She heard an echo, realized belatedly that she was crying out. He stroked her deeply, knowing instinctively where to touch, when to tease, when to satisfy. The waves built, a relentless tide calling to the moon. She fought the current, not wanting to let herself be totally swept away. But he smoothed out her fear with his voice, soothing her, stroking her endlessly.
“Let go,” he whispered.
“I’m…falling.”
“I’ll catch you.”
Her trust in him solidified. She closed her eyes against the knowledge. The pain it would bring them. Against the tide of sensation surging through her body, her heart. She rode the tide, and it took control of her, a riptide taking her out to sea. She no longer had the strength to fight it, like a fatigued swimmer caught in a dangerous undertow. She felt herself coming apart in his arms.
Lily let go of her control and shattered. Completion bore down on her, a rogue wave crashing against a rocky shore. White light flashed behind her lids. She felt the fierce power of it tumble her end over end, but she was weightless. She cried his name, heard the whisper of her own in her ear.
It was too much, and yet she knew it was not enough.
“Wrap yourself around me,” he said, lifting her.
Her reflexes were so sluggish, and she’d barely gotten her arms around his neck when she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her against him. The suddenness of the act stunned her. She felt the rough column against her back. Cool air against wet heat as she wrapped her legs around him. The zing of anticipation when he opened her.
“I never stopped loving you,” he said.
“Robert—” Lily cried out when he entered her. There was an instant of discomfort as she adjusted to his size. Then a hot rush of ecstasy. He captured her cry with his mouth. The shock of pleasure stole her breath as he began to move within her. Rapture turned every muscle in her body to water as he filled her and began to move within her. Never in a thousand years would she believe it could be like this. That she would trust him so fully. That the pleasure would be so great she would lose control. That she would feel so much in her heart that the moment would bring tears to her eyes. Or in her soul she could love him so much, and yet never allow herself to give her heart fully.
A second orgasm rocked her system, shook her from the inside out. Thoughts fluttered in and out of her mind. She grappled for control, but he refused to give her a respite. He moved within her, setting her ablaze all over again. Every nerve ending in her body screamed with pleasure. And while her heart raged against his, the emotions inside her reached their breaking point.
She held on to him tightly, trying to hold it all inside, knowing there was too much. A sob broke from her lips, a cry wrenched from somewhere deep inside her.
“Lily?” Robert froze, his muscles going rigid. “Honey, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“Don’t stop.” He was still deep inside her, a steel shaft throbbing with heat.
He didn’t move. “Why are you crying?”
Embarrassed because she didn’t have the slightest clue how to answer, she tried to look away. He cupped her cheek and forced her gaze to his. “If you want to stop—”
“I don’t.”
He looked at her as if she’d just asked him a question in Swahili. Blinking back tears she wasn’t sure how to explain, she kissed him softly on the mouth, keenly aware that she was aroused, that she’d never been more moved by an experience in her entire life.
She moved tentatively against him, taking him more deeply inside her. His jaw went taut. His pupils dilated. He never took his eyes from her.
“Oh, Lily…”
“Robert, you make me feel so much. I mean, not just physically, but emotionally. It’s like I can’t hold it all inside me.” She choked out a laugh. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does.” One side of his mouth curved. “Sort of.”
She looked at him through her tears, taking in the concern and confusion in his eyes. “You moved me.”
Cupping her face with his hands, he thumbed a tear off her cheek. One side of his mouth curved. “I think I’m flattered.”
She smiled back. “There’s something between us.”
“I’ve always known that.”
“Make love to me,” she whispered.
“Not like this.”
She gasped in surprise when he swept her into his arms. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to finish what we started.”
Lily felt as if she’d just snapped out of a dream. A very erotic dream that had left her shaken and weak and burning with need. A dream that had taken her to a place beyond her wildest imagination. She glanced around to get her bearings and realized he’d carried her to his tarp near the fire. Gently, he laid her down. “Don’t go away,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and watched him walk naked to where they’d dropped her blanket. He scooped it up along with another tarp, then turned toward her with both in hand. He was still fully aroused, and heat coiled deep in her womb at the sight of him.