“Oh.” She touched her tongue toher bottom lip.
Tristan stared, his mouth opening, and all at once, playtime was over. He let out a hoarse growl and snatched her into his arms. “I need you, Sophia. Come here.”
She hesitated for an instant, as if trying to decide whether it would be more fun to obey or defy him, then she flung herself into his arms and her hands slid around to the back of his neck.
“That’s it, pixie,” Tristan whispered. He tumbled her onto her back in the bed, the long, hot length of his body pressing against every inch of hers, from her shoulders down to her toes. He dropped a sweet kiss on her lips, and cupped her face in his palms, his gray eyes serious. “Tomorrow, when I wake, I want to find you right here, in my arms. Don’t leave meagain, Sophia.”
Sophia’s heart rushed into her throat. “I didn’t want to leave you yesterday morning, Tristan. You were asleep, your limbs flung wide and your hair falling over your face. You looked so warm, so peaceful I wanted to curl up next to you and fall asleep with my headon your chest.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “Then why didn’t you?”
Sophia heard the hurt in his voice, and a soft sob rose in her throat. “Because it’s hopeless, Tristan. Surely you see that? You’re the Earl of Gray, and I’m no—”
“Brave and passionate. Clever, kind, and beautiful.” He tipped her chin up. “You’re everything. I don’t want only a single stolen night with you, Sophia. I want all of you, always.”
She sucked in a shocked breath, but his lips took hers in a devastating kiss, and her thoughts scattered. When he drew away again, he was breathless. He gazed down at her, lingering on her bare breasts, her lips, the spill of her dark hair against his pillow. “Have you ever had a lover before, Sophia? I don’t want to hurt you.”
Whatever lingering nervousness Sophia felt vanished at his words. That he’d thought to ask, that he’d take such care of her made warmth rush through her, curling her toes. She wrapped herself around him, as close as she could get, and pressed her lips to the center of his hard chest before burying her face against his neck. “I’ve had…I’m not innocent, but it was only a few times, and it was a long time ago,” she whispered, letting her fingers drift down the taut planeof his stomach.
Sophia didn’t know whether it was her words or her touch that led to it, but something shifted between them then, as if the last thin barrier holding them apart crumbled and fell away. Every last vestige of the proper, elegant earl disappeared, and he was only Tristan, the strong, determined man who’d chased her across London the first night they’d met.
Not the detached lord, not the distant earl, and not the Ghostof Bow Street.
Tristan Stratford, theman.
He was gentle with her, so careful, yet at the same time he was demanding, relentless in pursuit of her pleasure and his own. Sophia wasn’t a submissive sort of woman, but there was something breathtaking about having such an intense, physically powerful man take command of her body.
“Put your arms over your head,” he murmured against her throat, shifting them so she was reclined against the pillows. “Don’t move unless I give you leave.”
“Give me leave?” Sophia squeaked, but her objection died in her throat when he pushed a long, muscular leg between hers and began kissing his way down her body. It should be impossible his mouth could find her every curve and hollow, but that was how it felt to Sophia—as if his hot breath and seeking tongue touched every secret part of her. She held her breath, arching into his mouth as he dragged his lips down her neck and between her breasts.
She let out a soft cry of protest and reached for his head to still him when he didn’t pause to lavish attention on her nipples, but as soon as her fingers caught in his hair he lifted his head, one eyebrow arched, his sultry gray eyes gleaming as he grinned down at her. “Hands over yourhead, Sophia.”
Sophia squirmed against the sheets as she battled with herself. She wasn’t one to back away from a challenge, and certainly not one to let a man order her about, but he was wreaking havoc on her body with his sinful mouth, and all she could think about was how badly she wanted him to keep going,to move lower.…
So, she did as he bid her, lifting her arms and resting them on the pillow over her head, just as he’d placed them originally. He made an approving noise deep in his throat. “Hold onto the headboard…yes. Now wrap your fingers around the posts.”
He waited for her to obey his command before he resumed his sensual assault, dragging his lips down the center of her ribcage, pausing to nibble at the skin there, leaving a damp streak from his tongue as he drifted lower, dropping tiny wet kisses across her belly.
She was half-lost in the pleasure when she felt his large palms against her inner thighs, the scratch of his emerging beard against the secret skin there, and then he—
“Tristan!” Sophia twisted away from him, more from shock than anything else.“Did you just…”
He’d…it felt as if he’d justlickedher.There.
Now that,thatshe’d never done before.
She jerked upright and stared down at him. He was lying on his belly between her spread legs, his hands still holding her thighs apart, his lips glistening and a curious mixture of amusement, desire, and impatience on his face. “I did, and I’d be pleased to do it again if you’d do as I bid you.” He nodded at her hands, which were braced on the bed on either side of her hips.
“But that’s…you can’t…I’ve never heard ofsuch a thing!”
A low chuckle met this protest. “Are you asking me to stop?”
Sophia squirmed at the sensation of his hot breath drifting over her damp flesh. “I didn’t saythat, exactly.”
She felt the vibration of another chuckle against her core, but then he was devouring her again, his mouth hot against the tender pink skin between her legs, his lips and tongue stroking into her throbbing center, ruthlessly wringing shudders from her writhing body and incoherent whimpers and pleas from her lips. Sophia clutched at the posts above her head, her knuckles white as Tristan teased and circled, sucked and licked.
“Tristan, please. I need…I need you.” Sophia arched against him to urge him to move on top of her. He swirled his tongue over her tender bud once, and then again before he slid up her body with one quick move and settled his hips between her open thighs.
