His other hand moved to her waist, then higher along her side, tracing her curves through the thin fabric. Ava’s fingers tightened around the back of his shoulders, and the small sound she made when his mouth moved to the line of her jaw went straight through him. He kissed the spot below her ear, and her head tipped back against his hand, giving him more access.
The knowledge that she wanted this too drove him harder into the moment.
The piano at her back, the tower around them, the night beyond the window, all of it narrowed down to her body under his hands and her breath breaking whenever he touched her somewhere she had begun to feel too keenly.
He stopped only long enough to look at her.
Her hair had come loose. Her face was flushed, and her lips were swollen from his kiss. She looked at him with the same hunger he knew must be plain on his own face.
And then he bent to her again and sealed his mouth over hers, his hand trailing down her side.
Ava threw her head back as his mouth left hers and moved slowly to her jaw, her throat, and then a spot beneath her collarbone. Her hands tightened in his hair by instinct and then loosened when he moved lower, his mouth tracing the rise and fall of her chest over the thin fabric of her nightgown. His hands slid down to her waist while he kissed his way down with a patience that made her breath stutter. He lowered his head as well, going his knees.
“Yer taste is maddening,” he rasped, his voice reverberating through her and making her shiver.
She realized what he intended to do when his mouth reached her hips. She did not stop him.
He slowly pushed her nightgown upward, and the cool air immediately kissed her bare skin, making her gasp. Before she could form a word, his hands were on her thighs, spreading them with a firmness that left no room for hesitation.
He looked up at her once from where he knelt.
“Ciaran…” she panted, looking down at him.
The sight of his head between her legs made heat curl in her belly.
Soon, his mouth found the inside of her knee. The warmth of his lips traveled up through her before he had moved an inch. By the time he reached her inner thigh, her breathing had grown ragged. She braced one hand against the lid behind her, and the other stayed curled in his hair, holding on.
When his mouth finally found her sex, the sound she made tore through the tower. His tongue circled and pushed into her, and she felt pressure build in her belly.
She ground her teeth, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as he continued to stroke her. Her thighs trembled against his shoulders, and her head fell back. The hand in his hair tightened.
“Ciaran.” His name came out broken and breathless. “I am close.”
He rose to his feet and pressed his mouth briefly to the side of her neck as his hand replaced his mouth between her thighs.
Ava felt a wave of pleasure rush through her as his fingers found the same rhythm without missing a beat. She gripped his shoulder hard, unable to say anything. She could feel him against her hip, his length poking through his trousers.
His breath was warm against her ear. “Ye drive me absolutely mad. Do ye ken that?”
It was not a question, and she could not have answered it anyway.
Her climax came with a force that surprised her, rolling through her in a long shuddering wave that broke whatever restraint she had been holding onto. She pressed her face into his neck and felt him hold her through it until the tremors ceased, leaving her sated and limp.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then he brought his hand up slowly. She felt him taste his fingers, and something moved through her at the sight. He kissed her after, and she tasted herself on his lips. For some reason, she did not pull away.
When he finally lifted his head, she looked at him.
His hair was disheveled from her hands, and his eyes were dark and hooded. She swallowed hard as he leaned in.
He kissed her again, slower now, deeper, and she surrendered to him without hesitation. Then he shifted, and the piano edge caught the back of her thigh.
“Ow.”
He stopped at once. “Did I hurt ye?”
Ava blinked at him, then let out a breathless laugh. “Only me pride, I suppose.”
For a beat, he stared at her as if he had not expected laughter in the middle of this. Then his mouth curved. “Yer pride?”
