The heat shocked her, and she jerked. Making his smile deepen. “Fiendish bastard.”
“Guilty as charged.” Her other breast received the same treatment, and Max bent low to blow a soothing stream of air across the abused flesh. He kissed the underside of her breast then licked a path around the crease. “Have I told you how much I adore your breasts? They are quite extraordinary.”
Rubbing her thighs together, Colleen let out a shuddering breath. “No different than other women’s. Maybe a little bigger.” And riding lower than other women’s, like Molly’s. But Colleen couldn’t ever remember Max looking on Molly with any sort of appreciation. Never the way he looked at Colleen. So perhaps there was truth to his words; that he did esteem Colleen’s body more highly. Dear, foolish man.
“Plump and soft and mine.” He twirled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, gradually increasing the pressure. “It’s that ‘mine’ part that I like best of all.”
She gasped. The bite of pain sent a corresponding tug deep in her core. Releasing her nipple, he sucked it into his wet mouth, soothing the sting away. Only to drizzle searing wax over the reddened nub.
Colleen’s mind fractured. Her body tried to twist from the sting even as her sex grew slick with wanting. Colleen pulled at the silk band. “Oh, God. Max, please.”
He smiled and slid lower on her body. He circled her belly button with his tongue and plunged that naughty muscle into her navel.
She arched her back, not understanding how every flick of his tongue in that most innocuous of places could make her core twinge. It was though there were a string attached from her belly button to her center. Every flick of his tongue made the string vibrate, sending small shock waves to her most intimate flesh.
She’d never loved her belly button more.
Raising his head, Max tipped the candle, and a splash of wax filled the hollow of her navel. It burned hot, almost painfully, before banking into a comforting warmth.
Colleen closed her eyes and sagged into the bed. She was done struggling against the sensations. Her body had tensed before each drip of wax, and after each assault tried to sort through the sensations, organize them into pain or pleasure. It was exhausting.
Her mind drifted, a lovely haze settling in her brain. Peace descended. No more anticipation. No more fight. Max blazed a trail of wax from her navel to the top of her cleft, and her skin welcomed the burn. Accepted whatever he meted out.
The mattress dipped, and Max spread one of her legs wide, then the other. He settled in between. “I missed you last night.” The soft pad of his tongue licked between her folds.
Colleen let her thighs fall wider. “I know what you missed.”
He nipped at her outer lip. “When I tell you I missed you, take me at my word.” Circling his tongue around her opening, he eased the tip into her sheath. He fucked her with his mouth, slow and thoroughly.
“Yes, Max.” She would believe anything he had to say at the moment.
“Hmmm.” The vibrations of that sound thrummed across her aching skin, and she moaned softly. He lapped at her essence. “I like it when you’re compliant.”
Bending her knees, she dug her toes into his sides. “Yes, Max.”
She needed more. The baron was the type of man to enjoy a stroll on a country lane. Colleen just wanted to cut across the fields and get to her destination. His unhurried manner was one of his more annoying characteristics.
He spread her folds with his fingers, and his breath ghosted across her moist flesh. As delicate as a cat, he licked her clit.
Colleen bit her lip. His tongue was like velvet: luxurious and soothing one moment and irritating the next when brushed against the grain. It drove her mad and had her begging for more.
She had no warning. One moment his tongue was coiling around her clit like she was his favorite lemon ice, and the next the hiss of wax hitting wet skin sizzled through the air, followed quickly by searing heat. Directly on her tender bundle of nerves.
She arched off the bed. She would have hit the mirrored ceiling if her hands hadn’t been bound to the headboard. Her clit throbbed, pulsing angrily. The beat pounded in time with her heart, filled her ears, until the pain softened to a pleasing ache that spread throughout her body. “Max!” She didn’t know if her exclamation was a reprimand, a plea, or plain shock. Most likely a combination of all three. Her eyes flew open to see the taper hovering dangerously close above her core.
One side of his mouth tipped upwards. “As you are being so accommodating, my love, how about an apology for the apoplexy you nearly gave me when I heard you were occupying this room with Halliwell. All the girls were chittering on about it.” With his thumb, he slowly circled her clit. “That was three minutes of my life I’d never wish to repeat.”
“What?” Her body felt heavy, lethargic. Except for the growing need to be filled. She wiggled her hips, trying to find relief. “You demand an apology now? Another one?” What was it with him seeking out her atonement at the most inappropriate of times? And really, he was nearly as responsible for her actions this time as she was by encouraging her to seek out another man the night before. It hardly seemed just that she be the only one to grovel. “I already explained that I had changed my mind.”
“Yes, but there were still those three minutes when I thought the worst and found you closed in a room with a naked Halliwell.” He blew a steady stream of cool air across her tortured nub.
She groaned. “This is hardly fair.” Insufferable man thought he could get the upper hand on her. Bend her to his will. “You have me in a position of advantage.”
He chuckled. “I know.”He kissed the inside of her thigh, his jaw skating across her damp skin. Where his beard used to abrade, inflaming her skin as it scraped across, the caress of his smooth cheek sent delicate shivers racing through her body. Both sensations were equally enjoyable.
She ran numbers from her ledger in her mind, trying to distract her body. She would not break so easily. If she bought candles from that new shop by the docks, she could save an average of—
Max lowered his head and plunged his rolled tongue inside her channel.
