Page 56 of Dark Gambit: The Play

There were also practical considerations.

Sofia was lithe and strong, but she was human, and with his passion awakened after being forcefully suppressed, he didn't know how gentle he'd manage to be, and pounding into her from behind while she was pressed against the tiled wall might get uncomfortable or even dangerous for her.

As he pulled out, she chased his retreating erection by arching back, but as he spun her around and lifted her into his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Where are you taking me?"

"Where you wanted to go before. To bed."

"We are wet," she protested as he lay on top of the covers with her on top of him.

He smiled. "I know. You said that you needed more. Take it."

Her puzzlement lasted a split second, and then she was straddling his hips. "Are you mine for the taking?"

"Always."

As doubt flitted through her eyes, he wondered whether it had to do with his attitude toward her during the past twenty-four hours or with him withholding his story about his life-altering experience.

If it was the first, he could fix it, but if it was the latter, it would remain untold.

Marcel feared that once Sofia learned what kind of a man he really was, her attitude toward him would change and never recover. She might not want him anymore.

When she angled his erection toward her entrance and started to lower herself on top of his shaft, all thoughts of the past receded to the corner of his mind where he usually kept them locked up tight, and when the tip breached her entrance, he gripped her hips and helped guide her, but didn't attempt to control her movements.

It was her show, and he was there for the ride.

The perfection of their fit was enough to chase the last vestiges of those terrible memories away, and he gave himself over to the marvelous creature riding him like a prize bull.

Sofia was gentle, keeping her rhythm slow and rocking side to side on each downward glide.

He loved that she wasn't in a rush to bring them both to completion. They were soaking in the intimacy, the closeness that was so much more than just sexual pleasure. With her, it was about love, about the connection, and the pleasure was a side effect rather than the goal.

Love, though?

Was he falling again into the same trap?

He shouldn't be thinking in terms of love until at least a year had passed, and Sofia had proven herself to him beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Except, there would always be doubt, wouldn't there?

As the saying went, once burned, twice shy. For now, he would just stick to liking her and lusting after her.

"Sofia," he murmured as his climax neared, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips.

She slowed down even more. "Not yet. I want this to last."

Marcel wanted to smile, but his fangs were already elongated, and he didn't want to thrall her yet. "There are many more to come." He let go of one of her hips and reached between their bodies to gently tease her clit.

"Cheater," she breathed as she undulated on top of him. "That's not fair."

"All is fair in love and war." He kept circling the engorged nub while urging her with his other hand to keep moving.

When she closed her eyes and threw her head back, he kept going with his thumb and rocking up into her to prolong her climax, and when her tremors subsided, he wrapped his arms around her and flipped them around.

"I told you that there was more." He gripped her hands and pulled her arms over her head.

"Yes." She smiled up at him. "Give it to me."

"Yes, ma'am."