A man paused on the threshold. His face was in shadows, but she recognised him immediately. Her fear of genuine danger subsided, but now her racing heart was stimulated by a different kind of nervousness.
‘I’ve never known a woman so eager to groom me,’ said Jakob, unmistakable amusement in his voice. ‘Would you like to me to sit down to save the strain on your arms?’
‘What?’ Desire saw she was holding her brush aloft in the full beam of moonlight. No!’ She threw it down on the dressing table in disgust.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Why did you leave the party?’ They spoke together, their words cutting across each other.
‘Why did you leave the party?’ Jakob repeated.
‘Did you follow me?’ Excited butterflies danced in Desire’s stomach. Following her was good, wasn’t it? It gave her hope he might still feel something for her.
‘Of course.’ He stepped into the room and closed the door. ‘You are under my protection,’ he said easily. ‘You cannot believe I would let you wander the corridors alone.’
‘I’m sure I’m not in danger from Arscott here.’ Disappointment flooded her. He’d only followed her to ensure her physical safety, not because he wanted to talk to her.
‘Very unlikely. But I don’t know most of the guests in the house. A woman should not wander far from the safety of the main party.’
‘You’re protecting me from the other wedding guests?’
‘I’ll protect you from the whole damn world if I have to,’ Jakob said grimly.
‘I don’t need your protection!’ she flung back, offended by his tone. The way he spoke made it sound as if guarding her was the most irksome of chores, but then she noticed the actual words he’d used. He’d said he’d protect her from the whole world if he had to. That sounded…not entirely unhopeful…
‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded.
‘I came…’ Desire was still caught up in trying to interpret the difference between what he’d said and the way he’d said it, and didn’t have a ready answer to his question. ‘I came to fetch my new fan,’ she said, fixing on the first excuse that came to mind.
‘Are you feeling overheated?’ He strolled closer. ‘Where is it? I’ll fan you before we go back to the great chamber.’
‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’ She’d made a mistake about his motive for following her. He was obviously impatient to get back to the party, to the pretty girl he’d been flirting with all evening.
‘You can go back to Miss Ludlow right now,’ she said furiously. ‘Since you’re so worried about my safety, I’ll barricade the door after you’ve gone.’
He made a disparaging noise at her suggestion. ‘There’s no barricade would keep me out if I wanted to come in,’ he declared. ‘Who the devil is Miss Ludlow?’ he added.
‘Who is—?’ Absolutely incensed, and forgetting all her good intentions to keep her distance, Desire seized his sleeve and tried to drag him to the door. ‘You insensitive buffoon! You couldn’t take your eyes off her earlier. You don’t want to come in—so just go!’
He let her pull him across the room, but when she reached to open the door he set his broad shoulders against the oak panels and folded his arms across his chest.
‘An insensitive buffoon, am I?’ he mused. She thought she saw him grin in the moonlight. ‘Why are you so anxious for me to leave? Are you waiting for a lover?’
‘A lover?’ Desire exclaimed scornfully. ‘Who would that be? The man in the moon?’
‘You’re not expecting a lover? Then you came up here to dream about a lover in the moonlight.’ Jakob’s voice dropped to a deep, coaxing murmur. ‘Who is he, älskling? Whose touch do you dream of in the dark of the night?’
‘You are an arrogant, insensitive oaf!’
Jakob laughed softly and pushed away from the door. At his advance Desire backed up, then tried to dart around him. He seized her before she could make good her escape.
‘Let me go!’ she blustered.
‘Do you really want me to?’ His hands circled her upper arms in a firm, but not painful grasp.
‘I am not your plaything!’ she flung at him. ‘I will not be placated with a few soft words when I’ve just watched you spend the evening trying to crawl inside another woman’s bodice!’
‘You saw me what?’ His grip tightened. ‘För bövelen! You’re the most exasperating woman I’ve ever met!’ he declared. ‘The only bodice I’m interested in is yours. And lately you’re so cold I’d freeze if I ventured anywhere near it.’
‘You’re interested in my bodice?’ she exclaimed.
‘Not the bodice, what’s inside it.’ Jakob released her and half-turned away, running a hand through his hair.
‘You are interested in what’s inside my bodice?’ Desire repeated, fascinated by his sudden loss of composure. She was suddenly feeling a lot happier than she had done for weeks. Arguing with Jakob had that effect upon her. ‘It has a very fine silk lining—and bones,’ she added as an afterthought, because she was currently very conscious of how the tight lacing compressed her ribs and breasts.
Jakob muttered something in Swedish. ‘That is not what I meant to say,’ he continued in English.
‘Oh?’ Desire put her hands on her hips. ‘You mean you are not interested in—’
‘Will you be quiet!’ His voice rose. ‘It’s not surprising a man can’t keep a straight thought in his head when you’re around.’
‘Do I muddle your thoughts?’ Desire was amazed—and then thrilled. Muddling his thoughts was a good thing, wasn’t it? Jakob had been muddling her thoughts from the moment they’d first met, and it wasn’t because she didn’t like him. She held her breath, waiting for his response.
It was too dark to see his expression, but she felt the weight of his gaze upon her.
‘Why did you refuse me?’ he asked.
The butterflies in Desire’s stomach flew straight up into her throat. She swallowed. ‘Why did you ask me?’ she parried.
They stared at each other in the moonlight, neither speaking, each one striving to see the answer to their question in the other’s shadowed face. At last, with a muffled oath, Jakob caught her arm and pulled her to stand directly in the swathe of moonlight. His put his hand beneath her chin and gently pushed her head up until he could look into her face.
She saw the gleam of moonlight in his eyes, felt the solid warmth of his body only inches from hers. The only physical contact between them was his hand on her chin, but he had not touched her so intimately since he’d comforted her after the destruction of Godwin House. Excitement tingled through her. She leant towards him, as if he radiated some magnetic power she could not resist. For a few moments she completely forgot to breathe.
Jakob lowered his head an inch or two and she felt the warmth of his breath against her skin. Anticipation surged through her veins, dizzying as fine wine. The tension stretched between them, sweet and frustrating.
Unable to resist the temptation, Desire put her hands on his chest. Beneath the supple velvet of his coat she could feel the hard, virile heat of his body. His fingers brushed lightly over her cheek, and he gently caressed her mouth with the side of his thumb. A soft sound escaped her lips. Her fingers clenched in his coat…
The next second his arms were locked around her as his mouth found hers. Passion flared instantly between them, fierce and hot. Jakob held her tight against his body. He devoured her mouth with his lips and tongue until she was dizzy with arousal. She closed her eyes and clung to him. When he finally let her go, her legs were weak, her lips swollen, and there was a yearning ache low in her belly.
It belatedly occurred to her that the last thing she should be doing was allowing Jakob to kiss her. And she certainly shouldn’t be kissing him back. Not when she’d just watched him flirt with another woman and he’d not given her a single explanation for why he was now kissing her. But he wasn’t showing any signs of letting her go, and she lacked the resolution to pull herself out of his arms.
‘Why…why did you do that?’ she whispered.
‘Why do you think?’ he rested his forehead against hers.
‘You are a rogue and a philanderer. An hour ago you were flirting with Miss Ludlow.’
‘Miss who?’ He lifted his head. He still denied knowing the young woman’s name. ‘I haven’t flirted with any one but you since the day I met you.’
‘Ludlow!’ Desire exclaimed, trying to push him away. ‘In the great hall. She had her hand on your arm and you were trying to climb into her bodice.’
‘Is that her name?’ he said lightly. ‘I couldn’t remember. She wanted to know about Sweden—at least, I think that’s what we were talking about. I wasn’t really listening.’
‘She made you laugh.’ Unsure whether to be mollified or suspicious, Desire allowed him to pull her closer. ‘What was she saying to you?’
‘No, she didn’t. I was thinking about you.’
‘And the thought of me made you laugh?’ Desire pushed him away again.
‘I was laughing to be polite. I think she meant to be amusing. The thought of you was driving me out of my mind with frustration, not good humour.’ He locked his arms around her so that she couldn’t escape.
‘Oh.’ She braced her forearms on his chest. ‘Why?’
‘I asked you to marry me,’ he reminded her.
‘Only for my land.’ She was too overwhelmed with sensations and conflicting emotions to guard her words.
She felt Jakob go rigid.
‘What?’ he growled. He was holding her so close it seemed as if his outrage vibrated through every particle of her body. ‘You think I want you for your fortune?’ Now it was his turn to push her away.
‘Not my fortune, my lands.’ She stumbled a little without his support and righted herself.
‘Heliga guds moder! What have I ever done to make you believe me a fortune hunter?’ he demanded.
‘Not a fortune hunter.’ His anger shook her, but didn’t scare her. Instead it fed her growing hopefulness. ‘You asked so many questions about my estates,’ she said. ‘You seemed impressed, and then—’
‘And then I proposed. För bövelen!’
‘Well, yes.’ Desire stood still and watched as Jakob revealed his agitation by pacing about the room. She was beginning to feel a rather heady sensation of optimism. He seemed to be just as insulted as a man with strong feelings for a woman ought to be if someone accused him of marrying her for her fortune.
‘Mind the stool,’ she said helpfully, when he strayed too close to the dressing table.
‘Is that why you refused me?’ He swung to face her. ‘Because you thought I only wanted your land?’
‘Well, yes…’ She stretched out the word uncertainly. She couldn’t bring herself to admit it was also because he’d made it so clear he didn’t want her. At least not in the way a husband was meant to want his wife. Besides, she wasn’t so sure of that any more. The way he’d just kissed her gave her hope that he might have overcome his initial feelings of revulsion when he’d discovered the scar on her leg. After all, he hadn’t been expecting it. It must have come as an unpleasant surprise to him. Perhaps she should have warned him.
‘What else?’ He came back to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.
‘You spoke to me in Swedish. You knew I couldn’t understand. I think…I thought it was a sign that though your mind knew it would be a sensible union, your heart did not want me to accept,’ she said resolutely, proud that her voice was only a little unsteady.
He was silent for several long moments after she’d spoken. She suddenly dipped her head and tried to pull out of his grasp. He wouldn’t let her go.
‘So if you had believed I asked you to marry me with a whole heart—what would you have answered?’ he said at last. There was emotion in his voice she could not fully interpret, but she felt it resonate deep inside her.
‘Did you—?’ She stopped.
She heard him draw in his breath, then he pressed a light kiss against her forehead. “Swedish is the language of my heart, min älskade,’ he murmured, his lips caressing her skin. ‘I did not even realise how much until the day I proposed. Jag älskar dig. Vill ni gifta er med mig?’ Then he translated it for her. ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’
She stood very still for a moment, then she slipped her arms around his waist and leant against him, letting his words wash through her. She had been so sure for so long that she would never be loved in this way. It took a little while for her to absorb the full meaning of what he’d just said. For her heart to unfurl with deep, profound joy that she loved and was truly loved in return.
He stroked her hair and kissed her temple.
‘Does this…softness…mean yes?’ he asked against her cheek. ‘Hmm, min älskade?’
She smiled as she lifted her head. She thought that from his tone and the way he was holding her he already knew that it did.
‘Perhaps…’ She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek, then began to trace his eyebrow with one finger.
‘What bothers you now?’ His arms tightened compellingly around her. ‘Desire?’ he prompted her, when she still hesitated.
‘Do you think…?’ It was so hard to speak openly of this, but she couldn’t bear to experience another rejection. ‘Do you think that, in time, you will overcome your…?’
‘Overcome what?’ He sounded baffled, and something else—wary? Uncertain, a little belligerent. Not emotions she associated with him. ‘What is it about me you do not like?’
‘About you?’ she said, confused.
‘Some habit, some characteristic in me you do not care for,’ he said, an edge in his voice. ‘The reason you held me aloof for so long. What is it?’
‘Not in you!’ she exclaimed. ‘Well, perhaps a little,’ she acknowledged, after giving it a moment’s thought. ‘But you grew accustomed to my face so quickly I never anticipated—’
‘What are you trying to tell me?’ he interrupted impatiently.
‘I never even thought of the scar on my leg until it caused you such…such revulsion,’ she whispered, clinging tightly to his coat, half-fearing he would pull away from her now she had drawn her disfigurement to the forefront of his mind.
‘Revulsion?’ he said blankly. ‘What revulsion?’
Desire’s face burned with mortification. And some degree of annoyance. How dare he claim ignorance after the hurt he’d caused her. She pulled out of his arms.
‘You know what revulsion,’ she said. ‘I felt it in you. Don’t insult me by pretending otherwise.’
Jakob put his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. He gazed upwards for so long Desire looked up too, in case he’d seen something remarkable.
‘I am looking for patience,’ he said in a long-suffering voice.
‘Patience?’
‘Desire, there is nothing about you that causes me revulsion.’
‘You pulled away! At the very moment… You felt my scar, and you pulled away!’ She crossed her arms over her chest, the pain of his rejection still uncomfortably raw within her.
‘No.’ He sighed regretfully. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m very sorry. I never meant to hurt you, or for you to think that’s why I pulled away. I remembered who you are. It wasn’t revulsion. Fear, perhaps. I wanted you, but I wasn’t ready for what must inevitably follow if I had you.’
‘You don’t really want a wife?’ Desire watched him painfully. ‘You don’t really want me as your wife?’
‘I want you. I have just said so, haven’t I?’ he said with a flash of temper. ‘I wasn’t sure if I wanted to remain in England.’ His voice softened. ‘I never meant you to think it was because of your scar I pulled away. It didn’t occur to me you might think that.’
‘It didn’t?’ she whispered, still feeling a little doubtful.
‘No.’ He cupped the side of her face with his hand, stroking his thumb over the scars on her cheek. ‘I told you a long time ago I don’t see your scars,’ he reminded her.
‘Yes.’ She bit her lower lip to stop it trembling, but tears of gladness welled up in her eyes as she took his reassurance to heart.
‘You should have remembered, min älskade,’ he scolded her gently. ‘How can I be expected to guess what you think I’m thinking—when such a thought has never occurred to me?’
‘I suppose you can’t.’ She clung to the front of his coat, smiling at him through her tears as she allowed herself to believe him.
‘Of course I can’t.’ Jakob teased his thumb lightly over her bottom lip, then bent his head to kiss her. There was so much tender conviction in his kiss it didn’t leave room for a single shred of doubt. Relief and joy suddenly expanded to fill Desire’s whole being. He didn’t care about her scars. He truly didn’t. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him with growing passion until they were both breathless.
‘So have you decided to stay in England?’ she asked a few minutes later, her head resting on his shoulder. ‘Or are we to go to Sweden?’
‘We’re staying in England. Would you come to Sweden if I asked?’ He sounded surprised at her question.
‘Of course. If I am your wife, I will go where you go. Are you staying here to please your grandfather?’ She looked up at him.
‘Not if, when you’re my wife,’ he corrected her. ‘No, he’s irrelevant.’
‘Lord Swiftbourne is irrelevant?’ The idea startled Desire.
‘I realised that the day Godwin House burned,’ said Jakob. ‘For years I’d felt as if my life was lived in the shadow of my future inheritance. I made every important decision with reference to it. Not with the intention of pleasing Swiftbourne, mark you—’
‘But to prove you are your own man despite him,’ said Desire.
‘Something like that. But when Arscott seized you—when your house burned, I realised everything had changed. I had…’ he paused ‘…I had something more important in my life,’ he said.
‘Now tell me!’ he said, suddenly fierce. ‘I have bared my soul to you. Now tell me!’
‘I love you,’ she said, tears trembling in her eyes.
She heard him draw in a deep breath and then release a long, emotion-filled sigh. She closed her eyes and clung to him, savouring his strength, his warmth and his love. After several long moments he eased slightly away from her and put his hands on her shoulders. She felt his lips caress her forehead.
‘Then let me show you how much I love you, min älskade.’ He kissed her temple, his breath warm against her skin. ‘And then there won’t be any more room for doubt.’
‘Show me?’ she whispered, lost in the emotions and sensations his tenderness aroused in her.
‘Is that a question or a request?’ he said, an undercurrent of urgency in his soft voice.
‘A request…? Oh.’ She opened her eyes and looked up at him in the moonlight. ‘You want to make love to me now?’
‘I always want to make love to you. From the moment I first saw you—’
‘You did not!’ Despite her newfound confidence Desire didn’t believe that. ‘You just wanted to abduct me.’
‘Protect you,’ he corrected, stroking the nape of her neck.
‘Protecting me was just an excuse for you to have an adventure and avoid your grandfather,’ she said, although his featherlight caresses were already weakening her resistance. Who could have guessed her neck would be so sensitive?
‘You wanted me on the boat, maybe, when I…I threw myself into your arms.’ She caught her breath as he kissed her below her ear. How was she supposed to think straight when he was doing such delightful things to her? ‘But not on the roof.’
‘On the roof,’ he said firmly, though his words were muffled against her skin. She adored the sensations the little vibrations created inside her. ‘Even when you had your back turned I wanted you. You have a very seductive neck.’
‘I do? My neck?’ Desire belatedly caught up with what he was saying. ‘You think I’m more seductive with my back turned?’ That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She stiffened in his arms and started to pull away.
‘You are completely seductive from all directions,’ he said, holding her tighter. The next instant she felt his lips against her cheek as he kissed her scars. It was the first time he had ever done so.
‘They don’t matter,’ he murmured. ‘I don’t see them when I look at you. They don’t matter, min älskade. Don’t ever think they do.’
Desire’s eyes filled with tears. She had waited so long for someone to say that to her. But she had to be completely sure.
‘Not even…not even the one on my leg?’ she whispered.
‘No. Never. I am sorry you were injured. I wish you’d been spared that pain. But every part of you is desirable to me.’
Tears spilled onto Desire’s cheeks. She felt Jakob’s tongue against her skin as he gently tasted her tears. He kissed her just below the corner of her eye, his tongue stroking and soothing her.
‘Don’t cry, älskling. Let me show you.’
‘Yes…’
He went quite still for several seconds. Then he let her go and stepped away from her. For a moment she didn’t understand why. She stared in bewilderment, then realised he meant to light some candles.
‘Oh, why…? Surely we don’t need…?’ she said uncertainly.
The shadowy moonlight was illumination enough for her. The idea of disrobing before Jakob in brighter light was disconcerting—and a little intimidating. She already knew how well formed he was, but she was not so perfect.
‘I want to see you,’ he said, his voice a deep caress. ‘And I want you to see that looking at you gives me pleasure.’ As he spoke he went to the window, closing the shutters on the cool moonlight so that the room was bathed only in the warm glow of the candles.
Then he came to stand before her. He was so tall and splendid in the blue-and-silver lace suit he wore—but she could only think of the lean, hard-muscled body beneath the finery. He touched her shoulders lightly, almost hesitantly. Tension coiled inside her. He bent his head and kissed her forehead.
Desire closed her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. Only his lips had touched her, but already the virile promise of his large body filled all her senses.
Jakob lifted his head. She opened her eyes and saw that he was looking at the swell of her breasts pushed upwards by her fashionable bodice. With one finger he traced just inside her neckline in a tantalising caress.
‘The first time I saw you in such a gown in nearly drove me out of my mind,’ he said hoarsely.
‘When…?’ Desire quivered beneath his touch. Her legs felt weak. She could barely form a coherent thought.
‘When you were presented to Swiftbourne. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I nearly undressed you right there and then.’
‘I didn’t realise.’ She gasped, then bit back a moan, as his fingertip began to trace tiny, feathery circles on the exposed part of her breast.
‘Am I tormenting you, älskling?’ he asked, his voice roughened with arousal.
‘Ah…’ She clutched his coat for support. Her body ached with unfulfilled arousal and she longed to feel the palm of his hand against her breast. She swallowed. Tried to find the words to answer his question. ‘I think so.’
‘Good. Because you have tormented me from the first time I saw you!’
‘I didn’t mean to.’ Her legs trembled. She gripped his coat even tighter.
‘You can’t help yourself, he said hoarsely. ‘And nor can I.’
He turned her around and began to unlace her bodice. He fumbled a little with the points. Desire didn’t associate Jakob with clumsiness. His hesitation confused her, but then she heard his uneven breathing and realised he fully shared her excitement…and perhaps even a little of her nervousness.
She had never before had a lover—but this was the first time Jakob had made love to the woman he was going to marry. He touched her so carefully, as if he was afraid to hurt her. As if she was most precious to him. It was a heavenly idea. Desire closed her eyes, overwhelmed by emotions so warm and profound she had no name for them.
Jakob opened her bodice. He slipped his hands inside, sliding them gently around her body until he could cup her breasts through her shift. When she looked down she couldn’t see his hands beneath her bodice, yet she could feel his fingers toying with her arousal-hardened nipples. It was a secret intimacy that seemed almost scandalously erotic. A sigh escaped her lips and she lent back against his broad chest. He lowered his head and kissed her temple. She let her head fall to one side, and felt his lips stroke her cheek, then close warmly upon her earlobe.
Desire quivered and moaned.
She felt his quick intake of breath and a sudden tension seized his body. He lifted his head. For a few moments he remained motionless except for the rise and fall of his chest against her back. Then he eased her away from him and carefully removed her bodice. He kept one hand pressed against her ribs, just below her breasts, as he tossed the garment aside. His possessive touch was incredibly exciting. He moved closer, pulling her back against his chest, and lifted his hands to hold her breasts in his palms. This time when Desire looked down she could see her erect nipples pushing against the thin cambric. She gasped, both shocked and stimulated when Jakob began to circle them with his fingers.
‘Shouldn’t…?’ She caught her breath, tried to control her voice. ‘Shouldn’t we…do this…in the dark?’ she whispered, even as she couldn’t help arching her body, eagerly lifting her breasts for his continued attention.
‘No.’ His voice was raw against her ear. ‘I like to see you.’
Desire watched, her breathing quick and shallow, as he untied the thin ribbon that gathered the neckline of her shift. A moment later he spread it wide. Then she saw his large hands caress her naked breasts. Her vision hazed at the exquisite pleasure he gave her. Her head lolled sideways as she instinctively undulated against him.
He groaned, uttered a soft, rasping curse, and turned her to face him. His blazing blue eyes filled her vision, then his mouth covered hers in an urgent kiss.
She felt his hum of masculine satisfaction deep in his chest. One of his hands swept lower, pressing her supple body hard against him. Desire’s fingers clutched convulsively at a silver button. She was as hungry for him as he was for her. She kissed him back as hotly as he kissed her. His tongue pressed demandingly past her lips. She sucked upon it and he groaned and jerked against her. She felt the fierce tremors that shook his powerful body as he fought for self-control. She was a little frightened by the depth of his passion—but far more excited. Her own body was on fire with hot, demanding need.
When he lifted his head they were both panting. She stared hazily into his face and saw his pupils were so dilated his eyes seemed almost black. She tugged impatiently at his coat, trying to push it off his shoulders, then pulled up his fine cambric shirt.
With no further bidding he tore off his clothes until his upper body was naked. Desire instantly reached to touch his chest. He gave her no opportunity to indulge her curiosity because he hauled her back into her arms, kissing her until she had no strength left in her legs. She hardly noticed when he lifted her off her feet and carried her to the side of the bed. He set her down and searched impatiently for the fastenings of her skirt and petticoats. When she realised what he was doing she helped him. With a grunt of satisfaction he pushed the unwieldy mass of material down over her hips and lifted her out of it. Then he hauled up her shift, bunching it in his hands to pull it over her head.
Desire was so caught up in their mutual feverish urgency that, for a moment, she didn’t fully register that she was now almost completely naked. Then she looked at Jakob and saw how his hot gaze devoured her. She flushed, belatedly self-conscious, and moved in an involuntary gesture to shield herself.
Jakob pulled her closer. His naked chest brushed against her bare breasts. It was a very stimulating distraction from her embarrassment. Excited, Desire arched her back and deliberated stroked her breasts against him. He groaned softly, gave her a fierce kiss—then picked her up and tossed her on to the bed. She gasped at his peremptory action. Rolled over with a half-formed intention to protest…
And watched instead, a nervous pulse beating in her throat, as Jakob stripped off the rest of his clothes. She was glad now of the candlelight, for it gave her the chance to enjoy him as he had declared he wanted to enjoy her. The flickering flames bathed his powerful body in a warm glow that reminded her of the first time she’d seen him, golden in the sunset. His muscles bunched and flexed as he moved. She was fascinated by the play of light and shadow on his broad chest, and the ridged hardness of his stomach. Her fingers tingled with the urge to touch him.
Then, for the first time, she saw all of him. Her fingers clutched convulsively at the sheet as she explored his lower body with her eyes. His legs were so long—lean and strong. But it was the unequivocal evidence of his passion that held her slightly apprehensive attention. She stared at his erection. It excited her—but she was also a little afraid. Jakob was so strong, and sometimes he could be so fierce. Would he hurt her in the throes of his passion?
He climbed onto the bed and propped himself up on one elbow beside her.
‘Älskling, don’t look at me like that,’ he said huskily.
‘How?’ She licked her lower lip worriedly.
‘Scared.’ He smiled a little ruefully as he stroked a strand of hair back from her face.
‘I’m not scared,’ she protested uncertainly. ‘Of course I’m not scared.’ She boldly put her hand on his chest to prove it.
‘My brave Desire.’ He cupped her cheek with his palm and kissed her lips with achingly sweet tenderness. Then he moved lower, kissing and caressing her breasts until her body throbbed with unfulfilled passion. His hand stroked across her stomach and came to rest on her hip. His hair teased her sensitive skin and she felt his warm breath as he kissed her low on her belly. She moaned and moved restlessly beneath him, her legs instinctively moving apart. She remembered and ached to feel the exquisite caresses he had given her once before, but he laid his hand on her thigh instead. And then, with a shock of profound wonder, she realised he was kissing her scar. His lips tracked the full length of her old injury, as tenderly and passionately as he had kissed her breasts.
Tears filled her eyes. She’d yearned for such total acceptance. She put her hands on his shoulders.
‘Jakob…’ Her heart was so full she had no words to express her emotions.
‘You are beautiful to me, min älskade,’ he said hoarsely.
‘And you are beautiful to me,’ she whispered.
‘Because I look like an angel?’ He lifted himself over her.
‘No.’ She rubbed her hands over the taut muscles of his arms. ‘Because you are kind and loyal and noble and clever…’
‘Kind?’
‘And you tease me,’ she added breathlessly. ‘I hated it when you stopped teasing me.’
‘I will make it my goal to infuriate you at least once every day from now on,’ he promised, his breathing noticeably ragged.
He rubbed his muscular thigh over her legs. His erection pressed compellingly against her hip. Potent evidence of his urgent masculine arousal. The pressure excited her. All her other thoughts unravelled as she moved instinctively against him, though she did feel a small tingle of renewed nervousness. His body was hot and hard, his muscles tense with barely controlled passion. He was so much more powerful than her.
She couldn’t help her momentary hesitation. Jakob sensed it. For a second he held his body quite still. Desire tried to speak. She wanted to tell him to pay no heed to her foolishness. It was only that she…
He bent his head and closed his mouth around her nipple. He teased and stroked with his tongue, intensifying her pleasure until she writhed and moaned beneath him. He hummed against her breast, a sound of deep masculine satisfaction that she was learning to associate with extreme arousal. She felt it in the inmost core of her body, and the ache between her legs grew more insistent.
He slid lower and kissed her belly and his hair tickled her sensitive skin most erotically. She felt his large hand on her hip. There was a place she needed his touch more urgently. Her thighs parted in a silent, instinctive invitation. Immediately he slipped his hand between her legs and began to stroke her swollen femininity.
When he lightly flickered his finger across her most exquisitely sensitive flesh, Desire cried out and clutched at the sheets. She drew up her knees, unconsciously demanding more and in an instant his body covered hers. She opened her eyes and saw his face, taut with arousal, poised above her. Small shudders shook his powerful frame as he fought for self-control. She lifted her hands to touch his waist and he jerked in response.
His chest expanded as he drew in a deep, steadying breath. Then he reached down between them so he could align his body carefully with hers. Desire caught her breath, her heart hammering with anticipation as she felt his hard tip against her hot, sensitive flesh.
He looked into her eyes, his own eyes blazing with urgent passion. His gaze still locked with hers, he deliberately stroked himself back and forth along her moist cleft. She moaned as her body responded with small, uncontrollable shudders of need.
He jerked and swore softly as tension shook his muscular frame. Beneath Desire’s clutching fingers his shoulders were damp with perspiration.
‘I know you don’t want to hurt me,’ she cried in sudden frustration at his continued delay. ‘But will you hurry up and do it! This is like being under siege and not knowing when the cannon-fire will start!’
Jakob’s eyes widened in momentary shock.
She struggled for self-control and managed to smile at him. ‘I love you, Jakob,’ she said, her voice so thick with need she barely recognised it. ‘Please let us be one.’
‘Min älskade…’ he started to speak in Swedish, then stopped and switched to English. ‘I love you, Desire,’ he said hoarsely. ‘My lady Desire.’
He positioned himself quickly and thrust deep.
She cried out, more in surprise than pain. His breath rasped in her ears as he fought to control the ardent demands of his body.
‘Älskling?’ he muttered desperately.
‘I’m…’ She dragged in a shaky breath of her own. ‘Kiss me,’ she demanded, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
‘Ja.’ His voice was guttural with passion. His mouth covered hers in a blatantly carnal kiss. The urgent thrust of his tongue past her lips was an erotic imitation of that other joining of their bodies.
Desire lifted her knees higher as her body adjusted to his intimate invasion. He was hard and hot inside her, and she could feel her own womanly places throbbing and aching with an urgent need for more…more…more…
She was possessed by such wild yearning that she lost all conscious awareness of what she did. She moaned and turned her head away from Jakob’s kisses as she lifted her hips against him. He responded by pulling out of her, then pushing back in. At first his movements were carefully controlled. Desire put her arms around him, frantically trying to touch every part of his body she could.
She was on the brink, desperately seeking…
The rhythm of Jakob’s thrusts became faster, more urgent. Desire moaned in time with every stroke as the excitement built within her. Until at last her body clenched with exquisite, pulsing ecstasy. Waves of pleasure surged through her, blotting out all other awareness. She gasped and shuddered, panting beneath Jakob, surrendering to the overwhelming sensations. He drove into her one more time and she felt his release of hot passion. He groaned and swore, his body jerking spasmodically with sensual fulfilment, and then his movements gradually slowed until he relaxed upon her sated body. After a few seconds he lifted himself carefully away from her to lay by her side, his arm still possessively draped over her waist.
As her heart-rate slowed and her breathing returned to normal, Desire glowed with contentment from the inside out. She could still feel lingering sensations of the physical ecstasy she had experienced deep within her body—tiny ripples of continuing fulfilment. More important, and far more profound, Jakob had told her and shown her that he loved her. All of her.
‘We must be married soon,’ said Jakob, with all his usual, familiar arrogance.
‘Mmm?’ For the first time in weeks Desire was on the verge of quiet, peaceful sleep. ‘Oh, yes, as soon as possible,’ she said drowsily. ‘You will be a very good husband.’
She felt him shake with silent laughter. ‘I will do my best, min älskade,’ he promised. ‘From now on I will consider it my sacred duty to provoke you every day to call me an insensitive buffoon…or numskull…or…’
Desire woke up enough to lift her head and put her hand over his mouth. He looked at her, his expression a mixture of profound love and irrepressible good humour. She sighed with deep contentment and snuggled her head down on his shoulder. ‘Yes, that will be very satisfactory,’ she said, and fell asleep.