“Valerie…” he murmured against her mouth, pausing for a moment.
“Yes?” she whispered breathlessly. It pleased her to hear the sound of her name from his lips.
But he did not reply.
Instead, he caught her mouth with his and wrapped his arm around her waist. At the same moment, his other hand smoothed over the curve of her hip and slid down to the swell of her backside.
In one swift, impressive display of strength, he lifted her up and guided her leg around his waist. Although, she did not need any encouragement, her other leg joining the first in locking around him.
His tongue flicked against hers, exploring for a moment, deepening the heat of their kiss. Then, without so much as a grunt of exertion, he rose up from his knees, taking her with him.
What risk am I taking? What does he mean to do with me?
There was no worry about the answer, for curiosity had already rushed in to sweep away any concern. Indeed, she was positively overwhelmed with the desire to see how things would unfold.
So, clinging to him, kissing him with everything she possessed, half-wondering if she was dreaming, she savored every second as he carried her across the room. More concerned about it all coming to an end than the risk of it continuing.
“Oh!” she gasped as he lay her down upon the chaise-longue, his body pressing down against her, those astonishing eyes of his seeming to gaze right into her very soul. Into her thoughts. Into her wildest dreams. Taking inspiration.
He must have known the torment of his stillness, the yearning that strained like a thread pulled too tight in her veins. Was he waiting for permission? Was he waiting for her to make a move? She did not know.
A slight shift of his hips, nudging aside her thigh, and she became aware of a hardness against her. In an instant, her desire transformed into a living, breathing beast within her that demanded satisfaction. A ravenous thing that would not be left wanting. She was not certain what it wanted, whatshewanted, exactly, but it had everything to do with that unknown hardness.
“You are my torment,” Adrian murmured, his eyes bright with an internal fire.
“I have done nothing,” she protested breathlessly, her hips tilting up slightly.
His brow furrowed as if she had hurt him… or pleased him; it was impossible to tell.
“You have done more than you know,” he replied in a voice that stirred up the bonfire inside her, setting loose a flurry of pulsing sparks and smoldering embers that flushed across her skin.
His head dipped, his kiss desperate, his body moving to the rhythm of that scorching kiss. With a soft cry of pleasure, ignited by the friction of that unknown, rock hard protrusion between her thighs, she tangled her fingertips in his hair and kissed him back in kind. The way her nightdress had gathered, and the fabric of his trousers, kept her from finding out what that firm length might be, but she was not complaining; this was heaven.
Slowly, he kissed away from her mouth, though she tried to pull him back.Do not withdraw from me. Do not dismiss me again.
She thought she felt him smile against the curve of her neck as he kissed downward, as though he could read her thoughts. He slowed down more, like he meant to put her mind at ease, taking his time to explore her. As such, with his kisses searing grazes down the column of her throat and along the ledge of her collarbone, she relaxed into the delicious sensation, certain that, at least for a while, he would not pull away from her.
When his lips touched the skin of her bosom, her lungs reacted as if they were connected to the brush of his mouth. She gasped, her back arching to lift her bosom closer to his lips, her labored breath transforming into an impassioned moan as she exhaled again.
Adrian’s hands were not idle, one elbow propping him up, while his other hand followed the path of his kiss.
Fresh surprise caused a sigh to hitch in Valerie’s throat as his fingertips eased beneath the collar of her nightdress. Deftly, he unfastened the buttons, taking his time, letting her know what he meant to do without saying a word.
Is that… proper?It was an ingrained thought that did not have time to mutate into doubt, as he pushed the fabric aside, his touch skimming over the sensitive flesh of her breast.
She shivered with delight, all notions of propriety and modesty thrown straight out of her mind. Indeed, the only thought that filled her head was:What next? Oh, show me what is next.
“Oh… oh, Your Grace!” she gasped to the warm, wet heat of his mouth closing over the peak of her nipple.
That,she could not have predicted.
He stopped, his blue eyes flitting up. “Adrian,” he growled. “If you are going to moan, let it be my name that you cry out.”
She bit her lip, nodding. “Yes, Adrian… Please…”
With a sly smirk, he took her nipple in his mouth once more… and sucked gently.
Her back arched up off the chaise-longue, her hands smoothing over the rippling muscle of his shoulder blades as a cry tore out of her. Not his name—she could not hope to form real words with her mind ablaze with pleasure—but a cry of pure bliss.
