“Well … that’s correct to a small degree,” he said, slowly sobering. “Generally speaking, a woman will shed a drop or two the first time she makes love, but that’s only because there’s a small membrane in the way that has to be broken.”
Serafina
was fully aware of that fact, memory still acute. “That’s easy enough for you to say. It’s not your membrane, is it?” she challenged.
“No … but it’s easily enough disposed of. Mind you, I’m not in the habit of taking virgins to bed, but I think I have the way of it down well enough. And I can sincerely promise you that you won’t regret the aftermath, even if you do experience one brief moment of discomfort.” He picked up her hand and kissed her palm, then ran his mouth up the inside of her arm.
“How do you know?” she said, trembling at the touch of his warm lips nuzzling the crook of her elbow.
“Well,” he said lazily, lifting his head. “I could show you.”
Serafina
swallowed hard. “What happens if you’re wrong?”
Aiden considered. “I could always stop,” he said. “If you want me to, that is.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “I don’t think that will be the case.”
Serafina
covered his hand with her own. “I’m afraid,” she whispered.
“Little wonder,” he replied comfortably, entwining his fingers with hers. “I’d be frightened too if I’d had my head filled with a lot of nonsense. No one wants to be impaled. And I’m sorry to have to tell you that I don’t possess anything that remotely resembles a flagpole.” His lips trembled as if he found the idea hysterically funny.
“I
dreamt
it,”
Serafina
said insistently. “It hurt terribly. And—and I don’t want you to do that to me again.”
Aiden took her by the shoulders, his fingers caressing lightly over them. “It was only a dream, sweetheart. It’s really not such an awful experience as you imagine,” he said, gazing at her through the dark.
She felt so confused that she couldn’t even tell the difference between Adam and Aiden, dream and reality anymore. All she knew was that she’d had an awful experience, one that didn’t bear repeating. She blinked back a fresh rush of tears, looking at Aiden doubtfully.
“I’m not lying to you, I swear it, and I never have, not about this. The act of love is as pleasurable for a woman as it is for a man. You had a taste of it today, didn’t you?”
She nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I liked that,” she admitted in a small voice.
Aiden smiled down at her. “I know. I liked it too. And it only gets nicer from there.” He pushed his fingers through her hair, gently holding her face between his hands, his thumbs stroking over the curve of her ears. “But I only have one way to prove that to you. Try to trust me, will you, sweetheart? We’re going to drive each other insane if we carry on like this.”
Serafina
raised her eyes to his. He gazed down at her, his expression completely sincere. Her heart turned painfully over in her chest, for in that moment she knew with absolute certainty that she really did love him. Nothing but love could make her want to give him anything he desired. Nothing but love was strong enough to overcome her fear. Nothing but love caused her to put her arms around his back, drawing him close.
She rested her cheek against his chest, heard the pounding of his heart, a hard release of breath. “I do trust you,” she whispered, running her hands over his strongly muscled back. “I do.”
He didn’t answer. Instead his hands lifted her face and he kissed her hard, his mouth seeking, tasting, urging her to respond to him. She couldn’t help it. She was no proof against his powerful masculinity, no proof against herself and her own fevered response to him. She gave him back everything he demanded, put everything of herself into that kiss, everything she was, had ever been, showing him exactly how much she trusted him.
Aiden groaned, turning her in his arms, lowering her to the mattress, his hands smoothing down over her shoulders, up her torso, and wherever they touched they left flame in their wake.
Serafina
felt like a piece of clay as he molded her, shaped her, sculpted her into new dimensions. She felt newly made, as if she’d never known his touch before; she felt old as the hills, as if her body had known it forever.
He cupped her breast, lowered his head to it, took her nipple in his teeth between the material of her nightdress, breathing more fire, Lucifer’s fire, onto her skin as he tongued the tip, bit lightly down on it.
“Aiden—oh, Aiden,” she cried, her hands pulling his head even closer, her back arching up to meet his scorching touch.
Aiden reached down and in one swift movement he slipped her nightdress up her thighs and waist, then over her head, tossing it to one side. He took her breast in his mouth again, but this time with nothing to shield his mouth from her flesh.
Serafina
gasped as he suckled her nipple, his damp tongue flicking over the tender, erect nub, his hands wandering over her back, lifting her buttocks, cupping them.
“Serafina
—oh, God,” he said, his voice strained, taking her other breast now, pulling and tugging, driving her into a frenzy of need.
Her hands explored his back, the chiseled curves and hollows of his magnificent musculature, the shifting contours as he changed his weight, drawing himself up on his forearms. He kissed her again, this time without restraint, nipping on her lower lip, driving deep into her mouth, chasing away any doubts, any hesitations. She couldn’t remember why she’d ever been afraid of him.
Serafina
twisted against his hips, encountering something stiff, something she was sure hadn’t been there before. She gave a little gasp of surprise, and Aiden laughed breathlessly.
“Does that feel like a flagpole to you?” he asked, capturing her wrists, his breathing rough and fast.
“No—not at all,” she replied just as breathlessly, shamelessly wanting to look, to gaze upon this remarkable male phenomenon that changed shape so rapidly. She pressed up against him a little harder, trying to get a better idea of his dimensions.
“I should think not,” he murmured, rubbing his mouth over her cheek and finding her ear, tugging on it with his lips. “But for God’s sake stop squirming or I’ll go out of my mind.”
“That feels good?” she asked with surprise.
“Yes, it feels good—it feels bloody incredible, but that’s the problem,
Titania.
If it starts to feel too good I won’t be able to take my time, so you have to show me a little mercy. Let me give you a small example of what I mean.”
He released her wrists and sat up, covering her breasts with his palms, stroking them down over her belly.
Serafina
drew in a sharp, shuddering breath as he moved lower, his thumbs slipping into her nest of curls, sliding even lower, sending a shock of electrifying sensation through her as he found her cleft.
“Oh, so beautiful,” he murmured, stroking now, lightly,
so
lightly, back and forth as she writhed helplessly under his touch. “So warm and sweet, just like the rest of you. That’s right, open your legs a little. Do you see how nice that feels?”
Serafina
couldn’t formulate a coherent answer, so she made a wordless sound of assent then sighed, pressing her hips up against his touch as he rhythmically stroked back and forth.
He shifted slightly, coming down to her, his mouth taking hers in a hungry kiss, his tongue following the rhythm of his thumbs until she thought she might lose her mind.
Serafina’s fingers twined in his thick hair, sensation shooting through her body and centering in the exact spot that flamed and throbbed where his hand caressed. And suddenly he slipped one finger inside her and she cried out, the pleasure excruciating, a desperate strain building in her body until she thought she might shatter. She clutched Aiden’s shoulders, her eyes locked on his face, his eyes so dark a blue now as to appear black, his expression taut as he looked down to where his hands moved on her, in her.
“Aiden!” Serafina’s back arched as everything in her body came together and exploded into fire like the sun itself imploding, over and over, finally dying down to a shower of sparks that left her weak and shaking and gasping for air.
“Mmm,” Aiden said, dropping a kiss on one throbbing nipple. “Nice.” He raised his head and kissed her, his mouth lingering on her lips.
“Aiden—oh, Aiden, I never had any idea,” she murmured when she could finally breathe properly. “That felt wonderful…”
“Good.” He brushed a damp lock of hair off her forehead. “You’re going to like the next part, too.”
“I’m sure I should be ashamed of myself for enjoying this part quite so much,” she said, stroking her finger down his neck, tracing it over the outline of his powerful pectoral muscles.
“Don’t you dare start sounding like Charlotte,” Aiden said, sitting up and abruptly pulling his nightshirt over his head, then replacing her hand on his bare chest, his skin hot and damp beneath her fingers. “There’s not a damned thing wrong with enjoying yourself, and the more you do the happier I’ll be.” He lay down on his back, the sheet pulled down to his waist. “Have your way with me, woman,” he said with a grin, folding his hands behind his head.
Serafina
chewed her lip, and Aiden laughed. “I love it when you do that. It’s always a dead giveaway that you have no idea what to do or say next.”
“I’m not sure I do,” she said shyly. “I’m not accustomed to having my way with a man.”
“You can always kiss me,” he said helpfully. “I believe you’ve mastered that technique.”
“I have?” she said, enormously pleased that he thought so.
“Oh yes, indeed. I told you this afternoon that I find you a quick learner.” He shuddered as she smoothed her palms up his chest and over his hard nipples, and that pleased her too.
She bent over and kissed him as he’d asked, and his arms went fast around her back, pulling her down onto him, his naked flesh burning into hers. Serafina’s heart, which had only just returned to a normal pace, began pounding again furiously at the sudden, searing contact.
His erect manhood pressed hard against her belly, but instead of frightening her, its heated touch only excited her more. She shifted a little, rubbing against him, and he made a strangled sound in his throat. “And I thought you were going to be merciful,” he choked.
“You didn’t show me any mercy,” she said with a little laugh. “I don’t see why you think you deserve special treatment.” Her hand crept between their bodies, and she cautiously touched him with one finger, surprised by how silky he felt.
Aiden drew in a sharp gasp, and emboldened, she slipped her fingers around his shaft, trying to determine the full size and shape of him. Such velvet over steel, pulsing under her fingers. She slid her hand down and up again, eagerly exploring.
“Dear God,” he choked. “Dear, dear God … oh, sweetheart. Slowly. Please—” He grabbed her around the waist and swiftly rolled her onto her back, his breath labored. He reached
under
her, cupping her buttocks, his hand reaching farther, his fingers finding her soft folds and stroking her again, bringing her back to furious desire. She moaned, finally knowing what she really wanted. Aiden—it had always been Aiden…
“Please,” she whispered, pulling him closer. “Please—now?”
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” he asked shakily, running his warm mouth over her cheek.
“Yes—oh, yes,” she said, lifting her hips to him in desperate, mindless invitation, her legs spreading for him.
Aiden didn’t waste an instant. She felt his tip push against her entrance, a strange, burning invasion, but she welcomed it. She welcomed all of him, opening wider, urging him to come more deeply into her, wanting nothing more than for him to possess her fully, to truly make her his.
He pushed gently, stretching her, and although she felt a slight sting, it was nothing—nothing at all in comparison to having him inside her. He kissed her deeply as he thrust harder this time, penetrating her fully with his hard length, so strong, so perfect.
Her hips matched his driving rhythm as he thrust over and over again, completing her in a way she’d never imagined possible. He was everything, her entire world, so real, so solid…
Her hands stroked over his back, her body shuddering in furious response as he drove her beyond time, beyond thought, into a place of pure heat and desire where nothing existed except his body moving in hers. Nothing else had ever mattered so much—nothing would ever matter again. She felt like the first woman on earth, and he the first man.
She gasped as waves of release crashed through her, and she cried out his name as she contracted in furious tremors around him, her fingers digging into his back.
Aiden groaned again, his entire body tightening, his head buried against her throat as he pushed hard into her and held. “Oh, God!” he cried hoarsely, shuddering violently, and she felt a surge of heat wash against the neck of her womb. His life in her. His seed. The mystery completed.
He collapsed against her heavily, moaning, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him, stroking his hair, his nape, turned her head and kissed his cheek where it rested against hers, his breath slow and shallow in her ear.