She gasped. “No.”
“You should. Remember this, Thalia. I want to see the end result. I want tofeelyour desire.”
Her desire was so potent, she risked drowning in it. Her lungs burned, her blood pounded, and every muscle in her body quivered with tension as he raised her skirt to her hips, above the tilt of her thighs.
Air toyed around the delicate, slick flesh. She could feel her heartbeat there, too, as he looked wordlessly at her. Unable to bear the silence, she tilted her head so she could see his expression.
Dark eyes, a mouth pinned shut. His nostrils flared as he inhaled slowly, and then he leaned down to kiss her. Slowly, methodically, as though they had all the time in the world. Hisbody pressed against hers, and his head flared through her, sweeping down to her core with every press of his lips and slide of his tongue.
She was going to ignite.
“Touch me,” she gasped.
He broke free, a wicked grin creasing his face as he slid back down her body, pressing his mouth to the inside of her knee. Then his stubbled chin brushed her inner thigh.
So, this is what it feels like.
The first press of his tongue felt like condemnation and salvation all at once. This was not the sort of thing proper young ladies did, and she knew that by indulging, she was throwing away her dubious claim to respectability. If anyone ever discovered she had been here, or the things she had done, she would be forever ruined.
But ruin could not occupy her mind when his mouth was on her. This was liquid pleasure, an overwhelming assault on her senses that made her bite the side of her palm in an attempt to keep quiet. He systematically undid her, unspooling all the threads that held her together as he sucked and licked. His fingers dug into her thighs as he held her legs open for him, and all she knew was sensation.
The scrape of his stubble. The wet heat of his tongue, the way it pressed against her most intimate places. And pleasure, building, building. She writhed under him, and he held her in place more firmly, somehow knowing what she needed.
She gripped his hair, sliding her fingers through the soft tresses, her fingernails scraping his scalp. With all the thought left to her, she traced the corded muscles of his shoulders, committing them to memory, his skin like velvet under her questing fingers.
At every juncture, he knew what she needed, and it was impossible to deny. Every passing second brought her closer to the brink. Sensation tightened inside her, forming a ball of heat in her lower stomach. That strange heat built. She was going to explode, to fall apart, to disintegrate into a thousand tiny pieces.
“Maxwell,” she whimpered.
He moaned again, pressing the sound against her like a kiss. Like a brand. “Thalia.”
It was the sound of her name on his tongue that tipped her over the edge. Pleasure slammed into her with such force that it set her adrift, severed her from reality. All she knew was white. The waves of heat and light washed through her until even her fingers trembled.
Maxwell gripped her hips now, holding her tight, murmuring reassurances as she lost herself to a new world. Only when she came back into her body, and the room swam back into focus, did she realize that he had done this.
She reached for him, digging her fingers into his hair, needing to know he was real.
“What just…” Her voice failed her. “What just happened?”
“That was your climax.” He kissed her again, but she was so sensitive, she squirmed away from him. He chuckled, but the sound was dark. “It is the greatest form of pleasure.”
“It was…” She didn’t have the words for what it was. “I just…Thank you.”
“Mm.” He rose on his knees, hands on her waist, and drew her down to him. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to press her lips against his and kiss him, tasting herself. “You have no need to thank me, Thalia. I enjoyed it almost as much as you.”
“Did you?—”
“No.” He kissed her again, and she fancied she could feel his hunger in the scrape of her teeth.
There was a hollowness in her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him closer.
A candle flickered out.
“Maxwell,” she whispered. “I want…”
Everything.
The word was too great to say, but she felt the enormity of it hanging over her. She wanted everything, to lose what remained of her innocence here, in this room, to the sound of the popping embers and distant laughter of the party in the background.
