“That you like me?”
“The devil take you, Saxon, I do not—not anymore,” she amended, but then gasped as he leaned over to place a tickling kiss on her belly. “Nay, cease!”
His tongue snaked out to trace a circle round her navel. “Still resisting, vixen? Since you cannot stop me yourself, will you beg me to leave off?”
“Nay!”
He sat up and spread his hands over her stomach, beginning a slow ascent toward her breasts. “I did not think you would, because you do not really want me to leave off.”
His fingers had curled around her breasts. She heard her voice waver as she insisted, “Not so. I—I simply will not beg—for aught.”
“Such a proud wench you are.”
Between his thumbs and forefingers, he pinched her hardened nipples until she stiffened, then treated them with tender care. He continued applying pleasure-pain to this most sensitive area until she thought she would indeed beg for mercy. She could no longer remain still. She could no longer keep her expression impassive, even though she knew he was watching for her every reaction. Her heart was pounding wildly, her pulses gone mad. Heat seemed to be pouring out of her, though her brow remained dry.
Royce was mesmerized by the seductive slant of those aqua eyes, and the way her teeth kept gnawing on her lower lip. He would not kiss her lips, not yet, for he had little doubt she would sink those teeth into him. But his hands finally moved on, up to cup her face and hold it still while he kissed her everywhere but on her mouth.
At her ear, he beseeched her: “Tell me you want me, Kristen.”
“You will never hear me say it.”
He leaned back to look at her. A fire seemed to smolder in her eyes. He had never seen a woman more ready to be loved.
He smiled, shaking his head at her. “You are as stubborn as you predicted. But so am I, sweet vixen. And Iwillhear you say it.”
He stood up and moved to the end of the bed. There he stopped, and slowly, with his eyes on the whole length of her, he began to remove his robe and tunic. Watching him gaze at her was nearly the same as feeling his hands on her. It did crazy things to her insides.
Kristen closed her eyes against him. She willed her body to relax, to calm itself. It did no good. The anticipation, the wondering what he would do next kept the excitement building rather than dissipating.
She did not have to wait long. The bed sagged by her feet, then she felt a hand on each ankle. She would not look at him. Slowly the hands moved up the inside of her legs—she was not going to look—past her knees, slower as they inched up her thighs—she wouldn’t look—higher, closer…
He stopped, hesitating, while Kristen held her breath, sure her heart was going to explode, it was beating so violently. Then his fingers changed directions, running over the tops of her thighs, then down the outside—but only as far as her knees. Just as she managed to expel her breath in a quiet manner, she caught it again as he started upward once more with those wide-spread fingers.
Again and again he worked his way up her thighs, each time coming closer to the core of her womanhood, but never touching her there, just making her think that he would, hope that he would. She was being flayed with erotic sensations. She was being primed to beg.
“Look at me, Kristen.”
She shook her head wildly.
“Kristen.”
She tilted her head back, so that if she did open her eyes, she couldn’t see him crouched there between her legs. She heard him chuckle at this, and felt the bed move as he lay down at the bottom of it. And then he slipped his arms under her thighs, nearly up to his shoulders. His hands came around to spread over on her stomach, his chin resting on the triangle of curls.
“Do you want me now, Kristen?”
She would not answer. His hands moved up to cup her breasts. He lifted his chin and she could feel his warm breath…God help her—oh God!
His tongue touched the tiny muscle that controlled her passion, and that was all it took. Kristen exploded with such a violent shock of pleasure that his name burst from her lips. Her pelvis lifted to him, demanding the pressure of his tongue. She would have held him to her if she could have. But he did not deny her. She experienced her bliss in full measure.
But Royce was not done with her. Reality barely returned before he began a new assault on her senses. And she no longer had the will to resist. She was too sated, and too amazed by what he had done. Just thinking about it sent new excitement pulsing through her.
He lay atop her now, his lips forging paths of heat along her skin. But he would not enter her, would not slake his own raging passion. He was in position to do so, torturing her with anticipation again, but he would not.
He leaned up, and fancifully, she thought of glowing emeralds as she looked into his eyes. “You want me,” he breathed against her lips. “Say it.”
“I will not say it.”
His teeth nibbled at her lips. “You would have me leave you now?”
