Erik laid her down on the bed as if she were too fragile and not quite real. But for Helene, he was the only reality she knew.
In the darkness, she heard the rustle of fabric as his trousers fell to the Persian carpet. Her carefully drew off the remainder of her garments and they swished to the floor beside his.
"Erik, light the candle and take off your mask. I want to see you. It won't be enough just to feel you."
She closed her eyes as she heard the rough hiss of a wick catching flame. The bed gave a dull creak and she felt the weight of his body against hers.
When she turned to look at him, she saw that his face was still covered by the mask and she reached out to take it from him.
"No, Helene…let it be."
She nodded. He was still afraid that she would recoil at the sight of his face. He could not yet trust her to look at him without revulsion.
She caressed his face for a moment before kissing him, her hands gliding down over his shoulders to trace the shadows cast by that single candle.
She needed him so much…it was almost too much to bear. She had never wanted a man more than she did Erik…it was an urgent hunger that seemed on the edge of madness.
She pushed him onto his back, running her fingers slowly down the length of his torso as she knelt over him.
Her hair cascaded down like silk over his thighs as she caught his hands again and led them back to her body.
"Just touch me, Erik," she pleaded, leaning forward to press her lips against his jaw, his throat, his chest.
She let herself look down at him at last and felt a little tremor race through her veins.
Her husband has been considered generously proportioned, as had the one lover she had taken to spite him. But their manhoods could not compare to the one that burned hard against her now.
She allowed herself a second fear…it was almost as if she had never been with a man before.
Then she spread her palms against his shoulders, bracing herself as she lowered herself down.
One of his hands was pressed against the small of her back to steady her as the other wandered over her body.
"Erik! Oh, mio Dio,.Erik," she moaned, slowly taking the length of him within her.
She was still for a moment as he reached up to touch her face, his fingers roaming from her forehead to her lips.
Feverishly, desperately, she began to move her hips against him as she heard him calling her name over and over again.
She bit her lip to keep from crying out as her body shook with unimagined pleasure. And remembered his assurance of the night before…
Scream if you wish, Comtessa. No one will hear you here.
She gave in, hearing her own voice ragged with ecstasy as his body thrust hard up to meet hers. She felt him shudder as the sudden and raw heat of his release tore through her.
She collapsed against his chest, knowing that she had what she had wanted so badly…and knowing that it was not enough.