Free Winning Lord West by Anna Campbell

liquid surge greeted his daring caresses. Her heart
hammered against her ribs, as if it fought to break free.
    The tension rose higher and higher as he
tormented that small, secret pearl. She squirmed. The pleasure
sharpened until it approached pain. She gasped when he slid one
long finger into her, adding to the giddy mix.
    “Let it happen, Hel.” He raised his head from
her breast and stared at her. “Don’t fight me.”
    She gasped as her body stretched to accept
two seeking fingers. “Fight you?” She couldn’t contain an unsteady
laugh. “I’m positively begging.”
    Something flashed in his eyes that struck her
as important. If only she could read it. “You’re pure gold. You
always have been.”
    He curled his fingers inside her and stroked
a place that set her quaking. Yet still what she wanted remained
out of reach.
    It had been like this with Crewe. He’d take
her so far, then while he found release, she’d stay teetering on
the brink. She dug her fingernails into West’s arms in a silent
plea not to leave her behind.
    “It won’t work,” she gasped. “I think it’s
going to, then—”
    He kissed her, and the touch of his lips
soothed the demons. “Trust me.”
    “Crewe was right. There’s something wrong
with me.”
    “Damn it, there’s nothing wrong with you,
except the man you chose to marry.”
    West kissed her again, until she forsook
self-doubt and yielded. His fingers moved in and out of her with a
hard, regular rhythm that made her shake. Each time he withdrew,
the heel of his hand pressed on her mound and fire shot through
her. Craving spiraled tighter and tighter, until surely she must
snap into pieces.
    Fulfillment still hovered too far off. As
release evaded her, stinging tears seeped from her eyes. She
couldn’t do it. Even with West, even wanting him so
desperately.
    “Curse you, you’ll get there,” he snarled,
urgency roughening his voice. He changed the angle of his caresses
and lowered his head to the curve between her neck and
shoulder.
    As he bit down hard, pain and pleasure
collided in a fiery crash. Helena cried out in wonder. The world
shattered around her, and she crossed the barrier into glory.
    Free. She was finally free. And swooping and
dipping and rolling among the stars. The view from paradise was
extraordinary. As her blood lit to unquenchable fire, she shivered
and squirmed. And as she wafted down from that blazing peak, even
the embers were beautiful.
    After a long time, she opened dazzled eyes to
see West beside her, leaning on his elbow. A lazy smile hovered
around his lips.
    She rose to kiss him with all the poignant
gratitude she felt.
    He looked startled. “What was that for?”
    “Thank you.”
    “No, thank you.”
    She struggled for some way to describe the
experience. “That was even better than a good gallop.”
    He burst out laughing and flopped back onto
the sheets. “Hel, you’re priceless.”
    Helena frowned, although she felt too
marvelous for genuine displeasure. For years, she’d closed more and
more of herself away, until a hard little ball of hurt and hate and
self-pity lodged in her chest instead of a heart. Those miraculous
moments when West had set her flying let her breathe for the first
time since she was a carefree girl. “And you’re a lunatic.”
    His green eyes glittered as he sucked in an
unsteady breath. “No argument there.” Another breath. “Actually
that counts as high praise from horse-mad Helena Nash.”
    He’d used her maiden name. As if they
returned to those sweet days when she’d been in his thrall. Before
she’d decided dark, dangerous Lord Crewe was the most exciting man
she’d ever met.
    How tragically wrong she’d been.
    “It was a compliment,” she said.
    “I’m sure.” His tone was dry.
    He rose above her and kissed her with a
serious intent that his tone belied. His legs tangled with hers,
and his hips pressed her into the mattress with sensual purpose.
She shifted and felt his powerful