Page 2 of The Pureblood Princess
He ceases his tickling, and she draws in a deep breath and runs a hand over her head to smooth her tousled hair. Her sides ache from laughter, and each breath she takes smells of earth and undergrowth and pine.
“As I said—sooner or later, I knew you’d yield to me.” The smile he gives her shines with boyish pride, and his face is tinged with color from the chase. He’s even more handsome beneath the trees than he is bathed in candlelight.
Theodore seems to catch her staring, and in an instant, something changes in the air between them. His proximity, at first frolicsome and coltish, becomes magnetic, alluring. Hisnear-black curls make his green eyes impossible to turn away from, and Nadia loses herself in his gaze as he steps closer and backs her against the nearest tree.
A tiny gasp of surprise leaves her lips as he closes the space between them, bringing his body up against hers. Though the air around them is cool, the heat emanating from him rolls over her, making her tremble.
She’s not had him—has scarcely even felt his skin—since that night in the garden when the hunter attacked them and she drove a dagger through his chest. Theodore took what remained of her innocence beneath the tumultuous sky, and although she’s lusted for him every day since, they found no solitude or reprieve from company in the weeks that followed.
Once the season ended, they traveled from Everborough to Graystone, where Nadia was given her own room—far away from Theodore’s, of course.
Perhaps Lady Rosetti has known all along what they did in the garden that night and has made an effort to prevent Nadia and Theodore’s scandalous acts; she seems to have an uncanny perception, but that could simply be the result of raising six children and having lived a century-long life.
Whatever the case, with so many Rosettis about, the youngest often underfoot, it’s been near impossible for Nadia to have a moment alone with Theodore, no matter how she’s yearned for it.
But this morning, they finally stole away from the estate, and it feels so good to be alone at last.
The grasses down on the beach shift and sing in the wind, and despite Nadia’s much-improved hearing, she’s surprised to have noticed it over the rapid beating of her heart.
With her back against the tree and the viscount looming over her, she has nowhere to go. She’s trapped... like prey. And somehow, being at his mercy makes her wet for him.
He presses her thighs apart with his knee, then brings it up between her legs, pressing it into that soft spot that makes her melt. Then he lifts her hands above her head and pins them to the tree. She strains against him for a moment, but his imposing strength is impossible to overcome, and it serves only to heighten her desire.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she whispers, finding it difficult to speak coherently once he brings his mouth to her throat.
“Indulging in your submission,” he says, his warm breath brushing along her neck and sending a delicious sensation down her spine. His knee is still between her legs, and he brings it up a touch higher. “Shift your hips.”
The words are low and commanding, and his dominance over her makes excitement and longing curl in her belly. Obeying, she shifts her hips—as much as she can while he still has her pinned to the tree—pressing herself against his knee. At first, she moves slowly, tentatively, trying to find what feels good in such a restrained position.
A low growl rumbles in Theodore’s chest, and he nips at her neck, his fangs a welcome threat. “Harder,” he demands, his hands tightening around her wrists.
With a gasp, she settles her weight onto his leg and begins grinding against it. Her skirt is bunched up on his knee, and the silky touch of it against her warmth is tantalizing. Pace quickening, she rocks her hips forward and back, and soon the fabric beneath her is wet. The breath leaving her lips is hurried, and she has to close her eyes when Theodore draws his tongue down the side of her throat. She imagines him pressing his fangs into her skin, drawing her lifeblood into his mouth, and the image behind her closed eyelids makes her body temperature rise.
If she keeps going like this, she’s going to tumble into ecstasy right on his thigh.
But then he releases her wrists and drops to one knee. Breathing hard, Nadia collapses back against the tree and shivers as he gazes up at her. Something akin to devilry burns in his eyes while he gathers her skirt in his hands and slowly lifts it, revealing her bare ivory legs. A trembling breath leaves Nadia’s lips as the fabric slides along her thighs.
“Lift your leg,” he says, and when she does, he guides her bare foot to his shoulder.
Now she’s spread in front of him, and as he lifts her skirt the rest of the way, her cheeks burn with heat. Sudden worry bursts through her. Will she taste okay? Does she look the way he expects?
He runs a finger down her wet lips, and she grips the rough tree bark, breath catching in her throat. Then he’s leaning forward, and she’s holding her breath, closing her eyes.
When his tongue touches her, she can’t help letting out a gasp of surprise. He’s delicate at first, his tongue sliding up and down her folds. The sensation is different from his fingers, warmer and softer, though he’s using those now as well.
One finger slides into her as his tongue continues its dance across her throbbing wetness. Then it’s two fingers, and his rhythm quickens. He slides his fingers in and out of her, his tongue flicking out to stimulate her inner lips.
A moan rises in her throat, and she presses her foot into his shoulder, rising up onto her tiptoes and opening her eyes so she can watch him pleasuring her. His fingers penetrate her deeper, and now his mouth is on her, sucking on that throbbing spot until she holds her breath and bursts into a delicious release.
Even as she climaxes, her head and upper body pressing back against the tree, he continues touching her, thrusting his fingers into her as she rides the wave of euphoria. Her chest rises and falls as she pants, the pleasure rolling through her body like the tide returning again and again to lap at the shore.
As her breathing returns to normal, he slows his pace, then slides his fingers out of her and places them in his mouth, lips curling up in the corners as he tastes her one last time.
She doesn’t know what to say. No one told her a man’s mouth could be used for such a satisfying act. It’s yet another thing that’s kept from young women, probably to keep them out of the gentlemen’s beds.
“You taste divine,” Theodore whispers, rising from his knee to press a kiss to Nadia’s cheek.
“I...” Her heart rate is still elevated, and as she looks down at the tightness in Theodore’s breeches, it serves only to further quicken her pulse.
