She didn’t know what.
Her fingers curled into his back desperately. Beneath the damp linen of his shirt, she could feel the hard splay of his muscles straining under her fingertips. The memories of his bare chest were so fresh, she wanted to rip off his shirt and press her hands against his hot skin. To mold her palms over his broad shoulders, over the round muscles of his arms and the flat slabs of his back and stomach.
Maybe he sensed her urgency?
His mouth moved over her jaw, ravishing her throat, lingering at the sensitive curve of her shoulder.
She tried to breathe through the frantic pounding of her heart as he worked the ties of her chemise. She was barely aware of the hot air on her naked breast before his hand covered her. She gasped with raw pleasure as his palm, rough with calluses, cupped her and his fingers worked her nipple to a taut peak.
“God, you’re so beautiful.” She gazed at him through half-lidded eyes, embarrassed to realize that he was staring at her breasts as if he’d never seen anything so spectacular. As if the small mounds of flesh could somehow compare to those with far more generous proportions. “You have the tiniest, pinkest nipples.” He ran his finger over one just to emphasize his point. “I think they might be the sweetest I’ve ever seen.”
The warmth of his breath on her skin made it prickle. His mouth was only inches away. She gasped with shock when he flicked her with his tongue. He held her gaze, his eyes darkening with something she didn’t recognize right before he covered her with his mouth.
Hot shards of pleasure exploded inside her. Instinctively she arched into his mouth and plunged her fingers through the thick softness of his hair to clutch the back of his head, craving the added pressure. He sucked her nipple deep into his mouth, nibbling it between his teeth with just enough friction to make her cry out.
God, it felt incredible—as if he was drawing something from deep inside her. Yet every wicked sensation wrought by his mouth on her breast was mirrored in the tender place between her legs. The throbbing. The warmth. The urgency.
He made a sharp sound deep in his throat, and shifted her slightly to slide his hand under the hem of her chemise between her legs. The brush of his fingers on her thigh shocked her from her dazed reverie. She stiffened and pressed her thighs together, catching his hand. “Don’t. You can’t.”
He lifted his mouth from her breast and grinned. “Relax, love, there’s nothing to worry about.” He looked into her eyes. “I’m only going to touch you with my fingers. You’re going to like it.”
But it seemed so … intimate.
She bit her lip, and he leaned up to kiss her.
“Trust me,” he whispered against her mouth, then kissed her with hard, insistent strokes that made her want to.
Slowly, her legs fell apart, releasing his hand.
A moment later she knew he was right.
The first brush of his finger made her tremble. The second made her body weep for more. And the third … the third time he plunged his finger deep inside her and made her groan and think she’d just glimpsed heaven.
He broke the kiss and she could hear the harshness of his breathing. “God, you’re so soft and wet.”
From the low groan of his voice, she gathered this was a good thing.
He circled his finger inside her, resting the heel of his hand against her mound. Heat swirled inside her. She felt something hard and sharp building. He circled faster, plunging his finger in and out, and her hips started to press against his hand.
Erik struggled to control the fierce pounding of his heart. Ellie’s responsiveness was killing him. Who would have guessed that beneath that prim little exterior beat the heart of a wild temptress? He’d been right about her bottling up that passionate nature of hers, but what he hadn’t anticipated was that she would take to it with such enthusiasm—as if she were making up for lost time.
Hell, it was almost more than one man could handle. Good thing for her that he was up to the challenge. Still, he was having a damned hard time reminding himself that he couldn’t sink into her—especially when, as his finger was stroking that tight, wet heat, she lifted her little hips against his hand and those mouth-watering little breasts of hers arched closer to his mouth.
Her breasts had been a surprise. He was beginning to think he might have made an oversight in not giving small breasts more recognition. What she lacked in size and heft, she more than made up for in shape. He couldn’t recall ever seeing two more exquisitely shaped mounds of creamy ivory flesh. Round and firm, they fit perfectly in his palm, and those tantalizing little nipples …
Heat swelled in his groin. Pretty and pink, they reminded him of two ripe berries. Perfect for plucking between his teeth. And they’d tasted just as sweet, pressing hard against his tongue.
She whimpered and writhed against his hand.
Beautiful. He watched the pleasure sweep over her face and felt a strange pressure in his chest, an intense yearning for something that he’d never felt before. It was a different kind of lust. It felt important. Significant. He didn’t just want to make her come, he wantedherwith a fierceness that gripped his entire body.
Christ. Sweat gathered at his brow as he struggled to take it slow. But she was so wet and hot. Her skin so velvety soft. Her body so damn responsive. And those little cries of hers were driving him wild.
He couldn’t remember the last time he wanted someone this badly. His cock strained hard against his stomach, throbbing to the point of pain. Blood hammered in his ears.
Maybe the sauna hadn’t been a good idea. The heat was playing havoc with his senses. His skin felt like it was on fire. Everything seemed sharper, hotter, and more intense. The soft, feminine fragrance of her skin surrounded him.
Slow down.Breathe.
