While she admired his nakedness, he untied her robe and undid the buttons of her nightdress. Then he drew her garments over her head with one swift movement, leaving her bare except for her slippers.

She was suddenly shy of him seeing her fully naked. She was no flawless young maiden. She’d borne two children and carried scars from her marriage.

But his eyes showed only desire. “You are so intoxicatingly womanly,” he said in a low, raw voice. “Made to be worshipped in every way a man can show devotion.”

His words gave her a visceral understanding of the wedding service: With my body I thee worship. Before tonight, they’d been only words, but now they resonated through her. They weren’t married; perhaps they never would be. But even without vows, they could come together as lovers, and she wanted that most desperately.

She took his right hand and held it over her heart. “Let us worship each other together on this night out of time.”

His warm hand clasping hers, he bent into a deep, passionate kiss as their bare bodies pressed together. Their arms encircled each other and she found her hips rolling against him, wanting what was so close and needing to be closer yet.

“I want to make love with you slowly, savoring every touch, every kiss,” he gasped. “And yet . . .”

With one long arm he turned back the covers on the bed, then twisted her onto the smooth sheets and came down with her, his body crushing into hers as she’d desired, his kisses ravishing her sense and her senses. Her hands clawed with need, wanting to meld them together, and her legs separated in a silent plea that they join.

A plea he answered without words, only a long, desperate groan as he entered her welcoming body. She bit his shoulder to express the fierceness of their coupling, then shattered under the touch of his clever fingers, all sensation and a fire so intense she was barely aware when he withdrew. They culminated together but not joined, and she had just enough awareness to feel a distant thread of regret.

They had shared almost everything she desired.

For now, almost would have to be enough.

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 27

As Lucas lay with Kendra in his arms, he wondered if his heart might actually explode in his chest. But no, it was slowing down to a more normal pace, along with his breathing. He murmured into her tangled hair, “Slow savoring wasn’t a very reasonable plan, was it?”

She laughed and the rich fullness of her magnificent breasts pulsed against him. “Not when there was so much pent-up desire on both sides. But the night is young. Who knows what might happen before I must slip back to my room so we can be found alone in our own beds?”