“Shhh,” he murmured against her lips. One long finger slipped inside her then, in and out, working her tight passage. Her hips twisted, wanting more. Finally, his thumb came back to rub the spot of pleasure between her legs and she arched against his maddening hand.
“That’s it,” he said, watching her face. “I want to see you come. I’ve waited so long.”
She couldn’t examine what those words meant, not when she was half mindless with pent-up longing. Her legs slid restlessly against the sheets, her hips twisting and arching, completely at the mercy of his skilled hand. She was close. Oh, so close.
“Say my name,” he whispered wickedly in her ear.
“No,” she said, just to be equally wicked.
His hand stopped and she cried out, “No!”
“Say it,” he taunted, resuming his skilled maneuvers.
“Mark,” she whispered.
“What do you want?” His dark head bent to her breast and he sucked her nipple into his mouth with unmerciful slowness.
“You,” she replied, the breathless word drifting featherlike in the air. Her eyes were closed. Her legs tensed. Her entire body focused on the pleasure that was so near.
“What else do you want?” he murmured in her ear again.
“To come,” she breathed. He’d taught her these things. All of them. He’d taught her to ask him for what she wanted. He’d taught her how good her body could feel when it was touched the right way, and he’d taught her the unrelenting pleasure he could give her.
Shifting over her, he pushed her legs apart with his knees and withdrew his finger from her, only to replace it with his cock. The hard slide of him inside her made her cry out again. “Mark!”
His thumb returned to the nub between her legs and he flicked and toyed with the spot while he slowly movedin and out of her. “I want you to come.” He rubbed her in tiny circles. “Now.”
As if his words had power over her body, she shattered around him while he pumped into her again and again. She sobbed his name against his ear, tumbling in ecstasy so intense, she was only vaguely aware when his body quickened and shuddered to its climax in her wake.
Oh, God, yes. She drifted as his dark head sagged against her breast, and she slid idle fingers through his damp, soft hair. She had missed this.
And she was in so much trouble.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The next morning, Mark rolled over and encountered the most enticing backside he’d ever seen. Memories from the night before came roaring back and he grinned to himself. He’d spent the night with Nicole again. Something he never thought would happen. Not in a hundred years. Her shoulders were bare and smooth and her backside… perfect. A vision of her in those breeches she’d worn in France flashed through his mind, making him hard again.
Their lovemaking had been better than he remembered it. There was something different about her. Not just her body, which was that of a more mature woman, but her manner. She wasn’t the shy young woman she had been. Not that she’d been timid before, but it was as if her experience in the world made her more uninhibited in bed. He hated to think it was because of experience she’d had with other men.
It had been poorly done of him last night. He’d been eager as an untried lad. He cringed at the thought of how quickly he’d gone about it the first time. His pride smarted. He needed to make amends. Nicole had been a heavy sleeper. Was she still? Her deep breathing indicated she was asleep. He would wake her up… in the best way possible.
He began by carefully rolling her over. Her glorious naked body lay splayed beneath him. He kissed her neck, her ear. He worked his way down to her breasts, her belly, and then her thighs, to the thatch of bright red hair that veiled the tender, enticing center of her. He parted her legs gingerly with his hands and moved slowly down, down, down. He covered the nub of her pleasure with his mouth and his tongue worked on her until she stirred and her hips moved beneath his hands. She moaned. He smiled to himself but kept up the gentle assault.
***
Nicole had been having the most erotic dream of her life. She was used to them, these sorts of dreams. Normally they took place in a lush tropical forest with Mark. There was a waterfall and a huge stone basin with a large rock jutting out, heated by the sun. He laid her down on it and loomed over her, sucking her nipples and teasing her by refusing to enter her until she begged. When he finally gave her what they both wanted, she cried out and clutched him to her, while he slammed into her again and again and again. It was her favorite dream.
This time, though, something was different. She was there, lying on the hot rock, the gentle breeze caressingher heated limbs. But instead of Mark slamming into her… his mouth was on her—
She startled awake to see Mark’s dark head moving between her thighs.
Oh, God, this was better than the dream. What Mark was doing with his tongue should probably be illegal.
He laved her again and again and a deep guttural moan emerged unbidden from her throat. She was torn between the voice of propriety telling her to protest and the wildness rising within her, which sent her fingers creeping into his hair to hold him to her. “Mark,” she whispered.
His rough palms cradled her outer thighs as he held them apart, keeping her open and vulnerable to him. “Mark,” she called again. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted to feel his body slide over hers, wanted to feel him buried deep inside of her, but she also didn’t want him to stop licking her like that.
His mouth and tongue kept up their sinful assault until she shattered against his mouth and cried out, her orgasm bringing unexpected tears to her eyes. She felt his wicked mouth curve into a grin against her thigh. He slid up her body until the hot hardness of him rested against her most sensitive flesh. She quivered again when he smiled down at her and circled his hips against hers, without quite penetrating her, in a dance that felt oh, so promising. Her arms wrapped around him. The scars on his back reminded her of his time in the French prison camp. No doubt that’s where he’d got them. Tears stung her eyes again. In that moment, the enormity of how much he owned her, body and soul, sent the tears streaking down her cheeks.
