In the midst of it, Natalie knew she would always remember this moment. The captivating pleasure of being clasped to his male form, the dark taste of brandy in his mouth, the shivery excitement of his caresses, all of those impressions were seared into her mind. Knowing that their embrace could not last, she would tuck it away in her heart and hold it there forever.

His fingers tracked down the smooth column of her neck, lingering a moment over the rapid pulse beat in her throat, then sliding beneath her wrapper to caress the bare skin of her shoulders. He brushed aside a few stray curls of her hair to allow his lips to follow the same path.

Natalie quivered as the velvety dampness of his tongue tasted her tender flesh. She tilted her head back, reveling in the intoxicating sensations he aroused so easily in her. It seemed only natural when he parted her robe to continue his exploration. Adrift in enjoyment, she was barely aware as he unbuttoned the front of her nightgown until his hand slipped inside to cup her naked breast. When his thumb stroked over the puckered tip, heat flowed down to her core and wrested a gratified gasp from her.

He used his other hand to tilt her face for another deep, languorous kiss; then he rubbed his whiskered cheek against hers so that she felt the warmth of his breath on her skin. “I want you, Natalie,” he said in a rough whisper. “I crave you, all of you.”

His passionate declaration swamped her defenses, as did the voluptuous delight of his fingers plying her sensitive flesh. Inundated by a sea of giddy sensuality, she finally understood the powerful instinct to mate with a man. She hungered to be ravished, to let him take their closeness to its inevitable conclusion, despite the wisp of rationality that warned her against it.

Her fingertip traced the outline of his damp lips. “Hadrian … I never knew I could feel so … so alive as I do right now with you.”

“Yes.”

The possessiveness imbued in that single word ought to have irked her. Yet under the burn of his touch, she found herself glorying in his attentions and wanting to give herself to him. Especially when he lowered his head to take her nipple into his mouth.

The lap of his tongue fed fuel to her inner fire, and she caught her breath at the shocking pleasure of it. Her fingers moved restlessly over his broad shoulders and into the thickness of his hair. With every skillful tug of his lips, an insistent throbbing pulsed deep within her, making her edgy and eager, crumbling the last of her defenses. All of her awareness focused on the provocative delight of his suckling. There was only the here and now; nothing else mattered but Hadrian. Hadrian, who had become as essential to her as air to breathe. She ached to learn everything that he could show her …