To her surprise, Kell didn’t pressure her. Instead he moved over to his desk and pulled out the chair, then settled in it.

“Come here, then.” He held out his right arm, indicating that she should sit on his lap. His blatantly rigid manhood jutted out from the opening in his breeches, beckoning as well.

His brazen arousal held her fascinated gaze as she crossed to him. But then she remembered his bullet wound and hesitated, eyeing his left leg. “Has your thigh healed?”

“Enough to allow me to perform, at least if I am careful.”

She sat gingerly on his right side, feeling the hard, lean muscles of his thigh flex beneath the tight-fitting satin breeches.

His arms encircled her loosely as he settled her more securely on his lap. His eyes had taken on a slumberous look, his black-velvet lashes hooding the dark intensity.

“With my body I thee worship,” he murmured, repeating a line from their marriage vows. “Do you intend to properly worship me, wife?”

Not answering, Raven held herself stiffly, despite the heat rising up in her at his suggestive words. She continued to remain immobile when he reached around her, his fingers expertly unfastening the hooks of her gown.

“Relax,” he said, evidently feeling her tension. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

Yet she couldn’t relax. His alien hardness was a hot brand against her thigh, and she could only think of what was to come, how it would feel to have that swollen length thrusting inside her, filling her…

He leaned forward and, with his tongue, touched the rapidly beating pulse in her throat. “Draw down your bodice for me.”

The heat of even that brief caress flared through her, setting fire to every nerve. After a short hesitation, she lowered the neckline of her blue velvet gown, leaving her bosom still covered by her chemise. When she looked down, she could see the rosy outline of her peaked nipples.

Bending, he kissed one through the thin fabric, his tongue finding the tip, drawing it against his teeth.

Raven shivered.

“Your shift, too. I want to see all of you.”

When she had difficulty freeing her arms, he aided her, unfastening the buttons at her back, then drawing off the sleeves and pulling down her garments till she was bare from the waist up. Everywhere his fingers touched, her skin seemed to burn.

His gaze was almost leisurely, appreciative and very male as he surveyed her naked flesh. “I keep forgetting how beautiful you are,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Your breasts are more lush than I anticipated, given your slenderness.”

Raven shifted restlessly in his lap, her breasts tingling for want of his caresses.

His gaze focused on her taut nipples, his eyes glittering with a heat that had nothing to do with his earlier anger. “Your nipples are hard and I haven’t even suckled them yet… Do you want me to suckle them?” He touched the sensitive tip teasingly with his mouth.

Raven closed her eyes, unable to deny her need. “Yes…” she breathed.

“Then offer your nipples up for me,” he ordered, his voice as smooth as velvet.

Her eyes flew open. Kell was watching her, challenge in his dark eyes. He was perfectly serious, Raven realized. He was demanding she act the wanton. But if he meant to intimidate her, he would not succeed.

“You aren’t very accommodating for a mistress,” he said, his voice a silken taunt. “Didn’t that journal of yours teach you anything?”

“Yes, but obviously not the sort of thing you are proposing.”

“Then I shall have to give you lessons in how a woman satisfies a man.”

“I suppose Miss Walsh knows how to satisfy you.”

He surveyed her with a level gaze. “She knows very well what it takes.” His eyes were suddenly intense, his tone harder. “What of your fantasy lover? Does he know how to satisfy you?”

“Yes,” Raven retorted, glad to have something to throw in Kell’s face.

“Then think of me in his place. I intend to be your lover tonight. Now do as I say and give me your nipples.”

Another sensual shiver rippled through Raven. Kell was bold, brazen, commanding, just like her pirate lover-and it excited her more than she could have imagined. Swallowing her misgivings, she did as he bid, cupping her breasts till they were raised high and mounded in her hands.

Kell nodded with a charming, predatory smile. “Now say ‘please suck on my breasts, lover.’ ”

“Kell…”

“Say it.”

“Please…suck on my breasts…lover.”

“As you wish, my sweet.”

He bent his head, seeking and finding. His warm, sculpted mouth sent a shocking trail of fire curling deep inside her.

Without volition Raven’s fingers clutched in his silky black hair as he suckled her. He was rousing her to a warmth she had not thought possible. His mouth was a searing flame upon her bare, aching breasts, and she could only fight the pleasure.

Moments later she felt his hand move between her legs, and she shuddered. Without her knowledge he had raised the hem of her gown to stroke his palm up her bare thigh. When he cupped her woman’s mound, the gesture was so sexually possessive that Raven gasped.

“Touch yourself. See how wet you are.”

She didn’t need to touch herself. She knew her secret places were damp and swollen, throbbing with need for him.

But Kell refused to take no for an answer. Clasping her hand, he guided her fingers to the juncture of her thighs, deliberately making her explore her own tender flesh.

He was right; she was sultry, yielding, weeping passionately for him. Raven felt a tremor of excitement ripple through her.

Then brushing the point of hot pleasure with his thumb, he slid a long finger deep inside her. She whimpered, her body pulsing to his touch as if she had been made for him alone.

For a long moment he stroked her, sending all her senses reeling.

“I think you are ready for me,” he said with satisfaction.

Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her up and set her on the desk facing him, then pressed her back to lie on the hard, unyielding surface. Raven was scarcely aware of the discomfort, though, for Kell was pushing up her skirts, baring all her secrets to him.

In the firelight his eyes gleamed like onyx as his hands parted her legs and slowly smoothed up the insides of her naked thighs. The way he looked at her was rawly sexual and made her heart race.

Holding her thighs spread wide, he bent down to her. Lightning speared through her body as she realized his brazen intent.

Raven gasped in protest and pushed against his shoulders, trying to stay him.

Kell raised his head, his eyes gleaming. “Does your fantasy lover kiss you here?”

The question was too intimate for comfort.

“Does he?” Kell demanded roughly when she was silent.

“Yes!”

He bent his head, his warm breath hovering over her aching flesh. “Then don’t withhold from me what you so eagerly give him.”

At the first touch of his mouth, she whimpered. She wanted Kell to kiss her there. Her body was begging for it, craving it; she didn’t care if it was foolish or wise. She could almost feel her feminine folds moving like real lips in anticipation, pleading for his caress.

“I want to taste your nectar,” he murmured softly before his tongue found her, gently stroking.

The pleasure almost shattered her. With a breathless moan, Raven put both hands in his hair, not to push him away but to hold his face between her burning thighs. Kell obliged her by sucking in a kiss. His passion was a brand, searing her flesh. A heartbeat later, his tongue slid deep inside her. Her breath caught on a sob, and she desperately tried to shift her hips, seeking to escape his ravishing mouth.

He wouldn’t let her move. Holding her still, he hooked his arms under her thighs and draped her legs over his shoulders. His tongue was still attending her, softly licking, savoring, thrusting, giving her the most frightening pleasure she had ever known. Under his ruthless assault Raven nearly went wild. Urgently she arched against his hot mouth, her hips moving in a rhythm that was ancient, mindless, elemental, the growing sounds of frenzy in her throat filling the hush of the room.

In a few moments more, she climaxed, dissolving into throbbing, impassioned release, crying out at the showers of sparks that fountained upward, drowning in black fire and glittering darkness.

Even as she was recovering, Kell moved upward, kissing her breast, her damp throat, the corner of her mouth. Raven lay panting for breath, replete, yet vaguely dissatisfied.

He had left her shaken with the realization of her own passion and filled with a desperate yearning. She wanted them joined, wanted to have him deep within her.

“Come inside me,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed with heat and dangerous lust at her invitation, but he didn’t obey. Instead he stepped back to shed the rest of his clothing.

Shakily Raven pushed herself up to watch. He still wore a bandage around his thigh, she saw when he stood naked before her. But the beauty of his finely honed athletic body made her throat go dry. She felt her loins clench painfully. He was boldly a man and he wanted her. Just as she wanted him. All she could think about was how Kell’s splendid arousal would fill her…

He must have had the same thought for the glitter of his gaze swept over her as he moved toward her.

Her breath faltering, Raven reached up to touch his chest. His skin was hot and smooth as velvet, his muscles rippling beneath her fingertips. Her hands were actually shaking, she realized.