Chapter 20 #3
She shuddered wildly, clinging, and finally he drove past her innocence, unable to repress a cry of savage joy.
She gasped once as he did so and then began to weep in pleasure, not pain.
He felt her spasms beginning and he exulted again, moving hard and swift, intently, seeking his own climax.
And when she wept, sobbing his name, he gave over to her, in the most savage explosion of pleasure he had ever experienced.
When her pleasure finally faded, Amanda simply held on to Cliff.
Her love knew no bounds. She dared not think past the emotions filling her heart, her soul, her entire existence.
She ran her hand down his hard, muscular back, awed by the power beneath her palm.
She felt him stirring inside of her and she smiled.
He raised his head and smiled back at her, the most heart-wrenching smile she had ever received. “I hope you are well pleased?”
She kissed him, closing her eyes, intending a peck, but it took on a life of its own. When they were both breathless and fully aroused, she managed to open her eyes. “I am very well pleased,” she said coyly, wriggling just a bit.
His huge manhood throbbed restlessly inside of her. “That, my darling, was but a brief appetizer,” he said, eyes glittering, dimples deep. “There are several courses to come before the main one.”
“Really?” she gasped, tears forming, for he was slowly withdrawing his huge length, and as slowly, penetrating again. Her mind began to blacken; he left her, causing real dismay.
“Darling, the first course,” he said, bending over her distended lips. He flicked his tongue between them and over her own small turgid flesh, laving her there. Amanda instantly wept his name, exploding fiercely.
When she returned to some small degree of sanity, he was moving inside her, watching her closely, his face strained with lust.
She touched his cheek, her arousal spiking. “I want another course,” she managed, incapable of even the smallest smile.
His eyes widened. “Yes,” he said, shifting away.
She seized his wrist, managing to give him a very significant look. “Oh, no, a different meal—a very large one.”
He went still.
Her heart threatening to make her faint, Amanda pushed him onto his back. He went willingly. His erection stood up, hard and straight. She bent over him and tasted heaven.
He cried out.
AMANDA SAT at her secretary, clad in a nightgown, a small candle giving some light, studying the letter she had written. In her bed, Cliff lay sprawled out, asleep. It was well past dusk. They had made love all day.
She had seen his signed name many times, and now she carefully forged his signature and folded up the instructions she had written, brushing a tear from the parchment. She placed it in an envelope and sealed it. Her heart shattered for the hundredth time since she had left him in her bed alone.
He had taken her by surprise that morning.
If she’d had a chance to think about what their passion would really mean, she might have rejected his advances, because being in his arms meant everything to her.
A wiser woman would have avoided this, not because she loved him so deeply, but because he didn’t love her back.
Amanda felt very certain that when he awoke and came to his senses, he was going to insist they marry, out of his sense of honor and duty.
Nothing had changed. She was foolishly and hopelessly in love with a man who did not love her in return. She wondered how it would feel to be his wife and learn of an extramarital affair. Or worse, to see him with another woman one day. It was time to become an independent woman.
The temptation to remain with him, just for a while, was huge.
Being his mistress even temporarily would be so glorious—but he was going to insist on marriage now and she could not accept his terms. Knowing it would eventually end would be a dark cloud spoiling every shared moment.
Besides, Amanda wasn’t sure she would ever be able to go her separate way if she continued on as his lover for very long.
She got up, the floor creaking. She winced but went to the armoire, the letter in her hand, and slipped on a wrapper. She had just opened the door, as quietly as possible, when he said, “What are you doing?”
She turned, forcing a smile. The moment she faced him she was utterly distracted, as he sat in her bed, starkly nude and in his state of impossible glory.
For one moment, she forgot what she was about, but then she recalled the letter hidden by the skirt of her wrapper.
“I thought to find a maid and ask for some wine and maybe something to eat.”
But what she really planned to do was have her message sent to the docks.
If MacIver believed the instructions he was about to receive, he would be taking her home tomorrow, on the very next tide.
As Amanda had seen Cliff writing instructions to his various crews, she felt confident that MacIver would never think twice about following his new orders.
Her heart cracked irreparably apart. Tomorrow night she would be at sea. She must not think about how hurt and angry Cliff would be. Sooner or later he would find another lover to comfort him, she thought. The idea made her feel bitter; she was instantly ashamed of herself.
Cliff yawned and stretched, making her heart turn over, causing her body to heat. A gleam came to his eyes. “A very fine idea. Ask for champagne—and then come back to bed.” He sent her a soft but seductive smile that caused moisture to explode between her thighs.
I will never stop loving him, she thought.
So much sorrow came. She was certain that he would soon lose any affection that he had for her and eventually, he would forget her entirely. But she smiled at him and slipped from the room. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
“Hurry,” he murmured.
And as she found a housemaid, all she could think of was how angry he would be when he learned of her betrayal.