Heartstrings (23 page)

All she could think about was her growing desire to feel his mouth upon hers.

Roman read her every thought within the depths of her smoldering brown eyes, but his intentions included much more than kissing her. “‘Once a woman parts her lips for a man, he must use his tongue to imitate the movements of lovemaking,’” he continued to read. “‘He should use slow and shallow strokes at first and eventually employ full and deep thrusts. If he is successful in his endeavors, the woman should reciprocate at this point and use her own tongue to mate with his. While engaged in the kiss, the man must then begin to fondle the woman’s breasts. He should not grab such succulent treasures, but handle them with the utmost reverence. While caressing the breasts with one hand, a man must then place his other against the woman’s belly and gradually lower it until he is cupping the soft mound between her legs. The feel of his touch upon the dwelling place of her womanly passion will cause her to breathe heavily, and perhaps she will follow each breath by a low moan that will be a lovely sound to his ears. When she does these things, the man will know she is prepared to accept and enjoy the more intense preparations for lovemaking.’”

As he finished reading the passage and Theodosia pushed her hips into his side, Roman’s need heightened. He didn’t know who was more excited by the sensual instructions, Theodosia or himself.

Knowing she would follow his actions, he moved his body downward until he was no longer sitting but fully reclined on the bed. His own breathing became labored when Theodosia lay down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Her face was only inches away from his. He glided his finger along her chin and up to her temple, finally smoothing it across her eyelids.

When she didn’t resist, he pushed his fingers into her hair. It filled his hand with golden softness, bringing every nerve in his palm to life. Liking the way the delicate locks shimmered next to his dark skin, he played with them for a while before gently curling his hand around her neck and feeling her pulse throb against his fingers.

“Theodosia,” he said softly.

She’d never heard him address her thus. The sound of her name on his lips and the desire she heard in his husky voice increased her yearning for his kiss.

When she tilted her face higher, Roman gently took hold of her chin and caressed her bottom lip with his thumb. Gazing into her eyes, he gave her a slow and easy grin.

She couldn’t resist his charm and smiled back.

He kissed her smile, surprised but delighted when she parted her lips. And when she tentatively touched her tongue to his, his desire escalated so quickly, he thought his loins had been turned to stone by the wave of some magic wand.

He could wait no longer to see the whole of her beauty.

Reaching around her, he started the task of unfastening the buttons at the back of her gown. To keep her mind off what his hand was doing, he held her gaze and moved his hips toward hers in a slow and steady rhythm he knew would beckon to the virgin inside her.

His fiery intent closing over her, Theodosia felt heat melt through her. Finding the strength to battle his power over her seemed as impossible as subduing a dragon with a needle. Surrendering, she matched the movements of his hips, meeting each of his gentle thrusts with a timid one of her own.

In a few more moments, Roman had the buttons unfastened. Continuing the slight motions of his hips, he slid one shoulder of her gown down and off her arm. The tiny ribbons closing her sleeveless chemise presented little trouble, and in the next moment he bared her breast.

“The man might try this, Theodosia,” he warned quietly. “Be on your guard.”

When she felt his big warm hand close over her breast, she quickly pulled it away.

Roman felt the sting of defeat until she pushed her upper torso into his chest. He understood then that she wanted to feel his bare skin next to hers. Swiftly, he turned her slightly to the side and pulled down the other side of her dress and her chemise. When both her breasts were freed, he gathered her into his arms and held her close.

Theodosia sighed. The feel of Roman’s skin and muscles next to her softness overwhelmed her with a sense of wonder. She closed her eyes and savored the incredible feelings.

Roman didn’t have to guess to understand how she felt. Theodosia trembled in his arms, her contentment so real, he imagined he could smell its sweet scent.

Pressing warm airy kisses to her cheek, he untied the drawstring of her embroidered petticoat, then tugged her gown, chemise, and slip down to her knees. With his arm beneath her thighs, he lifted her legs until her dress and underthings fell past her calves and off her feet. That accomplished, he then removed her stockings.

Theodosia moved restlessly against him, sensual hunger making her ache with the need for fulfillment. “I am powerless to understand this hold you have on me,” she said softly, staring into the blue pools of his eyes. “Vitally aware though I am of what you are doing, I—I cannot find the will to deny myself the pleasure of your touch.”

Her honesty made his throat tighten with emotion. He’d never known a woman like her, a woman who trusted him enough to tell him the truth about her feelings.

“Theodosia,” he began, caressing her breasts and the smooth skin of her belly, “the pleasure has only just started.”

She raised her hand and pressed her fingers into the hard muscle beneath his nipple. Fascinated by his strength, she moved her hand upward, over his massive shoulder, through his long raven hair, and down his bulging arm.

Her touch nearly drove him insane. A low groan of intense need rumbled in his throat as he wrestled for whatever last drop of control he could find within the storm of desire that raged through him.

At the sound of his barely leashed passion, Theodosia dropped her hand from his arm. “You will not impregnate me.” She searched his face for evidence that he would not. “Will you?”

“No.” The word left his lips on a hot, tight breath. “You’re a virgin now, and I promise you still will be when I’m through. There are other ways.”

His declaration confused and excited her at once. “What are they?”

His gaze never leaving hers, he untied the drawstring of her lacy drawers and drew them slowly down her smooth white legs.

A hint of anxiety leaped through her veins as he slid the last of her garments off her body. She lay before him completely naked—and had never felt so vulnerable or uncertain in her life.

Roman watched her worry come into her eyes and alleviated it with a deep and leisurely kiss that soon had her writhing beneath him once more. Only then did he raise his head and behold the unveiled splendor of her body.

He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. He could only stare.

Never had he seen such perfection.

Long moments passed before he could talk to her. “Beautiful,” he whispered. “God, you are so beautiful, Theodosia.”

She could not miss the sincerity in his eyes. It shone forth with all the intensity of the star he’d once pointed out to her. Profoundly moved, she felt her own eyes fill with tears.

The moment Roman saw them, he stiffened, old and uncomfortable memories slithering through him.

But the disagreeable recollections vanished instantly when Theodosia turned into him, pressing her body against his in a plea for the pleasure he’d promised her.

He laid his hand on her hip and gently rolled her to her back. Slowly, ever-ready to soothe her should apprehension return to her, he moved his hand to her inner thigh and caressed the velvety flesh he found there. While his fingers slid across her skin, his thumb swept into the silken folds of her femininity.

Theodosia nearly came off the bed. Short but steady waves of pleasure wafting through her, she arched her hips toward the promise of pleasure.

Watching the play of growing rapture on her face, Roman slipped two fingers into her. Instantly, his own need began to pound through him, causing him to grit his teeth.

God, she was tight. And hot. And wet.

And he was about to burst out of his breeches. “This,” he rasped, “is a hint of what lovemaking is all about.”

Surprise jolted her when his fingers began a pumping motion and his thumb circled softly upon her. “Roman.” She moaned his name, then reached for him.

The moment his broad chest met her breasts and his hair fell over her throat and stomach, the first spark of bliss glimmered deeply inside her. She gasped as the unfamiliar feelings grew, but the tender look in Roman’s eyes assured her that he knew what she felt and was in total control of everything happening to her. Her gaze enfolded within his, she gave herself up to him and lifted her hips into his hand, the source of the incredible feelings coming to life inside her.

Her surrender deepened her pleasure. Something wonderful whirled within the depths of her womanhood. Tensing with anticipation as the delicious feelings spread slowly through every part of her, she realized the sensations would peak and that it was Roman who guided her toward the sensual crest.

And then she was there. The warm and gentle pleasure quickly intensified. Like a flower opening to the splendor of the sun, ecstasy too beautiful to fathom blossomed inside her. She savored the feelings in complete awe, her body trembling with wonder.

She lay motionless for a long while, wrapped in Roman’s attention as the rapture he so skillfully mastered mellowed into a warm, sweet pulse that left her so satiated, she could think of nothing in the world she still wanted.

A smile touched her lips when she saw Roman watching her, his eyes following every emotion and feeling that passed over her features. He looked as pleased as she felt, and his satisfaction somehow increased her fulfillment.

“Roman,” she whispered. Overcome with emotion, she smoothed her hands over the hard muscles in his back and began to kiss his shoulder, chest, and throat.

Her sweet and innocent caresses made him want to hold her forever and never let her go. Instead, he withdrew his hand from her, and while he pressed his lips to her moist forehead, he dwelled on the fact that he’d pleasured her. Shown her a taste of sensual joy. He’d been the first man to do so.

And that meant more to him than he cared to ponder.

He sat up, and sliding his hands beneath her, he lifted her into his lap and held her close to his chest. Unappeased desire continued to torment him, but he ignored it and concentrated on the beautiful woman in his arms.

“Tell me you’re not sorry, Theodosia,” he demanded quietly.

The glint of potential regret she noted in his eyes tugged tenderness forth from her heart. She said nothing, but only stared at him, memorizing every line, curve, and shadow on his face.

He’d come to mean a lot to her, had become very special to her. She could not understand how it was possible for her to feel such fondness for a man like

Roman Montana, but she could not deny her own affection for him.

And she could not imagine how she would feel when the day came that they would part. “Theodosia?”

Gently, she touched the cleft in his chin, then slipped her fingers through the raven silk of his hair. “Tell me when I gave you permission to address me by my first name.”

He grinned down at her. “Calling you
Miss Worth
while practicing the sweet art of passion just didn’t seem to occur to me. What about you? You called me by my first name, too.”

“Did you know,” she murmured, her hand still lost within his thick hair, contentment still whispering through her, “that the name
Roman
is from the Latin word
Romanus?
It means ‘a person from Rome.’”

“Don’t tell me—the name
Theodosia
is from the Latin word
Theoknowsia,
which means ‘a person who knows everything.’”

She lowered her hand to his chest and drew lazy circles around his dark nipple.
“Theodosia
is Greek, meaning ‘divine gift.’ When my sister Lillian was sixteen years old, my parents despaired of ever having more children. When I was born, they thought of me as a present from heaven. Thus, their choice for my name.”

Her explanation caused him to realize how little she’d told him about her past. She’d certainly delved into his past enough times, but she didn’t offer to share her own memories with him. He decided it might be fun to coerce her into talking about them.

But not now. Later, after he’d made sure she wasn’t sorry about what they’d done. “I asked you a question, and you haven’t answered it.”

She laid her head on his shoulder, marveling over the fact that she was completely naked and felt no shame or timidity. “No, Roman, I am not sorry. The pleasure satisfied my physical need as well as my curiosity, which has continued to build ever since you first mentioned the importance of sexual fulfillment. Once again, you have taught me something that I did not know, and for that I am truly grateful.”

As it had in the past, her gratitude pulled at something in his chest that was beginning to feel a lot like his heart. “Why did you cry, Theodosia?” he asked, absently running his hand through the warm moist hollow between her breasts.