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‘It was. If it was graded by a panel of judges, the medal it would win would definitely be gold.’
‘What were you doing...? Wrestling with me?’
Hal’s chameleon golden-eyed gaze was no longer drowsy but wide and alert. In a flash his hands moved to fasten themselves round Kit’s slender-boned wrists and her heart thudded so hard in surprise that the desire to be free again didn’t even cross her mind.
‘I was passionately making love to you, and I guess we both got a little carried away.’ He smiled teasingly.
Riveted, Kit stared. ‘Well...’
His indisputably aroused gaze was roaming over the curves of her creamy breasts in the body-skimming nightwear and she was only too aware that his own magnificent bare chest was mere tantalising inches away from hers,
‘I’d advise you to try and have less, shall we say...energetic dreams in future. Especially when they could potentially endanger your health.’
‘What if I think the dream was worth the potential danger? I’m not a man who plays safe. I like to take risks, remember?’
His well-shaped lips formed a slow, seductive smile and the heat from his body mingled with his arresting cologne and made Kit feel seriously weak. As she stared back into his chiselled handsome face any desire to do the sensible thing and free herself completely deserted her.
‘I know,’ she answered softly. ‘It’s what you’re famous for, isn’t it? Taking risks, I mean. But seriously, Hal, I’ve been so worried. You’ve hardly spoken a word to me over the past few days. Is there something wrong that you’re not telling me about?’
‘No, sweetheart. There’s nothing bothering me other than frustration at so stupidly injuring myself and not being able to take control of things as I usually do.’
Kit breathed out a relieved sigh. ‘Is that all? Don’t you know those feelings aren’t a permanent state? Bones heal and your frustration will fade just as soon as you’re up and about again, like you were before. In no time at all this setback will be nothing but a distant memory. I promise.’
‘Hmm, you’re probably right. But, talking of another kind of frustration, did I tell you how sexy I think that little number you’re almost wearing is?’ he murmured, deftly pushing aside the inadequate spaghetti straps so that they slid down over her slim arms and caused the bodice of her chemise to reveal even more of her. ‘Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?’ he husked, his darkened gaze avidly roaming her now almost completely exposed bare breasts.
The cool night air that drifted in from the partially opened window skimmed her nipples and hardened them to prickling, tight steel buds. But Kit knew in truth it wasn’t anything external that made her react physically like that. It was her desire and hunger for Hal, and its force was like a torrid drowning wave she couldn’t do anything but surrender to.
‘I want to make love to you, Kit. Will you let me?’
‘What about—what about your injured leg? I don’t want to risk hurting you.’
For answer he put his fingers across her lips to quieten her. ‘I’m sure that between us we can find a position where there’ll be no risk to my leg. Let’s work it out, shall we? It will be an adventure.’ His compelling eyes darkened even more. ‘Are you in the mood for an adventure, Kit? I’m hoping that the answer is yes.’
Before she could utter a word Hal’s hands were driving through her hair, pulling her down on top of him and searing her lips with urgent scalding kisses that made her gasp and moan for more. She was all but on fire for him. The temperature of her blood surely couldn’t be far from reaching boiling point, and she didn’t resist when he guided her carefully over him so that she was sitting astride his toned, fit body.
As she settled herself straight away Kit became intimately aware of the steely hardness beneath the sensuous silk of his shorts, but she didn’t encourage or succumb to inviting his possession straight away, no matter how eager she felt. She didn’t just want to receive pleasure; she wanted to give it too. Sitting back for a moment to observe him, she knew her appreciative smile couldn’t help but be seductive. Henry Treverne was one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen, and she wanted to make the most of her time with him—however long or short that might turn out to be.
With a soft sigh Kit bent her head again. But instead of meeting his lips she slowly licked down his chest, from his flat male nipples to the column of dark silky hair that disappeared into his boxers.
CHAPTER EIGHT (#ulink_907376dc-20ec-5016-b1ba-2fa52f062a89)
‘DO YOU KNOW what you’re doing to me, woman?’ Hal growled as Kit teased and taunted him by swirling her indescribably silky tongue round his nipples, then slowly and deliberately sweeping it down to his navel.
Her blue eyes twinkling, she lifted her head and gave him the most maddeningly innocent smile. ‘I like to think I’m doing something nice. Don’t you like it?’
‘Of course I like it! But I want you to come back up here so that I can do the same to you.’
‘All right, then. Your wish is my command.’
‘Don’t say that or you may find I have a veritable list of wishes that will keep you here for the rest of the night and most of tomorrow too. What do you think about that?’
‘I’m beginning to see that you have a very creative mind, Mr Treverne. But if I don’t agree with any of your requests I’ll simply make myself scarce and go back to bed.’
She made this declaration as she rose to face him, and it took every ounce of will Hal possessed to suppress a heartfelt groan at the arresting sight she made. With her fiery copper hair tumbling onto her bared rosy-tipped breasts Kit reminded him of the eponymous Moll Flanders from the classic Defoe novel. As well as being bewitchingly beautiful, everything about her was irresistibly sexy. He’d defy any red-blooded male not to want to possess her.
Reaching out his hands to cup her breasts, he luxuriated in the soft weight and satiny feel of them as he stroked and teased the rigid nipples. Then, unable to deny his growing need to know her more intimately, he captured one of them between his lips and suckled and laved until she cried out and her head fell forward onto his chest. It was apparent that his lover had experienced a spontaneous release, and Hal couldn’t deny the sense of privilege that made him feel...that he could do that for her.
He was gratified that she was so exquisitely sensitive. Had she been as sensitive as this with any other of the lovers she’d had in the past? The thought struck a discordant jealous note that briefly unsettled him. But he refused to let it taint his pleasure for long.
With a smile, he tenderly smoothed his hand down over the tumbling red-gold curls that nestled just beneath his chin. When Kit tipped up her head to glance at him her cheeks had the bloom of a ripe red apple and her blue-eyed glance appeared surprisingly guilty.
‘I—I don’t know what to say...’
‘Did you enjoy it?’
She blushed again. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘Well, there’s no need to feel guilty if you enjoyed it, is there? I don’t want either of us to have any regrets about being together like this. In truth, the attraction we feel for each other has been building up for a while—you know that. And I don’t want you to feel guilty just because you experienced pleasure. Trust me, there’s going to be plenty more of that coming your way. We haven’t finished yet. Not by a long chalk. But first...’ he jerked his head towards the satinwood cabinet next to the bed ‘...I think I’m going to need to use some protection—that’s unless you’re already covered?’
Sliding carefully to the side of the bed, Kit sat up, her hands immediately adjusting the thin straps of her chemise back over her shoulders and tugging the bodice up higher to cover her breasts.
‘I’m not on the pill, if that’s what you mean. There’s been no need. Just in case you want to know, I haven’t had sex in a very long time.’
Hal’s heart missed a beat. ‘How long?’
She frowned. ‘The last time...and the first time, in fact—was when I was seduced by a man who turned out to be married. It only happened the once.’ Her shoulders lifted in a pained shrug. ‘It was a stupid mistake that I deeply regret. I’m just thankful that I had the common sense to make sure he used protection.’
For a moment Hal didn’t know what to say. When he finally managed to make sense of his feelings, he asked, ‘And when did this happen?’
‘I’d just turned twenty-one and had gone to a club with some friends. That’s where I met him. Anyway, like I said, it was a long time ago.’
‘And since then you’ve really never been with anyone else?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Do you really need to ask? Don’t you think I’d be wary of men after what happened? Being deceived like that made me feel dirty. I never want to experience such a feeling again, and it made me more aware than ever that relationships shouldn’t be a priority—that I should just focus on trying to make a better life for myself. That was and still is my main priority. Shall I get the protection for you?’
With a slightly bemused nod of his dark head Hal indicated his agreement even as he resolved to delve a little deeper into her surprising confession at the earliest opportunity—to find out a bit more about the cheating rat who had stolen her virginity and deceived her.
‘You’ll find some in the second drawer down.’
As soon as Kit had handed the foil packet over to him he wasted no time in pulling her back against his chest and passionately claiming her lips in a languorous open-mouthed kiss. As he did so he tugged down the straps of her chemise until he was satisfied he could feel her lovely breasts again. Then, still kissing her, he shaped his hands over her pretty bottom and started to ease her panties down over her svelte hips as much as he could manage without jeopardising his injured leg.
Although he was more than ready to take her, and almost in pain because his desire was so acute, Hal didn’t want to rush anything, so he made sure to take his time exploring his lover’s supple and slender body. It was hardly a sacrifice... Not when her skin was as soft as down and as satiny-smooth as the finest silk. And, being that her only experience of lovemaking had been with a man who had lied to her about being free so that he could get what he wanted from her, Hal’s greatest desire was to make this experience with him one Kit would never forget—but only for the best of reasons. He wasn’t promising her something he couldn’t deliver, but he honestly wanted to help her erase that painful episode from her mind and replace it with a much better one.
Earlier Hal had joked that he liked to be on top, but because of his injury it was only natural that Kit should straddle him, and with her surprisingly strong slender thighs clasping him, and her tumbled copper hair and bare tip-tilted breasts on seductive view for his personal pleasure and edification, he had no qualms in silently admitting that, in truth, he actually had the best position of all...
With his hands settling either side of her womanly hips, Hal suddenly couldn’t wait any longer to fulfil his growing need for her—and told her so. ‘If I don’t take you now, angel, I might—just might—lose my mind. But you’ll have to help me take these boxers off.’ When she’d accomplished the task he told her, ‘Now it’s your turn.’
With the same graceful and athletic prowess she’d used to remove his boxers, and mindful again not to jar the cast on his leg, Kit reached down and carefully slid her flimsy underwear down to her ankles. Then she scrunched the delicate cotton into a ball and threw it onto the floor.
When she resumed her position, Hal murmured huskily, ‘You were gone too long, baby.’ Hungrily fastening his hands either side of her flushed face, beneath the bewitching cascade of her burnished copper hair, he finished, ‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you too.’ She bent down teasingly to brush her fulsome moist lips against his mouth, making him groan.
Before he could completely surrender to his burning desire he ripped open the silver foil packet he still held in his closed fist and fitted the latex protection over his member. He was rock-hard. The soft gasp Kit couldn’t prevent feathered over him. Reaching for her once again, Hal knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to be as mindful of her inexperience as he would like to be, and as much as she deserved, and he honestly regretted that. But his hunger for this woman was off the scale...
Never before in his history of conquests had it been this wanton or voracious. When he placed the tip of his member at her moist entrance and pushed upwards without preamble her satin heat all but overwhelmed him. He had no choice but to take things slowly or his lovemaking would be over almost as soon as it had begun.
Any tension Kit might have felt at the thought of properly uniting her body with a man’s after five long years of sexual abstinence quickly disappeared the moment Hal’s hard silken manhood entered her body. It was as though she’d been waiting all this time just for him. Although her feminine muscles might be understandably tight due to her inexperience, Hal’s initial thrust had not been as painful or shockingly invasive as she’d expected. In fact after a brief searing sting his possession hardly made her flinch at all it was so natural. And the fact didn’t detract from the inconceivable pleasure that filled her.
It was like drowning in a sea of the most exquisite honey. She’d honestly never felt more alive or glad to be a woman as she did right then. And as he drove into her again and again, and she allowed herself to relax completely, she didn’t have the slightest reticence about meeting his voracious hunger with her own, bending her head greedily to kiss the side of his chiselled jaw and forehead and nip the velvet lobe of his ear.
How was it possible that a man’s body could taste this good or feel so wonderful? she mused. It made her wonder how she’d survived so long without such sublime intimacy and gratification. The heat that filled her made her feel as though her blood was being lit by a fire. A fire whose flames took a sudden fierce hold to lick higher and higher. In fact it grew so hot that when Hal clasped her head between his hands to kiss her more deeply it couldn’t help but ignite sparks and reach a crescendo.
She already knew she was sensitive to his touch—that had been highlighted by her spontaneous climax when he’d kissed her breasts earlier. Now, as Kit gasped her pleasure into his mouth, the sensation that poured through her was akin to riding a wave whose natural destiny was to join the falls that plunged over a cliff edge into a crystal-clear sun-kissed ocean. It was the most exhilarating ride she had ever experienced, and it was everything she’d dreamed it would be. Her heart had never beaten so hard or so fast with excitement.
Even as she stilled breathlessly Hal held her tightly against him. Once more his narrow athletic hips rocked against her smooth inner thighs and his rhythmic thrusts grew deeper and more purposeful. The helpless shout he released as his desire reached its peak echoed round the room. Apart from their preoccupied presence the air was almost preternaturally still. Just as if it had been waiting for their breathless sighs of pleasure and satisfaction to fill it.
Seeing a muscle in the side of her lover’s lean, carved face suddenly flinch, Kit eased herself up, her heartbeat accelerating for an entirely different reason.
‘Are you all right? Have I leant too hard on your leg and hurt it? Tell me, Hal...I need to know.’
Even as she carefully disengaged her body from his and moved to lie next to him he straight away hauled her back against his chest and drove his hands through her hair.
‘Stop worrying about me and let me tell you how amazing that was—how utterly delicious and gorgeous you are.’
‘It’s my job to be concerned about you, Hal.’
He raised a lightly mocking eyebrow. ‘Does that mean you wouldn’t worry about me unless you were being paid to?’
A mortifying wave of heat assailed her. In her mind Kit couldn’t help privately cursing her inability to relax right then and say what she really wanted to say—that she cared for him more than she’d ever cared for anyone before and that it scared her, that she hated the idea of him being in pain and wished that it was somehow in her power to spare him the hurt.
‘Of course it doesn’t. When I saw you wince then I was just concerned that we might have put too much strain on your femur and maybe damaged it even more.’
With a soft chuckle Hal slid his hand beneath her delicate jaw and gazed deeply into her eyes. ‘Don’t you know that what we just did helped me feel the best that I’ve felt in a very long time? I mean it. Not just because it was great sex...and it was...but because you’re a genuinely compassionate and caring woman and I’m so pleased that I’ve met you, Kit.’
She’d never been remotely easy with receiving compliments and now she found out that it was even harder receiving them from Hal. It was hard because it really mattered to have his good opinion.
‘Thank you. It’s very sweet of you to say so.’
His lips hitched in a rueful grimace. ‘Sweet? I can honestly say that no-one’s ever accused me of being that before.’
‘Not even your mother when you were a little boy?’
In a flash his expression darkened. ‘My mother left when Sam and I were kids. I have no memory of her ever calling me anything endearing or anything else, for that matter. Shall we change the subject?’
Kit was mortified that she’d inadvertently hurt him with her remark. ‘I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t know.’
Taking a deep breath in, Hal sighed, ‘Of course you didn’t—how could you? And how could I possibly be offended because you’ve stumbled on a subject that you weren’t even aware might be awkward for me?’ His gaze was distant and reflective for a moment, but it wasn’t long before he returned his attention to Kit and smiled. ‘One day I might tell you a bit more about my tale of woe, but not right now.’ His strong arms encircled her waist. ‘The only thing I want to do right now is hold you and breathe you in. I love that scent you’re wearing...what’s it called? It smells very natural.’
‘It is natural. It’s just me. I’ve never had any cause to wear scent to bed.’
‘And you don’t have one now, sweetheart. I love the fact that the alluring perfume I can detect on your skin is purely your own natural scent. You know what? I want to fall asleep with you beside me tonight, Kit. Will you stay with me until the morning? If it’s any incentive, I promise you I don’t snore.’
‘Even if you did I’d probably just grin and bear it because you’re so hunky,’ she teased.
‘You think so?’
Beneath his shadowed complexion she saw him colour.
‘I confess it’s not the first time I’ve been called that. The tabloids use the word with monotonous regularity to describe me when they’re spouting some spurious story about some model or soap starlet they want to portray as being linked with me. It gets a little tiresome, to tell you the truth. The phrase “Hunky Hal Treverne” makes me feel more like a stereotype than a person. Although I have to say the description sounds much more complimentary coming from you, sweetheart.’
‘Oh...’ Kit couldn’t help feeling a little defensive at his comment that the tabloid press used the word with ‘monotonous regularity’. Did he think that was where she had got it from? If he did, then it didn’t suggest she had much discernment.
It hit a particularly sensitive nerve to be inadvertently reminded that she wasn’t as well-educated as a lot of women her age, who’d perhaps gone on to university when they’d left school. In truth, it was one of the big regrets of her life. As for reading the tabloids—she didn’t give them the time of day. She’d probably seen the more salacious headlines about Hal on the internet...not because she’d deliberately sought them out but because along with other celebrity gossip they’d flashed up on the site she used to check her e-mail from time to time.
But his comment also reminded her that not only was he an educated man himself but also the son of landed gentry, and suddenly the jolting realisation made Kit’s heart sink like a stone. If their lovemaking had lulled her even for a second into believing the improbable fantasy that they might go on to enjoy a real relationship then she’d best dissuade herself of such an idea as quickly as possible. Hadn’t she promised herself she’d never go down the same soulless destructive path with men as her mother had? She’d already made one unfortunate mistake in trusting a man.
Hal Treverne was destined to marry a woman from his own privileged class—not someone like Kit, just an ordinary working class girl, whose father had been a Romany gypsy who had abandoned her mother when he’d found out she was pregnant. Sooner or later Hal would wake up to the fact she wasn’t in his league and no doubt regret bedding her. The thought that he wouldn’t think that their intimacy was anything special as time went by almost made her want to weep.
Because she’d suddenly fallen silent, Hal looked concerned. The softly diffused lighting streaming in through the partially opened door highlighted his compelling gaze, made his irises glint like gold.
‘What’s wrong? You’ve suddenly gone quiet on me.’
As she tried to tidy the now crumpled silk chemise so that it covered her a bit more, Kit’s smile was tremulous. ‘I don’t think I will spend the night with you, if you don’t mind? I need to be up early to see to a few things...’
‘What things are those?’
‘Well, I—I need to make a shopping list, and also figure out menus for the day.’
‘If that means you can’t spend the night with me then we’ll simply order in some food instead. Didn’t my sister tell you that your main priority should be meeting my needs?’
‘You are the priority...of course you are...but—’
‘I don’t like the sound of that “but”,’ Hal commented, sounding a bit more than vaguely irritated. ‘Go on.’
‘It probably wasn’t a very good idea...us getting together like, this I mean.’
‘Are you saying that you regret it?’ Now his expression was seriously perturbed.
She coloured a little. ‘Not the experience—no. It’s just that—well, it could make our day-to-day relationship rather awkward. It’s still going to be quite a while before you can get around completely unaided and, like you said, your needs have to take priority. Anything that detracts from that wouldn’t be good. Perhaps it might be best if you contacted the agency and asked for someone else to come in and help you? Someone more impartial than I’m able to be now.’
‘Stop it. Stop this nonsense right this minute.’
The scowl on his handsome face was nothing less than formidable, and Kit’s pulse skittered in alarm.
