Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Alaric lifted Keeley into his arms and strode toward the bed. The linen that he’d wrapped around her body loosened and fell to the floor, leaving her naked. He eased her onto the mattress and took a step back, his gaze never leaving her.

She felt intensely vulnerable and she swallowed with nervous excitement as he slowly began to disrobe.

His arms and shoulders rippled and bulged, and his taut abdomen stretched over tightly corded muscles. Her fingers itched to trace the lean lines and explore every hard spot on his body.

“Spread your thighs for me, Keeley. Let me look upon your womanly softness.”

Blushing, she relaxed her legs and then slowly drew them apart. Alaric reached down and circled her ankles with his fingers and then pushed upward until her heels were dug into the mattress and her knees were bent double.

The position bared her completely to him. Left her open and aching for his touch.

He knelt at the bedside and ran one finger through her damp petals, pausing at her entrance before pushing ever so slightly inside.

She gasped and arched her hips, wanting more. He withdrew and then lowered his mouth.

She held her breath until she was light-headed. Every part of her body tightened in anticipation of the brush of his lips.

But it wasn’t his lips that touched her. He licked from her entrance to the tight, straining bud sheltered under the hood of flesh at her apex.

She cried out and her body convulsed. He gripped her thighs and held her in place as he continued to lap at her. The roughness of his tongue sent indescribable flashes of pleasure splintering through her belly up to her breasts where her nipples beaded painfully.

Gently he sucked at the tiny mound and then flicked his tongue back over it, coaxing it to a hardened point.

It was simply too much. Her body shattered. It was as if she were leaves scattered on a windy day. After so much pressure and unbearable tightening, suddenly she was so light that she floated, drifting downward in a gentle spiral.

Bewildered by the intensity of her release she raised her head. “Alaric?” she whispered.

But he didn’t answer. Instead he gently turned her onto her belly and drew one hand behind her back. To her shock, he wrapped a linen strip around her wrist and then pulled her other arm back to bind her wrists together.

Butterflies swarmed in her belly and her knees trembled uncontrollably.

When he was finished, he tested the binding and it held firm. Then he pushed her onto her knees so that her cheek rested against the mattress and her behind was high in the air, her hands tied securely behind her back.