“Spread your legs for me.” His voice was low and clipped. Like a determined schoolmaster.
Della was quick to obey, sucking in a breath at his boldness.Thiswas the side of Lord Ashton she’d hoped to uncover.
Ashton positioned himself on his knees at the foot of the bed, watching her for a long moment. His face remained impassive, as if the sight of Della’s sex didn’t move him, but his cock still stood at attention.
He raised his eyes to meet Della’s where she lay. They shone with anticipation. “I’m going to pleasure you now, but I don’t want you to climax too quickly. Only when I say it’s time.”
That would be difficult, if he kept talking to her this way. She was so eager she could scarcely keep herself from leaping on him. Ashton gripped her thigh, his hand hot and rough against her skin. He cocked one eyebrow, as if testing the waters, but the only thing to escape Della’s mouth was a desperate whimper.
Now. Please.
He bent his head over her sex, his tongue flitting over the sensitive flesh so quickly she dug her nails into his arms to anchor herself. After so much anticipation, the sudden contact sent a wash of sensation over her body. When he thrust his tongue inside her, she cried out.
Ashton withdrew immediately. “I saidslow.”
“Please,” Della begged. “Slow might kill me.”
A self-satisfied smile flitted over Ashton’s face, but he suppressed it quickly.
When he spoke again, he enunciated each word. “If you can’t control yourself, perhaps we should do something less stimulating.”
The groan that escaped Della’s lips was an explosive mix of arousal and frustration. “I can control myself,” she ground out. “Try again.Please.”
He made a liar out of her within a minute. Though Della bit her lip to keep from crying out the second his tongue reached her, she couldn’t fight the pressure that had been building inside her. She squirmed beneath him, her body responding faster than her mind could seize control. Ashton was spreading pure ecstasy between her legs. How was she supposed to resist this onslaught?
I can’t.He was simply too good at this, and she’d been waiting too long. Della grasped his shoulders and clung for dear life as her climax shuddered through her, sharp and inevitable.
Ashton raised his head to frown at her. “Thatstillwasn’t slow.”
“I couldn’t help it,” she murmured weakly. The rush of her own heartbeat was still sounding in her ears. “I was too excited. Let me do the same for you now.”
“No. I’m not finished with you yet.”
Really?
“This might be a bit much.”
“Is it?” Ashton asked mildly, creeping back up the bed until theirfaces were level once more. “I said I planned to ravish you completely and you agreed. It seems you underestimated my thoroughness.”
Though he was still attempting to look stern, a giddy laugh escaped Della’s lips. She wasn’t sure what was in store for her, but it promised to be enjoyable.
Ashton leaned over her and kissed her deeply. His hand traced the contours of her breast. His touch was lighter, more patient than it had been a moment ago. But the firm reminder of his own need pressed into her thigh. How could he stand to wait so long for his own pleasure?
Della slid her hands down to cup his rear and pull him closer, until his arousal came to rest against her sex. A low rumble in Ashton’s chest signaled his approval. She loved the weight of his body atop her own; the insistent reminder of his need.
“I want you inside of me,” she pleaded. Anything less wasn’t enough. She wanted to know she’d had everything Ashton could give her, even if it couldn’t last forever. “If you think you’ll be able to withdraw in time?”
“I’ll be careful,” he promised her, his face suddenly serious. “But there’s always some risk, and you know I won’t be able to offer you any security if there’s an accident.” He paused, appearing hesitant. “I have French letters if you don’t object to my using one. They prevent conception and I could withdraw as well.”
Della wouldn’t have expected Lord Ashton to have such a thing at hand, as they were generally looked upon with disdain. But she supposed a man in his position needed to be sure. She appreciated the extra measure of care he offered, at any rate.
“All right.”
Ashton rose to open the drawer by his bedside, found it empty, and was obliged to spend a moment trying to locate the condoms before he found them in the commode against the opposite wall.He returned to the bed with a sheepish look that made him seem younger. Once he slid the condom over his length, he paused to look at Della, his eyes darkening. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation. She was probablytoosure—not only about bedding Lord Ashton, but about most everything in her life. Della knew that she leapt into things without thinking them through. Her friends and family would be the first to point it out.
But she didn’t think this was a mistake. It wasn’t only that she’d found Ashton attractive from the first moment of their acquaintance, nor that she wanted to claim the victory of seducing a man who’d been so aloof at first. Somewhere along the way, it had become far more than that. She’d come to respect Ashton. To trust him as well as her dearest friends. There was something about his patience, his steadfast forbearance in the face of any setback, that Della found enormously comforting. She might once have considered such dependability to be only a step above boredom, but now she saw things very differently. It was a rare and amazing quality, to offer someone else what they needed.
