Heart's Reward by Donna Hill Page A

hollow of her neck.
    The feathering of his lips along the lines of her throat vibrated through her body. She moaned softly, sinking further into his embrace, tracing the sinewylines of his broad back with the balls of her fingers. He eased her closer to the hard contours of his body until they were molded together as perfect as an artist’s sculpture.
    They seemed to think and feel the same thing simultaneously as they moved in unison toward the bed that beckoned them. Sitting on the edge, Claude eased back and looked closely at Melanie. He caressed her cheek and cupped her chin in his hand when she placed her lips there. He stroked her shoulder, moving slowly down her arm. “Is this what you want?”
    Her eyes fluttered open. She focused on the sincerity in his gaze that struggled with the passion that hovered there.
    â€œYes, I want this,” she said in whispered conviction.
    He took her mouth then, melding it with his before removing her top and tossing it aside. Her full breasts rose to greet the heat of his lips, which brushed tantalizingly across the butter-soft crests.
    Melanie shuddered as the raw thrill shot through her. He reached behind her and unsnapped her bra, then eased the straps over her shoulders. In the play of shadow and light he tried to memorize how perfect she was. He took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. He unfastened the one button of her slacks and slid them down over her hips.
    She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so beautiful through the eyes of someone else. He grazed the pad of his thumbs lightly across the hard ridges of her nipples and her inner thighs trembled, the hot silky dew slid along her insides, readying her body for him.
    With sure fingers she began unbuttoning his shirt. He tugged it off and tossed it next to her clothing on the floor. He didn’t give her a chance to undress him further—he did it all.
    Melanie’s soft inhale at the sight of him fueled his own desires. They stretched out on the bed, exploring each other, slow and deliberate then with more urgency as their needs blossomed. His lips, his tongue, his fingertips acted as a conductor, a maestro stirring her flesh, her mind, the very blood that coursed through her body setting it all on fire.
    She found herself beneath him, his weight like a comforting quilt that she wanted to wrap herself up and around in.
    The thickness and heat of his erection pressed against her and instinctively she parted her thighs to give him what they both longed for.
    He was so incredibly hard, she thought in an instant of clarity, which only intensified the warm liquid that slipped out to meet him.
    Claude pushed just the head against her openingand his head spun. She whimpered ever so softly as he slid his arms beneath her to lift her flush against him.
    She spread her thighs wider and bent her knees as he pushed past her throbbing opening. They both moaned at the exquisite rush of pleasure that shot through them as he moved deep and slow within her.
    Claude groaned almost in a kind of agony, the feeling so intense that it shook him down to the balls of his feet and all he wanted to do was be still and let it wash through him. But need overrode all else and he moved in and out of her, hoping to touch and claim every inch within her.
    He wasn’t just inside of her, his mouth and hands made love to her, as well. He kissed, he nibbled, he touched, he suckled, every act, driving her to a near frenzy.
    Melanie longed for the magnificent release that she knew was close at hand, but she didn’t want the ecstasy to stop. It was too sweet, too perfect. But she could feel herself on the brink of coming. It began in the back of her legs, the heat, the tingling, moved up her thighs and taunted her undulating behind, settled in her center and grew like a firestorm, building, uncontrolled.
    He was moving faster now, deeper, stronger.
    She tightened her knees along the sides of his body. Her heart was