Silence is Golden

25. Stone Cracking Open

Or at least I tried.

But I had been right in regard to one thing about Rikkard Ambrose. He always had to be the first at everything. I had just managed to part my lips when he fell on me like a ravenous animal, the pent-up need of days exploding in one hard, fast, heart-wrenching kiss.

The shock of it hit me like a hurricane. Memories came flooding back, of him and me, entangled in ways beyond decency or doubt. Memories from so, so long ago...Oh God! It had been months since I had touched him. I hadn't realised until now, but I had missed his touch as if a part of my heart had vanished. And so, apparently, had he.

Good God...!

The wave of shock only slowly abated, and in its wake came a wave of need ten times its size. My knees almost buckled, and I was left helpless, with no idea what to do. Last time this had happened, on our trip to Egypt, we had been kissing for a reason. We were in disguise, pretending to be man and wife. Thus it was – purely as part of the disguise, of course – perfectly acceptable to engage in public displays of affection.

But now?

Now there were no disguises. We were stripped of all pretence, alone in the jungle. Very alone.

Which means nobody will ever know about this Lilly, a little voice at the back of my mind pointed out.

Good point.

I wasn't going to get a chance to think any further upon it, though. In fact, I wasn't going to get a chance to think at all. Catching my chin in the silken vice of his hands, Mr Ambrose forced me to open farther, and I did something I normally never did – I willingly complied. All thoughts disappeared as his tongue invaded my mouth and I took it, took him, took everything he gave me and still wanted more.

And then he did something he normally never did. He gave me exactly what I wanted.

He moved, his powerful body pushing forward, his hands sliding away from my face to capture my shoulders. I was pushed back hard against the tree, the plains and ridges of his granite body digging mercilessly, marvellously into me. The aura of unrelenting power in the air around him was so overwhelming, it nearly made my knees buckle. I was trapped between a rock and a hard place – and I didn't mind at all.

Wrenching his mouth free of mine, he skimmed it across my cheek, eliciting a shiver, until he reached my ear.

'What about now, Mr Linton?' he whispered, his voice hard as stone and cold as ice. It made another shiver race down my spine. 'Do you want to play games now?'

'Yes!'

Afterwards, when thinking back on this moment, I wouldn't be entirely sure whether it was actually me who had uttered that single, oh-so important word. But it didn't really matter. It was out there, and Mr Rikkard Ambrose was not a man to hesitate.

His hands started moving, sliding away from my shoulders. For a moment, I was disappointed, wanting to cry out at the loss of his touch – until his hands returned in other places. Places much more interesting than shoulders.

Holy Moly...!

Sliding over curves, caressing every inch, only separated from my skin by a threadbare scrap of a chemise, Mr Ambrose's hands worshipped me as if I were a cheque for a million pounds he had found in the street. His hands were just as hard as his body was, and yet at the same time inexplicably soft and almost...tender?

Oh God, oh dear God...if this is a sin, please change the heavenly rules fast, because I'm not giving this up, no chance in hell!

'Mine!' Mr Ambrose's one-word growl tore me from my delirious state of bliss right into another. His hands left my body to grasp my face again, holding it as if it were the most precious diamond in all the world. As he gazed into my eyes, not kissing, not even really touching much, just looking, I felt something rise inside me more powerful than any emotion I had felt before. I felt hot and cold all over. I felt as if I could conquer the world, and lose it all in one single instant. I felt like a goddess – a goddess who would fall from heaven if he ever stopped looking at me like that.