Her nerves remained on edge, especially now her breasts were crushed against his chest, and his hands were splayed across her back, feeling big and warm. Looking up, her eyes met his, their glances fusing.
His features twisted, beseeching and warning at the same time, as if tumultuous emotions were warring inside him.
“Grayson?” She had stripped off her gloves to eat. With bare fingers, she reached up and touched his face, stroking his cheek.
His eyes slammed closed, and she saw his throat bob with swallowing.
“Eleanor,” he said, his voice thick and husky.
She still felt he was on the verge of snapping her up like a cat did its prey. Yet, she couldn’t help herself. Entwining her fingers behind his neck, she sunk them into his hair.Glorious!
Then, she did the unthinkable. Using her grasp on his hair, she tugged him down to her, until their mouths were a whisper apart.
“Eleanor,” he said again. It came out as a groan. “Have mercy,” he added.
“Gray,” she murmured against his lips, knowing she was behaving badly, but wanting more of him with every fiber of her being.
His eyes opened, and flames blazed in their depths as hot as any she’d ever stoked in the grate of a fireplace.
What happened next, she couldn’t describe, for her world tilted suddenly. She thought he simply started to kiss her, and she closed her eyes, but then he lifted her from his lap. The next thing she knew, she was on her back, lying on her damp cloak on the dry ground.
From this vantage point, looking up at him, his face was in shadow, his expression unreadable. How she wished for a crackling fire beside them, not only because the rain had chilled her, but so she could see him better.
Lowering his head, he claimed her lips. This kiss felt entirely different than their previous ones because of their position. While he kept most of his weight on his forearms on either side of her, his legs were nestled between hers. If her skirts hadn’t been tucked up for climbing, it wouldn’t have been easily possible for him to settle, flanked by her thighs without raising her gown to her waist.
As the weight of his hips pressed into hers, she couldn’t restrain from lifting her own to meet him. Her body sought to meld with his, seeking as close contact as possible.
After his skillful tongue had teased hers, he nibbled on her lower lip, and she sighed. His mouth left a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her slender neck, which she arched to give him better access. At the same time, she shivered, wanting more.
“My sweet,” he murmured, opening the fastening at her throat so her cloak fell away entirely, giving him access to the skin at her collarbone.
When he tasted her with a gentle flick of his tongue, she moaned.
Her fingers clasped his shoulders, wishing she could touch more of him.
She could!There was no one there to stop her.
Trying to open his jacket while he was on top of her was a trial, especially while his hands roamed every part of her, and his mouth sought every inch of bare skin above her neckline.
She’d only succeeded in unfastening a few buttons when he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. She found herself splayed atop his body.
“I am a fiend,” he declared, “and we must stop.”
Still feeling a tingle where he’d kissed her neck and her décolletage, her body humming with pleasure, Eleanor didn’t want to stop and told him so, but he held her hands still on his chest.
“Remove your jacket,” she ordered him, “and your shirt so I can touch you.”
Grayson actually laughed at her.Mortifying!
“Why are you laughing?” She sat up, looking down at him, feeling tendrils of her hair falling around her face.
Oh, dear. She would have to fix that before she saw anyone.
Then she caught her breath, for he looked divinely handsome, lying beneath her, wearing a rueful grin.
“Because you look more like a woodland fairy than ever, though wearing a petulant expression. And because I cannot undress here, and you know it. We must tidy up and behave like civilized people.”
Still seated astride his hips, she could feel the heat of him coursing up through the layers of fabric that separated them, permeating the soft place between her legs. Yanking her hands free, she crossed her arms over her still tingling nipples.
