Seized by Love (8 page)

He handed a glass to Alisa,
remarking lightly, "Shall we first drink a toast to the Emperor, since
we're drinking his favorite brand of champagne—Clicquot?"

Alisa nodded, wide-eyed.

"To the Emperor,"
Nikki toasted, and drained his glass.

"To the Emperor,"
Alisa repeated with a timid smile, and took a sip of her champagne.

Le picque-nicque
proceeded
gaily, Nikki exerting his considerable charm, with the help of the food,
champagne, and improving weather, easily enchanting Alisa, reminding her of all
the attractions of the luxurious, entertaining life she'd been removed from for
six years.

They chatted cheerfully,
laughed at trivialities; he talked to her lightly, fascinating her, hypnotizing
her. She listened and responded, heedless of this breach against propriety.
She'd been a virtual prisoner of an old and depraved husband for six years, and
she was still very young.

And now the joy she'd not
allowed herself to hope for came back to her. Alisa delighted in Nikki without
reservation, in his burning eyes that held hers, in the caressing compliments
he offered her, for the blithe, joyous world he exemplified and that was lost
to her forever.

The silly banter stopped
abruptly.

A tremulous silence hung
between them. Nikki was seated very close to Alisa. He caught her frightened
glance and held it.

"No, no," she
whispered in fright and began to get up. Ignoring her words, he reached out,
caught her shoulders, and pulled her toward him. He knew she would now either
freeze in his arms or respond to him. She half opened her mouth and bent her
head back; her breath came unevenly, her body trembled under the pressure of
his hands. As he kissed her lips tenderly, her arms lifted around his
shoulders, her fingertips brushed the soft hair on his neck, lightly,
tentatively; she was quivering like a frightened animal.

Almost immediately the
enormity of her acquiescence washed over her, and she attempted to break away.

"Loose me," she
whispered pleadingly. "Loose me, please," she cried softly,
struggling against his chest, unable to still the wakening desires in her own
body.

"No," he murmured
thickly, kissing her. His hand slipped under her knees and he lifted her into
his arms. Ignoring her timid protests, he carried her under the trees and there
on the soft green moss laid her down and began deftly undressing her, all the
while murmuring endearments, kissing her lips, stilling her fears with soft
caresses, seducing with exquisite gentleness until she closed her eyes and lay
still.

Skillful in the intricacies
of hooks, buttons, and laces, he opened her dress and, pushing it off her
shoulders, untied the straps of her chemise and kissed her shoulders, tasting
the rich perfume of her scent. The smell of a woman always roused him; he loved
the fresh sweetness. He was wild with desire yet restrained himself, for she
was trembling beneath his touch. After removing her voluminous petticoats,
pulling off her dainty kid slippers, garters, and silk stockings, he opened the
tapes of her lace-trimmed drawers. Slipping them down her slender hips and
well-shaped legs, he pulled them free and tossed them aside. A flood of crimson
swept over Alisa's face as she lay gleaming white before him while his
devouring gaze ranged the length of her splendid, opulent beauty.

Nikki bent and kissed her
softly, opening her mouth under the pressure of his lips. Then he gently
stroked and caressed her, his fingers sliding over her bare thighs toward the
very source of pleasure, and with gentle fingers he gained the opening and
toyed delightfully with her until she quivered and shuddered beneath his touch.
He could feel her quickening under his titillation. Her flesh was delicious to
the touch, smooth and soft and warm. Alisa drew a long breath and opened her
eyes. Seeing that she didn't intend to resist him, Nikki kissed her more
demandingly. And she turned her face fully toward him and of her own accord
returned his kiss, opened her soft lips to the pressure of his probing tongue
and fierce burning kisses.

She sighed a delicious
small sound of surrender and he smiled against her mouth, gratified.

Quickly stripping off his
clothes, he lay beside her, gathering her warm body in his arms. A shiver ran
through Alisa at the contact with his naked skin. Her hands moved down his
shoulders, closed around his back, as though she would press herself into him
forever.

The tender caresses, his
long, lean, manipulating fingers, the lingering kisses, the sweet murmured
endearments, had all served their purpose. Nikki gently lifted her legs,
without resistance mounted her, and with a few merciless thrusts buried himself
inside her incredible warmth. Alisa cried out softly. He was momentarily
shocked as he penetrated her, for although obviously aroused, she was tight as
a virgin. She would take some patient, gentle stretching for the vigorous
lovemaking he was used to, he reflected. Could all the ribald jests and rumors
be true? Was her husband, indeed, too old?

"I'm sorry,"
Nikki whispered into her tangled hair. "Did I hurt you?" Her eyelids
fluttering, her lips parted in breathless desire, Alisa murmured,
"No" as she clung to him, her arms laced around his powerful body,
her legs twined around his.

Enveloped in her warm,
throbbing flesh, he carefully, gently, explored its luscious interior as she
stirred restlessly beneath him, the pressure of her hands holding him fiercely
tight. With a slow, delicate rhythm he moved in her, adeptly controlling his
passion, slowing his exertions to savor the tide of pleasure, intent on further
rousing Alisa's senses, deliberately compelling her to need him, compelling her
to respond to the exquisite sensual pleasure he was intensifying with each
deep, plunging stroke. He was in no hurry now, wisely delaying the climax,
enjoying each wave of delight, penetrating and withdrawing with tantalizing
slowness.

Soon the last vestiges of
Alisa's guilt and fear were swept away before the fury of the untrammeled
passion Nikki had adroitly provoked in her newly awakened body, and with a
deep, drawn sigh, she lifted her hips to draw him in more deeply.

Nikki continued his slow
rhythm, caressing her tenderly, listening to the murmurs wrung from her parted
lips by the strange rapture she was experiencing for the first time and which
she accepted with a growing passion by arching instinctively to meet each
forceful stroke.

"Come, sweet princess,
come with me," he murmured softly, touching her neck gently with his warm
lips, spoke to her in heated love-words, play-words, words that roused her
further.

Nikki had discovered while
still a mere youth that whispered phrases, passionate sentiments of affection,
a few lustful words, can do more to take a woman over the edge than twenty
minutes of the most ardent physical stimulation.

And the flush on Alisa's
cheeks was rising, a warm blush of color was spreading down her soft, white
heaving breasts.

"Follow me, sweet
angel," he murmured tenderly.

She was almost there. And
so was he.

Nikki held her crushed to
him, his arms wrapped tightly around her slender back, holding her impaled on
his rigid, engorged stiffness. His breathing was harsh and rapid, his warm
whispers brushed her ear, his masculine scent touched her nostrils, tendrils of
damp, dark curls clung to his forehead. He was fully roused, desperate for
relief, as if he hadn't had a woman for a long time. As if Tanya no longer
existed. Succumbing to his mounting passion, he rode the crest of his desire,
no longer restraining his passion, impatient for release. Alisa, too, with
guiltless wonder and a long-dormant sensuality abandoned herself to the full
glory of her desire. She returned Nikki's kisses wantonly, crushed her mouth
feverishly against his, ran her hands over his magnificent body, reveled in the
pressure of his firm, muscular frame, hard and demanding against her tender
flesh, voluptuously joined him in the selfish, sensual dance of love. She gave
herself to him, willingly opened her body for his pleasure, sobbed with a
passion too long deferred, keening a quiet, soft cry of rapture as he brought
her to an ecstasy she had never known, as he pressed against the mouth of her
womb and poured his warmth into her.

She knew in that
resplendent moment this was what she'd wanted from the first time she'd seen
him and caught that hungry look in those golden eyes; his strength, his
wildness, the feel of his powerful body on hers.

Her violet eyes opened
slowly and lifted to his, her eyelids heavy with a sweet, languorous memory,
and he realized as he gazed down on her beautiful flushed face how men could
feel the torturous self-doubts of jealousy. That drowsy, voluptuous, yielding
look, the curve of her full red lips, the heightened color, the gentle smile of
surfeit—she was a sated woman remembering her lover's caresses. To picture
another man plundering the soft riches of her luscious body evoked in him an
unfamiliar blaze of jealousy.

Alisa had seen lust in a
man's eyes; the fanatic, burning, frankly covetous eyes of her husband when he
stripped her or beat her, the surreptitious, carefully concealed lust in the
eyes of strangers. At this moment, however, Nikki's golden eyes shone not only
with a sensual desire, but also with tenderness as he marveled at the
magnificent beauty of the creature before him. He must have her. He would
gently teach her the pleasures of her senses, with deliberation rouse her,
delicately caress the graceful form and make her his. This beauty
must
be his…

For Alisa, who had only
been used, her body torn apart and abused by a selfish, brutal lust, Nikki's
glance of passionate tenderness drew her like a beacon of warmth in a cold,
black night.

Nikki kissed her lips
lightly and murmured as he moved off and lay beside her, propped up on one
elbow. "Thank you, love."

He ran a light finger down
her belly. "Do you feel content?"

Alisa smiled with a winsome
satisfaction, then nodded with a delightful, almost childish openness, putting
up her lips to be kissed again.

Her smile brought with it a
novel sense of triumph and, bending near, he moved to kiss her. "Sweet
nymph, we make a fine pair, Alisa," Nikki whispered as his lips touched
hers. She was everything and more than he'd imagined, a nymph, a bacchante,
with a natural wantonness that stirred his ardor.

Rising to his knees, he
gazed at her lying quietly with her thighs still slightly parted. The seductive
lure of Alisa's beauty, her compliant, provocative posture brought his manhood
standing proud.

"Look at me,
Alisa," Nikki said softly.

She looked at him,
embarrassment, shyness, desire all there in confusion, but kept her eyes
averted from his obviously aroused masculinity.

"Look at me,"
Nikki insisted quietly, but she resisted.

After a moment Nikki
continued teasingly.

"Look what you do to
me." He was laughing and relaxed, while blushing, she avoided looking at
him.

"Come now, dearest
Alisa. Do as I ask."

She shivered, then
reluctantly obeyed. Hesitantly and trembling slightly, her violet gaze rose to
his stiff erection.

"Touch me, Alisa,"
he continued quietly, drawing her unwilling hand to him. "Here, I'll show
you how I like you to touch me. Hold me thus." He gripped her hand tightly
in his, showing her how to rouse his prick for her satisfaction.

With his free hand he
slowly stroked her warm body, rubbing her nipples softly between his fingers
till they stood taut and hard, caressing the silky inner flesh of her thighs,
probing her soft warmth now wet from his lovemaking. She began stirring under
his practiced fingers, breathing irregularly, quivering with the pleasurable
sensation mounting within her.

He released her hand and
whispered, "Do you want me again?"

Her eyes held his for a
moment and she nodded.

"Tell me."

She opened her mouth, then
shut it again and shut her eyes, too, in trembling shame.

"Perhaps next
time," he whispered with a faint smile and moved over her. He eased
himself into her until he could penetrate no further and began to warm her with
slow, steady thrusts, exercising all his constraint in order that Alisa would
have every opportunity to satisfy her newly roused sexual appetite, so she
could fully taste the rapture her senses craved. He continued the steady
rocking, turning lightly from side to side, moving inside her with practiced
skill, watching her blushing, upturned face and reading from her fluttering
eyes how she was feeling, then he set to work in earnest and drew her to new
heights of pleasure, finally pleasing himself as he pleased her.