To Save a Love - Alexa Aston Page 0,57

pacing. “Do you know what it is like to sit on those hard benches all day? No conversing. No moving. Just sitting until every bone in your body aches. And those were the good days, sitting from the time they roused me and gave me a nasty gruel to eat and then escorted me to that seat. Sitting for hours upon hours upon hours.”

She crossed her arms. “I won’t even begin to tell you about the bad days.”

Dez closed the gap between them and placed his hands on her shoulders, his face solemn.

“I saw some of what went on, Anna. What you were subjected to. I cannot imagine how you survived for so long.”

Anna softened, seeing how affected he was by his trip to Gollingham.

“Then you know what I am made of. I have come through it, out the other side, and while I know I must build up my physical strength, my character and heart and soul have never been stronger.” She placed a palm against his cheek. “That is why I know my own mind, Dez. And I want to couple with you. You are my one true love. I owe it to myself to experience the act of love with you.”

He enfolded her in his arms, kissing the top of her head. “If that is what you want, my love, then I refuse to disappoint you.”

Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her inside the cottage, kicking the door closed with his foot. He crossed to the bedchamber and then eased her to her feet. Their gazes met and Anna was moved by the depths of love she saw in Dez’s eyes.

He kissed her softly and then said, “I plan to worship you, Anna Browning, the way you were meant to be worshipped.”

He undressed her slowly, kissing her in all different places. Where her neck met her shoulder. The inside of her elbow. Behind her right knee. Each kiss brought a delicious thrill and her heart sped up. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid. Her blood buzzed in her ears.

Dez guided her to the bed and helped her to lie down. Anna then watched as he removed his own layers of clothing, her mouth growing dry at the masculine beauty of his form. He had broad shoulders and narrow hips. Muscular thighs and beautiful calves. Flat belly and muscled chest. Her fingers itched to touch him.

He lay on the bed beside her, on his side, and his hands began roaming her body. She tried not to be embarrassed, knowing the yellow, faded bruises couldn’t possibly be attractive, yet he seemed to ignore them. He kissed his way up and down her body, bringing chills of delight. She began touching him, too, gliding her hands along the planes of muscle, seeing them bunch beneath her fingertips.

Her breasts, though smaller now than before, seemed to hold him spellbound as he caressed them with his hands and mouth. His tongue circled her nipples, bringing them to attention, and then he sucked hard on them, causing the place between her legs to throb almost painfully. She shifted, wondering if he could satisfy whatever urges she felt, desperate for him to touch her there and yet too afraid to ask.

Somehow, Dez knew what she needed. His hands slid along her legs, up her calves and thighs, back and forth. Each long stroke brought his fingers closer to her core. And then he touched it, a finger gliding along the seam of her sex, back and forth, almost sending her into a frenzy. Slowly, he parted the folds and slipped a finger inside her, shocking her and yet filling her need.

“You are wet for me,” he said. “That means you want me.”

Anna smiled. “I have always wanted you. Even when I didn’t know I did,” she said playfully.

A second finger joined the first and the caresses became longer. Deeper. They began to cause her to writhe. To whimper. All the while, Dez kissed her, long, drugging kisses that caused her body to grow fevered. Her fingers pushed into his thick hair and she held tight, never wanting him to leave her.

A pressure began building within her, something frenzied and exciting. New and bold and wonderful. His fingers continued working their magic, urging her on to some new, wonderful place. Then she seemed to explode within, erupting as a long dormant volcano might, something wild spilling from her. Anna heard cries and couldn’t believe they came from her. She rode the crashing waves, Dez