She shook her head. She didn’t want gifts from him. Nonetheless, ignoring her protests, he placed it around her neck. The metal felt cool on her heated skin. “I can’t take this—”
“The stone matches your eyes.” He secured the clasp and then stroked the nape of her neck.
Her back, her shoulders.
This sensual assault corrupted all her good intentions.
She allowed her head to fall back and rest on his chest even as she clasped the smooth stone on the pendant. “I’ve never heard of a black sapphire,” she said.
“Magical and mysterious, like the sea at night,” he laughed, kissing her neck. “Like you.”
Priscilla caught her breath. She would return it to him when she left. But for now, she simply absorbed the moment.
Oh, how she missed the sea. How had he known? She relaxed and breathed, taking it in.
The sounds, the air, the scents, and most of all, the warmth of the man holding her.
“Sweetheart.” His mouth rumbled soft heat near her ear. His hand slid over her bodice and caressed the skin revealed by her decolletage, the tops of her breast.
And then it was on her throat, turning her face toward his.
“Emerson.” She strained for his kiss, but he denied her, dragging his mouth and teeth around her jaw.
She arched her back and twisted around, desperate for more of his touch.
“Emerson.”
Her back to the sea now, she arched and writhed closer to him.
“My sweet girl.” This kiss was the opposite of gentle. Waves crashing below pulsed to the beat of her heart—a throbbing she felt in her ears, her breasts, her womb.
She stroked her hand down his chest and then up again, tightening around his neck and tugging on his shoulder. Closer. Tonight. Just for tonight.
Sensations melded with her dreams, making her ache for more of him.
“God, Allison.”
Priscilla. She corrected him in her mind. Priscilla.
Her sleeves were at her elbows now, her bodice around her waist. The scraping of his whiskers along her breasts sent hot liquid to her core. But rather than squeeze her thighs together, she wanted to spread her legs.
In one swift motion, he’d lifted her to sit on the ledge. With nothing to keep her from falling but him, she ought to be afraid.
But she was not.
“Trust me?”
Sharp rocks reached toward the sky through the waves far below. But it was unreal. Magical. The vastness of all of it made her feel like a goddess. Cool air kissed her bare skin, and her hair tumbled free, caressing her shoulders and back.
“You won’t let me fall,” she said.
“Never.”
His throat moved as he swallowed hard, and then, his gaze locked with hers. She felt the breeze now on her calves, knees, and thighs.
She tightened her legs around his waist. When had she lost herself?
Arching backward, all that kept her from crashing into a thousand pieces were his hands. His arms.
