Chapter 1: Desire

He was so close now that she had to look up to see his face; could feel the heat emanating from his body and smell the warm, musky male scent of his skin as he slowly pulled her to him. Their bodies almost touching, he rested his other hand lightly on her waist and with the other reached up to tuck an errand lock of hair behind her ear. He cupped her cheek in his palm, his touch surprising her with its tenderness; the gentle movement of his fingers against her skin somehow incongruous coming from such an intense and strong man, a fierce warrior. She had seen him fight; witnessed first hand his skill and prowess in battle even before she knew who he was. Yet towards her, he had never been anything but gentle and courteous.

Ardeth kept his touch light as he traced the contours of her face with his fingertips. Her sun-warmed skin was silky soft and smooth beneath his fingers as she slightly turned her head, leaning into the caress. A quiet sigh signaled her surrender. Her eyes, dark and mysterious, drew him in their depths as she watched him, watching her. There was something very serene about her; she had made a decision, and trusted that she knew herself well enough to have made the right one. And she also trusted him, Ardeth realized. During the past eight months their relationship, if it could be called that, had grown closer. She trusted him enough to be comfortable around him, that he would treat her with caring and respect. The knowledge of her trust was heady; it elated him and inflamed him in equal measure; and even as he felt again the familiar pangs of lust she always roused in him, Ardeth made a silent vow to never betray her trust.

He more sensed than heard Angelina sigh softly, and the sounds of the city faded into distance as he gave himself over to the simple but long yearned for pleasure of touching her, being close to her. He had desired her for such a long time, and finally, she was in his arms, tangible and real. It was her warm silky skin under his fingers, and where his hand rested on her waist, it was her soft, womanly flesh that radiated warmth underneath the smooth silk of her blouse, making his palm tingle with the need to caress her; to discover all the soft, sweet, hidden places that had been driving him to distraction far longer than he cared to think about. Hell, just the thought of touching her made his entire body tingle as nerve endings sang in anticipation. Blood rushed heavily in his veins and he felt himself harden as he imagined exploring her body, the pleasures he would give her, and find in her.

It felt so good to be touched again; she had held herself aloof and apart for so long that Angelina had forgotten how it felt to have another human being touching her intimately... to know the touch of a lover. Until this moment, she hadn't realized how much she missed it. She let her eyes drift closed, to better enjoy the tenderness in Ardeth's touch, the feel of his long elegant fingers as they slowly traveled over her face, teasing nerve endings awake as he unhurriedly mapped the terrain new to him.

Angelina hadn't known her face could feel so sensitized; as if his fingers were leaving invisible currents of electricity wherever they touched. Delicate shivers of excitement were tingling up and down her spine, awakening nerve endings; the effects of the simple touch reaching far further than her face. Old and familiar feelings and sensations were stirring to life deep within her... feelings and sensations that had once been a joyous part of her life, once upon a time, but that had lain dormant, repressed and unacknowledged if not forgotten for a long time. The light but infinitely reassuring weight of his hand on her waist, the warmth of his palm and fingers as they moved in a light caress, waking a yearning in her flesh.

The light touch was unbelievably tantalizing as he made a foray to trace the shell of her ear before coming to rest against the sensitive corner of her mouth. Angelina made a small moan in the back of her throat, taking a step closer and lifting her hands up to grip his steely biceps, delighting in the feel of the hard muscles underneath the layers of cloth that separated her from his warm flesh. Slightly breathless from anticipation, she waited, wanting to feel that light touch upon her lips, feeling as if her entire being was focused on that one purpose.

Ardeth was absorbed in Angelina, drinking in every expression; savoring every nuance like a man starved. His heart thudded heavily as he reveled in the obvious pleasure she derived from his touch. Her eyes were closed; he wanted them to open, wanted to see the sensations he was rousing in her reflected in the their dark depths. The intense need to have her look at him, really look at him and see him and want him, wrenched his gut almost like a physical pain as it mixed with an overwhelming urge to feel her smooth, supple flesh heat in passion under his hands and her lips clinging to his, her voluptuous body writhing underneath him in passions lure.

The vivid, erotic images dancing through his mind sending blood rushing straight to his groin and as his shaft swelled to full throbbing erection, he sucked in a deep breath and then released it slowly. If he let her, Angelina would make him burn hotter and faster than any other woman before her. By Allah, he had waited for her longer than any other woman... Now that she finally was in his arms, no matter what kind of fevered messages his unruly body sent to his brain, he sure as hell was not going to spoil this by rushing. She deserved more than that... and he wanted more than that.

Tilting her chin up, Ardeth lightly brushed his lips over hers, then pulled back slightly to look at her. She answered his gaze; offering no objection and he kissed her again, molding her lips with gentle pressure. Her lips were soft and yielding under his as she responded, returning each long, slow, leisurely kiss first hesitantly, then with growing confidence. He felt her hands twine loosely about his neck, her fingers lazily toying with strands of his hair as the kiss grew in intensity. Her sweet, honey flavored taste filled his mouth and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth, not thrusting deep but inviting her to taste him. Making a small sound of pleasure, she accepted the invitation, letting her tongue slide against his in an intimate caress that made his heart thud in heady delight, and he very nearly groaned out loud. In the next instant, his breath hitched and he did groan out loud - for without breaking the kiss, Angelina had closed the small space still separating them and pressed her body up against him, looping her arms tighter around his neck. A powerful surge of need jolted through him, and his world spun, narrowing until its sole focus was the woman in his arms.

The kiss ignited with urgency driven by days and nights of carnal frustration, years' worth of frustrated, unfulfilled desire. Ardeth molded his lips against hers, adjusting, searching, coaxing, demanding her to respond to his hunger with her own, drowning in another tide of red-hot lust when she did. Her fingers tangled into his hair to hold his head still, and she kissed him back hungrily, their tongues engaging in a heated dance of passion and need. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ardeth was dimly aware that the burning need was getting dangerously close to flaring into a full-blown inferno of desire; that control was rapidly spinning away from him. Angelina dominated his senses - he couldn't think of anything else, couldn't feel anything else but the feel and weight of her soft, luscious body against his own, and the sweet taste of her mouth underneath his.

Angelina was drowning in the heated pleasure Ardeth was bestowing upon her, hungering for more. His lips were soft but firm, his mouth hot as he devoured her mouth with kisses that set her blood ablaze. He was boldly aroused; she could feel his erection thick and hard against her stomach, and his unabashed desire for her sent a searing wave of need shooting through her entire body. It had been a long since a lover had embraced her; too long since she had felt desired, and much too long since she herself had desired. She felt more acutely, more intensely alive than she could remember ever having felt before, and it was because of Ardeth. She thrilled in the sensations he was awakening in her, finding herself clinging to him, responding to his every touch with a burning need she hadn't known herself capable of.

She whimpered a protest deep in her throat when Ardeth dragged his mouth from hers, instantly missing the heat and taste of his breath, the pressure and texture of his lips on her own. He ran his open mouth along the line of her jaw, skimming her lightly with his teeth, then nipped the sensitive, silken skin beneath her ear, making her shiver delicately. How had she managed to remain ignorant of the attraction singing between them for so long, she wondered briefly, then stopped thinking altogether, and only felt as he returned to her mouth, claiming it in another mind-drugging kiss that had them clinging to each other under another onslaught of passion.

Ardeth's mouth ground into hers, his lips hot and firm, robbing her of breath and she returned the kiss with equal fervor and stroked her palms over his back and shoulders, feeling the steely strength of him under her fingers and around her and against her, everywhere and anywhere she could reach, and she delighted in the feel of him, so solid and real that she wanted to weep with the delicious, hot joy of it. Instead, she moaned her pleasure and want into his mouth, delicate shivers racing up and down her spine, pressing her body ever tighter against his. Heat radiated all along her nerves, and, in the pit of her stomach, there was a deep burning; a churning, writhing need that demanded to be satisfied. The exquisite feel and heat of his hard, muscular body heavenly distinctive even through the layers of cloth separating her from his bare flesh, and she arched against him wildly, longing for a more intimate contact with that hard ridge of aroused male flesh pushing against her, tantalizing her with its nearness.

As if knowing her need, Ardeth slid his hands down the length of her spine, and, cupping her buttocks, lifted her up and inwards and pulled tight against him. The sweet, aching emptiness deep in the pit of her belly multiplied thousand fold as he moved his hips, seeking the cradle of hers. She more felt than heard him groan harshly in his throat when his swollen flesh found the warm notch at the apex of her thighs, and she would have groaned herself, had she had the breath. She couldn't have checked the convulsive arching of her hips had she wanted to; instinctively rubbing herself against him, wanting, needing, to ease the churning need stirring so deep inside her.

His fingers flexing against the ripe, resilient flesh of her buttocks, Ardeth couldn't stop another rugged moan of need and lust tearing from deep within his chest. Blood roared through his veins in a hot, ungovernable rush at the feel of Angelina moving against him, responding with abandoned delight, rubbing herself back and forth against his throbbing, swollen shaft, while her mouth moved against his own with ever greater urgency, and he cold no more stop his body's urgent, dominant instinct, than he could stop the flow of blood in his veins. His fingers curled around the firm globes of her buttocks and fitted her hips even better against his, grinding his erection hard against the soft yielding notch between her thighs.

He knew a moment of alarm - that he had misread the level of her passion, or scared her acting in such a blatantly sexual manner - when she suddenly tore her mouth from his, but she had only needed air, and Ardeth could feel her chest rising and lifting hard as she greedily gulped in the treasured substance. Then, in the next moment, she had pulled his long hair out of the way and buried her face in the groove of his throat and shoulder, and then it was his turn to gulp in air as he felt her soft, full lips and warm, wet tongue on his sensitive skin, kissing, licking, nibbling her way down to the small hollow of his throat. Her breath was hot against his skin, and even if his life had depended on it he could not have kept back the deep sound - half moan, half growl - that rumbled up from his chest as she bit him just hard enough to let him feel the sharp bite of her teeth and then laved the hurt with warm, loving, wet licks of her tongue that sent frissons of electricity shooting all along his body. A shudder racked through his body as Angelina skimmed his heated skin lightly with her teeth on her way up the other side of his throat, and he gripped her even harder against his urgently throbbing flesh. The exquisite pressure sent his already inflamed senses spinning dizzyingly, and through the lust shrouding his mind, Ardeth realized that unless he intended to take her standing up, or bore her down on the hard ground, he had better move them on to the bed now, while still he had the presence of mind to think of anything other than burying himself deep inside her. Another shiver racked his body at that thought, and, gritting his teeth against the burning surge of lust that writhed in his body like a living thing, Ardeth forced his fingers to uncurl from around her buttocks, and wrapping his arms about her back and hips he lifted her from her feet. Holding her pinned against his body he quickly made his way to the bed.

Feeling light as a leaf on his strong arms, Angelina was vaguely aware that Ardeth was carrying her somewhere. Lost in the taste and feel of his skin and too busy appreciating the way his muscular body moved against hers, she hadn't even begun to contemplate finding out where he was carrying her when he already stopped and set her back on her feet. His hands moved over her in light caresses, tracing the hills and valleys of her body, and she was helpless to stop the swaying of her body, flowing to meet his every touch. Only when she felt the blouse leave her shoulders and slide down her arms to fall on the floor, she realized he was divesting her of her clothing.

She felt fevered, her skin too tight and she missed the pressure of his body against hers with an intense longing that surpassed anything in her experience - her need for his touch so overwhelming that she would surely go mad if she didn't feel his naked skin on her naked skin soon. She helped him eagerly, guiding his hands to the fastenings of her skirt. He pushed the skirt down her hips and legs along with her panties; she eagerly raised her arms up so that he could slip the chemise over her head to leave her standing naked in front of him, fighting an instinct to cover her nudity as he let his eyes roam over her nude body.

Ardeth's face was hard, taut, like that of a man on the verge of agony, as he stared down at her naked flesh like a man starved. She shivered, feeling seared by those dark smoldering eyes raking up and down her body, his gaze lingering on her breasts and at the juncture of her thighs. She felt acutely vulnerable, but also giddily exited, to be standing there in front of him stark naked, while he was still fully dressed, and slowly hot color climbed to her cheeks under his continued scrutiny. Slowly, as if it had a mind of its own, his right hand lifted and one long elegant finger extended to brush a puckered nipple ever so lightly, making her take a sharp breath and arch her chest towards the light touch.

A quiet, strangled sort of sound came from Ardeth's throat and he snatched his hand from her body as if she had burned him. Nearly ripping the lacings of his robe in his haste to get rid of it, he swiftly shed his clothes, dropping them on to the growing pile at their feet - and then he stood naked before her, and it was her turn to stare, mesmerized. He was beautiful, the broad expanse of his shoulders and chest narrowing to trim waist and hips and long, beautifully formed strong muscular legs. He was very muscular, much more so than her husband - trained for strength, speed and endurance. She couldn't take her eyes off him; the smooth expanse of warm caramel skin stretching over taut muscles beckoned her irresistibly, and she raised one hand to trace a bluish tattoo, before moving on to a flat brown male nipple, circling it with one finger, and, fascinated, watched it pucker, sensing the quivering tension in his body mounting as the lone questing digit slid down the center of his chest.

The hard, ridged muscles of his flat abdomen rippled, bunching and releasing under her fingertips as she stopped there and spread her fingers to press against the warm skin, feeling the steely muscles underneath. Her eyes traveled lower, riveted by that potent rod of male flesh jutting demandingly towards her from a nest of black curls, throbbing hungrily. She licked her suddenly dry lips, caught between surge of lust so strong her knees threatened give under her, and a frisson of alarm at his size - she'd known he was big, but facing the reality was quite different from imagining it. She knew there was bound to be some discomfort when he would first enter her, for she had not had a lover since her husband's death, and Ardeth was generously endowed. But the thought of such intimate discomfort wasn't the deterrent it might have been; instead she felt her body responding, melting, readying itself for him. She had always thought Ardeth Bay to be a most impressive sight - all the Medjai warriors were - but naked and aroused, as she was seeing him now, he was breathtaking - strong and powerful and untamed.

Ardeth waited in agonized silence for her next move, intently watching the play of expressions on her face. He had not realized until he was nude how very important it was that she found his body desirable; he already knew she appreciated his mind, he wanted her to appreciate his body as well, and his mind and heart soared with the knowledge that she desired him the same way he her. But the sight of her body was slowly but surely driving him mad. She was so tantalizingly close that he could sense the warmth of her skin on his own and smell the scent of her arousal. Her satiny skin was many shades lighter than his own, but not as light as that of the Inglizi; a visible testimony to her mixed parentage. Her full, round breasts were a little heavier than he'd imagined, and her delicate, sensitive nipples made his mouth water. His hands yearned to know their shape, to span her waist and to explore the flaring roundness of her hips, the long expanse of her legs and that secret, feminine place between them. But at the moment all he could do was to focus on the lone questing finger as it took up its exploration again, this time joined with a single finger of her other hand as well as they darted around to his hipbones and drifted down his thighs, her caress simultaneously maddeningly arousing and frustrating. His thighs was not the place he ached to feel her hands on; but he was also damn certain that were she to grant him his wish, he would quite simply explode, spilling his seed before either of them intended. So with that in mind he captured her hands before she could do more damage, and pulled her to him, kissing her. He dropped on the bed on his back, taking her with him. The feel of her nude body on top of him was a sweet shock, and he rolled, again taking her with him, feeling the smooth length of her now half underneath him; and it was an exquisite torment. His hands were endlessly curious, endlessly delighting in the feel of her; stroking her, smoothing over her flesh, wanting more, needing more.

Angelina whimpered at the acute sense of loss when Ardeth released her mouth, turning her head restlessly, trying to recapture his lips. But he wouldn't be deterred; the rougher scrape of his goatee was a stark contrast to the warm velvet softness of his lips as Ardeth slid his mouth hotly down the long column of her throat to nuzzle the hollow at the base of her neck. His hands, warm and sure, stroked her flesh with delicious knowledge, his touch making her quiver and sigh in heated pleasure - she felt fevered; her breath coming in gasps, and she wanted to feel his hands all over her. She drew in a ragged breath as he cupped her breasts, rubbing the rough pads of his thumbs across tightly puckered nipples, and she moaned aloud at the pure heat that surged through her.

Their legs tangled, and one hard-muscled leg slid between hers. His muscled thigh was hard and hairy and enticing, riding up along the delicate skin of her inner thigh, coming to rest against the vulnerable, feminine mound between her legs. He pressed against her, gently, lazily, rubbing her with his thigh. Moaning, her hips lifting to meet him, Angelina knew she was dampening him with her eager response; and she knew that he was highly aroused by it - she could feel it in the heightening tension of his body, in the way his lips hotly closed over a turgid nipple, making her dig her fingers in the hard muscles of his shoulders and arch her chest into his mouth. She cried out in pleasure and need as he suckled her hard, his hands stroking all over her body, the hungry, passionate tenderness of his touch making her shiver.

She could feel the entire length of his lean, muscular body along the side of hers, almost on top of her. His heat seared her skin, warming her until she felt like she was burning up, his hands and mouth driving her mad. She marveled at his self control; she could sense the lust coursing through him, feel the need gathering inside him like a storm; the proof of it was throbbing thick and hard and hot against her hip, pulsing with a life of its own, and she ached to feel him thrust inside her, quenching this terrible burning deep inside her with his passion.

Burning with the need to touch him, Angelina slid her arms around his bare back, running the tips of her fingers down the groove of his spine, reveling in the feel of strong muscles under her palms, and the way they tightened under her touch. His skin was hot and smooth to the touch and - knowing with feminine instinct that Ardeth's self control would not extend to allow it now, or her own for that matter - she resolved that later, before the night was over, she would learn its textures not only with her hands but with her mouth as well.

Triumphant lust pounded through him with heavy demand, glorying in the fact that he had same effect on Angelina as she had on him; the proof of it in the way she was moving wantonly, urgently, against him, her back arching and hips lifting, her hands and lips gliding restlessly, urgently, over his fevered skin leaving streaks of fire in their wake. He could feel the damp proof of her desire on his thigh where it pressed and rubbed the plump cushion of flesh at the juncture of her thighs. Her passion was a brand, searing his flesh, and it was all he could do not to tug her beneath him and plunge deep inside her, to find blessed relief for his throbbing erection; he was hanging on to his self control by a thin thread, and it was getting thinner by each passing second.