Free The Worldly Widow by Elizabeth Thornton

perfectly still, giving her time to adjust to the hard intrusion of his body. His lips coursed down, capturing her mouth in a lover ' s kiss, reassuring and infinitely patient. The moment of discomfort passed, and Annabelle melted against him. Slowly, powerfully, Dalmar set the rhythm for their lovemaking.
    Lost in a riot of unfamiliar sensations, she grasped at the last shreds of her control. But her body was beyond her, answering his blatant masculine demand, yielding to the age-old feminine hunger which cried out for fulfillment. Passion and fear warred within her. Her hands clutched convulsively at his straining arms.
    Her anguished confusion transmitted itself to Dalmar. He did not hesitate to use her passion against her. Suddenly his hands slipped under her hips, fusing her body to his, overwhelming her with the urgency of his ardor.
    It was his hoarse lover ' s plea which sent her spinning out of control. "Give in to me! Hold me! Annabelle, please, love me! "
    Emotion melded with passion, and she responded to him on every level of her being. Her capitulation was sudden and complete. She locked her arms around his neck and offered him her lips. He took what she was offering and asked for more. The hard, rhythmic drive of his body warned her that he wanted her with him, there, at the end, when he made the leap to ecstasy. Such a thing had never before been demanded of her.
    "Let go, " he told her hoarsely. "Let go and trust me. "
    And for the first time in her life, Annabelle surrendered the total control of her body to her lover. The pleasure became unbearable. Her body tightened. Far back in her throat, small animal cries erupted and became choked. The effect on Dalmar was explosive. As her own body went hurtling over the edge, she felt the wracking shudders of his as he poured himself into her.
    The descent to reality was sweet and languorous, accompanied by his wet, open-mouthed kisses and half-coherent, drowsy exclamations of wonder.
    "Annabelle, you can ' t know… "
    "I know. "
    "I never expected… "
    "Neither did I. "
    "You ' re mine. I ' ll never let you go. "
    "Hush, David. Go to sleep. We ' ll talk about it later. "
    Possessively, he anchored her with one leg thrown over her thighs. She nestled against him and waited till the soft rise and fall of his chest told her that he had drifted into sleep. Careful not to waken him, she slid from beneath the comfort of his warm body.
    She shrugged into her borrowed dressing gown and stood gazing at him as if mesmerized. In the aftermath of spent passion, a thousand disturbing thoughts rushed in to confront her. She knew a sense of shock at having put herself, once again and against all reason, into a position of vulnerability with a man.
    The unnerving thought that to allow this man to make love to her would be the most dangerous thing she could do in her life came back in full force. A spasm of alarm went rippling through her. She tried to suppress it, but her sense of panic grew.
    She found her clothes where she had left them and dressed with quick, economical movements. The torn and blood- spattered garments were the least of her worries now. In the gentleman ' s press, she came upon a man ' s cloak. It trailed the ground when she draped it round her shoulders, but she deemed it adequate for her purpose.
    Before she left, she checked on him. He was moving fitfully in his sleep, but the bandage on his arm was secure and dry. Carefully, she measured the drops of laudanum into a half glass of water and held his head as she forced him to drink. His eyes opened once, and he said her name. She whispered something reassuring which seemed to settle him.
    Though the finger of dawn had yet to penetrate to the candlelit interior, outside the window, on the avenue of limes, the birds and their nestlings were already heralding the new day. Inside, the vast corridors of the Palais Royal were blanketed in an unnatural silence. Annabelle slipped past two English sentries who guarded