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.It was the most exquisite torture he had ever endured, lying there while her warm hands and soft lips moved over him, arousing him until he ached with need.She trailed her fingertips over the ridged flesh of his spine, and he groaned with pleasure so deep it was almost pain, a pleasure he had thought never to feel again.On ErAdona, when a woman stroked a man’s spine in such an intimate fashion, it meant she had agreed to be his life mate.Once she touched him there, they were considered mated even though no words had been spoken.It was also a source of great sexual pleasure.“What is it?” Kara asked.“What’s wrong?”“Nothing.”“I thought I’d hurt you.”“No, Kara, quite the opposite.”“What do you mean?”“Touch me again, Kara.Run your hands over my back.”“Like this?”Alex closed his eyes, drowning in sensation, as she massaged his back, pausing now and then to run her tongue along his spine.Kara laughed softly as the evidence of his desire grew unmistakable.“I seem to have touched on an ErAdonian erogenous zone,” she mused.His purr of contentment was loud and rough, like the muted roar of a lion.She reveled in the knowledge that she had brought him pleasure, and then she heard him groan again, saw the fire blazing in his eyes, and the laughter died in her throat.How cruel she was to tease and torment, she thought, and how patient he was to let her do it.But he wasn’t the only one in distress.You couldn’t play with fire without getting burned, and she yearned for him, ached for him, in the deepest core of her being.“Now, Alex,” she murmured, and waited impatiently as he sheathed himself in protection before tucking her beneath him.And then he was a part of her, his body a warm, sweet invasion of her flesh, and she knew that she had been born for this moment, this man, and that nothing in her life would ever be the same again.Later, while she lay in a near-drugged state of completion, he fetched a bowl of warm water and bathed her from head to foot, washing away the stain of her maidenhead, the perspiration that had dried on her skin.He bathed her gently, almost reverently, and she thought she had never felt so pampered, so cherished, in all her life.“I love you, Alex.”“And I you, natayah.”“You called me that once before.What does it mean?”“Beloved one.”“Na-tay-ah.” She tried the word on her tongue, liking the sound of it, the way he had looked at her when he said it.Alex quickly washed himself, then slid into bed and drew Kara into his arms again.“Are you all right?”“Of course.Why wouldn’t I be?”“I was afraid I might have hurt you.”“No.It was wonderful.” She grinned.“Was it good for you?”Alex chuckled.“Indeed.”“As good as.”“As?”“I don’t suppose you’ve lived like a monk for the last two hundred years.”“No.” He lifted one brow in disbelief.“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of those women?”“Of course not.”“Kara.” He drew her closer, holding her body tightly to his.“I paid them for the use of their bodies.There was never any more to it than that.Never.”She nodded.He had answered her question, and she believed him, but he had been in love before, been married before, and she couldn’t help wondering how it had been with his wife.Caught up in the aftermath of their lovemaking, trying not to be jealous of a woman who had been dead for over a hundred years, she forgot that, when he chose, he could read her mind.“Kara.” Lifting himself on one elbow, Alex gazed down into her eyes.“I love you beyond words.You’ve given me new hope for the future, restored my passion for life, for living.I’ve never felt this way about another woman.Never.”He took a deep breath, unable to ignore the guilt that rose in his heart as he realized that what he had felt for AnnaMara paled beside the love he felt for Kara.He had never loved any woman the way he loved this gentle earth woman; should he live another two hundred years, he knew he would never love like this again.“I’m sorry, Alex.I know I have no right to be jealous.I know you loved her.”He nodded.“But it was never like this, Kara.I loved her.I would have died for her, but she never filled my heart, my thoughts, my very soul, the way you do.”“Oh, Alex.”Touched to the depths of her being, Kara slipped her arms around his neck.“I love you, Alex.Maybe I am jealous, but I can’t help it.I.I wish I could have been the first woman in your life.”“Ah, Kara,” he murmured helplessly.Blinking back her tears, she smiled up at him.“I’m going to make you forget those other women, Alexander Claybourne.If it takes the rest of my life, I’m going to make you forget there was ever anyone else.”“I’m at your mercy, natayah,” he replied, grinning.“Do to me whatever you wish.”“I’m serious.” She dragged her hands down his chest, raked her nails along the insides of his thighs, then ran her palms along the sensitive flesh of his spine.“I’m going to burn those women out of your mind and heart.”“I’m already burning,” he said, his voice silky with desire.“Can’t you feel the flame?”“Oh, yes,” Kara said, laughing softly as the evidence of his desire swelled against her belly.“Oh, yes.”And then she was on fire, too, writhing in the inferno of desire that burned between them, and for Kara there was only Alex, and for him there was only Kara, always and forever Kara, burning away the memories of the past, and he knew his life hadn’t truly begun until he met the woman he held in his arms, and in his heart.Chapter FifteenKara woke slowly, unwilling to surrender the beautiful dream she’d been having.And then she felt Alexander’s breath caress her neck, felt the welcome weight of his leg lying across hers, the heat of his palm curved over her breast, and she knew it hadn’t been a dream at all.Turning her head, she saw Alex sleeping beside her.Thick black lashes lay upon his cheeks.His lips, full and sensuous, were slightly parted.She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, marveling anew at the width of his shoulders.Just looking at him was enough to make her heart beat fast, make her yearn to touch him, to run her fingers over his chest and feel the smooth warmth of his skin
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