Fallonswallowed nervously. Sheknew this man could be anyone at all, but perhaps that’s what attracted her to himand made her so bold. She could finda single night ofpleasure with him withoutfearing that her heart would becomeattached.
Without getting hurtwhen he chose another.
She took a deep breath and pressed her hands against his warm, solid chest. Then she dared to move his shirt aside and press a light kiss directly over where his heart beat firmly. Looking directly into that mysterious face, shemet his eyes and said, “Does that answer your question?”
***
You are my hero.
Those softly spoken words ingaelige had been his undoing.
Atticus wasn’t sure he could breathe properly. It turned out Miss O’Malley was rather full of surprises—the kind that would send him into an early grave, for there was no way he could actually take things as far as he wanted to and live with his guilt for taking advantage ofthissituation.
And yet…
If she was willing to share her delights, truly, how could he refuse?
After all, he didn’t want to be rude.
Bloody hell.This was a conundrum he hadn’t expected.
He waged a war within himself, but when he looked into those green eyes, he was hard pressed to deny her anything she wanted.
But he had to try one more time to get her to see reason, and to instill some common sense into his own brain. “You need to understand that once we pass a certain point, there’s no going back—”
He stopped with an abrupt hiss as she rubbed a gentle hand along the front of his trousers, right along the length of his rigid erection.He knew then, that he couldn’t turn her away even if it wasthe gentlemanlything to do.
Capturing her mouth in a kiss that was nothing short of intoxicating, his amorous attentions became almost frenzied. There was no spot on her body that he wanted to leave untouched, no inch of flesh he wanted to remain unexplored by his lips and she seemed equally eager for the same as she pushed his shirtoffhis shoulders.
Atticus quickly ripped it away from his trousers as he kicked off his boots andtossed his hat to the side where his hair fell around his shoulders.
But when she would have reached up with the intention to remove his mask, he caught her wrist in a gentle, but firm grip. “It stays,” he said huskily. Thankfully, she didn’t argue,justgasped as he lifted her sweater and flung it away from her body while his mouth urgently found that tight bud of her breast and began to suckle. A visible tremor went through her and he couldn’t wait to see what else would make her shiver.
A wicked smile curved his mouth slightly as he fell to his knees and began to shove down her trousers.
“What are you—?”
The rest of her query was cut off by a moan that was equal parts surprise and pleasure as he grasped her hips and began to worship the heart of her desire. His tongue flicked and circled the tight bud and he breathed in the scent of her arousal. He growled with approval deep in his chest and it wasn’t long before she was clutching at his hair. As her legs began to shake, he knew she was close to her peak and when she came apart, the burst of flavor on his tongue was more alluring than the best brandy, and infinitely more intoxicating.He was quite sure that all of the empty liaisons he’d had before had merely led to this point—to this woman.
He released her hips and she swayed on her feet a moment before he swept her into his arms and laid her on the bed.He tuggedoff her boots and removedher trousers,andshelaybefore him in all of her nude glory. He swallowed hard, for her beauty was truly made for a poet’s verse. With her green eyes hoodedinsatisfaction and her dark braid lying across her breasts, he found his own fingers were fumbling with his trousers in his haste to discard them.
When he was fully unclothed, he crawled up the bed toward her. His chest brushed her nipples and his hard cock twitched with even more anticipation. He couldn’t wait to sink himself into her hot, wet core, but he had plans for her before that happened. She would be so limp and replete before he was done with her that it wouldn’t just be the Raven’s exploits on the sea that she would remember as legendary. If she was expecting a pirate’s ravishment, he would be more than happy to fulfill that fantasy.
He allowed the head of his cock to tease the entrance to her center as he held himself above her on the bed, his fists on either side of her head. “Is this what you want?”
“I…” she hesitated, and thennoddedher head. “Yes.”
“Tell me you want me,” he commanded.
She reached up and dug her fingernails into his bicep. “I want you.”
He kept teasing her, all while she started to breathe heavily once more. “I don’t think you mean it.” He bent down and laved her collarbone, her neck, and the delicate shell of her earlobe with the tip of his tongue. Her legs moved restlessly beneath him, but he merely smiled against her flesh, as he continued his fiery path all around her upper body, except for her breasts, which he knew ached for his attentions once more.
“Please…” she pleaded.
“Tell me,”he instructed. “Make me believe you.”
She tossed her head from side to side and then shouted, “I want you!”
