Page 41 of The Forbidden Lord (Lord Trilogy #2)

Thankfully, he supplied the answer himself.

“Apparently not.” He caressed her with his mouth again, lingering over her until it felt as if a spring were twisting inside her, tighter and tighter with every touch of his tongue to her too sensitive skin.

She grabbed fistfuls of damask coverlet to keep from clasping him to her and showing him just how wicked she was.

But she couldn’t stifle her small cries of pleasure. “Yes … oh, goodness gracious … Jordan … Jordan …”

“Do you like that? Does it please you, my darling Emily? Or shall I stop?”

“No!” Shame swept her at this evidence of her wantonness, but her hips moved toward his mouth. “I mean … I don’t know … please, Jordan … please …”

He didn’t stop. His tongue was inside her, stroking her … tightening the spring until she could almost not bear it anymore. So much tension … it was too much … she would never endure it …

Then suddenly it snapped, spinning outward to shoot pleasure through every limb and vein and muscle. It tore an animal cry from her as her body arched up off the bed, then collapsed in a great shudder of release.

When she could think again, she found him watching her with a grin of pure male satisfaction. She was smiling, too, and couldn’t seem to stop. Every part of her body felt soft and languid and delicious.

“I will ‘do,’ will I?” he growled as he moved up over her, planting his hands on either side of her shoulders. Sweat plastered tendrils of auburn hair to his forehead, and his face shone with raw desire. “Now we'll see if you will do, my darling.”

Her pleasurable languor vanished as his member probed between her legs until it found the entrance and inched inside.

Oh, dear, what was she supposed to do now? She had no idea! What did he expect of her?

“Good God, you’re so tight …” he murmured as he slid deeper, his eyes closing in obvious satisfaction.

Tight wasn’t the word for it. He filled her so utterly she couldn’t think of anything else. Surprisingly, her body seemed to stretch to accommodate him. Still, there was pressure … a great deal of it. It widened her most uncomfortably.

Surely this was as much of him as she could hold. Surely he couldn’t move inside her any more. Yet he did, sliding farther and farther until she thought he might cleave her in two. She shifted beneath him, trying to make him seem not quite so … so … intrusive.

Suddenly he gave a forward thrust that tore something inside her, wringing a cry from her lips. He froze, and his eyes flew open in shock. “Good God! Damn it, Emily, what--”

He broke off as she gazed up at him guiltily.

Every muscle in his body went taut. “You lied to me. Devil take it, you lied!”

She nodded, feeling more than a little relief that she needn’t pretend anymore. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I think the damage … is done. But I can stop--”

“Don’t!” If he stopped, he might not see a reason to keep his end of the bargain. Desperately, she clutched at his hips, anchoring him to her. “Finish it, please. You promised!”

His eyes glittered bleakly. “But I’ve hurt you. I should have taken more care.”

“It always hurts the first time.”

“So they say,” he bit out.

She wriggled her hips a little, surprised that some of the pressure had eased. “Truly, it’s not so bad.”

He clamped his eyes as if in pain. “If you keep that up, I swear I will finish it.”

“Good.” When his eyes shot open, tormented and still angry, she undulated against him and whispered, “I want you, Jordan. Virgin or no, I want you … so badly … please …”

The anger seemed to drain from him. “Then hold on, my darling. I’ll try not to hurt you anymore.”

Her only answer was to lean up and kiss him squarely on the lips. With a groan, he kissed her back, driving his tongue deep into her mouth as he began moving inside her again.

This time there was no pain, and the uncomfortable tightness seemed to ease even more. A sweet tension swelled inside her loins, like the one she’d felt when his mouth had caressed her. As it grew, a restless need to swivel her hips against him overcame her.

When she did, he tore his lips from hers with a gasp. “Good God, Emily … such an innocent … and such a wanton. You are … amazing …”

“So are you.”

Amazing and wonderful. The feel of him inside her, driving into her, possessing her, was so incredible that she was glad, yes, glad, she’d given herself to him.

His gaze burned into her, possessive, fierce. “Now you truly are mine,” he rasped. “Mine. All mine.”

“Yes.” She would always be his, no matter what happened after this night. She could never be anyone else’s.

She clasped him to her, trying to memorize the feel of his slick skin, the faint, musky scent that clung to him, the unbelievable pleasure of his body fused to hers.

My love, she thought, realizing with some sadness that it was true.

She loved him. She’d always loved him. And after tomorrow, when it was all over, she would still love him.

But she couldn’t tell him. He didn’t want love or “any of that nonsense.” So instead she showed him, giving up her body to his hot thrusts, reveling in the way they sent her reeling into a mindless dream.

“My darling,” he whispered as he drove into her with an almost frantic pace. “Yes … yes, Emily …”

Then he plunged into her so deeply, she thought he’d reached the very center of her soul.

And at that moment, the tension broke inside her with a burst of light and unbearable release.

She was still arched against him, her fingers digging into his back, when he cried out her name and spilled himself inside her.

For a moment, the world ceased to exist. There were only two of them joined together, suspended in sweet intimacy.

Then he collapsed on top of her. And as she floated slowly back to consciousness, sated and rapt and near to swooning with pleasure, it dawned on her that it was over. Now. Forever. She would never have him again.

That’s when she turned her face aside and wept.

At first Jordan was conscious only of the most marvelous sense of fulfillment he’d ever experienced in his life.

Emily was completely his. Despite his fears for her, she had entered into their lovemaking with an enthusiasm that was endearing.

He felt sure he’d pleased her. God knows she’d pleased him.

He buried his face in her slender neck, marveling once more at the softness and delicate fineness of her skin. Then he heard the sobs.

She was crying! He pushed himself off her in alarm. Good God, he’d hurt her more than he realized!

Stretching out next to her, he cupped her cheek in one shaky hand. “I tried not to hurt you, darling. I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head wildly, struggling to regain her breath between hiccuping sobs. “You didn’t … hurt me.”

The tension in his chest eased. “So why are you crying?”

Scrubbing tears away, she gazed at him with red eyes. “Because it was so wonderful. And I’ll never do it again.”

A laugh escaped his lips before he could stop it. “Even I can’t change that. I’m afraid a woman can only be deflowered once in her life.”

The words sobered him: only once. He’d done the unthinkable—he’d taken a woman’s innocence. He waited for the anger to come, the sense of betrayal that she’d managed to accomplish with trickery what no other woman had. Yet all he felt was happiness that it had been him and no one else.

“I … I don’t mean the deflowering,” she stammered. Color suffused her face as she glanced away. “I mean, you and I shall never make love again.”

“I don’t see why not.” He stroked her golden hair, a strange peace settling over him as he made the only decision he could.

He’d always known what would be expected of him if he ever made love to a woman like Emily.

But he hadn’t thought he’d be so pleased about it.

“Certainly we must be discreet until we marry, but after that--”

“Marry!” She sat up, crossing her arms over her breasts in a vain attempt at modesty. “You aren’t going to marry me, Jordan. You can’t.”

Her reaction surprised him. “Of course I can. And I will, now that I’ve taken your virginity. I’m not such a cad as to debauch a woman, then send her home without so much as a fare-thee-well.”

“Then give me a fare-thee-well. But you needn’t marry me—I told you that from the beginning. This was a bargain, that’s all. It was the only way to keep you silent.”

Slipping from the bed, she hurried to where her chemise lay and pulled it on. He stared down at the red stain she’d left behind. A bargain, that’s all. The horrible words pounded into his brain. Did she truly see it that way?

Well, it didn’t matter how she saw it, he thought wearily. It didn’t change anything. He sat up, wishing she hadn’t left the bed so quickly. “Emily, be practical. We must marry. It’s the only thing that will save your reputation.”

“No one knows of this. It needn’t affect our lives.”

“Too late for that.” He climbed from the bed and approached her.

He gathered her in his arms, and though she stood stiffly, she let him hold her.

“I could never let you walk away now. What if you find yourself with child?” Tipping her chin up, he stared into her anxious face.

“Would you deprive the child of his father?”

“No, but … it’s not likely, is it? We only … I mean, it was just once—”

“Believe me,” he said bitterly, thinking of his parents, “just once is all it takes.”

Her face turned ashen. “I’ll deal with that problem if it happens. But I shan’t let you marry me. I know you must think that I planned it all along, but truly, I didn’t come here expecting you to marry me.”

“I know that.”

“I-I thought you would be delighted to have me without any obligation. I didn’t expect anything else. Truly, I didn’t. I would never force you into marriage.”

He didn’t know whether to be pleased or insulted by her frantic eagerness to convince him. “I believe you, darling.” He cradled her close. “I’m offering marriage because I choose it. I want to marry you.”