lipped his hands farther under her skirts and grasped her hips to pull her astride his lap until her unprotected feminine center was pressed close to the bulge in his pants.
She rocked against him and he came within a breath of exploding right then and there.
He cupped her bottom and forced her to still her movements. She groaned against his lips, shuddering. Using the same kneading movements he had on her feet, he caressed her backside, letting his fingertips stray to the apex of her thighs sporadically, until she was straining against his hands.
She tried to move herself against him.
"Wait, sweetheart. You aren't ready yet."
Eyes, unfocused in their passion, looked back at him disbelievingly. "I was ready days ago."
So she had been craving his touch.
He smiled. "I want you begging."
"I did the begging bit the first time. Couldn't we just skip that part and make love?"
He laughed at her serious expression. Suddenly it struck him how difficult it must have been for an independent and proud woman like Thea to ask him to make love to her, to beg as she put it. "Shall I beg this time?"
From the smile that transformed her passion to joyous delight, he assumed she liked the idea. He kissed the pink shell of her ear and nibbled on her earlobe.
She panted, pressing her breasts against him with her small, shallow breaths. "That feels good."
"Will you please allow me to make love with you?" He whispered straight into her ear, allowing his breath to caress sensitive nerve endings.
She shivered and started unbuttoning his shirt with impatient fingers. "If we do, you will think I have compromised you again."
She had that backward, but since she didn't sound as concerned as her words implied, he let it go and licked his way down her neck to her collarbone. "Please?"
She finished unbuttoning his shirt and slipped her hands inside, showing that no matter what she said, she did indeed want him. The feel of her small fingers playing across the heated skin of his chest made him swell more painfully against her.
"We aren't married, Mr. Drake. What would your aunt say?"
It finally dawned on him that the little baggage was teasing him, and he growled against her throat.
Using his teeth, he pulled the fabric of her dress away to expose one firm, round breast. Her breath hitched and then expelled in a long hiss as he took her nipple into his mouth. He suckled her for several seconds, working his tongue over the hard nub until her breast rose and fell in harsh rhythm against his mouth.
Her hands curled into fists against his chest. "Pierson."
He loved it when she used his first name. It implied she was aware of him on a wholly intimate level. He was the only one who brought her to this place. The only man she had ever allowed to touch her body so familiarly.
Primitive possession and male satisfaction coursed through him. She did belong to him. Now and forever. He gently released her nipple from his mouth and showered her breast with tiny, biting kisses.
Squeezing her bottom, he rubbed her against his rigidity. "Do you feel me, Thea?"
"Ye-es."
"Can you feel how hard I am?"
Her answer was to give him a hot, openmouthed kiss that sent his mind reeling.
He broke his lips away from hers. "Will you give me the relief I seek?"
She met his gaze, hers serious and intent. "Is it merely relief you seek?"
He could not believe the doubt he read in her eyes. "You are what I seek. I need you, Thea. I have never felt this desperate to touch and be touched. I have been furious with you for refusing to marry me."
She sighed. "I know. You feel obligated to marry me after I seduced you aboard ship. You have been angry that I would not bow to the dictates of your honor."