by Tanya Wilde
“Not even then. It took nearly ten years from my life when I found you gone.”
“You’ve not aged a day.”
He pulled her in for another swift kiss. “Holly, you are so much more than I ever imagined. I will never leave your side again. And if I do, feel free to clobber me over the head.”
His words, the raw desire in his voice, struck her right in the chest. Never had any man made her feel so wanted, so cherished. She did not care that they had guests waiting below. Or that she would not get her garden wedding. All that mattered was the man standing before her.
“I want you, Brahm, here, now, forever.”
His eyes darkened. “You can’t take that back. I won’t allow you to.”
“Oh, you are quite stuck with me.”
“Thank God.”
An answering grin curled her lips. He looked magnificent, with his dark eyes and disheveled hair, his gaze boring into her with so much emotion. Heat pooled low in her belly.
His eyes never left her as he pushed down her gown. One finger at a time, Holly let the material slide from her fingers. His eyes feasted on her, and Holly felt herself flush beneath his hot gaze. Dexterous fingers tugged on her chemise until that, too, pooled at her feet, and she stood naked before him.
A gasp drew from her lips.
Holly couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. The emotion flickering across his face held her paralyzed. Fiery shivers traveled the length of her spine.
He sunk down to his knees before her, stripping off his shirt and tossing it aside, the muscles in his arms rippling with each movement.
It was unbearably arousing.
Everything inside her ignited into a heated blaze. His chest was solid, smooth. She wanted so desperately to touch him. So she did. She brushed her palm across his heart, entranced by the feel of his skin.
He trembled at the contact, and she had no more chance to explore. Powerful arms swept her up high. She was dimly aware of passing furniture before she felt the surface of the piano beneath her.
Her lashes fluttered as she lifted them to meet his gaze. “This is so wicked.”
His lips captured hers. He kissed every inch of her mouth. And as promised, he made his way down the soft arch of her neck, his tongue skimming over her collarbone before outlining the tender curve of her breast. A half-strangled moan left her lips as she felt him take a hard bud into his mouth and begin to suckle, his free hand kneading her other exposed breast.
Her head fell back. The movement thrust her breasts forward, and his low groan tickled against her skin.
“You are so soft,” he responded in a strained whisper, retaking her mouth in a rapturous kiss.
The warm scrape of his tongue enticed a low moan from her, and she writhed against him, seeking more. In answer to her silent plea, his hand left her breast to explore her body further, caressing her skin as his mouth trailed kisses from her bottom lip down to her neckline. It was almost too much for her. Her entire body was alive with need. A burning sensation wound up deep inside of her.
And then his hand was between her thighs, the place no other man had ever touched. He stroked her tender flesh with his thumb, a finger slipping inside of her moist heat.
Moaning, she curled her fingers desperately into his hair. Tension wound tight in her core. All her life she had searched for someone to share the perfect life with, the perfect man and the perfect circumstances, never quite knowing that perfect was the last thing she hungered for.
Her whole body felt ablaze. She wanted him inside her, needed him inside her, had to become one with him.
His finger flexed, gliding in and out, while his thumb stroked the most sensitive part of her. His mouth moved from one breast to the other, his teeth grazing a nipple.
“Brahm, please,” she pleaded.
“I love how you are so ready for me, sweetheart.”
“Are you done?”
Laughter stirred in his chest. “No.” His eyes pinned her to the piano. “I will never be done.”
He pulled his hand from between her legs and unbuttoned his breeches, pushing them down.
Holly had seen Brahm naked before, but this, this was entirely different. It seemed bigger than before. And much harder. “Oh! But that is . . . I . . . you . . .”
He smiled in a way that made her heart stutter.
“I love that expression on your face.”
He leaned over her and captured her parted lips in a kiss, the head of his member pressing into her slick entrance. He pushed gently at first, so lovingly, and Holly wriggled her hips to urge him on.
“Hurry.”
His teeth grazed the lobe of her ear. “It will hurt the first time.”
“I don’t care.”
Sure enough, his cock burned inside her as he pushed deeper, her muscles clamping around it, but Holly didn’t care. She clasped her legs around his waist.
“Holly,” he groaned, burying his face in her neck.
She sucked in a startled gasp when, with one deep thrust, he passed the veil of her innocence, her body stretching to accommodate him.
“Are you all right? Should I stop?” Brahm stared down her, his eyes bright in his flushed face.
“Do not dare.”
She reached around his back and pulled him tighter against her. He groaned and began to move, and at first, there was a slight pinch of pain, but the discomfort soon receded. His thrusts grew stronger and deeper, setting a slow rhythmic pace, and she clasped his massive shoulders for support.
His breathing was labored, and Holly knew it took all his strength to be gentle with her. A rush of emotion assailed her. She tightened her hips and flexed, meeting his pace with the same urgency she felt in him.
He growled and dragged her bottom closer to the edge of the piano and spread her legs wider, pushing her harder as his pace turned to quick, urgent thrusts.
Holly had never imagined anything so erotic. Not even in her wildest dreams, her most vivid fantasies, had she envisioned such wondrous pleasure. Every moment in her life paled in comparison to this one with Brahm. She gripped his shoulders tighter, her nails biting into his skin, her breasts arching against his chest, hungrily searching for the fireworks that he’d made her feel before.
His grip on her waist tightened as he drove them higher with hard, insistent strokes. She bucked wildly against him. A thousand sensations exploded inside her all at once. The climax was stronger than her first one, a wave of pleasure slamming into her with such an unexpected force that she cried out his name.
He let out a hoarse cry, plunging deeper into her heat, and then he held. Shudders rocked him, and he gathered her into his arms, his breathing ragged in her ear.
Tenderly, Holly stroked his back with her fingers, resting her head on his shoulder. It took a moment for the thrills of their climax to pass and their breathing to ease.
Then, without warning, he lifted her up into his arms and moved to the sofa, his arm snatching out to grab a forgotten coverlet draped over one of the chairs. Rain poured down in an endless stream outside the windows as they settled into the soft pillows.
“Do you think they started the celebration without us?” Holly murmured, tracing a finger over the damp droplets on Brahm’s chest.
“Please tell me you did not invite the whole of London.” His lips drifted over her face.
“Only a few select friends and family.”
“Good, then it doesn’t matter what they do.” He kissed the edge of her jawline.
Holly raised her hand to the dark bristle of his cheek. “No doubt everyone will be beside themselves when they learn of how the bride and groom disappeared for hours before the ceremony, only to get married all sweaty from their steamy lovemaking.”
“Do you care what they think?”
“Not in the least, but I do hope they leave us some cake.”
A frown knit his brows. “This isn’t the wedding you deserve or the one you imagined as a little girl.”
“No,” Hol
ly agreed. A rush of love nearly overwhelmed her at the regret she heard in his voice. She never wanted to hear that tone from him again. “It’s even better.”
Brahm’s chest rose and fell in a long, deep breath.
In the distance a door crashed against a wall and a flurry of activity erupted from somewhere in the house. Their gaze locked.
“Do you think that is the duke?” Holly asked.
Brahm rolled her over and covered her body with his, bracing himself on his forearms and staring down at her.
“I think I don’t care.” He kissed away the lines that appeared on her brow. “It will be a cold day in hell before he rips the woman I love from my arms again.”
A slow smile spread across her face. She could feel his heart pounding against her ribs. “I do so love the sound of that.” She kissed his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. “I so love you.”
Brahm grinned and nuzzled her neck. “Woman, you have thoroughly corrupted me.”
“Well, it is about time someone took it upon themselves to do it.”
He chuckled and pulled the coverlet down to her waist.
“What are you doing?” Holly asked, startled when he kissed her between the legs, his hands holding her in place. “You cannot do that!”
A knock on the door halted any further protest.
“Holly?” It was Poppy. “Is everything all right?”
Oh, dear Lord!
“Yes,” Holly croaked, her eyes widening at Brahm as she tried to wriggle away from him. His arms tightened. “We will be right down,” she called, breathless as his tongue kept licking over the folds of her sex.
Holly whimpered.
“Holly?”
Her fingers tightened in Brahm’s hair. “We are just discussing some of the, er, finer points of our union.”
“Right,” her sister said through the door. “Well, I will inform Willow that you will be down momentarily, then.”
He slid a finger inside her.
“Brahm. We ought to—attend—wedding,” she stammered but did not attempt to stop him when, drawing her legs farther apart, he licked and sucked until he found the spot that made her jump and focused there. Heat pooled between her legs, and she could feel herself nearing the peak of unbound pleasure again.
“Brahm,” she breathed, just as she splintered into a thousand exquisite pieces.
They did not attend their wedding until much, much later.
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BOOKS BY TANYA WILDE
AN EARL’S GUIDE TO CATCH A LADY
A LADY’S GUIDE TO KISS A RAKE
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO SAVE A LADY
THE DEVIL MEETS LADY VERONICA PEBBLESWORTH
(A NOVELLA)
GIVE YOUR HEART A RAKE
SWEPT AWAY BY A WILD LORD
(A NOVELLA)
SWEPT AWAY BY A WICKED ROGUE
(A NOVELLA)
AN INVITATION TO MARRIAGE
COMING SOON
THE PERKS OF BEING A DUCHESS
A GYPSY IN SCOTLAND
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tanya Wilde developed a passion for reading when she had nothing better to do than lurk in the library during her lunch breaks. Her love affair with pen and paper followed soon after she had devoured all of the library’s historical romance books!
When she’s not meddling in the lives of her characters or drinking copious amounts of coffee, she’s off on adventures with her partner in crime.
Wilde lives in a town at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains, South Africa.