With jerky movements he lit a cheroot, intending to walk downstairs and take a breath of night air before trying to find solace in sleep, and it was then that he heard Sabrina pass by his room. Curious about who might be prowling through the house in the dead of night, he opened his door just in time to see a slight figure disappear down the stairs. Not certain if the form he had glimpsed was Sabrina's but instinctively guessing it was, Brett swiftly shrugged on a white cotton shirt and quickly followed.
He reached the courtyard just as she stepped through the archway in the lattice at the far end of the patio, and in the moonlight he recognized her. Recognized and wondered sickly if she was on her way to Carlos. Disgusted as much as wounded by her apparently insatiable desire for Carlos, he started to turn away, to seek out his room, with every intention of preparing to pack. Tonight. He could not and he would not stay here any longer and let her rip his emotions to shreds. He would think of some excuse to give Alejandro tomorrow for his sudden wish to be gone from this place, but he damn well was not staying another night to let that little slut work her wiles on him! But he didn't return to his room.
Instead, telling himself he was all kinds of a fool, he followed her. It was possible, he argued grimly, that he had misjudged the situation. And before he condemned her for all time, didn't it behoove him to see the proof with his own eyes? And so it was that Brett stood in the shadows next to the gazebo and watched as Sabrina strolled dreamily near the edge of the lake.
Unaware of Brett's intent gaze, with playful, happy movements Sabrina splashed into the water, laughing softly as it washed over her ankles. Lifting her gown above her knees, with a spurt of childlike glee she ran gracefully along the shoreline, the spray of water from her running feet glittering like diamonds in the night. She stopped just as she came abreast of the gazebo and looked with longing at the placid smoothness of the lake.
Smiling to herself, she stepped back from the water, and giving in to impulse, she recklessly pulled the gown above her head, tossing it carelessly on the ground nearby. For a second she was poised there, her naked body bathed in moonlight.
His breath trapped somewhere in the region of his stomach, Brett stared at the loveliness so unexpectedly presented to him. She was magnificent as she stood motionless at the edge of the water, the moonlight making her a figure of ebony, silver, and ivory, a pagan goddess offering herself to a moon lover. And even as he thought of that comparison, Sabrina raised her arms as if paying homage to the moon.
Her hair hung down her slender back in wild disorder, appearing black in the moonlight, the slim curve of her buttocks a silver arc, the long, lithe legs gleaming like ivory. Her profile was to Brett, and hungrily he stared, entranced by the way the silvery light played across her body, creating tantalizing shadows and mysterious planes. Time and time again his eyes were brought back to the full, tempting thrust of her breast, before his gaze slid appreciatively across the nearly concave stomach and the ivory thighs.
Desire choked him, all the hungry promptings of his dreams rising up full force to conquer his very reason. Like a man in a daze, he threw the cheroot away, heedlessly tossing his shirt in the direction of the gazebo and blindly undoing his calzoneras.
Still thinking she was alone, with a joyous laugh Sabrina slid into the lake, swimming with strong, sure strokes as the water deepened. The water was like silk rushing against her warm body, cooling her, caressing her, making her aware of herself as never before. Playfully she turned on her back, kicking up a large spume of water, and it was then that she saw Brett's tall figure walk out from the shadows of the gazebo.
If the moonlight had clearly revealed her naked state, it did the same to Brett as he slowly, unashamedly walked toward her. Hypnotized, Sabrina was unable to take her eyes away from the sheer masculine beauty of his body. He moved with all the sleek, sinuous grace of a forest animal, a forest lord, she thought giddily, as he neared the water's edge. The blue-black hair glinted with silver lights; the broad chest with its matting of fine, dark curls was intensified in the moonlight; and helplessly Sabrina moved her eyes lower, following the narrow trail of dark hair that grew across his flat stomach down to . . . Shaken by a sudden shyness, she skipped her gaze swiftly to the powerfully muscled legs, and she wondered breathlessly if all men were so superbly fashioned. He looked invincible and very formidable as he stood there, and she was aware of a curling sensation of both fear and longing in the pit of her stomach.
If he entered the water, if he came to her now, they both knew what would happen, and for one timeless moment they stared at each other across the short distance that separated them. Almost as if giving her a choice, Brett demanded thickly, "Do I join you, or do you tell me to leave?"
But there was no choice to be made and they both knew it. Silently, her heart beating frantically in her breast, Sabrina watched as he dived into the lake, his big body cutting cleanly through the water. A few strokes and he was in front of her.
Wordlessly they regarded one another. The water barely covered Sabrina's shoulders, and her wet skin glistened like silver in the moonlight. Her face was clearly revealed, the moonlight caressing the lovely features—the tip-tilted nose, the wide, sensuous mouth—and to Brett there was an ethereal beauty about her. The amber-gold eyes were shadowed, the glory of that red-gold hair muted, and almost reverently he asked, "Are you real? Or only the image of my dreams?"
Brett's face was in the shadows, his back to the moon, and just faintly she could make out the expression of wonderment on his features. It thrilled her and yet touched her, too, and she reached out and stroked a finger across his lips.
"Real," she replied huskily, a smile lurking at the corners of her mouth. "And you?"
Slowly his hands closed around her shoulders, pulling her to him, the buoyancy of the water making the movements light and dreamlike. Sabrina's slender body floated toward his, rocking gently against his as their limbs met, the water rippling around their two bodies. His lips brushed hers, and bringing one arm down to caress her naked buttocks, he brought her even closer to him, making her intensely aware of the heat and full arousal of his lean body. A crooked smile on his mouth, his teeth a brief flash in the darkness, he murmured, "Oh, yes, I am very real!" The smile vanished, and he studied her features intently. "Real and so hungry for you, moon-witch," he crooned the moment before his mouth captured hers in a long, languorous kiss.
Dreamily Sabrina gave herself up to the fierce sweetness of his kiss, her lips opening ardently under his, her entire body tingling as a thousand new and exciting sensations swamped her. Crushed against the wet sleekness of his chest, her breasts suddenly seemed full and heavy, her nipples hardening with a pleasurable ache, and between their bodies she could feel the provocative, insistent pressure of his swollen manhood. Her mouth was full of him, his tongue searching and demanding as it explored, his hands moving with sensuous fascination as they slid down her back to her hips and thighs. It was exquisite torture, the water intensifying the feeling of pagan abandon as it cushioned their locked bodies, increasing the feeling of being lost in a silken, sensual dream.
Sabrina's arms crept around Brett's strong neck, her fingers absently tangling and tousling the thick black hair of his head. She had wanted to be naked against him, and reality proved far more satisfying than imagination, the warmth and power of that steel-muscled body straining so hungrily against hers filling her with a knife-sharp pleasure.
Bracing his feet on the bottom of the lake, his legs wide apart, with demanding hands on her hips, Brett brought Sabrina's thighs between his. When their bodies touched, when her groin brushed delicately against his achingly full organ, he groaned out loud with excitement, his lips moving with increasing urgency over hers, his breathing becoming hard and labored.
He held her still against him, his hands effortlessly spanning her narrow waist, both of them reveling in the sheer delight of feeling the texture and pressure of the other's body. When his lips reluctantly left her mouth to explore her
face, to travel like fire along her jawline to her ear, Sabrina's breathing became as difficult and labored as his, desire coiling and writhing almost painfully within her loins. The flick of his warm tongue as it slowly searched her ear was unbearably erotic, and with urgent hands she brought his lips back to hers, kissing him as hungrily as he had her only moments before, her tongue's caress as it searched his mouth driving them both half-mad with a desperate wantonness.
Sensually Brett undulated her hips between his legs, and every time their bodies met, each experienced a shock of raw desire. Sabrina could feel the probing length of his manhood slipping hotly against her thighs, and she gasped with a mingling of excitement and apprehension. He was so strong, so powerful, and the thought of what he would do to her with his lean, hard body was intoxicating and yet faintly alarming. Every inch of her tingled with an arousing awareness of his body, her flesh intensely sensitive, the slightest touch, the lightest movement, sending a shudder of near ecstasy rippling deep within her.
His hands captured her buttocks, cupping them, pulling her up against him as he buried his mouth more passionately on hers, all coherent thought having fled. Mercilessly gripped by the deepest, most powerful desire he had ever experienced in his life, Brett lifted her partially from the water, his lips sliding warmly down her wet chest, hungering for the taste of those sweet breasts that were now exposed to his gently ravaging mouth.
They were like two pagan lovers in the moonlight, Sabrina's skin glistening like silver, small droplets of water gleaming like diamonds on her full, firm breasts; Brett's dark head was bent to her nipple, the steely muscles of his upper back etched by moonlight. Her hands caressed his broad shoulders; her head was flung back in wild abandon as his mouth moved on her breast, his tongue curling tightly over the desire-swollen nipple, his teeth softly grazing the sensitized skin. Sabrina shivered with pleasure, the warm, pulsating feeling in her loins becoming stronger, more demanding. Driven by emotions she had no control over, she pressed her fingers harder into his shoulders, her slender body moving evocatively against him.
Brett groaned softly as her movements increased, the blood pounding thickly in his head, and his hold on her hips tightened, his fingers grasping her almost brutally. Her thighs had instinctively found their way around his body, and the touch of her as she pressed against him with wanton innocence was indescribable. The aching, throbbing shaft of his maleness rode up between her buttocks, and Brett trembled at just the thought of possessing her.
Urgently he forced one hand between their bodies, his fingers sliding down her stomach to explore and excite the very center of her being. Breathlessly Sabrina surged up against him as his fingers gently caressed her, her arms clenching around his neck, her lips moving feverishly across his dark hair. Insistently he probed between her legs, arousing a raging storm of carnal emotion within her, and again and again she arched up against his hand, shaking and quivering from the force of the maelstrom his warm, searching caresses had aroused.
Unable to bear the ecstasy that was swamping her body, she moaned aloud, and at the sound Brett could wait no longer. As if guessing what would happen, she returned her lips to his. His hands went to her hips, and impatiently he guided her to him. For a moment she was poised above him, and then with a fierce, fluid movement he thrust himself up within her, pulling her down onto him, the water swelling around them.
Her cry of hurt was muffled beneath his lips but he felt it, as well as the slight obstruction of her virginity, felt her body tense with pain. His eyes snapped open, and he stared at her lovely face with shock. "Jesus, Sabrina," he breathed raggedly, "I didn't mean to ... I wouldn't have hurt you ..." He stopped speaking, desire making speech or thought impossible. She was so incredibly warm, so very tight around him, that he closed his eyes with agonized pleasure. His hands caressed her hips, and thickly he muttered, "I can't stop now. I'm eaten up with want of you, and this time I cannot be denied!" With a tender savagery his mouth captured hers, his hands guiding her up and down, his body plunging deeply within her.
For a moment he stayed fully within her, letting her body adjust to this sudden invasion, and Sabrina clung weakly to him in stunned compliance. His very size made her ache, and she was bewildered by the poignant emotions that raced through her. She was a virgin no longer. She hurt physically from that loss, and yet there was such a feeling of rapture, such joy at becoming his woman, that soon the pain vanished and she was aware only of pleasure, a pleasure she had never imagined.
Her thighs tightened around his waist, and almost lasciviously she arched up to him, wanting him to do more, wanting to feel him move within her. Brett sighed softly at her movements, and with an odd tenderness he slowly, unhurriedly thrust his body into hers, giving them both ecstasy, taking them with his increasingly frantic movements into the limitless, intensely sensual world shared only by lovers. And when it was over, when ecstasy had been reached, they still clung to each other, unable to let this magical moment end.
Sabrina was so shattered by the pulsating explosion of her own body, by the waves that shuddered through her when at last she reached fulfillment, that it was only when he laid her gently down on one of the cushions in the gazebo that she became aware that Brett had carried her still locked around him from the water. For one tiny moment her mind rebelled that he should bring her here, Carlos's attack still vivid, but then Brett's warm, hard body was lying beside her, his hands touching her breasts, his mouth nipping that sensitive place where her neck joined her shoulder, and she instantly forgot everything but the drugging caresses of the man who lay beside her.
Propping himself up on one elbow, Brett reached for his discarded shirt lying nearby and slowly began to dry her wet body, the warmth of his hands burning through the cotton material. With slow, lingering movements he rubbed her skin, unconsciously arousing her again, the abrasion of the material and his fondling hands equally evocative. When he reached between her thighs, she arched up against the cotton shirt, excited by the way he used it on her body. She thought he smiled at her restless tossings, but she couldn't be sure, and a second later he threw the shirt aside and lay back down beside her.
They touched each other gently, wonderingly, Brett's lips searing a path down to her breasts, his tongue flicking and teasing the rigid nipples, his hands wandering at will over her slender body. Sabrina trembled under his knowing caresses, her own untaught hands moving more slowly, more hesitantly, over his hard muscles. There was an element of astonishment in her touch; she had never realized how soft and downy a man's body hair would feel, how silken the faint strands that covered his legs and arms would be. The mat of curls on his broad chest was thicker, more springy, and with catlike ecstasy, she closed her fingers over them, her nails lightly brushing his nipples.
Brett groaned with pleasure, the sound exciting Sabrina, and with more confidence, she let her fingers continue their explorations, enthralled by the texture and warmth of his skin, delighted at the way his own nipples formed hard little buds as her fingers rubbed across them. With feather-light strokes her hands moved over his body: his arms, his shoulders, the ridges and swells of his muscular back, the surprising firmness of his strong buttocks, and the long length of his powerful legs. Touching him gave her pleasure, and unconsciously she sighed, her hands sliding across his flat stomach and encountering his near-to-bursting manhood. For a second she hesitated, and then, driven by her own needs, she closed her hand around him, and she was elated and shaken by the shudder that rippled through him. She marveled at his size, remembering how it had felt within her, and her hand instinctively began sliding up and down the warm, bulging shaft.
Unable to stand her sweet exploration a second longer, Brett wrenched himself away, gasping for breath. "Not yet," he muttered hoarsely. "I want to make love to you all night. I want to touch you, to taste you, to fill you again with me, but if you don't stop what you're doing, we may both be doomed to disappointment!"
Sabrina's pulse quickened at the naked desire that
burned deep within his eyes. Without volition her arms closed around his neck and she offered her mouth to him, wanting him to kiss her, wanting him to continue this wild magic. Instantly he dropped his head, his mouth burning across her face to her lips, but he didn't kiss her. Instead, his lips tantalizing inches from hers, he murmured, "I want to look at you, to burn the memory of this night forever into my mind." And then he shifted slightly, removed her arms from around his neck, and raised himself up to stare down at her body, the moonlight gilding it with silver.
She was beautiful as she lay there before him, her hair spread out like a fan behind her head, her full breasts with the erect nipples illuminated by the silvery light of the moon. Appreciatively his eyes ran down to the flat stomach, to the curly hair between her thighs.
Overtaken by a sudden shyness, Sabrina modestly raised her hands to her breasts, one knee shielding her lower nakedness. An incredibly tender expression crossed his harsh face. "Don't hide yourself from me, Sabrina," he breathed softly, reverently. "You're lovely, and your nakedness is nothing to be ashamed of." Slowly he removed her hands from her breasts and then gently pushed aside her knee. Unexpectedly he lowered his head and pressed a hot kiss where the fiery curls grew between her thighs. Sabrina's body jumped with shock, a fierce, urgent ache suddenly exploding up through her body. With agonizing leisure his lips moved up across her stomach, his tongue leaving a trail of fire wherever it touched. His mouth finally found hers, and he kissed her like a man with a long hunger to assuage, his hand once again at her breast, his thumb gently sliding across the sensitive nipples.
The Tiger Lily Page 25
