of being left behind and waiting for her fate to be determined by someone else.

She went up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his waist spreading her fingers over the hard expanse of his back.

He kissed her deeper than ever before pressing her back, his strong hands caressing her neck, his arms wrapping around her waist and crushing her against his body.

His mouth wandered over her cheek and down her neck, his tongue darting out to taste her skin sending shivers of sensation skittering over her skin.

His hand swept over the length of her back to close around her bottom and she moaned against his mouth.

He moved them backward until her back was against a hard surface, but she couldn’t be bothered to check what it was.

Not when his body was pinning hers against it.

It was delicious to be trapped by him, surrounded by his scent as his lips left a lusty trail over every patch of skin he could find on her neck and shoulders.

She was aching from the onslaught of sensations, especially in her breasts and between her legs.

She squeezed her thighs together, desperate for pressure to ease the ache there as something hard pressed against her stomach.

He picked her up and her legs parted as her arms wrapped around his shoulder, her thighs bracketing his lean hips.

Then he pressed that hard thick ridge between her legs where she was most tender.

She tore her mouth away with a gasp and her body almost went limp with pleasure.

“Leo.”

He groaned and lifted his head from her skin easing away from her slightly. “Alright?”

She whimpered as the pressure lessened leaving her needy and desperate.

“More,” she pleaded pulling his head closer.

He followed her lead kissing her deeply grinding his hips against hers, swallowing the moans she released into his mouth.

He lowered them until he was kneeling on the grass, resting her on his lap.

His hands closed around her shoulders, and he pulled back.

“Regina—”

“Rajani,” she said. That name sounded wrong here, now. “Call me Rajani.”

He smiled and brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek. “Rajani,” he repeated.

Yes, that was much better. She leaned forward and kissed him tugging at his suspenders, running her hands under the collar of his shirt, desperate to feel his hot smooth skin.

His fingers tugged at her nightgown, pulling the neckline until it slid off her shoulder and down her arm.

His mouth followed closely raining kisses over every inch of skin.

He cupped her breast, and her head fell back against whatever was behind her. How did everything feel so good?

She tried to pull at his shirt but every time his fingers brushed over her nipples she lost track of what she was meant to be doing.

Her body was so restless and greedy for his touch, for him to keep rubbing himself against that one point between her legs that needed him most. She heard the breathless moans escaping her lips, and they would have been embarrassing if his rumbling groans weren’t there to answer.

The pleasure in her body began to build and coalesce in her center with a suddenness that was almost alarming.

She clutched at his shoulders, unable to do anything as it burst within her, leaving her weak and dizzy.

His hand left her breast just as hers came up to press it into her soft flesh.

She drew back to ask why he stopped then she felt his fingers on her bare leg, moving up to her thigh, pulling her nightgown higher.

She stiffened in surprise and her legs twitched, tightening around his hips.

He met her eyes, his gaze like molten honey.

“Alright?” he asked, his voice a husky grumble. She nodded vigorously, unsure if she could manage to speak just then. She’d touched her leg before, but it had never felt like this.

“Was that it?” she asked.

“It can be. We don’t have to go further than this, we can stop now.”

The idea of him taking his hands off her was enough to have her eyes stinging. She shook her head and touched his face. “Don’t stop, please.”

He nodded and pressed his face against her throat, sucking at the sensitive skin as his fingertips drew gentle circles up her inner thighs, closer and closer to where all the nerves in her body were awakening to fever pitch once again.

“Leo.”

“More?”

“Yes, God yes,” she gasped “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting you ready for me,” he whispered against her skin.

“Why?”

“You’re so wet devika.”

She shivered at that name, and her core fluttered around his finger.

“You like that name?”

She nodded.

“Good, you’re wet now, but you are too tight. If I take you now I’ll hurt you.”

Her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her forehead to his, gasping against his face. He slid a second finger inside her and the stretch had her hissing in a breath. “Alright baby?”

“Yes.”

“Can you take one more for me?” he murmured, and she clenched again, crying out as he moved his fingers in and out, curling them to drag along the sensitive walls of her core.

She couldn’t catch her breath any more than she could keep her hips from jerking against his hand.

His thumb brushed against that swollen nubbin at her center, and she cried out before burying her face against his shoulder.

The pleasure was almost too sharp, too intense, but with every gentle brush of his thumb the stretch of her body around his fingers lessened and the tension in her core was building again.

Soon she was rocking her hips against his hand, kissing him hard, gripping the back of his head with one hand, and clutching his arm with the other.

Every time that feeling came it was sharper, bigger, more overwhelming than before, leaving her breathless and tingling all over.

She pulled at his shirt with weak fingers until he had mercy on her and pulled it off himself and gathered her close, crushing her breasts to his chest. He lifted her slightly with one arm and reached between them to ease himself into her soaked tingling center.

She watched his eyes slam shut with a frown as he slid inside her slowly, stretching her past the point of comfort.

There was a pinch sharp enough to distract her from the pleasurable echoes in her blood.

It was almost too much. She could barely breathe, wishing he would stop moving for a moment.

“Devika, are you well?”

“It hurts.”

“Try to relax sweeting,” his hand swept up and down her back, trailing over her shoulders, pressing soft gentle kisses to her neck.

Gradually the discomfort subsided, and she felt herself relax in his arms. Which was when he slid deeper stealing her breath away.

“Better?” he asked his voice tense. She nodded even as her eyes stayed shut.

Slowly he withdrew from her and with one flex of his hips drove himself back inside. She gasped at the feeling. It wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as it had been before, but it didn’t feel nearly as good as what he’d done with his hands.

She rocked her hips against him and his pelvis brushed against hers rubbing that sensitive cluster of nerves at the apex of her thighs.

She gasped softly, her core clenching down in response and heard him groan.

She moved her hips again and his hand closed around one, as his eyes fluttered closed, a frown creasing his brow.

“Is that alright?” she asked.

“It’s perfect, you’re perfect.” He leaned more into her, guiding her movements until they were moving as one.

His thrusts went deeper, faster as he gasped and groaned against her skin whispering words of praise, telling her how good she felt, how well she moved, how much he wanted her.

In his arms, surrounded by his strength, his care and his passion she truly felt like the goddess he called her.

She kissed his temple, pulled him closer, nuzzling his cheek, listening to his tributary moans, reveling in her ability to please him.

She was so caught up in him that her release nearly caught her by surprise.

His grip on her body tightened and his rhythm picked up lighting a spark that had her arching against his, her head falling back limply against that tree and her fingertips digging into his shoulders.

Her hips churned against his, seeking that ecstatic pinnacle once more and she felt his hand reach between them to touch her and send her over the edge into blinding light.

She stiffened against him, crying out into the night, his grip on her hip and her waist almost bruising in its strength as he emptied himself inside her.