The silence was broken by the sharp snap of the fire.
“Say something, dammit.” Letitia leaned forward and thumped his knee.
It was everything he’d wanted to hear from her since he read her damn book. James smiled, a slow smile that belied the rapid beating of his heart. “Of course.”
Then he seized her. “Come here.”
She landed on his lap with a gasp and a swooshing bouquet of skirts and ruffles. “James,” she squawked, grabbing his arms to steady herself. “What…”
His mouth silenced her, finding her lips without any difficulty, then urging them to part with his tongue.
A moan slipped out as he bent her more comfortably in his arms, pressing their faces together, plundering within her mouth as she opened and let him inside.
Within moments she was just where he wanted her, lying across him, her head trapped between the back of the sofa and him. He could claim all he wanted, play all he wanted, and let his hand roam wherever he wanted. And he wanted it all.
Sweet and tangy, Letitia’s kiss—after the initial shock of the contact—became everything he could have imagined, and more. She moved a little, tentatively exploring with her tongue, hesitant at first. He loved that. It told him that he was the first to kiss her this way, the first man to discover the secrets lurking behind her lips. The first man to taste the unique flavour that was her.
She let her hand move to his neck, her fingers finding his skin and sending shudders of pleasure up and down his back. He crushed her to him, tossing gentility to the winds, kissing her as if he’d never kissed another woman in his life. He was starving and she was a ten-course meal.
As their lips met, clashed, parted and met again, James was ever aware of the response she drew forth from him. How could he ignore the straining cock and the abrasion of his breeches, which gave new meaning to the word uncomfortable. But he knew that his ultimate goal, to have her in all the ways there were, would have to wait. It was not for now, not for today.
Today was for her introductory lesson in pleasure.
Casting himself in the role of teacher shifted things a little for him, and he was able to focus on her needs more effectively and set his own aside. The kisses were wonderful, arousing both of them. Perhaps it was time to move to the next step.
He pulled his head back, looking at her, loving the flush in her cheeks and the heavy eyelids over blue eyes that were shining with excitement.
“God, James,” she whispered. “I had no idea…”
“There’s more,” he whispered back. “So much more…”
She swallowed, her throat rippling beneath his gaze. “Show me.”
“All right. A little more then…”
Her skin was ivory and silk as he slid his fingers from beneath her ear down to her shoulder and beneath the sleeve of her dress. The garment was cut in the fashionable style—low at the neck with puffs of fabric at the shoulders. In deference to the season, there was lace around her arms to her wrists, but that was no impediment to James’s objective.
He eased the dress away from her shoulder, kissing the skin as he bared it, listening to the tell-tale little gasps, sighs, sensing the movements of her body as she surrendered to this new experience.
Tugging the gown further down her arm, the inevitable result occurred, and one breast emerged from its cocoon. A firm globe tipped in dark rosy skin, the sight of it drove James’s personal torture to levels he’d never believed he could withstand.
She stilled, holding her breath as she became aware of what had happened.
Instead of unfastening his breeches and plundering this woman, fucking her until they both screamed themselves hoarse, he once again fought with his baser instincts…allowing himself the one thing he knew she’d never felt before.
He lowered his head, and gently—oh so gently—he began to caress her breast.
At first it was delicate strokes of his fingers, just holding, cupping, letting her grow accustomed to his touch. Then he ran his thumb softly across her nipple, watching the nub rise to a sudden peak, pebbling sharply in response.
She sucked in a harsh breath. “God,oh God, James…that’s…”
“I know,” he whispered. And then he kissed the rosy peak, and followed that by opening his mouth and suckling as much of her breast as he could, teasing the nipple with his tongue, swirling it around and pushing the globe into his mouth. He sucked harder, feeling her entire body writhe against him, trapped as it was between him and the sofa.
He sucked again, repeating his actions, but this time he freed his hand and moved it down, grabbing her skirts and uncovering her leg.
Within seconds he’d found bare skin and he traced it up, up over her knee to her thigh, his fingers pressing, dragging as he moved his hand toward the heat he could already feel coming from the top of her thighs.
She moaned and wriggled, parting her legs, obeying an instinct she probably never knew she had.
