Virginia Henley
Page 33
“I do hope he’s safe. He’s such a good man. Roger,” she said slowly as she met his gaze, “you must understand I needed protection desperately. That’s why I married him. I don’t want to hurt him, because he’s shown me only kindness, but I am not his wife. I’m yours. You are my heart’s deepest desire.” She bent down and kissed him with all the emotion she was feeling.
Roger groaned with happiness and put his good arm around Roseanna’s waist. Roseanna still loved him. She had chosen him.
Ravenspur’s dark eyes burned into hers.
“By God woman, your kiss makes me want to jump from this water and ravish you,” Roger said.
She laughed softly. “One thing is sure, my husband, I am safe from you this night.”
“Safe from me?” he demanded. “By God, you’ll never be safe from me. Get me from this damned water and bind the wound so I can take you to bed and drive Lincoln out of your system!”
“Roger!” she scolded as she blushed. She didn’t think for one moment that he would carry out his threat, but she was suddenly as shy as a bride before him. She helped him from the water and dried him thoroughly. As her hands touched him intimately his shaft rose up rigid to show her that he was indeed capable. With tender hands she padded and bandaged the wound, binding his arm securely to his chest so that it would remain immobile until it healed.
Her heart was lighter than it had been in a year. Spring was here and summer would follow, when every garden and stone wall in England would be riotous with roses. It promised to be the happiest season she had ever known. Suddenly she was overwhelmed with how much this man meant to her. He was the only man who had awakened her sensuality and taught her how to love. She could never love another as she loved this man; all others, even Line, an earl of the realm, who had been so good to her, paled in comparison. Her heart sang with her great good fortune in having Ravenspur returned to her. Dear God, never take him away again, she prayed.
Suddenly she felt his dark eyes on her. “How do you feel?”
He leered at her. “I’ll show you if you take me to bed.”
“You’re incorrigible,” she scolded, but she undressed and joined him in the vast bed. He was so strong-willed, so challenging and damned exasperating, but she didn’t want him any other way.
He gripped her strongly with his good arm, his hand cupping her breast possessively, and she felt him hard and swollen against her thigh. Suddenly she realized with clarity that he was about to reclaim her and brand her as his woman. She was alarmed at his roughness, not for herself, but for fear he would reopen his wound.
“My love,” she whispered, “do you remember how you loved me that first time? How you conquered me with kisses until I was helpless with love?”
He smiled into the darkness. Roseanna needed a little time to get used to him in bed again. He kissed her slowly, gently, softly; short quick kisses and long, slow, melting kisses which showed her he remembered every detail of their first delicious mating. At first she moaned with pleasure but soon sighed in frustration. She wanted him more than anything in the world, wanted to feel again the fullness of him inside her, but she knew that with his wound he should not make love to her. His mouth scorched her temples, her closed eyelids, and the corners of her trembling mouth, then he plunged his tongue inside to taste her to the full.
“Roger, you are wicked to arouse me so; you know we mustn’t do this.”
With his lips against her throat, he chuckled. “My wound isn’t a mortal one, so prepare to defend yourself!”
“By God, I’ve had to defend myself against your wicked lust from the first day I woke up in your bed and you tried to ravish me!”
His hot mouth found her breast and he licked it hungrily and sucked on the nipple. His hand slipped between her legs, and she began to writhe and moan with desire.
“My lust?” he whispered, covering her mouth with his so that she could not deny his accusations. “What about yours?”
“Mmm,” she managed to reply as she arched high against his hand.
“Admit it to me, Roseanna. Admit it to me and shame the devil!” he demanded playfully.
She groaned. She knew he would not be denied, and thanked God for it. She touched his ear with the tip of her tongue and whispered very, very low, “I’m as hot as you are, my darling Ravenspur.”
Her words inflamed him with passion. He swept her beneath him with such towering strength she was breathless and not a little afraid. He mounted her and drove himself into her. For one small moment he hurt her and she cried out in pain. Then she opened herself to him totally and felt exquisite pleasure at the way he filled her so deeply.
Rapture pulsed through their bodies as they clung to each other in an embrace they hoped would never end. Each touch was fire, each word was bliss, each movement brought them closer to the consuming cataclysm that left her weak in his arms, and him totally exhausted. He buried his face in her hair to savor its fragrance and then they were lost to the world, bound by their bodies, their hearts, and their souls. Bound by an everlasting love.
Published by
Bantam Dell
a division of
Random House, Inc
It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Copyright © 1987 by Virginia Henley
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
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eISBN: 978-0-307-56812-0
v3.0
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books By This Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Copyright