“Much in the way you are now.”
“Has your heart stopped beating?” His smile had a certain wicked intent. Shannon raised his hand and laid it between her breasts. “I think not.”
Brandon nodded gravely. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the thin lawn nightgown she wore. “A good thing. It would spoil what comes next.”
“Oh? Pray, what is that?”
“It is sweet innocence you feign, for I know you have not forgotten.”
She pressed her brow against his forehead. “Conceited ass. You think highly of your loving, don’t you?”
He grinned crookedly then slanted his mouth across hers, hungry for the taste of her lips. Shannon’s response was immediate, welcoming. Her fingers loosened the neckcloth at his throat and she touched the pulse beating in the cord of his neck. Her arms slipped over his shoulders as he began to stand. Without breaking the kiss, he managed to lift her, though there was a moment when Shannon stiffened, thinking she was about to fall. He raised his head long enough to admonish her for her lack of faith, then proceeded to kiss her quite thoroughly as he carried her to their bed.
Shannon helped Brandon ease out of his ice-blue satin coat and undid the silver buttons on his waistcoat. Drawing his fine linen shirt over his head, she pressed kisses along the length of his collarbone. With a small flourish she dropped the shirt over the side of the bed, giving Brandon an arch, inviting look.
“Witch. Clearly you have not forgotten how to proceed.” He kicked off his shoes and loosened the legs of his breeches so he could get rid of his hose. He sucked in his breath as Shannon undid the lacing of his breeches at his back and slipped her fingers between the material and his skin. He stood long enough to shuck the tight-fitting breeches and soft linen drawers before he fell back in bed with no encouragement from Shannon.
“Eager?” she asked.
“How did you know?”
Her eyes dropped momentarily to his naked thighs. “It…er…it just occurred to me.”
Brandon laughed, reaching across her to snuff the candles on the nightstand. The room held only the soft light from the fire. Shadows played across the bed, flickering over their bodies. “I think we should get rid of this shift.” He fingered the lacy edge of her bodice with a lazy air. “It’s a lovely garment. Inspiring, really.”
“Inspiring?”
“Mm-hmm.” His mouth touched her lips. “Intoxicating.” Brandon’s tongue whispered across the upper curve of her mouth. “Inflaming.” He drew close to the ear. “Inviting.”
“Indeed,” she said wryly, only partially successful in stifling her giggle. Loving his silliness, his desire to put her at ease, she lifted her hips as Brandon tugged the gown past her thighs. “Martha will be happy her work on this piece wasn’t in vain.” Raising her arms, she allowed Brandon to pull the gauzy shift over her head.
Brandon’s gaze slid over Shannon’s face, her shoulders, her breasts. “You are a piece of work,” he said softly. His hand stroked the inward curve of her waist; his thumb brushed her navel. He bent his head. “I love you, Shannon Kilmartin.”
“Fleming,” she corrected him. “I’m Shannon Fleming now.”
“I love her, too.” Brandon kissed her deeply as her mouth parted beneath his, his tongue playing against the pressure of hers. His hands slid up her rib cage and cupped the underside of her breasts. They welled slightly, filling his palms. Her skin was like velvet, soft and warm against his palms.
Shannon stretched beneath Brandon. The sole of her foot massaged the back of his calf. She turned her head, arching her throat, and felt his mouth caress her cheek, her jaw. Her parted lips tendered kisses across his shoulder. Cupping his buttocks, Shannon pressed Brandon against her, reveling in the feel of his weight, the hard contours of his body flush to her own. Her hands stole between their bodies while her mouth found his. She swallowed the small groan of pleasure her hands excited from him.
The edge of Brandon’s tongue flicked a trail to the base of her throat. He paused, feeling the warm pulse beating beneath his lips. The fragrance of her hair teased his senses as he buried his face in Shannon’s neck, nuzzling the curve of her shoulder.
Shannon’s breath caught as she felt Brandon’s mouth whisper across the tip of her breast. At her faint murmur of encouragement he tugged on the nipple, stroking it to hardness with the tip of his tongue. Shannon moved with feline grace beneath his caress, feeling the play of muscles in his back. Her fingers threaded in the silky texture of Brandon’s hair. His head dipped to the hollow between her breasts, then his mouth traced a line to her navel. And lower.
Shannon bit her lip, trapping a moan in her throat as tiny sparks of heat shot through her. Her flesh quivered in response to the pressure of Brandon’s mouth and tongue.
Brandon felt the tension in her limbs. “Let me hear you,” he said. “I love to hear you.”
Shannon gasped, giving Brandon the sound he wanted, the sounds of her pleasure. “I want you. Please.” The pads of her fingers pressed against his shoulders. “Now, Brandon. Don’t make me—”
Brandon raised himself up, fitting Shannon’s thighs around him. His eyes darkened to obsidian as he searched Shannon’s face. She stared back at him, taking measure of the man she loved, the man he was. His expression had a certain fierce gentleness, skin stretched tautly over the clean, angular planes of his face, his mouth oddly loose and tender. He whispered his desire a moment before his lips covered hers, a moment before he filled her.
Brandon stilled, cradling her hips in his large palms. It was Shannon who moved first, thrusting herself toward him until, with a low groan of pleasure, he joined her. Bodies rocking, cords of exquisite tension pulled on their limbs as flashes of heat shimmered through them. Shannon surrendered herself to her own needs, finding her desires were one with his. As pleasure shuddered through him, Brandon felt the imprint of her mouth against his neck, and the words of love she spoke made him more surely her captive than the circle of her arms, Splendidly replete in the aftermath of loving, Shannon turned on her side to face Brandon, propping herself on an elbow. With her free hand she feathered the hair at his temples. Brandon captured her fingers and pressed them to his mouth as a small shiver rippled through his frame. Shannon’s smile was gentle, and Brandon held it in his mind’s eye long after he had fallen asleep, keeping Shannon in the secure cradle of his arms and body.
A glance at the clock on the mantel told Brandon he had slept more than two hours. He grinned sheepishly at Shannon, who was watching him, violet eyes partially hidden by her thick lashes. His abdomen contracted as the tips of Shannon’s nails slid over the flat planes of stomach. “Have you been awake all this time?” he asked, stilling her hand.
“Most of it,” she admitted. “I’ve been watching you.”
“Oh?”
