He parted her legs, and she felt suddenly vulnerable as she lay before him, completely exposed. Her heart thundered, and she shivered as the breeze cooled her burning skin.
She admitted she wanted him. There was an ache, deep and unrelenting, inside her that she wanted to be filled and banished, and only by him. Yet, a knot of doubt held her from releasing the passion that bumped so insistently at her resistance.
Confusion marred her brows. What was he doing? He anchored her splayed thighs to his shoulders and dipped his head, kissing her deeply in the sensitive place between her legs. Her back bowed and an unfettered shriek ripped from her lips. A pleased rumble escaped him at the sound of her choked gasp.
Shock and arousal vied for equal attention. Her hips moved rhythmically as his lips ignited her most intimate nerve endings, the pleasure sharp and searing. She tugged at the silken restraints but her actions merely tightened the cravat. She was desperate to do something, to hold the head that was tormenting her so erotically between her legs.
His mouth pressed deeper between her thighs, doing the most sinfully delicious act, one she could never have imagined. Fire scalded her body as she met his eyes over the length of her body. His tongue rimmed her entrance, and she whimpered. The green of his eyes glittered, and he intensified the erotic kiss, stabbing his tongue deep within her.
Her mind hazed from the undiluted heat his tongue generated. The desire he roused felt dark and needy, and it scared her. She had never felt anything like the inferno that raged through her whole body under his skillful ministrations. Yet she felt as if this was only the beginning.
The sensuality that stamped his face as he rose above her had her arching her hips in needy welcome. “You are so wonderfully responsive, Phillipa.” He crooned against her lips before claiming them.
She moaned, tasting herself on his lips. Her hips rolled in hunger, and she desperately wanted to be filled. She’d felt pleasure before, but had never encountered anything quite like this—this was fire.
She frantically tugged at the restraints, wanting to grip his head and feast on his mouth. She growled in frustration as they wouldn’t yield. Shivers racked her frame, and she became painfully aware of the hands that rested so casually against her quivering stomach.
He pulled his lips slowly from her.
A fiery blush heated her face. “You are diabolical, my lord.”
The seriousness of his gaze forced her to focus. “If you do not desire marriage, then what do you need?” His voice was rough with arousal.
She hesitated. “To do what I wish, where I want, when I want, without condemnation.” She could not disguise the raw ache in her voice for more, for him. “Please,” she urged.
He snaked his hands down and cupped her mons possessively. “What do you wish to do?”
Excitement thundered through her. “I will not be your mistress. I will never be anyone’s mistress,” she said.
“What will you be to me, then?”
“Your lover,” she rushed out, shocked at her own declaration. “I do not desire marriage, nor wealth, nor your protection. But, I want you, Anthony. I want to explore what is between us without fear or recriminations.”
“And when your husband discovers your lack of maidenhead?”
She willed her body to relax under the tension that gripped her. Words begged to tumble from her lips, but instead she said, “I will never marry. I could not bear to be so confined.” She let the honest desire bleed from her gaze, lowering her barriers so he could see truth.
A frown chased his features but quickly disappeared.
Her breathing stilled when his fingers combed through her saturated curls to find the core of her pleasure. His thumb flicked against her nub and pressed. Her hips surged, and her body wept for him.
He took her lips and drank in her cries, his finger teasing the rim of her entrance without delving in, his thumb circling her knot of pleasure. Her hips strained against his hands, and she mewled into his mouth in edgy desire, desperate to feel fulfillment.
His kiss deepened as he worked two fingers into her swollen core. She yelped against his lips, tugging at the silken bonds, twisting as pain pinched her, mingling deep with the pleasure.
“I am not an easy lover. I want to sink my cock into the tightness of your body until you beg me to stop because of the burn. But I won’t stop, and then you will be begging for me to take you hard, as the pleasure ignites within you.” He twisted his fingers, working them inside her deeper, his thumb still circling her knot of pleasure.
Waves of delight swamped her senses and when she exploded in ecstasy, she did so soundlessly, stunned by the way he brought her to the pinnacle of ecstasy.