I'm so pleased that everyone seemed to be able to withstand the last chapter, it was difficult to write, but necessary if Erik and A'awynn are to move ahead. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Thankfully, we have past all the major hurdles that our two lovers must cross; it's time to move on to the major loving!

"My grandmother used to whip me all the time…it didn't make me a good actor…not at all!" Gerry Butler on Gerry Butler (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno)

CHAPTER 41

Erik turned back to A'awynn and pulled her to him, feeling her meld to his body. He instantly reacted to her and hissed at the sensation her body forced from his.

"Do you play billiards?" The question was laced with erotic overtones as Erik rocked his hips against her.

A'awynn nibbled on her lower lip, giving it an even rosier tone, "Why yes…yes I do…" She reported, with a seductive grin.

Erik caught said nibbled lip in his mouth and gave a gentle suck, causing A'awynn to moan pleasantly, "One game of eight ball…I win," Erik nipped her lip with his teeth, "and you have to do what I ask you to do." He challenged, with a sexy glint in his eyes.

A'awynn trembled with desire as he stroked the area on her lip that he had just bitten, with his talented, sensual tongue; she issued the challenge back at him, "I win…you have to do what I ask."

Erik took her lips completely, moving his mouth masterfully over hers. His dominant tongue thrust into her with even, full strokes. She answered him with her feminine thrusts, not quite so domineering, but strong and confident in their seductive power.

She pulled from and headed for the castle, glancing back at him and lifting her eyebrows in a silent challenge; the battle of the sexes had just been initiated.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Erik was confident in his abilities at the game of billiards, he had learned at the hand of some of the best. But even a man with Erik's resolve and confidence was not prepared for the sensual, feminine dominance that A'awynn was rendering.

A'awynn was amazingly ahead by two strokes. Normally, Erik would have been perturbed at this, but he found that the woman before him had completely bewitched him; he was loving this!

It was his turn and he took his stance, thankful that she stood behind him instead of in front of him…her enticing, swelling breasts peeking over the tip of her bodice, inviting his eyes to drift into the dark, unknown sweetness between them…it was almost his undoing. Then he had to watch her bend over the table with that sweet backside protruding into the air…he was going to have to take a cold shower tonight!

Erik concentrated on the five ball; knowing he had to make this shot. His aim was perfect, as it always was when he concentrated…he pulled the cue back and he felt the sweetest, warm fingers thread through his hair as she bent over and blew in his ear. How could something so simple be so provocative? Of course, her timing was perfect…he had just let the cue go when she sidetracked him and; of course, the hit on the five ball was all off and it sailed to the right…nowhere near the area Erik needed it to be.

He hung his head between his outstretched arms and shook it; chuckling at the power she held over him. A'awynn just walked away with her hands clasped behind her back and her shoulders swaying; her face, as she glanced back at him, was wearing a "Who-me?-I-did-not-do-anything", look.

He pulled himself up from the table and followed her contrite figure, watching her hips sway as she walked. What was she doing to him? Very ungentlemanly thoughts were invading his hormone infused brain.

She found her next shot and steeled herself for whatever retribution he would take. The game was in full swing and there was a take-no-prisoners tone in the air. She knew she needed to prepare herself.

Erik watched her ready herself for the shot. She leaned over and a lock of her hair lazily dropped off her shoulder and set its sights on him. He was entranced by its come-hither dance as Erik inched towards it. He reached out and gently took the lock in his fingers, running it slowly through each one.

His efforts were in vain of course, women handle distractions far better than men do…and Erik was ALL man! Her shot on the eleven sank it and she moved on to the only ball of hers left, the fourteen. What would he do this time?

She took her stance and went on the alert. She took her aim pulled her cue back and let it go…about that time, Erik leaned over her from the left side; pulled the sleeve of her gown down, exposing her shoulder to his warm lips and tongue, and dove in.

Even with the slight "yelp" that A'awynn gave and the bolt of sexual energy that surged through her, her ball hit the right spot and fell into the hole. The cue ball rolled to the perfect spot and A'awynn called the corner pocket, pointed to it and sank the eight ball in a mere second's time.

Erik had lost, this he knew…but she had played dirty; sorely tempting him beyond human capacity and than gleefully watching him squirm.

She came up beside him, slinking into this body, "Don't sulk my love, what I have in mind for you will be well worth the humiliation you are suffering now!"

"You are a wicked woman…wicked!" Erik pulled her into his arms and lifted her onto the pool table, turning her to the side. "What do you have in mind for me?" He asked as he placed himself on the edge of the table, at her side.

She reached up and caressed his anxious face, "What I have in mind will be revealed tomorrow night in the privacy of our marriage chamber…and not a minute earlier."

Erik visibly panicked and pouted, knowing he was doomed to a restless night, "You drive me wild with your sultry eyes and swaying hips…" he playfully kissed each side of her mouth as he spoke. "I want to touch you A'awynn…like no man has ever touched you before."

A'awynn leaned in to his persistent lips and rested her gaze on their exquisite fullness. Erik noted the seductive wetting of her lips with the tip of her tongue and that was all the persuasion he needed. He dipped his head and took her lips with his, beckoning her to wield to his superior strength and power. His tongue entered only after she deepened the kiss by opening her mouth. He lifted her from the table and swung her around in front of him while he was leaning on the table; she pressed her body against his, savoring the feel of his hardness against her womb.

Her body called out to him in its age-old mating dance, inviting his hands to roam over her searing flesh and appease the burn that threatened to consume her. She so longed to surrender herself to his masculine hardness and give him what his throbbing body so desired. She knew that the surge of his warm, talented tongue pronounced what pleasures he would lathe on her heated body tomorrow night, but she desired culmination now, and knew her flesh was being so very weak; but he was so unbelievably good at this!

"Erik, we must stop getting ourselves into this until tomorrow night…now behave yourself…or I shall have to punish you…" Her smile was sultry and sexy as it played upon her rosy, passion-swelled lips.

He leaned into her and whispered with smoldering eyes, "Punishment at your hands sends shivers of pleasure up my spine…I am not opposed to the idea!"

Erik closed his eyes, willing his aching desire to subside. He longed to bury himself within her womanly warmth and know what it felt like to surrender himself completely to another human being. He had also come to cherish doing the right thing…and the right thing was to wait until his wedding ring graced her hand and hers graced his before delving into the unknown world of physical pleasure.

He took her hand and led her to the music room. He sat her down in the soft, white leather chair that he had placed beside the piano. He turned coy eyes to her, and felt nervous at the prospect of sharing this moment with her. His music was very personal and he sometimes felt as if he was betraying its fidelity to him by sharing its beauty, which had been bestowed upon him, with others.

His hands soared across the keys as the melody that had kept him up last night escaped the confines of his genius mind and wrapped its beauty around A'awynn's heart. For the first few minutes, it was just Erik's playing that filled her ears and heart; then, the most interesting, intriguing, heart-pounding lyrics penetrated the air, carried on the voice of an angel.

"You are the candle, love's the flame…

a fire that burns through wind and rain."

Erik's eyes closed with the intensity of the lyrics; he prayed that A'awynn knew they came from his heart.

"Shine your love on this heart of mine,

until the end of time.

"You came to me like the dawn through the night,

just shining like the sun.

"Out of my dreams and into my life…

you are the one, you are the one…"

With those words, Erik's eyes opened an focused on A'awynn; tears of joy falling down his beautiful face.

"I said I loved you but I lied…

for this is more than love I feel inside.

"I said I loved you but I was wrong…

for love could never ever feel so strong.

I said I loved you…but I lied."

A'awynn heard the earnest plea in his words. It was never easy putting the powerful, all-consuming love that they had for each other into words; but somehow, Erik had managed it. All she could do was smile through her tears.

"With all my heart, I tried in vain…

how can mere words my heart explain?

"This taste of heaven, so deep…so true…

I have found with you."

Erik stood from the piano and kneeled down beside her chair, taking her hands in his and continued a cappella.

"So many reasons, in so many ways…

my life has just begun.

"I need you forever; need you to stay…

You are the one, you are the one…"

By this time, A'awynn knew the melody and the words of the chorus. She pulled his broad shoulders forward and sang with him, looking him directly in the eyes

"I said I loved you, but I lied…

for this is more than love I feel inside."

Their voices blended together; just as their hearts had done.

"I said I loved you, but I was wrong…

for love could never ever feel this strong."

I said I loved you …but I lied."

They adored each other with hungry eyes, enjoying the way their voices mixed. Erik caressed her cheek with his warm hand and whispered, "I said I loved you…but I lied."

A'awynn chuckled lightly; the song was so profound. The English language did not do the emotion of love any justice. There were so many types of love, with so many depths. What she and Erik felt for each other and the emotional trauma and pain that he had had to overcome to accept her…love sometimes seemed like an inadequate description.

They walked arm-in-arm to her suite; words were not needed as their two hearts were in conjunction. He stood at her door and kissed her tenderly, without passion.

"Until tomorrow, my love….dream of me..." was all he said and she watched as he turned and headed toward his corner of the world, alone for the last time…for the next time he entered his bed chambers, he would be a married man.

Song is "Said I Loved You…But I Lied" by M. Bolton and R. J. Lange

TBC

Chapter 42 preview – Golf, glamour and guests