Bending down, I pressed a gentle kiss on his chest, eliciting a groan from deep inside him.
‘Miss Linton…Lillian-’
‘Shh!’ Quickly, I covered his mouth with a single finger. I didn’t want to hear if by chance he had any more reasonable, well-thought-out objections to our night together. I was not in a very reasonable mood. ‘Remember what they say? Silence is golden.’
‘And you,’ he told me, his sea-coloured eyes finding me even in the pitch-black darkness, ‘are diamond.’
His words nearly made my heart burst. Bending down, I retaliated in kind, pressing a gentle kiss just above his heart.
That did it. Whatever restraint he’d still possessed before was gone. A growl erupted from his chest, and suddenly I was on my back, Mr Rikkard Ambrose was above me, gleaming in a sliver of moonlight. Holy Mammon! If I’d thought he was beautiful before, that was nothing compared to the sight of him hovering above me, the remnants of his shirt hanging in tatters around his waist, muscles shining in the silver moonlight. The storm in his eyes had abruptly turned into a hurricane, ready to devour anything that came into its path.
Me! Me! Take me!
The words were as clear on my face as they were in my head, and Mr Rikkard Ambrose - he was not one for wasting time. Ravenously, he plunged down and claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. Capturing both my wrists with one powerful hand he pinned them to the bed, taking charge, riding the wave of passion rising in us both. I bowed under him, losing my mind and my body. Losing them to him, and never wanting them back.
‘Tell me you’re mine!’ he commanded.
‘I’m yours!’ For tonight. Just tonight.
‘Tell me you want this!’
It felt like a command. It sounded like a command. But from the way his free hand reached out of the shadows to caress my cheek, I knew it wasn’t. He was asking in the only way Rikkard Ambrose could.
Turning my face into his hand, I pressed a soft kiss onto his palm.
‘Yes.’
With a primal noise of satisfaction, he slid his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me up for a kiss that rocked me to my core. I hardly heard the ripping noise, hardly noticed a thing until cool air touched my skin and I realised: It’s done. The last barrier between us is gone.
He released my hands.
Silence fell. Reverent silence. Silence filled with love.
Reaching up, I tenderly caressed his face.
‘This…this is my first time. Will you do something for me?’
Even through the darkness, I could see the storm roiling in his eyes. ‘Anything.’
‘Oh. Good.’ Quickly, I reached over to my bedside table, pulled one of the little items I had in stock for just such an eventuality out of the drawer and pressed it into his hand. ‘Put this on, will you?’
Wrapping Things Up
Silence.
Complete, utter, icy silence.
For quite a long time.
Then…
‘Miss Linton?’
‘Yes?’
‘Is that…is that a-’
‘Yes.’