“You thought it was an itch, but then?”
She scowled at him.
“But then I was so sensitive and, well, swollen I suppose.” Rhys bit his tongue and closed his eyes. By God, if her speaking about touching herself wasn’t the most erotic thing he had ever heard in his entire life. “And I just began moving my fingers, up and down.” She demonstrated by stroking the outline of his cock through the fabric. “Like this.”
Rhys hissed, his eyes closing as she moved those damn beautiful fingers against him.
“Take off your dress.”
Without so much as a nod, Louisa bunched up the sides of her skirts and quickly pulled the gown over her head. Nowstanding in only a thin chemise, she dropped her gaze and began to pull her arms free when he stopped her, his hand on her chin to force her to look at him.
“Watch me.”
The intake of breath was enough to set him on edge, but with her eyes locked on his, she gently pulled one arm out of the short sleeve, and then the other. In the next moment, the chemise slipped low, exposing full, rounded breasts and smooth stomach. She had to yank the fabric over her wide hips, and Rhys nearly came at the sight of it.
Sure that his eyes had turned black, he bent down and swept her into his arms as he carried her to the bed. He may have started the teasing, but she had returned it tenfold, and he was desperate.
Dropping her gently on her back, he stood and gazed down at her with lust-filled eyes. Slowly, he removed his straps and undressed as deliberately as possible while she watched. Once all his clothing was removed, his ridiculous masculine pride surged when her eyes dropped to his manhood and widened.
The subtle twitch of her fingers caught his eye and having gone this far, he thought to push it further.
“Touch me, Louisa,” he demanded, though his tone was anything but. He wanted her to touch him, to touch every part of him, but he understood that she was petrified.
Hesitantly, Louisa’s hand lifted and her fingertips grazed the hot, silken skin of his length. Instantly, he inhaled as her hand eventually encircled his skin as she gently moved. Not up and down in a practiced or knowing way, but more like she was exploring him.
“It’s so smooth,” she whispered absently, her mouth slightly parted as her eyes lifted. “I didn’t think it would be.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. I never really thought about it,” she mused quietly.
Then, to his astonishment, Louisa shifted to her side, her one leg curving above the other like some painting of a Greek siren, and she kissed him.
There.
Chapter Eight
Louisa would neverunderstand what possessed her to do something so utterly immoral and wanton, but she had never experienced anything so sensual before. Here stood before her a man who appeared carved from stone, with bands and bulges of sinewy muscles across the landscape of his body. He was the very essence of what a man was, and his gentle commands had released her from having to second-guess herself. She had never done anything like this before, and yet it felt instinctual. Like she had been waiting years to move and touch and kiss someone like Rhys that, in a moment of pure insanity, she had moved toward him and kissed the tip of his member.
He cursed, his hand moving to gently stroke the side of her face, not forcing or encouraging. Simply out of the desire to touch her.
Brazenly, Louisa stuck out her tongue and lapped at the tip of him, more surprised by the smoothness of his skin than anything else. But the gesture had a profound effect on him, for in the next moment he was on the bed, hovering over her, his hands pinning her wrists above her head.
Staring at one another, breath heavy and uneven, Rhys collected her wrists with one large hand, as he brought the otherto touch her right between the breasts. She sucked in as his hands slowly drifted down her abdomen.
“I want you to do something, Louisa,” he all but growled. “I want you to relax.”
Before she could answer, however, she felt his finger on the aching spot of her sex. She tensed immediately.
“Not like that,” he said, the hint of a grin floating on his lips, causing Louisa to become frustrated. How could he smile at a time like this? “Relax.”
She tried, but then his finger was inside of her, and her entire body bucked.
“I… I can’t,” she said breathlessly.
“Why?”
“Because you’re touching me.” He removed his finger, before returning it, settling into an outrageous rhythm. Her hips lifted. “Please.”
