Free The Secrets of a Courtesan by Nicola Cornick Page A

never get you out of these clothes.”
    He made a sound like a growl. “Be quick then.”
    Eve laughed. “I used to think that you were a patient man.”
    Again she reached up to kiss him, full of feminine power and a bubbling happiness that took her
    by surprise. It was so long since she had felt like this. Joy and discovery, excitement and
    nervousness all mingled within her and made her feel honey-soft inside. She freed his shirt from
    the waistband of his pantaloons and burrowed underneath, fanning her hands out against his
    stomach. His muscles rippled against her fingers. He caught his breath and ripped the shirt over
    his head. Eve stared as the firelight turned his body golden and bronze, smooth, hard and
    sculpted. Beautiful. Time had not altered the physical perfection she remembered so well.
    Her throat dried. She reached out to him but he was too quick for her, picking her up to lay her
    on the thick rug before the fire. His hands traveled over her, easing the gown from her, unlacing
    her stays with quick, practiced movements, taking her chemise from her so that she was naked
    but for her stockings. Eve was quiescent and still, her breath coming rapidly, her eyes fixed on
    his face where she saw intent concentration and desire distilled.
    “Ah…” His eyes went almost black with lust as he exposed her body to his gaze. He sat back on
    his heels, a flush of arousal along his cheekbones. He had, she noticed, an enormous erection that
    his pantaloons could barely contain.
    “Turn over.”
    He rolled her onto her stomach. Her breasts, so full and sensitive now, brushed against the soft
    caress of the rug and she groaned. He leaned over her to press kisses up her spine and over the
    line of her shoulders. Her nipples hardened, her entire body alive and prickling with arousal. He
    licked a path down her spine again, his hot, wicked tongue spiraling over her skin, and Eve
    moaned. When his hands swept up her thighs she allowed her legs to fall open and felt the
    coolness of the air against her flesh.
    “Leave the stockings,” she managed to say, as she felt his fingers on her garter, and she heard
    him laugh. The rough edge to the tone made her heart beat in double time. His caresses rose
    higher, stealing over her in a seductive circling motion that made the heat pool deep within her,
    until he reached the softest skin of her inner thighs. His fingers grazed her cleft and she cried out,
    the sensation blazing through her even as her body grasped for more. His hand was on her hip
    and he rolled her over so that she was staring up, dazzled by sensual need, into the hard, hot
    glitter of his eyes.
    “I want to see you…” His words were low and harsh. “You always were so very beautiful…I
    want to touch every part of you…”
    Eve felt very beautiful, worshipped and adored for the first time in five long years. There was
    reverence in the way Rowarth touched her, as though she was exquisitely precious, and awe in
    the way that he looked at her.
    At last he moved to unfasten his pantaloons and his erection sprang free of the constraint, thick
    and hard. He lay beside Eve on the rug and started to kiss her all over again, his hands holding
    her still as he ravished her mouth deeply, his fingers tangling in her hair. He dropped his head to
    her breasts and skimmed his tongue over the sensitive underside and up to the nipple, licking and
    sucking, wrenching a gasp from her lips that was half moan, half plea. She wanted nothing more
    than to feel him inside her now and she reached for him, but he held off, making her wait.
    “Patience…” There was amusement in his voice. “I want you to really want me…”
    Oh, she did. She thought she would die of the wanting.
    He trailed kisses across the curve of her stomach and she felt her muscles jump and clench. She
    arched, raising her hips, begging now.
    “Darling Eve…” His voice was a dark whisper. “You have always been mine.” He moved
    between her thighs