Australia: Gorgeous Grooms. Trish Morey

flame … or, worse, he rejected her?

      So much for that plan.

      Afterwards Alesha had no memory of when her subconscious led unerringly into the familiar nightmare. She only knew she was fighting to escape … crying out as she shielded her face from the stinging slaps, the harsh bite of cruel hands pinning her down, the sound of her name on his lips.

      Then she came sharply awake to a room flooded with light … a room different from the one she’d occupied in her mind, and the man leaning close to her wasn’t Seth.

      It took one brief horrifying moment to shake free of the starkly intrusive images, and she was barely conscious of the concern evident in the dark eyes of the man watching the range of fleeting emotions chase her expressive features before she gained the control to mask them.

      Loukas lifted a hand, saw her eyes flare with sudden fear, and swallowed the curse that rose to his lips as he smoothed a wayward lock of hair behind her ear, then let his hand trail along her jaw to cup her chin and press a thumb to her quivering mouth.

      There seemed no past, only the present, and words fell from her lips without conscious thought. ‘Please …’

      She looked stricken as the realization of what she said sank in, and she lifted her hands in a defensive gesture as he dispensed with them and drew her close.

      His skin was warm against her cheek, and she felt a hand cradle her head as the other slid low over the back of her waist.

      It felt good … he felt good, and she breathed in the scent of him, the faint traces of soap, cologne and the muskiness of man.

      His hand brushed a path over her spine, rested briefly at her nape, then slid slowly down in a slow soothing pattern that did much to settle her ragged breathing.

      She didn’t want to move, and she instinctively lifted her arms to link her hands together at the back of his neck.

      He grazed his lips over her cheek, nuzzled her ear, then eased his mouth down to savour the curve at the base of her neck … and sensed the breath hitch in her throat.

      A hand shifted to her waist and gently slipped beneath the sleep top to skim the warm skin as he traced a path to her breast, cupped it, then brushed the tender peak until it swelled to his touch.

      With care, he deepened the kiss, tasting, exploring the inner texture, the sensitive tissues as he encouraged her response. Her body jerked as he took her lower lip into his mouth and bit down gently, and she moved restlessly in his arms, seeking more, wanting so much more.

      With care he eased the cotton top high, and when she didn’t resist he removed it completely.

      ‘Beautiful,’ Loukas said gently as he shaped each breast, then soothed their softness before lowering his head to caress one tender peak as it hardened into a swollen bead that begged to be suckled.

      Her body arched against his own, and she cried out as he took the peak into his mouth and used the edge of his teeth to heighten her pleasure.

      There was satisfaction as her hands began their own discovery, shaping his shoulders, sliding slowly down the bunched muscles to his forearms, before moving to his ribs, where, once there, she trailed light fingers over his chest, toyed with the tight buds, then slipped to frame his waist.

      His breath caught as she leaned in and placed her lips over one tight bud … and drew it between her teeth, only to release it and trail a path to his navel, explored a little, and sighed when he pulled her down onto the bed and took her mouth with his own.

      Frankly sensual, he plundered at will, hungry, almost demanding as she matched him in a primitive oral dance where she became lost … totally lost in the magic he evoked.

      There was no sense of time or place … only the man, and she whimpered in protest as he began easing back, softening his touch until his mouth drifted gently over her own, then he lifted his head and regarded her carefully.

      Alesha had no coherent thought as her emotions went into meltdown.

       Dear God, what had just happened here?

      She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his, almost as if she were held captive by the smouldering heat … the intense passion, unrestrained and primitive in that instant. And the control, leashed, but easily broken by a careless word or gesture on her part.

      ‘Your call.’

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      HE COULD come so close, yet stop if she asked him to?

      How could he do that? Ohmigod … how could she?

      ‘Please.’ The word whispered from Alesha’s lips, a fragile sound barely lucid in the stillness of the night.

      His eyes were dark … so dark, she became lost in their depths as he brushed a thumb-pad gently over her lower lip.

      ‘Do you know what you’re asking?’

      She did, on some subliminal level. Yet she couldn’t stop, for it was as if she were being driven by an inner force that left her powerless.

      ‘Yes.’ As proof she sought his mouth with her own, and held on as he took possession in a kiss that made her forget everything except his touch, the hunger … and the innate knowledge she didn’t want him to stop.

      With care he eased off her sleep trousers, taking his time as he trailed gentle fingers over the surface of her skin, then he cupped one ankle and lowered his head down to brush his lips over the delicate arch.

      Slow, he wanted slow and easy, building the tension, stoking the passion until he filled her sensual world.

      It became a voyage of discovery, learning what caused her breath to hitch, the pleasurable sigh as he explored her breasts, savoured the sensitive curve at the edge of her neck … the way her body arched when he palmed the highly sensitive place between her thighs.

      He felt the faint sting of her nails as her fingers bit into his shoulders, and he reciprocated with a teasing bite to the soft underside of one breast.

      Naked, he saw her eyes widen as her hand brushed his arousal, and he glimpsed her brief panic, then it was gone as he took possession of her mouth in an erotic kiss that brought a purr of pleasure.

      It was then he trailed his mouth in a slow caress down her throat, felt the slight vibration as he lingered there before he began grazing a sensual tasting towards her navel, circled his tongue round the diamond pin, then traced an evocative path to the intimate folds guarding her sensitive clitoris.

      He felt her tense, then utter a faint sob as he bestowed the most intimate kiss of all, taking infinite care as her tension built, urging her high until she reached the brink … then he held as she fell.

      And glimpsed the tears well in her eyes, the soundless movement of her lips as she struggled to find the words, and he trailed gentle fingers over each cheek, dispensing the warm moisture.

      It was more, so much more than she believed it possible to experience, and she cradled his face and urged it towards her own as she sought his mouth in a kiss so expressive there was no need for words.

      She felt mesmerized by the darkness in his eyes, the passion clearly evident as he moved over her, and she managed a strangled plea to turn off the light. Only to have him shake his head.

      How could she explain that in the darkness she hadn’t had to witness the hatred of the man who’d only married her for material gain? A man who had used sex as a punishment.

      ‘Loukas—’

      ‘Open your eyes,’ he chided gently. ‘I want you to see me, only me, and know who and what I am, and the pleasure I can give you.’

      ‘Please. I—’

      ‘Trust me, agape mou.’ His mouth closed on her own as he positioned his length and eased in, careful to ensure she could accommodate him before filling her completely.