Right now, in this moment, he wanted this woman more.
She tugged at his cravat and once that length of cloth came undone, she pressed kisses to the skin she’d just uncovered, and a shudder of desire went down his spine. “I could easily become drunk on you.” Had she meant to utter the admission aloud?
There was no way of knowing, and neither did he care. Heated need moved through him, and he shifted to better accommodate his arousal. In the process, her body brushed against his. A half-stifled moan left her throat, and he grinned. Oh, the lady had betrayed her interest, and what sort of man would he be if he left her wanting?
“I shouldn’t take the liberty,” he said even as he glided the fingertips of one hand along the bodice of her dress.
“But knowing you, you will anyway,” she responded with enough heat in her lake blue eyes to stave off the chill outside. Then she leaned in, took his earlobe between her lips, and then lightly bit that flesh. Need streaked through him. “I won’t bid you nay.”
Dear God, she would lead him down the devil’s own path and he’d go willingly, for he was well on his way to being captivated.
He followed the edge of her bodice with his lips as he worked the few buttons at the back of her dress. Once the garment gaped, it was all too easy to tug it downward, and once the shift beneath it was dealt with and her breasts were exposed, he groaned at the utter perfection of those pale mounds. “Works of art, I swear it.” As she giggled, he brushed the knuckles of one hand over one hardening nipple.
“Oh!” Belle shivered. She guided his other hand to her breast and held it there. “This feels all too good.” Amazement wove through the whisper. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed feeling a man’s touch.”
If her eyes beckoned him in further, he would surely drown in those depths and be quite happy to do so. Daring much, he gave one of the dark pink tips a light pinch. A gasp from her was his reward, and she jolted upward, which thrust those lovely breasts front and center for his perusal. “Have you never pleasured yourself in the years of your widowhood?”
“When the need grew overwhelming, yes.” The wicked gleam in her eyes didn’t bode well for him. “Does knowing that arouse you, Captain?” Couched in a whisper, the words and the imagery sent an inferno into his blood. “Do you wish for me to show you how I tame those urges at times when I’m alone in my bed at night?
Dear God.Who was this woman and where had the retiring widow who’d kept to herself gone? And why the devil did she wish to hide that spirit? His shaft pulsed with urgency. “Not right now, but Iamgoing to devour you, if I have your permission.”
She met his gaze without fear or shyness. “You do, for unless I miss my guess, we both want the same thing in this moment.” Then she winked. “And weareengaged, after all.”
“That we are.” Devil take him for that bit of fiction.
Then he devoted himself to exploring those soft, perfumed breasts. When he took a pebbled tip into his mouth and flicked his tongue over it, Belle’s soft gasps and moans urged him onward. Several minutes passed while he explored and the woman in his lap gave herself over to his attention as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was all too heady. When she surged into him, pressing her lips to his and taking control of the kiss, he couldn’t help but grin against her mouth. The woman was naught but a powder keg, and he held the match. So he kissed her, let her boss his tongue, and then he dominated the embrace, showed her without words that he would protect her and take care of her for as long as she would let him.
And that only served to pour more fuel on the fire burning between them.
Easily he delved a hand beneath her skirting, and damn but she was already thoroughly aroused as he stroked his fingers along her heated flesh. She lightly bit his bottom lip when he spread her open and found that swollen nubbin. A moan escaped her the second he rubbed it with varying degrees of friction.
Her fingers dug into his shoulder. “Oh, oh… Hawk!” Lost in the throes of apparent pleasure, Belle moved her hips, ground into his hand, which only made him work her over with more determination. “I am so close… never realized this is so much better with a man…” Her breath came in soft pants. “I… Oh!” A cry of surprise left her throat to echo in the silence of the cottage.
It was such a delight to watch her face as emotions played over it, for she truly enjoyed foreplay. As much as he wished to send her through her paces as many times as she could stand, he wouldn’t last, for it had been at least a year since he’d bedded a woman and already his shaft was strained to the breaking point.
She glanced her lips along the side of his neck. “For the love of all that is holy, finish me. I need to feel you moving inside me else I’ll go mad with wondering.”
“Of course.” He fumbled with the buttons of his front falls. Why wouldn’t they open as quickly as he needed them to? Finally, the fabric panel fell, and he took his impossibly hard member in hand. “I should give you one last chance to beg off.”
Belle shook her head. “There is no need.” She rose onto her knees, and the moment he fit the head of his shaft to her opening, she moaned. “We are alone. To all outward purposes, we are engaged. And we are two consenting adults. There is nothing wrong with engaging in intercourse for the mere excuse that we both enjoy it.”
That was the only permission he needed. Gripping her hips, Hawk thrust upward into the sweet heat of her and didn’t stop until he was fully impaled. They both groaned, and he paused simply to savor the feeling of having her snug sheath around him, but she wasn’t content with that. Oh, no. The widow took it upon herself to move the coupling along, for she dug her fingers into his shoulders then rocked back and forth. Additional friction on his shaft nearly made his eyes cross and a release happen prematurely.
And it was beyond erotic.
He applied himself to hurtling her toward that edge of bliss. Each time he stroked upward, she came crashing down, but eventually that wasn’t enough. “I have to go deeper.” Hell, he wanted to claim every inch of her body, show her how wrong her husband had been to not pay complete attention to her.
As if he were a man possessed, Hawk kissed her in the hopes he would forever be imprinted upon her soul and as he did, he wrapped his arms around her and then lowered her to their makeshift bed. Once he’d laid her down, she slipped her legs about his hips, and it was the come hither look in her eyes that fairly pulled the soul from his body.
That should have given him pause, for that sort of connection wasn’t usual, but he would process what it meant later. Right now, he thrust into her honeyed heat while keeping the bulk of his weight on his forearms. Unfortunately, friction and too much stimulation after such a stretch of abstinence didn’t lend itself to drawing out the act. His breathing labored. Sweat rolled down his spine. His thrusts were short and deep. Urgency raced through his length. His stones drew close to his body; was she ready?
He needn’t have worried. Their flirting from the week and his finger play had already seen her primed, for with a cry, Belle stiffened slightly then she went pliant as she tumbled over the edge and into bliss. When her core fluttered around his shaft, pulled greedily at him, Hawk gave himself over to his own release. Completion washed over him in waves, but damn if he didn’t have the wherewithal to withdraw as he came. It was all he could do to survive the euphoria.
Eventually, he came back to himself, and when he met Belle’s amused gaze, he flashed her a grin. “This has easily been one of the best afternoons I have ever passed.”
“I concur, but I want you to know, I don’t do this with every man who wanders onto my property.”