He blinked and she could see him trying to process that demand. “I told you, there is no repayment.”
“You also told me we could do this for mutual pleasure. That’s all I want right now. So please, take me to your chamber.”
He untangled himself from her arms and stood, a god of solid muscle and sinew towering over her and holding out his hand. Offering her heaven for a moment. She took it and together they walked back through the garden, up the stairs and into the house where that taste of heaven awaited her in the big chamber at the top of the stairs.
CHAPTER 14
Finn could hardly breathe as he drew Esme into his bedroom and reached behind her to shut the door. She put her back to him and turned the key, then flattened her palms against the hard surface with a shuddering sigh.
He stepped into her, wrapping his body around her from behind, tangling his fingers with her against the door as she rolled her hips against his.
She wanted him, that much was clear. She never hid it, never minced about it. It was fascinating and powerful to always know her desire that way. But beneath that desire, he also knew her emotions were still high. She had broken down out in the garden, allowing herself a grief that had torn at him like animal claws on flesh. She had protected herself so long, never allowed a moment to rest and feel.
He didn’t want to simply sweep her up in desire and not acknowledge that what she needed most, perhaps had needed for a very long time, was tenderness. Peace. God, how he wanted to give her peace.
He pressed his mouth to the back of her neck, tasting and teasing the soft curve there. She whimpered and her backside pressed to him more firmly, grinding against his already hardcock in a way meant to force him into a loss of control. It was tempting, but he ignored the throbbing needs of his body and continued to focus on her.
He reached around to the front of her body and found the first button at the bodice of her gown. He slid it free, then the next, then the next. Enough that he could slide a hand into the warmth trapped between her skin and the fabric. She whimpered as he cupped her breast, massaging and stroking the delicate flesh.
“God, just lift up my skirt and fuck me,” she moaned.
He removed his hand from her gown and gripped her shoulder, turning her so her back was to the door. He leaned in, caging her there, his mouth close to hers.
“No,” he said firmly.
Her eyes went wide just as he kissed her, slowly, deeply, savoring her and not allowing her to rush, even as she tried to force his hand by sucking his tongue and grinding up on him. He pressed her back more firmly against the door and she made a little sound in her throat, frustration and desire mixed.
He ignored it and went back to work on the remaining few buttons along the front of her gown. When it was open wide enough he parted the fabric and looked down. The chemise beneath was worn and threadbare and she blushed at that revelation.
He didn’t address it, but slid his hands beneath both the shoulders of her gown and the straps of her chemise and slowly lowered them at the same time. She lifted her gaze to his and held there, her breath short as he peeled the fabric away and bared her from the waist up.
He’d seen her like this before, of course, many times. But he was still dumbstruck by her beauty. By the perfection of those curves. He let her gown dangle at her hips and slid his fingers up her sides, tracing her ribcage and then cupping each breast.
She tilted her head back against the door with a little thud and let out a soft moan when he stroked his thumbs over her nipples. He kissed her as he caressed there lazily, tracing the hard peaks while he stroked his tongue over hers. She was still tense, making every effort to maintain control, but he could feel her wavering.
He drew his mouth away from hers, kissing her jawline, her throat. He sucked there and she lifted her hips. “Please.”
He ignored the plea and nuzzled lower, tasting her collarbone, drawing between the valley between her breasts. Only then did he move to her right breast and gently suck.
Her fingers came into his hair, gripping there as she gasped with pleasure. He sucked a little harder, scraping his teeth gently across the flesh. The gasp became a whimper.
“Please,” she repeated, but this time more softly, with less demand.
He continued to ignore it and instead tugged her dress, letting it fall to the floor in a pile before he slipped an arm beneath her knees and lifted her into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck with a laughing gasp that he swallowed when he kissed her as he carried her to his bed. He laid her there, on his pillows, her red hair coming down on the stark white, and stared.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured as he crawled up beside her, placing one hand on her stomach and gently stroking her there.
She pulled him to her, kissing him once more, but her kiss was desperate and needy, still laced with tension. He almost laughed at her repeated attempts to regain control. She was a fighter at heart, he knew. Built to grab the upper hand and save herself.
Buthewanted to save her. At least in this, at least today, he wanted her to be able to surrender. So he slowed the kiss,probing more deeply, gently until her hands released from their fists in his hair and she whimpered his name in the quiet.
Then he started on his path again. Down her body, licking and kissing every inch of skin he touched. He sucked the nipple he had left untouched at the door and she arched now, mewling out wordless sounds of pleasure that drove him wild. This was a test of his control as much as hers. He intended to pass that test.
He let his mouth drift lower, kissing her ribcage, her stomach. She lifted her hips, widening her legs, a silent demand. He continued on his own path instead, tracing his tongue over her hipbone even as his fingers pressed into the softness of her backside.
He moved lower, but not to the pussy she had spread out so temptingly before him. He could scent her desire and see it on the dewy folds, but he was in no rush. Celebrating her was the goal here, not simply slaking mutual desire like they were unthinking animals.
