Bella grasped his upper arms, trying hard not to think about the huge bed behind them and the part of her that wasn’t sure she could resist him if he pulled her toward it. She’d always been attracted to him on a primal, sexual level. Even though they’d never had sex, she knew it would be explosive between them. They shared the kind of chemistry that made it impossible for it to be any other way.
But there was so much more to love than just good sex.
She stepped back, breaking the kiss, and closed the bathroom door in his face.
SEVEN
Ronan stared at the closed door separating him from Bella. His lips felt electrified from her mouth, and his body was tight, anticipatory. His c**k had gone rock hard in the very first moment of their kiss. He wanted her, had wanted her for years, craved the scent of her skin, yearned for the slide of it against his. Now he’d had a mere taste, and the need for more was nearly overwhelming. It made his hands curl involuntarily at the thought of touching her silky bare body. He forcibly caged the beast within that screamed for her.
It was an effort not to pound on the door or rip it from its hinges. He wanted to throw her down on the bed and use every sexual wile he possessed to lure her to him. If he tried hard enough, he could tempt her past her misgivings, make her forget that he’d rejected her all those years ago. If he put his mind and body into seducing her once she exited the bathroom, he could lure her into giving in to him completely . . . carnally.
But the problem was that he wanted more than just a coupling of their bodies. He wanted her heart and maybe just the slightest bit of her soul. Ronan wanted what he’d been so stupid to give up before—he wanted eternity with the one woman in the world whom he loved.
He wouldn’t obtain that by letting his c**k rule his head. No, he needed to be patient and regain her trust. Ronan wouldn’t accept anything less than the whole of Bella.
He made a fist and almost slammed it into the wall beside the door frame as a way to vent the emotions that roiled within him. Next to the door he leaned up against the wall and rested his forehead against his forearm, trying desperately to get a handle on his lust and to calm the condition of his lower body.
It wasn’t the Summer Queen’s wrath or the Imperial Guard that Ronan feared might bring an end to him. It was Bella. Could he survive being this close to her and not being any closer?
The door opened, and Ronan stepped back as far as the edge of the bed would allow, clenching his hands at his sides so he wouldn’t leap on her. Just the scent of her skin made him crazy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would last without a deeper taste of her. He wanted the flavor of her on his tongue.
He wanted to drown in her.
She drew a long, slow breath and studied him without speaking, while Ronan’s heart dropped out of his stomach at her expression. He moved his gaze downward to avoid the accusation and anger on her beautiful face and found that her body told a different story. Her spine was slightly arched, br**sts thrust out a little, as if inviting him to look at them, touch them. Even her lips were parted and moist.
She wet them again as she glanced at his mouth.
Bloody hell, what a dichotomy. She wanted him, but she was also frightened. No doubt terrified he’d hurt her again.
Never.
“Bella? Come here.”
To his absolute amazement, she came. She walked straight into his arms. He enveloped her in his embrace, and every bit of tension he’d been holding released in a wave of silent exultation and relief.
He’d waited so long for this, had imagined it so often.
It was better—much better—in reality.
For a moment, he held her close and nuzzled the top of her hair, breathing in the scent of her and letting it intoxicate him. He found a bit of bare skin and stroked it slowly, savoring the silkiness of her body and wanting more, so much more. She shuddered against him and he pulled her backward toward the bed.
With a sigh that heated his blood, she allowed it. He pushed her down onto the mattress and rolled her beneath his body, his mind and heart a riot of fantasies fulfilled. Her hair spread out around her head and she looked . . . ambushed. Ambushed and beautiful and willing. Her eyes were a bit wide and her lips parted.
Gods, he was going to have to hold himself back. All he wanted was to devour her, but he had to take this slow. What he wanted most was to give her pleasure right now, to taste her and feel her explode in orgasm against his lips and tongue. He wanted to slide deep within her and feel all her hot silk close around him, ripple and pulse as he drove them both to climax. He wanted to brand her as his and mark himself indelibly in her mind and heart.
“Ronan, I don’t know about this.” She stared at his mouth.
“I do. I want you, want more of you.” He lowered his lips and rubbed them over her mouth slowly, making her shiver beneath him. “Give me more, Bell.”
She melted against him, her fingers curling around the curve of his shoulders. He dropped his hand to the button of her jeans and undid it, then the zipper. They’d never made love before. It was difficult for fae women to conceive, but he’d been too afraid they’d manage to beat the odds and make a baby. Now Ronan wanted a baby with her more than anything, and maybe if his plan succeeded, they could work on that.
He’d work on that every single day if she’d let him.
He eased her jeans off, along with the black silk thong that made his c**k hard from only a glimpse.
Then she was bare and beautiful under his gaze, to his touch. He lowered his mouth to the smooth skin of her abdomen and heard her breath shudder out of her. He ran his lips down over the silky swell of her stomach, dipping his tongue into her belly button, and then went lower. She tasted better than the finest wine, and he couldn’t get enough.
Placing his palms flat against her inner thighs, he opened her for his mouth. He skimmed his lips along her skin and sank his teeth lightly into the tender place where her thigh met her hip. Bella shuddered beneath him and made a sweet, low moan that heated his blood and made his c**k go hard as steel.
“I can’t wait to taste more of you,” he murmured, blowing lightly over her beautiful sex until she squirmed beneath him. He moved up her body so he could look into her eyes. “You’re gorgeous, Bella, and so aroused. You want me to do this, don’t you?”
“I need you to do this.” She raked her teeth against her bottom lip. “I don’t care if this is a mistake,” she breathed against his mouth. “I need you inside me, Ronan. I don’t care if the world ends right now, that’s all I want.”