When he lifted off her to pull his shirt over his head she helped with fumbling enthusiasm, and she bit back a sigh of delight when she finally smoothed her hands over the warm muscles of his chest. Even in the semi-darkness, she could tell hewas sleek and beautifully proportioned. Her stomach clenched in nervous excitement.
He sat up, straddling her, bunching the silk of her nightgown at her hips then pushing it up, and she responded by lifting her arms so he could pull it up and over her head. Her skin pebbled at the wash of cool air, and she just knew her cheeks were pink with embarrassment at being naked beneath him, but the wonder in his voice when he slid his fingers down her throat quashed any nervousness she might have felt.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. “You’re so beautiful.”
He stroked her breasts and she arched up into his touch, and when he bent back down to kiss her, she responded wholeheartedly. Her heart was pounding, the scent of his cologne wrapping around her like woodsmoke.
“Need to slow down,” he panted against her lips, almost as if he was speaking to himself, but Livvy shook her head.
“No. No slowing. We need to keep you distracted.”
He pressed a kiss to the edge of her jaw with a desperate little huff. “Believe me, woman, I’ve never been more distracted in my life.”
She squeezed his shoulder and wriggled beneath him, eager for more. “Show me how to please you.”
“You are pleasing me.”
“You know what I mean.” She tried to slide her hand down his chest, to the buttons of his falls, but he caught her wrist with a chiding sound.
“Not this time.” He rocked his hips and she became acutely aware of the rigid length of him pressing against her stomach. “Next time I’ll let you touch me as much as you like, but right now, God, I need you.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.” He sounded relieved, reverent, as if he’d been absolved of every sin he’d ever committed. He kissed his way back downher body, breath hot against her skin. He sucked her nipple into his mouth, flattened his palm over the gentle curve of her stomach, fingers stretching between her hipbones, then moved lower. He pushed her thighs apart, firm but gentle, and Liv’s eyes rolled back in her head as he leaned in and licked her slick folds.
She should have been embarrassed; he’d made her so wet, so quickly, but her blood was thrumming in her veins, a shimmer of tense, nervous energy, and she couldn’t bring herself to care. She could barely catch a breath as jolts of pleasure made her twitch and tense.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he growled. “The things I’ve dreamed of doing to you. Liv, you have no idea.”
He groaned low in his chest as he nuzzled the crease where her thigh met her abdomen and she arched up in delight as he circled his fingers between her legs, spreading her wetness around, teasing her mercilessly with little taps before sliding one inside her.
“Devlin!” she breathed, half in shock, half in wonder.
“Good girl. You’re so sweet. Does that feel good?”
Her only response was a guttural, affirmative hum. She tilted her chin, head pressing back into the pillows as he stroked, stretching her, then added a second finger that made her squirm.
It was too much and not enough, a wicked unfamiliar ache that made heat pool low in her belly. She dug her heels into the mattress and lifted her hips, trying to ease the building torment, to have him hit just the right spot, like he’d done before in his study?—
He seemed to be finding it equally pleasurable, mumbling praise and curses into her skin, and she groaned in disappointment when he suddenly withdrew his hand and moved back up to kiss the corner of her mouth.
“Not yet,” he breathed with a rueful chuckle. “Not without me. I want to be inside you. Can I, Liv? Please?”
She gave an enthusiastic nod, almost too breathless to answer. “Yes.”
The mattress dipped as he rolled off her in one swift move, and in the next flash of lightning she saw him standing at the end of the bed. He flicked open the buttons of his falls and pushed them down, but the darkness returned before she could see him fully. She bit back a huff of disappointment.
He settled himself over her again, his forearms pressing into the sheets by her head, and the exquisite feel of his warm, naked skin pressing down on her made her catch her breath. He was warm and huge and utterly encompassing, and she’d never wanted anything more in her life.
She widened her legs and he settled between them, and they both stilled as the slick head of his cock settled at the center of her, nudging her entrance.
“Slow,” he groaned, sounding like a man being tortured on the rack. “We’ll go slowly, I swear.”
A vicious burst of rain lashed the windows, rattling the panes as if someone was throwing gravel, but Dev didn’t even flinch as he pressed forward. Liv bit her lip and tried to relax. She’d thought his fingers had prepared her, but this, this was more; not pain, exactly, but an unfamiliar burning, aching pressure. He stilled when she tensed, rested his forehead against hers.
“Am I hurting you? I’ll stop if you?—”
“No! Don’t stop. It’s just different, that’s all. I’ve never—” She moved her hips, instinctively trying to ease the discomfort, and the movement slid him even deeper.
