She felt like a fey creature as she let herself spin, senses alert, attuned, as she let the fiery, gathering vortex he was orchestrating draw her in.
At some point, his arms eased from her; hands gripping her waist, he turned with her, then drew her down to the millstone.
The next thing she knew-the next moment her senses surfaced from the firestorm of pleasure he wrought enough to know-she was lying on her back, the rough stone beneath her shoulders, hips, and thighs, her bodice wide open, and he was feasting on her naked breasts even more evocatively-more intently and expertly-than he had the previous night.
It was only because he’d drawn back to look down on the flesh he’d so thoroughly possessed that she’d been able to rise above the pleasured haze he’d wrapped her in. Trapped her in-yet she couldn’t deny she was a very willing prisoner.
She was panting, gasping; she knew she’d moaned. Her hands lay lax on his upper arms; they’d lost all strength, after all he’d wrung from her. His dark eyes were tracing; she could feel the heat of his gaze, so much hotter on her bare skin.
But it was his face that, in that moment, held her, the sharp angles and planes, the long hollows of his lean cheeks, the square chin and wide brow, the blade of his nose, the intent line of his lips-the expression that, for that one unchecked instant, screamed with possessive lust.
It was that, it had to be; recognition made her wantonly writhe inside. Beneath his hand, she shifted restlessly.
His gaze flicked up; his eyes met hers for an instant, then he looked back at her breasts, lowered his head-and with calculated intensity swept her back into the flames.
She was far beyond any protest when he drew her skirts and petticoats up-all the way up to her waist. The touch of air on her skin should have felt cool, but instead she was already burning.
Already yearning for the touch of his hand between her thighs; when it came, she sighed. But she couldn’t relax, caught her breath on an urgent half sob, her fingers gripping his sleeve as her body arched, helplessly wantonly begged as he stroked, caressed, teased…
She wanted his fingers inside her again. That or…she’d always wondered why, how, women could be persuaded to accommodate the hard, heavy reality of a man’s erection, what madness possessed them to permit, let alone invite, such a thing to penetrate them there…now she knew.
She definitely knew, definitely burned with a want she’d never thought to feel.
Breathless, her voice no longer hers to command, she was struggling to find a way to communicate that burning, increasingly urgent desire when he released the tortured nipple he’d been suckling, lifted his head, slid down alongside her, ducked his head below the ridge of her rucked skirts-she gasped, shivered, as she felt his hot lips caress her navel.
Then she felt his tongue touch, caress, probe, then settle to a languid thrust and retreat; she shuddered and, eyes tightly closed, sank one hand in his hair, clinging to her whirling senses as between her thighs his fingers stroked in the same, evocative rhythm.
She was so deeply ensnared in the web of hot delight, of heated pleasure he sent coursing down her veins, that she was only dimly aware of him drawing back, of him easing her thighs wider apart.
What broke through the haze was the touch of his gaze, when, sensing it, faintly disbelieving, she cracked open her eyes and from beneath her lashes watched him studying, examining, the wet, swollen flesh his fingertips were tracing.
Her eyes locked on his face, captured by what she saw, sensed in the harsh, arrogant lines-the absolute drive, the all-consuming intent to possess her, all of her, that was engraved so clearly on his features.
The sight stole what little breath she had left, locked her lungs, left her giddy.
“Are you ready to scream?”
He hadn’t looked up, hadn’t met her eyes. She frowned; she hadn’t screamed yet, or only in her mind.
He glanced up, met her gaze for a fleeting instant, then lowered his head. And replaced his fingers with his lips.
She gasped, arched, would have jerked away but he had her well anchored, her hips held immobile so he could lap, lick, and savor.
And taste her. The realization brought a moan to her lips. Lids falling, head back, she tried to breathe, tried to cope, had no other option but to, fists clenching in his hair, ride the wave of sharp delight he sent surging through her.
That with an expert’s skill he crafted into a powerful, thunderous force that swept her into a fierce tempest of pleasure.
She battled to stifle a shriek as the tip of his tongue circled and stroked the tight bud of her desire, only partially succeeded. Her thighs trembled as his tongue continued to stroke…
Her spine arched helplessly as he eased it into her.
She shrieked, then screamed as he thrust it deep, then again more deeply into her.
Came apart in shuddering, sobbing waves as his mouth worked at her, on her, over her.
As the storm passed on and through her, leaving her utterly wracked and spent, Royce continued to lap at the nectar he’d drawn forth, savoring the gradual easing of her muscles, the slow roll of release as it swept through her.
Eventually, he drew back, looked at her face-that of a madonna pleasured to her toes-and smiled.
He reached for the buttons of her bodice and carefully did them up. A flick of his hand sent her skirts rustling down, covering her long, lithe legs. There was no sense in torment ing himself; this wasn’t his bed.
Tactics, strategy, and above all else, winning the war.
He rose, and opened the northern doors, then, once he’d ensured her skirts were fully down, opened the big southern doors as well. The afternoon sun slanted in; he stood there for a moment, ignoring the persistent ache in his groin, and looked back at the castle. He could see the keep’s battlements, private and out of bounds to all guests, but all the lower windows were screened by trees. Returning to the castle, they’d be safe from any even mildly interested eyes until they got much nearer the walls.
Given he wanted her to agree to their wedding solely because she desired him as much as he desired her, keeping their liaison a secret was imperative; he was determined that no social pressure of any stripe would work its way into their equation. Reassured, he returned to her.
The instant she blinked back to life, he took her hand and drew her to her feet, steadying her until, her arm tucked in his, she could walk beside him.
He led her out into the sunshine, heading back to the castle via the path along the western bank of the race.
Minerva felt…detached. Light, floating, glowing. Her limbs felt deliciously relaxed.
If nothing else, she now knew beyond question that Royce was expert at this game-which left her wondering why he hadn’t taken advantage of what he had to have known was her acquiescence, and sought his own release in her wantonly willing body.
The body he’d reduced to wanton willingness with caresses that, for the rest of her life, would make her blush.
As heat rose in her cheeks, she inwardly frowned; her features were still too lax to manage the expression.
“Because I intend to have you naked-not a stitch on-in my ducal bed.” He made the statement in an even, matter-of-fact voice as he strolled beside her, his gaze on the castle. “That’s where I intend to sink into you, to fill you and have my fill of you, for the first time.”
A spurt of irritation gave her strength enough to turn her head and narrow her eyes on his profile, until he, lips faintly curved, glanced her way.
She looked into his eyes, dark as sin and still far too molten, and discovered she had nothing to say. They’d reached a footbridge spanning the race, now a wider, burbling stream; drawing her arm from his, she reached for the railing and started across. She needed to put space between them.