The immediate tension that infused those muscles she stroked and admired mesmerized her.
Then one of his hands closed about her bare breast, and every sense she possessed lost touch with the world.
His fingers artfully caressed, and she gasped. Their lips parted, and she let her head fall back as, eyes closed, she followed every tantalizing touch.
Never had her nerves sparked like this. Never had her mind felt so utterly overwhelmed by sensation.
Against the softness of her belly, the hard ridge of his erection, iron encased in hot velvet, was another sensual distraction. Another unvoiced demand.
And with every expert touch, every knowing caress, he introduced her to new delights, to fresh fields of tactile stimulation. And with every gasp he drew from her, every moan that marked the expanding of her senses, her wits fell back just a little further, until her entire conscious mind was totally given over to feeling.
Feeling and emotion and the compulsion to come together with him.
His caresses grew more daring, more explicit, and with her hands, lips, and tongue, she urged him on.
Then his long fingers dipped into the hollow between her thighs, and her lungs seized as her mind and her senses reveled in the resultant glory.
She forgot to breathe as he gently probed, then pressed. Abruptly, her knees weakened, but he caught her, then he stooped and swept her into his arms and carried her to the bed.
He threw back the covers and laid her on the ivory sheets, then followed her down.
Her wits had surfaced enough for her to admire the long, lean length of him, the sleek line of the muscles in his thighs and the breadth of his powerful shoulders.
Mine, all mine.
The thought set her lips curving, and she reached for him.
Gregory looked down at her, at the desire that wreathed her features. His breathing was already ragged. He knew she was an innocent in this sphere, that this would be her first time lying with a man, yet the rake within him found himself stunned with admiration at the openhearted ardor with which she embraced the pleasure to be had in this, their first journey to paradise.
She took his breath away. She was all sultry siren as she lay gloriously naked on his sheets and, with one small hand, gripped his bicep and determinedly tugged, encouraging him to cover her.
They were both heated, with passion burning steadily through them and desire a damp sheen on their skins.
There was no reason not to comply with her wordless direction, with her eager, urgent entreaty.
He dipped his head and took her mouth again—a succulent delight she immediately surrendered—and lifted over her. Spreading her thighs with his, he lowered his body to hers.
That first flash of sensation as he settled upon her raced through him as well as her. Her skin was indescribably silky and soft, welcoming and alluring; he could only imagine what his hair-dusted limbs felt like to her, but other ladies in the past had informed him the sensation was evocative.
He sank into her mouth and plundered, deliberately reclaiming her attention. He could feel the slick, scalding evidence of her readiness bathing the head of his erection. He waited until he was sure her awareness had returned to the evocative thrust of his tongue against hers, then he flexed his hips and thrust into her welcoming warmth.
Her strangled cry was trapped between their lips, and beneath him, she froze, but a heartbeat later, she softened, bit by aching bit, then he felt her relax. A second later, her fingers, gripping his upper arms, tightened, and she tilted her hips experimentally, and he released the breath he’d been holding and drove even deeper.
He halted, fully sheathed in the incredible softness of her body—taking just that moment to glory in the sensation—then he withdrew and, as gently as he could, thrust in again.
Two more thrusts, and Caitlin had had enough of “gently.” She tipped back her head, breaking the kiss, and commanded, “Harder. Faster.”
He gave a dark chuckle and complied. “As my lady orders.”
The words reached her on a gravelly growl, but as he immediately did as she’d asked and moved more powerfully, thrusting and retreating to a steady beat, joining and linking them in this dance that, despite her lack of experience, her body seemed to recognize and effortlessly follow, she merely smiled and gave herself up to the moment.
To the pleasure and delight.
But it seemed they’d stoked their fires too well. The flames built rapidly, and soon, they were both gasping, both striving, reaching as one for some elusive prize.
Harder, faster, more deeply he plunged, and she rode with him, writhing and seeking and urging him ever on.
Tension built deep inside her, winding tighter with every second, ratcheting more and more until a frantic desperation seized her.
