Page 69 of The Crush of Christmas Past
“Your heart…” Taking hold of my chin, Theo tilts my head, leaving my neck exposed so his mouth can scorch a path along its side. At the base of my throat, he pauses. “It’s all I hear. Always.” His tongue drags a slow, carnal swipe over my carotid artery. “Even when I’m not near you, the beat haunts me.” He sucks, pulling the wild rhythm of my pulse into him.
The whimper that escapes me is stripped down to raw need.
“It calls to me. Curses me. Begs me to act on my deepest, darkest impulses and make it mine.” His teeth scrape over my skin before sinking down. “All mine.”
The heat coiling low in my core unfurls, and Theo’s name tears out of me in an uncontainable, full-body plea.
He groans into my neck. “Fuck, Isla.” One hand at my nape, the other seizing my hip, he yanks me closer. “Do that again.”
“Make me,” I say, spurred on by the knowledge that I’m driving the most stoic man I know to lose control.
“Gladly.” He delivers the word like a warning. “Over and over again.”
Just when I think he’s going to claim my mouth, he dips his head, teeth grazing the curve of my collarbone.Moving lower, his tongue flicks along the edge of my cleavage, tracing the line where skin meets fabric. I press my chest into him, craving more contact.
“So needy,” he murmurs, cupping my breast through my dress. His fingers tease my nipple, coaxing it into a tight peak. With effortless skill, he loosens a few straps of my gown and tugs the bodice down.
“So very pretty.” He drinks in the sight of my chest, pupils blown wide with lust. His lips follow his gaze, charting a path down to my breasts. When his mouth closes around one nipple, I arch against him, chasing his tongue. The moment his teeth scrape the sensitive flesh, ecstasy singes every cell, and his name spills out in two cracked syllables.
Damn. That didn’t take long.
“You feel everything with your soul. I knew you’d be responsive,” Theo praises before shifting to the other side to worship me with equally fevered devotion.
Keeping my breasts exposed, he kisses a line down the center of my body, over my stomach, and lower—until he’s kneeling exactly where I want him. Need him.
He presses a hot, searing kiss to a part of me that’s never felt so painfully alive. His mouth leaves a wet mark on my dress, and a vicious sound rumbles from his chest, vibrating through me.
The next kiss is full of brutal, urgent need that makes my head spin. When he licks me through the fabric, my legs lose all ability to function.
Before I can collapse into a puddle on the floor, Theo grips my hips to steady me. “You’re a sight, Sunshine. A queen who should be commanding a court. So, rule me. Tell me what you want. Be explicit.”
I swallow hard, my pulse jackhammering in my ears. He’s handing over the reins, giving me the power to dictate the next move.
And doing it all from his knees.
“What if someone comes in?” I whisper, suddenly aware of our surroundings.
“It’s just us in here.” Theo throws a brief glance over his shoulder. “And the portraits.”
“They seem very judgy.”
“Stop stalling, Isla.” He traces my hipbones with his thumbs before his palms slide higher, along the sides of my waist. Strong, firm strokes glide over my ribs—up and down, back and forth—soothing me into surrender. Every pass turns me softer. More helpless. Morehis. “Use your words,” he murmurs. “Let me hear you.”
“Your hands,” I breathe. My fingers map the corded muscles of his forearms, sketch his wrists, then chart the contours of his hands down to where they’re wrapped around me. “So capable. So talented. I’ve always envied them.”
“Two nights ago, I was jealous ofyourhands.” He laces his fingers through mine, guiding one hand to his mouth to kiss each knuckle. “Is it finally my turn to play?”
I nod, the throb between my legs syncing with my rapid heartbeat.
Theo drags the hem of my dress up, inch by torturous inch, until it’s gathered at my waist. The cool air strikes my skin and he stares at my exposed lower half like I’m a piece of art. His private exhibit to admire.
One palm glides up the inside of my thigh, coaxing my legs to part. “Is this where you touched?” The tip of his finger brushes over the lace of my thong. “Right here?”
“Yes.” My eyes flutter shut as his thumb connects with my clit.
“And…here?” He dips under the fabric, coating himself in my arousal, stroking without entering.
“Right there.” I grit my teeth, thrusting into his hand. “Please, Theo.”
