GREEK HUSBAND

Chapter 51

Bella shivered in sensual shock as he closed his mouth to the most sensitive spot on her entire body. She couldn't believe she was standing there, letting him... All too quickly her knees shook with weakness as she drowned in the intoxicating flood of pleasure he was wrenching from her. Little breathy cries parted her lips, sounds punctuated by a low keening. Suddenly it was more than she could bear and it took his hands curving to her to keep her upright as the excitement pent up surged high and took her with it in a that almost tipped her off her feet.

But no, that was Edward's doing as he caught her weak body up into his arms and pinned her down on the bed, leaning over her as he yanked off his clothes with an impatience she could feel in every fibre of her still-humming body.

'Seems to me you're always promising to do this slowly,' Bella whispered.

'I'm not going to deliver slow tonight either,' Edward warned, coming down to her again and urgently aroused. 'I'm too damned excited.'

It thrilled Bella that she had the power to unleash such impatience in him. She felt the push of him against her tender flesh and lifted her legs to lock her thighs around his lean waist in welcome, the wanting building again like some monster she couldn't sate because, even when she was fresh from a mind-blowing orgasm, Edward could somehow make her want him again. Her heart was hammering, her body slick with perspiration and every skin cell was on fire for him so that when he thrust deep into her, she cried out with the hot pleasure of that powerful invasion. He withdrew and sank into her again, choosing a potent rhythm that sent heat pulsing through her pelvis as her greedy body began to strain and burn and reach for the heights again.

'Oh, please, don't stop!' she heard herself gasp in anguished excitement.

She was soaring by then, her body jerking and convulsing with the sheer raw intensity of the pleasure washing over her. Bliss enclosed her like a warm soft cocoon when it was over but a little buzzer also went off in her head, reminding her of how Edward pulled away from intimacy in the aftermath of sex. In a sudden movement, Bella dislodged him and snaked out of the bed to head straight for the bathroom. The very knowledge that she wanted to hug him and stay close had sent her into swift retreat for fear of what she might reveal. There was no room for such sentimental behaviour within the narrow limits Edward had set for their marriage.

A few minutes later, Edward stepped into the spacious wet room to join her. 'What was that all about?' he asked.

'What was what all about?'

'You pushed me away,' he reminded her, angry dark eyes spelling out how he had reacted to her conduct.

'That's what you've always done with me afterwards,' Bella pointed out innocently. 'Shouldn't I have done that?'

Edward knew when he was being played, but then he had also never been on the receiving end of such a careless dismissal before. It had stung, it had felt ridiculously like rejection, he reasoned in confusion at his own thoughts. Before he could think anymore, he reacted on instinct and closed Bella's dripping body into his arms below the falling spray.

'Things change. We're married now. I think we can afford to be a little more affectionate,' he declared in a rasping undertone, tugging her even closer.

Bella hid a smile against a broad muscular shoulder. He wasn't an irredeemable rat, she decided ruefully. Damaged by his parents' toxic marriage, he had avoided the softer emotions all his life to date. But he could learn by example, yes, and he was one very fast learner, Bella conceded as the embrace became an unashamed hug.

A couple of hours later, they lay in a tangle of fur throws in front of the gas-fired logs in the massive fireplace in the main drawing room. As night fell they had become hungry and had raided the fridge to savour the delicacies prepared by Josefina, the housekeeper, who had gone home hours earlier.

'I thought pregnant women suffered a lot from nausea,' Edward said abruptly. 'But you still have a good appetite.'

'I haven't felt sick once,' Bella admitted. 'A little dizzy a couple of times but that's all.'