She leaned into his hand to press him harder against her and panted out, “Anything…you’d like.”
When he toyed with her nipple, a moan escaped her, and the erotic sound sparked a burning inside him. “You’re awfully sure about this.”
She opened her eyes and stared into his. He couldn’t prevent the tightening of his chest at her expression, so delicate and vulnerable. So much affection. For him. His grin vanished beneath the intensity of it.
“I’m awfully sure about you,” she whispered. Then she cupped his face between her hands and leaned down to kiss him.
A fierce yearning unlike any he’d ever experienced before overcame him, along with acute anguish to know that they would only have these few precious hours. But he needed her— No, so much more than that. His soul ached for her, the way that deserts ached for rain.
He reached to remove her dress.
“Christopher, wait.”
He froze, fearing she’d changed her mind after all.
A soft plea for understanding glistened in her eyes. “I know who you really are now—how kind and courageous—and that’s the man I want to give myself to tonight.” She touched her lips to his and whispered so longingly that the soft sound made his heart stutter. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
What she wanted washed over him with an electrifying jolt. For over ten years he’d played the part of a rogue and rake, never letting his true self be revealed to any woman, not even when he was buried inside her. He’d kept his heart distant. Always.
But Diana wanted so much more than just his body. She wanted to strip away every pretense right along with the layers of clothing, until he was exposed in every way. The enormity of it terrified him.
When she reached inside her bodice to cover his hand with hers, squeezing his fingers in a reassuring gesture, all of his doubts vanished until there was only certainty that tonight was good and right. Until there was only her.
“I want you, Christopher.” She caressed a thumb over his bottom lip. “I want to make love to you.”
His eyes stung, and he couldn’t stop the tremble that shook him.
“So let me,” she whispered, so softly that the words were barely more than a breath.
Her eyes never leaving his in the shadows, she reached down to take her hem in her hands and slowly peeled her dress up her body.
Diana lifted her arms as she pulled the dress over her head and off, then dropped it unwanted at the side of the mattress. The corset fell away next, leaving her only in her thin cotton shift and stockings.
She sat on his lap, still straddling him, yet shamelessly so, even with his growing erection pressing against her inner thigh. When a tremble shivered through her, it wasn’t from nervousness but need. He had no idea how much she wanted this. But she planned to show him exactly that.
She slowly untied his neckcloth and let it fall to the mattress. Then she took his jacket lapels and pulled them over his shoulders and down his arms. At that moment, with his arms behind him, imprisoned in the jacket sleeves, she gave a throaty laugh. Why not tease him the way he’d done to her?
She leaned forward to place a lingering kiss against his bare neck and mused, “I think I like you like this.”
He grimaced. “Helpless?”
She smiled wickedly and dared to take a slow lick across his flesh. Good Lord, he tasted divine. “My prisoner.”
He laughed, and the deep sound rumbled deliciously into her. It was a small reminder of how connected they were, and how much more fully joined they would be in only a few moments. The growing ache between her legs flared at the thought.
“I’d suggest you grab a length of rope from the deck and tie me up properly,” he mumbled, “but…”
“But you’re afraid I’d think you a rake?”
He arched a brow. “I’m afraid you’d actually do it.”
“Never.” She finished removing his jacket and purred, “I want your hands free.”
Understanding what she meant, he slipped his hands beneath her shift and caressed slowly up and down her outer thighs.
She drew in a long, deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the sensations of his warm hands on her bare legs sweep over her. Intoxicated by the taste and touch of him, she barely realized when she removed his waistcoat and braces, when he slipped his shirt up over his head and off.
But she was well aware when his chest was bare beneath her hands as she ran them over his front. The hard muscles flexed and trembled beneath her seeking fingertips, and his breath grew just as shallow and rapid as hers. When she scraped her fingernail over his flat male nipple, he inhaled sharply.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not—” His voice became a deep groan when she placed her mouth over it, to kiss it apologetically. “Diana.”
Emboldened by his reaction, she took his shoulders and gently pushed him down onto his back, so she could place kisses across his chest and tease at his nipples with her fingers and tongue, the way he’d done before to hers. His skin was warm and soft, with a dusting of hair that trailed down toward his bellybutton and lower. She followed, tracing the ridges of his abdomen with the tip of her tongue. His hands tightened their hold on her upper arms in response, but he didn’t stop her, not even when his body tensed beneath her.
When she reached the waistband of his trousers, she hesitated. She’d only been with one man before tonight, and so long ago. What they’d shared had been sweet and gentle, and she’d never dared to have her mouth on him like this. But now, with Kit, the sweetness of affection she felt for him was accompanied with a physical longing to take pleasure from him and give it in return, one she knew he sensed with the same mounting intensity that gripped her.
He stroked her cheek. “You don’t have to—”
She silenced him with a swirl of her tongue into his belly button, one that shivered through him. Before he could recover from the theft of his breath, her trembling fingers had unbuttoned his fall and reached inside, to free him from his trousers.
Spellbound at the sight of him, she traced a trembling fingertip down his thick length as his erection rested against his thigh. He flexed beneath her touch, which only made her want to more boldly explore him with slow caresses of her fingers.
“But I want to,” she whispered as she took him in her palm to hold him still, then lowered her mouth. Her lips brushed against his round tip with each word. “You taste too good not to.”
When she pulled back to lick her lips and claim the flavor of him lingering there, she wasn’t prepared for the groan that tore from him. Her gaze jumped up to his, to find him staring at her mouth with an intensity she’d never seen from a man before in her life.
Wantonness heated deliciously inside her. Letting him look his fill, she boldly lowered her head and placed a sultry kiss directly to his tip. There was no shame in kissing him like this, no reason to deny either of them this pleasure or her this wonderful new experience. This was the man she wanted to give herself to, and this part of him was his masculine core. How could she not show him what he meant to her? And selfishly, how could she deny herself?
So she opened her mouth and slowly took him between her lips.
“Dear God,” he groaned and shoved his fingers into her hair.
She closed her eyes and let the sensations flood over her…the soft skin over steely hardness between her lips, the salty-sweet taste on her tongue, the strength of his fingers as they curled against her scalp. Inside her, the long-sleeping feminine desire and need fully woke, and her body came alive, in a thousand electric tingles.
When she swirled her tongue over his round head and tasted a drop of the essence that had formed there at the tiny slit, she moaned softly. Hot tears formed in her eyes, and she shivered, overwhelmed by him.
“Diana,” he rasped out huskily as his other hand slid down her body, caressing at her breasts through her chemise. Her hard nipples had already drawn into tight points, but h
is fingers made them ache and throb in time with the growing desire between her thighs.
When his hand slipped between her legs and caressed her bare folds, her heart slammed against her ribs so hard that she knew he could feel it. But he didn’t hesitate as he stroked against her, his caresses growing deeper with each hard suck she gave to his erection, until he slipped two fingers inside her.
Startled, she lost control, and her teeth scraped against his sensitive tip. His length flexed against her tongue.
“Jesus,” he exclaimed softly in pleasure, yet disbelief colored his husky voice that this was actually happening. As he stroked into her, his fingers giving a teasing swirl with each plunge and retreat that had her shaking, he warned, “If you keep that up—”
“What?” she countered, not only scraping her teeth against him again but now daring to take small bites down his length. Inside her, all the tiny muscles clenched around his fingers in an attempt to take him deeper of their own volition, and she moaned softly as the first tingles of release began to lap at her toes. She panted out, “You’ll do what?”
Biting back a curse, he pulled her into his arms and rolled her onto her back. He pulled her chemise up to her waist and spread her legs wide beneath him as he settled into the cradle of her thighs. His eyes never left hers as he grabbed his length and guided it to her core, then shoved his hips forward and plunged into her tight warmth in one smooth motion.
“I’ll make love to you,” he answered, then began to move inside her in long, powerful, and possessive strokes that ripped her breath away.
“Christopher!” With a soft cry of happiness, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on tightly.
Oh, it was wonderful! He was wonderful. She reveled in the deliciousness of being finally filled by him, of having his weight pressing down upon her, of being so closely joined that she couldn’t say where she ended and he began. Every hard plunge came with a low groan from the back of his throat as he let all control vanish. Every retreat came with a teasing swirl of his hips that tore a whimper of loss from her lips and made her desperate to have him fully inside her again to the hilt.
“That’s…that’s so…” She moaned and arched herself against him, her feet now planted on the mattress to push herself up to meet each downward pump of his body into hers.
“Nice?” he rasped out, breathless in his exerted attempts to bury himself inside her.
“Very,” she panted out, her hands clutching at his biceps.
“And this?” He looped her left leg over his shoulder, opening her wide beneath him in a new and delicious angle.
When he plunged into her, he went so deep that her breath left her throat in a strangled cry of pleasure. “Yes! Oh, yes…”
She shuddered as liquid heat began to pool between her legs, right where their bodies joined, and threatened to consume her. A tingle tickled at her toes, still in her stockings because they hadn’t stopped to fully undress. Even now she could feel the scrape of his trousers against her inner thighs, the rough tops of his boots when she ran her foot down the back of his calf to shift positions and linger on this side of release for as long as she could.
But it wouldn’t be long, not if he kept rubbing his pelvis against her clitoris like this. Every thrust against it shot electricity out to the ends of her fingers and toes, and she couldn’t stop the wave swelling up inside her, couldn’t stop the pool of liquid heat at her core from spilling over—
She cried out as a deep shudder swept through her, and pleasure overtook her. Her body spasmed around his, tightening and releasing in waves, and she clung to him as she flew over the edge into sweet release.
He stilled his movements, despite his erection still being hard and thick inside her, and let her pleasure lap over him like the waves hitting gently against the boat around them.
When she’d regained her breath, he began to move again. This time, not with the uncontrolled passion of before, but with slow, careful slides into her wet warmth as she tightly encircled him. This time, he kept her wrapped within the circle of his arms, and she realized that he was no longer having sex with her—
He was making love.
Tears formed at her lashes, and she squeezed her eyes shut. With every ounce of her being, she wanted to imprint this moment into her mind, his body onto hers, so she would never forget it.
“Diana,” he murmured, his cheek pressed against hers, his mouth at her ear and his body never stopping its slow rocking into hers. He whispered so softly that she couldn’t hear, but her heart understood every word… Beautiful Diana…goddess…angel…
“Christopher,” she whispered back, placing a kiss to his cheek and tightening her arms and legs around him. “My Christopher.”
A single tear slipped free, unseen in the darkness. It wasn’t sadness that gripped her but overwhelming joy. Never before in her life had she felt this happy, this safe…and loved.
He clenched his teeth to keep his control even as he brought her to release a second time, not with a cry from her lips like before but a soft whisper of his name. This time, the pleasure that overtook her was sheer bliss, and she held her breath, waiting for him to follow after, to pour himself into her—
Suddenly, he reached between them and yanked himself out of her tight warmth. His arms went around her like steel bands and held her tightly to him, belly to belly. His hips jerked, and with a groan, he shuddered violently as a deep breath tore from him. A wet warmth spilled across her abdomen.
He remained still for a few moments. Then he rolled on his side and gathered her into his arms, fighting for breath as he buried his mouth in her hair. Warmth licked at her toes and swelled inside her. She wrapped her arm around his waist, her legs tangled in his, never wanting to let go.
She rested her cheek against his shoulder and felt the rapid tattoo of his heartbeat. A long, satisfied sigh escaped her when he brushed his fingers through her hair and let it cascade over his chest.
He placed a kiss to her temple. “Are you all right?”
She was disappointed, she couldn’t deny it, that he had withdrawn and denied her that special end of this precious act. But she also knew that he was protecting her, and her chest swelled with even greater affection for him. And yes, with love. There was no point denying it any longer. “I’m wonderful.”
He gave a playful growl and tugged at the neckline of her chemise, to place a kiss to the top swells of her breasts. “Yes, you certainly are.”
Happiness bubbled through her, and she laughed. She placed her hand over his, weaving their fingers together, then placed both of their hands onto his chest. Right over his heart.
Not knowing what to say, not knowing what territory was safe to venture into after this new intimacy between them, she retreated into lighthearted teasing. For now. “Looks like you made me scream after all.”
He pulled her over on top of him and grinned wickedly at her. “Want to see if I can make you do it again?”
“No.” When his brow creased with a bewildered frown of disappointment, she leaned down and kissed him with such wanton intent that he groaned beneath her lips. “I want to make you.”
Chapter 19
Kit stared up into the darkness at the short ceiling of the tiny cabin and heard nothing but the soft sound of Diana’s breathing and the lapping of water against the hull. On any other night, a warm woman’s arms and the gentle rocking of a boat would have been enough to lull him into deep sleep. But there’d be no sleeping tonight. Dawn was coming soon. God only knew what would happen after that, and he didn’t want to waste one precious moment with her.
He shifted her naked body closer in his arms and placed a kiss to her forehead. They’d finally paused after making love a second time to remove what few pieces of clothing they’d still been wearing and now lay bare under the warm blankets. He’d left her only long enough to anchor the boat, which had drawn peals of laughter from her at the sight of a naked man climbing onto the deck and mutters from him about gener
als’ daughters having no appreciation for the sailors of His Majesty’s navy.
Nestled into the hollow beneath his shoulder as she lay beside him, she made a soft sound of appreciation and brushed her hand over his chest. Then she pulled up the edge of the curtain covering the small window and glanced out at the night. There was nothing to see. Around them, the bay was dark, silent, and still, and for now, he could selfishly let himself believe that the rest of the world didn’t exist and that dawn would never come.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Lost.” He’d never uttered a truer word in his life.
She gave him a chastising purse of her lips.
“Safe,” he amended, nuzzling his face against her neck and breathing in her sweetness, that intoxicating perfume of lavender now mixed with the musky scent of sex. “You’re safe.”
“We’re safe, you mean.”
He grimaced. Leave it to that sharp mind of hers to realize that he’d excluded himself in that declaration. Now that the French had the diary, the Crown would consider him a rogue agent for handing it over, and that’s what he would let them believe—that it had been his idea from the beginning, that Diana and her father had nothing to do with it. He would protect them. But he never would be safe again. “No one will hurt you, love.” That endearment fell far too easily from his lips. “They won’t come after you or the ones you care about ever again. I promise you.”
She traced an X over his bare chest. “Cross your heart?”
And hope to die. But speak of the devil… So he changed topics. “You’ll leave in the morning, on the first coach headed toward London.”
Her face darkened in the silver moonlight that slanted into the tiny cabin through the hatchway that he’d left open, so he could hear if anyone rowed up upon them in the darkness. “And you’ll continue to pursue Garrett.”
After the Spy Seduces Page 19
