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Page 293
wrong. It was true Simon had been brief on the way from Wales to Roselynde, although he made sure she was both roused and contented. It had not occurred to Rhiannon that this was owing to his consideration for her fatigue and the cold and damp of the floor of the tent. Now, however, Simon had time to spare and all the comfort of a warm, curtained bed to play in. Haste was very far from his mind. Moreover, there was just a shade of truth in what Rhiannon had said. He did feel a sense of strangeness in making love to her in a bed. Not that he was unwilling, but the ordinary situation took on an exotic aura.
Having said he wished to eat her, Simon seemed to become fixated on the words. As Rhiannon stepped back, he seized one of her hands and raised it to his mouth. He nibbled the tips of her fingers, kissed her palm, tickled it with his tongueall the while busily unbuttoning the sleeve of her tunic. His lips and tongue then proceeded to follow the path of the undone buttons, coming to rest in the hollow of her elbow. Then he worked the other sleeve.
Surprised at first, Rhiannon quickly slipped into a soft, sensual haze. At that moment she was not as hotly excited as Simon could make her by an assault on her lips, breasts, and thighs. Instead, she felt slightly unfocused in her thinking, while all the nerve endings in her body increased in sensitivity. It seemed that she could actually make out the shape of his mouth when he kissed her and feel the separate tiny ridges on the tips of his fingers.
Next to be undone was the neck of the tunic. Simon lipped the little hollow where the collarbones meet and nibbled his way down her chest, keeping carefully to the center of the cleft. Rhiannon stood passive, except that her hands made lazy circles and stroking movements on her lover's bare back. She could feel the muscles twitch very slightly in response to the caress.
As he bent lower to kiss the cleft between her breasts,

 
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