His lips brushed the sensitive skin behind her ear. “I want you like this.”
“Why?” A sense of disappointment filled her. She wondered if he had tired of her plain face already. Then the tip of his tongue replaced his lips on her tender flesh, licking in slow circles down the side of her neck.
Instantly her back arched as pleasure crinkled down her spine. The motion ground her hips against the hard ridge of his erection and thrust her hardened nipple into his waiting palm.
His other hand left her hip and delved into the cleft between her parted legs. “Better access.” He gasped the words as she rocked against his questing fingers.
He held her to him as he stroked her slit, feeling the thin cloth rapidly dampen under his fingers. Intermittently he toyed with the secret nub that controlled her passion, teasing it until her nightgown was wet and she moaned in his arms.
He had not planned to come to her tonight. Able to sleep in his own bed for the first time in months, he had expected to drop off immediately. Instead he had tossed restlessly on the smooth sheets. For the first time since he had moved into the laird’s bedchamber, someone occupied the bedroom connected to it.
Images of Barclay’s hand so close to Diantha’s as they stood by the piano had run through his mind. He could not imagine that his cousin would make improper advances to his wife. Still, Barclay’s considerable charm might turn her head.
And what male in his right mind would reject her unfeigned response to carnal pleasures?
Marriage of convenience or not, the idea of his wife in bed with another man stirred a primitive urge to somehow claim her, to mark her as his alone.
Now he held her, his cock throbbing in time to her hoarse breaths. One of her hands clutched the arm that held her, and the other gripped his butt as he thrust against hers. As he continued to fondle her most intimate flesh, the scent of her musk rose to his nostrils, nearly driving him mad with lust.
“Please, Kieran!” She writhed in his arms, seeking her release. Not yet, he decided. He wanted to experience more of her first.
His hands left her. Instantly she turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him fervently. One slim leg hiked itself a little over his hip as if inviting him to enter her.
He smiled against her eager mouth. “Slow down, my bonny wife. We have all night.”
She lifted her head away from him, and in the dim glow of the candle by her bed, he saw surprise in her eyes. “Bonny? That means pretty, doesn’t it?”
Unexpected tenderness welled up in his heart. “Yes, it does.” Caressing her face with a hand, he leaned into her. Her eyelids fluttered closed as he slipped his tongue between her lips. Then he tasted her, circling his tongue around hers in a leisurely dance.
She followed his lead, slowly curling the tip of her tongue against his, then pulling back to run it over his lower lip. “You have a bonny mouth.” She paused, looking at him as though expecting a rebuke.
“Thank you.” He kissed her again, slanting his mouth over hers, taking his time as he rolled her onto her back and straddled her. He tilted his pelvis slightly to bring the sac between his legs into pleasurable contact with the soft cloth of her nightgown.
The garment fastened with a row of buttons down the front. Her breath caught as he unbuttoned them and parted the two sides. She arched her back in blatant invitation, but only after he had freed her arms from the gown’s long sleeves did he stretch out over her.
Starting with her gloriously sensitive neck, he kissed and nibbled his way down to her breasts. Gathering their bounty in his hands, he took turns lavingand gently nipping each pink bud until Diantha groaned with desire.
He trailed more kisses down her body as he pushed the flimsy nightgown down her legs and off. Crouching over her, he licked around her navel as his hands slid beneath her thighs.
Her legs twitched at the unexpected caress, but she opened for him without protest. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, running through the loose waves.
His mouth moved lower and she tensed. Glancing up, he saw the shock in her face. He held her gaze as he deliberately scooted lower on the bed. He lowered his head, but before he could taste her, she tried to slide out from under him.
Expecting such a reaction, he easily caught her hands with his. Pinning her legs open with his shoulders, he planted a soft kiss on the sweet curls protecting her most intimate flesh and looked up at her alarmed eyes. “Don’t be shy with me, sweetheart. I’m your husband.”
“It can’t be normal to kiss me—down there.”She regarded him anxiously.
He knew better than to force her to submit to his desire. “I said you should tell me if you didn’t like something I did in bed, and if you don’t like this, I promise I’ll stop.” She relaxed immediately.
His thumbs rubbed her imprisoned hands, wanting to reassure her. “But it’s only fair to try something before you condemn it. Count to thirty before you tell me to quit. Fair enough?”
She nodded hesitantly, and he gave her a smile. “Good. Start counting, then.”
“One—”
Still holding her hands, he swept his tongue into the silken folds. He groaned as her salty taste filled his mouth. Starting at her tight opening he explored her thoroughly, dipping inside her, licking along each nether lip and up to the proud nubbin above. Her legs opened to offer more of herself to him and her hands now held his in a death grip.
All power of coherent speech left Diantha’s mind at the first touch of his tongue on the most secret place of her body. Her breath hitched and she bit her lip to keep from crying out at the intense pleasure. She watched his dark head between her thighs, unable to believe what she was permitting him to do. As though he felt her gaze, he lifted his head to meet it with his own.
