The power of him blazed so bright, she couldn"t keep her eyes open any longer. His lips met hers again a moment later and this time, there was nothing contained about him. The archangel had well and truly let go of the reins. His body came over hers, his erection pressing demandingly into her abdomen.
She twisted, trying to get him between her thighs. But Raphael had other ideas. Tearing his lips from hers, he pinned her down and began to kiss his way down her body. Her heart stilled, then restarted at frenetic speed.
I promised to lick you there.
“No!” She kicked out in an attempt to get away from a pleasure she knew would smash through her, a thousand glittering shards.
Yes. You’re strong enough now.
Reaching out, she tried to hold him to her, but his hair slid out of her hands like black water, silky and cool across her flesh. She gripped the sheets, dug her heels into the bed. But nothing could have prepared her for the way he tasted her through the by-now transparent fabric of her panties, his hands keeping her spread for his delectation. It was agony and ecstasy, liquid lightning contained within a body that seemed suddenly too small, too fragile, for what it was being asked to bear.
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As if he knew he"d pushed her too far, Raphael rose to press a kiss to her navel. Hunter mine.
Heart catching at the affection laced with the sexual heat, she reached down to run her fingers across his lips. There was no smile—the force of the emotions between them was too strong, too much to allow for laughter—but he didn"t halt her exploration. When his hand moved against her hip, she shivered.
A single tug and the last barrier between his kiss and her most intimate flesh was gone. Then those lips were on her, firm, determined, unrelenting in their demands.
Mine, you are mine.
Raphael"s kiss was as earthy as his words, full of masculine possession and a wild, inexorable hunger. Pleasure filled her body, rose through her veins, suffused her pores as he caressed her on every level, as he pushed her to feel as she"d never before felt, as he took her over.
The peak was a slow climb, a shattering descent. Color exploded in a wild wave but she didn"t break, floating with the tide to come home in Raphael"s arms.
Raphael held his hunter as her heart slowed, her skin sheened with a fine layer of perspiration.
The primal heart of him, the part that urged him to possess her to the core, purred in silent satisfaction.
She was his, would never be anyone else"s.
Stroking his hand down her body, he savored the jagged rise and fall of her chest, the low moans that caught in her throat as she reacted to his touch. When her hand rose to cup his cheek, he rubbed against her palm, his fingers tracing the passion-flushed curve of her mouth.
Heavy-lidded eyes looked up at him, silver with desire sated. “I think you"ve done me in, Archangel.”
“I"ve only begun, hunter.” Rising off her, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “It"s time for our bath.”
Elena groaned. “You"re torturing me.” Her eyes went to the engorged push of his cock against the tough leather-like material of his pants as he stood, turned to face her. “And yourself.”
The sight of her lying so deliciously rumpled in their bed made his body harden impossibly further. “I"ve learned to savor my pleasures, as I intend to savor you . . . again and again.”
Her breasts flushed as a shiver rippled through her. “I love the way you talk in bed.” Throaty words as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, then shifted until she was on her knees near the edge of the bed. “Come here.” A sensual demand.
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He"d lived well over a millennium, developed iron control over the primal side of his nature, but he could have no more resisted the lush invitation in his hunter"s eyes than he could"ve given up the ability to fly. “What would you do with me, Elena?”
Reaching out, she unsnapped the top button on his pants, her fingers strikingly feminine against the black fabric. “Wicked, wicked things.” A single slow stroke along the outline of his cock.
He hissed out a breath, thrust his hands into her hair. But he didn"t stop her, this woman who played with him—who trusted him. “Be gentle.”
She shot him a startled silver glance. Then a slow, delighted smile. “I won"t bite . . . unlike some people.” A fraction more pressure on his aroused flesh as she shaped him with her hand.
His abdomen went tight. “You"re giving me ideas.” He could still taste the wild musk of her on his tongue, sumptuous and earthy. “Next time, I might use my teeth on far more delicate flesh.”
Shuddering, she unsnapped the next two buttons . . . before leaning forward to press a wetly sensual kiss on the lowest part of his navel. His hips jerked, his hand fisting in her hair. “I,” he ground out, “do not have that much control.” Releasing her, he stepped back.
“That"s no—” Her words trailed away as he stripped off what remained of his clothing, wanting nothing between his flesh and her touch.