She wrapped her arms about his neck, clung tight, wrapped her legs about him, knees bent, her heels in the small of his back — and he was inside her. She gasped, pulled back from the kiss, caught her breath, eyes closing as he pulled her hips into him, pressed deep inside her body, then anchored her, her body open and filled to the hilt with him. Let her feel the vulnerability she'd chosen, let the experience — of her giving, of the hot slickness of her sheath clamping tight all around him, of the shivery pleasure that always rushed through him when they joined — sink to his bones.

Only when he'd drunk his fill, let his senses wallow, only when he sensed she'd done the same and had caught her breath — only then did he move.

Or rather, move her. He stood rock-still and shifted her upon him. With her legs so high she had no leverage, had to accept what he did, all he did — all he pressed on her. He moved her only enough to wind her tight, until he felt desire sink its talons deep. Her arms tightened about his neck. She sank her teeth into his shoulder.

Inwardly smiling, he drew her down again, and stepped out. Walked, slowly, deliberately, working her up and down in his arms, matching that rhythm to his strides.

Until her breathing turned ragged, until she clung, fingers sinking into his shoulders, until she whimpered — not with pain but desperation.

Without allowing himself to think, he walked to the head of the bed, turned and sat, shuffling back, supported by the pillows piled high against the headboard.

She tried to wriggle, to unwind her legs — he tightened his hold on her.

"No. Stay as you are."

She forced her heavy lids up just enough to blink at him.

"I want to watch you."

His gravelly admission sent a quiver of anticipation through her; she licked her lips, her gaze dropped to his, but he made no move to oblige.

Instead, he lifted her again, brought her down again, and again, working her on him, working himself inside her, deeper, then deeper still. Her breasts, skin flushed, rode against his chest, nipples hard as pebbles, adding another layer of sensory delight.

Eyes locked on her face, he kept her moving, even when he felt her body coil and tighten, even when her spine arched and she cried out, and shattered, fractured, climaxing wildly on him, about him.

He paused, held her down, filling her while he savored the tight ripples of her release, savored the lush, rich softness that followed, that beckoned…

But he wanted more tonight. She'd offered. He'd accepted. Tonight, whatever he wished, he could ask for and receive, for she would give.

And in return, she would know, see, all he'd held close, hidden behind his shield, for he no longer had any shield, any protection — she'd ripped it away, sent it spinning — left him no option but to show her all he truly was.

In this arena as well as that other.

He picked up her movements again, let her ride through her climax, didn't stop, gave her no surcease. When she was once again aware, when her senses again stirred and she opened her eyes, blinked, stared at him, he stopped, held her down. Let her feel his strength buried inside her.

Amelia licked her lips; her eyes, fixed on his, were wide.

"I want you."

Her answer was breathy. "I know."

His lips twisted. "Wrong answer."

She felt her lips flicker in response. Her eyes only grew rounder. "How?"

The midnight glitter of his eyes, the controlled hardness of his hands, of all his body, the reined passion, the potential, the promise of what would come, was nearly overwhelming. She searched the dark turmoil in his eyes, then managed to lick her lips. Deliberately leaned her forearms on his upper chest and leaned close, whispered against his mouth. "Tell me."

He kissed her, deeply, one hand rising to cradle her head, holding her still as he ravished her senses. He was hot and hard inside her, sunk to the hilt within her; his probing tongue, hot, insistent, demanding, underscored the fact. Underscored her position, the blatant, unforgiving vulnerability.

The kiss ended almost savagely.

From only inches apart, their gazes met, held — their already ragged breaths mingled.

"Curled over your knees in the middle of this bed."

She struggled to breathe, couldn't think beyond the moment. His gaze dropped to her body; she'd never seen his eyes so dark, never known his body to be so hard, so tense, so coiled. So full of leashed passion. That body would shortly be wrapped about her, driving into her, the passion pouring through her.

When he joined with her as he wished. Uninhibitedly possessive.

One hand was in the small of her back, supporting her. The other slid down from her head; he delicately lifted one lapel of her robe.

"Leave this on."

She couldn't manage a nod; barely able to breathe, she eased her legs from behind his back.

He lifted her from him. Set her on her knees. Wasting no time on trying to form a thought, she turned, moved to the middle of the wide bed, sat back on her ankles, freed her robe from under her. Seizing the moment to catch her breath, with unimpaired dignity she arranged the robe about her, fully open but draping from her shoulders to pool around her, concealing her back and feet. That done, she spared not a glance for him but bent from the waist, curled down, folding her arms in front of her knees, relaxing into that position.

She felt him shift as she did — when she peeked through the curtain of her hair he was no longer sitting against the pillows. His weight bowing the bed told her he was kneeling behind her; she felt his heat as he drew near, but he didn't, immediately, touch her.

Whether he intended to wind her nerves tight with expectation, or was simply clinging to his own tenuous control, it didn't matter. Her body started to pulse with that familiar emptiness; her skin flushed with the need to feel him wrapped about her.

She sensed, through the fine barrier of her silk robe, when he settled close behind her, knees widespread, when he reached out toward her head.

With one hand, he gathered the wild jumble of her curls, the thick fall that lay covering her nape. He gathered, then, slowly, deliberately, wound his hand in the massed locks.

Gently drew her up, back, until she was kneeling almost but not quite upright. Releasing her hair, his palm slid beneath, cupping her nape, his long fingers cruising, caressing, up and down the slender column of her neck.

He reached around her, ran his other hand, possessively assessing, from the base of her throat to the damp curls between her thighs. Although the fall of her robe covered her back, in front, she was naked, exposed to the night, to his touch.

His hand rose, to explore, to possess. To trace, tweak, knead her breasts until they were swollen and aching anew, until her nipples were so tight any touch was close to painful. His hand drifted down to splay across her stomach, to knead evocatively until she moaned, then, his other hand lightly gripping her nape, he sent his questing fingers sliding down, spearing through her curls to find her, pressing between her thighs to expose and circle the throbbing flesh, to stroke and probe until she arched, gasped.

"Please."

His hands left her.

The sudden loss of his touch left her reeling. Disoriented.

"Bend down."

She did, eagerly, sinking down over her knees, heart thundering, pulse hammering. Wanting.

Simply wanting.

He lifted the back of her robe to her hips, exposing her bottom. Both hands spread, touched, reverently traced. Firmed, became more possessive as he stroked, fondled, caressed, lit fires beneath her already dewed skin. The contrast of heat against the cool air sent shivers up her spine while poised behind her he surveyed her as if she was his slave.

She wished she could see his face, wondered if he'd chosen this position so she wouldn't be able to. Wondered, fleetingly, why.

Then his fingers traced her cleft, slid down between her thighs.

Her thoughts fled; her lungs seized. She closed her eyes, nerves tightening with expectation.

He found her swollen softness and opened her. Probed, then he shifted, muscled thighs surrounding her, trapping her. His hands closed about her hips, holding her, anchoring her; the broad head of his erection nudged into her.

Then he sank home. Deep. Then deeper still. Filling her body, filling her senses.

Her sigh shivered through the night. Pure relief. She closed her eyes, laid her head on her forearms.

Prepared to be ravished.

And she was.

Fundamentally, elementally, profoundly. He demanded her body and she gave it, surrendered it without reserve. Without reserve he claimed her, every inch of her, his hands tracing, possessing even while he rode her.

Hard, fast, deep. Into an oblivion so all-consuming long before they reached the crest there was no sense of him and her, no separation of their souls as they traversed the sensual landscape, as, uninhibited, they flew higher and higher.

The end, when it came, was beyond even glory, steeped in much more than sensation. It was as if, together, they'd reached some place, some plane they hadn't before attained — that hadn't before been open to them.

When finally he withdrew from her, turned her into his arms and slumped back on the bed, they were still there, still floating in that blessed peace.

In that place where the world couldn't touch, and only fused souls could reach.

Gasping for breath, chests heaving, they both simply lay, touching, hands searching, fingers twining, struggling, both of them, to understand.