“Let me help you off with that wrapper, Cass.”
She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, and jerked open the sash. She felt Edward’s hands pulling the soft material from her body. She heard his sharp intake of breath.
“God, you are so beautiful.”
“You have already seen me unclothed. Do you not remember, Edward?”
“Yes,” he said slowly, easing himself down beside her. “But I tried to forget, Cass.” Had he continued to think of her as he had those long months ago, he thought, he would have gone mad. He looked at her breasts and swallowed convulsively. Just the thought of the Earl of Clare touching her, forcing her, made his belly cramp.
He looked down at her, his eyes wintry. He felt her fingers tentatively touch his shoulders, and slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Although she was not a virgin, he knew he should treat her as gently as he had that long ago afternoon in the cave. He pressed his mouth softly against hers, until he felt her part her lips to him. As his hands stroked over her, he thought of the man who had taken her innocence, the man who had caressed her body as he was now doing. Although he did not wish it, he thought again of the months of pain, the nights of empty bitterness, at the cruelty of fate. He felt consumed again by the wrenching loneliness. She had left him, had made life itself seem meaningless to him. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and rolled on top of her, feeling the soft giving of her beneath him.
Cassie froze, numbed with confusion. Whenever she had thought of this moment with Edward, she had remembered only his tenderness, his gentleness. She felt her body tense in protest. You love me, she wanted to tell him. Why are you doing this to me? He released her mouth and his lips closed over her breast. She heard his breathing, ragged and deep, and knew that he wanted her, wanted her so badly that what she felt no longer mattered to him. She prayed silently to feel something, but an instant of desire. She tangled her fingers in his curling chestnut hair, and forced her hands to stroke down his back.
“Oh God, Cass.” He reared over her and pushed her thighs apart. She felt herself stiffen as his member touched her. But I am not ready for you, she wanted to yell at him. She swallowed a cry in her throat as he thrust into her unwilling flesh.
Cassie moaned softly, for his every movement hurt her. But her muted cry broke Edward’s control. He drove into her wildly until his body tensed uncontrollably above her. He felt as if he were breaking apart, each convulsive spasm pulling him farther out of himself, away from all reason. Jagged groans tore from his mouth. Suddenly there was a great easing within him and he fell forward, resting his cheek next to her face on the pillow.
His release erased the violent emotion that had consumed him. He felt Cassie lying motionless beneath him.
“I am sorry, Edward.”
He raised his head at her soft, sad words and saw tears swimming in her eyes. He drew a deep breath. Damn. He felt the perfect bounder. After all that had happened to her, he had done little else than force her himself. But she had accepted him, she had stroked him and wrapped her legs about his hips to open herself more fully to receive him. The earl’s darkly handsome face rose in his mind’s eye and Edward saw him rearing over her, parting her thighs, burying himself in her woman’s body. He shook himself, blotting the image from his mind.
“It is I who am sorry, Cassie. Next time it will be better, you will see.”
But I don’t want there to be a next time.
“It will be, Edward,” she whispered. He pulled himself out of her and stretched his full length beside her.
He tried to think of comforting words to say, but somehow the violent emotion he had felt and his guilt at what he had done emptied his mind. Both of them needed time. He said only, “It’s been a long day, Cass. You need sleep now.”