flesh of her shoulder. ‘Then why are you shivering?’
‘You know very well why,’ she whispered as she curled her hand around his neck and brought his head down to kiss her. It was the second assertive thing she’d done that evening and it seemed to liberate Hassan from his porcelain-like treatment of her as he opened her lips with the thrust of his tongue.
Ella could feel the warmth of his breath mingling with hers. His kiss was like a drug—one taste and she was hooked. Deeply and passionately she kissed him back, her fingers kneading at the silken skin which played over the muscles of his back. And then he began to touch her.
Everywhere.
She closed her eyes. This was unbelievable. Even better than last time. She could feel the relentless heat building inside her as he unclipped her bra to free her aching breasts, capturing first one and then the other in the hot, moist cavern of his mouth. She was restless and gasping by the time he slid her panties off. She knew he’d said he was going to take it slowly, but really …
‘Keep still,’ he urged her mockingly.
‘I can’t!’
Concerned that his weight might press on the baby, he brought her instead to sit on top of him, positioning the tip of his erection against her slick, moist folds. But even as he gripped her hips to slowly guide himself inside her, he was aware of a sudden sense of discovery. Of something unfamiliar happening to him. He felt the warmth of her thighs as they pressed into his sides and he shuddered as she pushed her hips forward to make him go even deeper. And then he realised what it was. That this was the first time he’d ever had sex with a pregnant woman, and the first time he’d never worn protection.
And it felt …
He closed his eyes. It felt unbelievable. He’d overheard men talking about the joys of ‘riding bareback’ while knowing that, for him, it would never be an option. Because royal seed was too precious to squander by careless lust or an inability to wait. But now he was experiencing it for the first time in his life, and it felt almost unbearably intimate as he thrust deep inside her. Skin on skin. Her slick heat against his hard heat.
‘I’m not hurting you?’ he managed.
Ella shook her head, barely able to speak, realising that she had wanted this so much. To feel this close to him again. To experience the pleasure which only he had ever given her. ‘I’m going to … going to …’
‘I can see that for myself,’ he murmured, watching as her head tipped back with helpless joy. She made a moaning sound as she came, a low note of uninhibited pleasure which initiated the beginning of his own orgasm. Holding tightly onto her hips, he felt the powerful spasms which swept him up in a mindless spill he never wanted to end.
Afterwards, his head fell back against the pillow and he felt as drained and as elated as a battle-weary soldier. Yet even as his hand encircled her waist to draw her closer and he found himself breathing in the raw scent of sex, he found himself thinking that this could get addictive. Dangerously addictive. The combined warmth of their damp skin made their bodies seemed glued together and he found himself absently kissing the tangle of her hair as long, silent minutes ticked by.
He must have slept more deeply than usual because when he opened his eyes, sunlight was filtering through the open shutters and the early-morning scent of roses was powerfully intoxicating. For a moment he didn’t remember where he was, but as he turned to see the sleeping form of Ella beside him, it all came back. Her shy and stumbled entreaty at dinner. A hesitant seduction which had proved inordinately irresistible.
Yawning, he thought that his senses had never felt so finely tuned, nor so richly satiated. Last night had been, he realised, the most erotic experience of his life.
More than that, he felt a rare moment of contentment which allowed him to push away the nagging questions which were hovering at the back of his mind. He knew that there were a million things he should be doing. He should rouse himself and move away from the warm comfort of this bed….
But instead, he picked up a handful of Ella’s hair, watching as it fell in satin tendrils across his chest before bending his lips to her ear. ‘Awake?’ he questioned lazily.
She wriggled and smiled against the pillow. ‘I am now.’
He guided her hand towards his aching groin. ‘You are the most amazing lover, do you know that?’
Ella froze as her fingers encountered the steely shaft of his erection, and in the cold light of day, fear began to run through her veins. What if he now expected her to run through a repertoire of sexual skills—skills she didn’t have, and which would leave him sorely disappointed?
Before, she had not cared about his good opinion of her but suddenly it became vital that he should know the truth. ‘I’m not the person you think I am,’ she said, pulling her hand away from him. Even though she saw his eyes narrow with disappointment, he needed to realise that she wasn’t the sexual expert he imagined her to be. Not some uber-experienced party girl with dozens of men in her past and a long list of lovers she could barely remember.
Hassan winced, wondering why women always chose precisely the wrong moment to pour out their feelings. But he was in no position to move. He registered the heavy aching at his groin and realised he was in no position to do anything except … ‘And what kind of person is that?’ he questioned unsteadily.
She drew in a deep breath. ‘I don’t make a habit of seducing men.’
‘I’d kind of worked that out for myself, Ella.’
‘You had?’
‘Mmm.’ He moved his hand between her legs. ‘Last night you came over as sweet, rather than seasoned.’
She wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. In fact, it was difficult to wonder anything when he was stroking her like that. ‘Up … up until that night of the party, I’d … well, I’d never behaved like that before.’
‘I’m very pleased to hear it,’ he replied gravely.
‘I’d only ever had a relationship with one other person. And I went out with him for ages before we had sex.’ Through her growing waves of pleasure, she met the question in his eyes, admitting to herself for the first time that she’d been scared of sex. She’d seen from the example set by her own parents what fools men and women could make of themselves in its pursuit. ‘When eventually we did it, I … well, I tried my best. But I never … never …’ She shook her head, the words sticking in her throat.
‘You never had an orgasm before me?’ he guessed as he remembered the way she’d clung to him that first time. And suddenly it all made sense. The breathless little words which had sounded almost like gratitude as she had bucked wildly in his arms.
‘Right.’ She looked into his eyes, wary now that she had given too much away. Wouldn’t a man like him hate such transparency? ‘So I misled you. I’m not the woman you thought I was. Are you angry with me, Hassan?’
His mouth twitched. ‘Absolutely furious,’ he said.
‘Seriously?’
His laugh was low as his fingertip thrummed against her heated flesh. ‘Oh, Ella,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t you know that it’s every man’s fantasy to be the first person to awaken a woman in that
