Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,50

like magic. Eager, unashamed, she explored the man who held her heart and soul. She rained kisses over his broad shoulders, across his chest, down his belly. She ran her hands over the muscles in his arms and legs. She made him turn over so she could press kisses to his back; she ran her tongue over his spine, intrigued by the rough texture of ridged flesh, the contrast between that and the smooth skin on his shoulders.

Vulnerable and acquiescent, Alex let her get acquainted with his body, let her touch and caress him until she had satisfied her curiosity, until he was certain she knew every inch of his body as well as she knew her own. It was the most exquisite torture he had ever endured, lying there while her warm hands and soft lips moved over him, arousing him until he ached with need.

She trailed her fingertips over the ridged flesh of his spine, and he groaned with pleasure so deep it was almost pain, a pleasure he had thought never to feel again. On ErAdona, when a woman stroked a man's spine in such an intimate fashion, it meant she had agreed to be his life mate. Once she touched him there, they were considered mated even though no words had been spoken. It was also a source of great sexual pleasure.

"What is it?" Kara asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I thought I'd hurt you."

"No, Kara, quite the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"Touch me again, Kara. Run your hands over my back."

"Like this?"

Alex closed his eyes, drowning in sensation, as she massaged his back, pausing now and then to run her tongue along his spine.

Kara laughed softly as the evidence of his desire grew unmistakable. "I seem to have touched on an ErAdonian erogenous zone," she mused.

His purr of contentment was loud and rough, like the muted roar of a lion.

She reveled in the knowledge that she had brought him pleasure, and then she heard him groan again, saw the fire blazing in his eyes, and the laughter died in her throat. How cruel she was to tease and torment, she thought, and how patient he was to let her do it.

But he wasn't the only one in distress. You couldn't play with fire without getting burned, and she yearned for him, ached for him, in the deepest core of her being.

"Now, Alex," she murmured, and waited impatiently as he sheathed himself in protection before tucking her beneath him.

And then he was a part of her, his body a warm, sweet invasion of her flesh, and she knew that she had been born for this moment, this man, and that nothing in her life would ever be the same again.

Later, while she lay in a near-drugged state of completion, he fetched a bowl of warm water and bathed her from head to foot, washing away the stain of her maidenhead, the perspiration that had dried on her skin. He bathed her gently, almost reverently, and she thought she had never felt so pampered, so cherished, in all her life.

"I love you, Alex."

"And I you, natayah."

"You called me that once before. What does it mean?"

"Beloved one."

"Na-tay-ah."She tried the word on her tongue, liking the sound of it, the way he had looked at her when he said it.

Alex quickly washed himself, then slid into bed and drew Kara into his arms again. "Are you all right?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was afraid I might have hurt you."

"No. It was wonderful." She grinned. "Was it good for you?"

Alex chuckled. "Indeed."

"As good as . . ."

"As?"

"I don't suppose you've lived like a monk for the last two hundred years."

"No." He lifted one brow in disbelief. "Don't tell me you're jealous of those women?"

"Of course not."

"Kara." He drew her closer, holding her body tightly to his. "I paid them for the use of their bodies. There was never any more to it than that. Never."

She nodded. He had answered her question, and she believed him, but he had been in love before, been married before, and she couldn't help wondering how it had been with his wife.

Caught up in the aftermath of their lovemaking, trying not to be jealous of a woman who had been dead for over a hundred years, she forgot that, when he chose, he could read her mind.

"Kara." Lifting himself on one elbow, Alex gazed down into her eyes. "I love you beyond words. You've given me new hope for the future, restored my passion for life, for living.