Page 101 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
As if sensing my urgency, Noble’s hands went to the back of my dress. He tugged roughly at the laces that crisscrossed my spine, his movements practiced and quick. “Okay?” he asked as he unraveled the ties, loosening the dress’s hold on me.
“Want andwant and want,” I murmured.
His chest jerked with a soft laugh, then he hooked his fingers under the lacing loops and tugged the back of my dress open. I wiggled my shoulders, shrugging out of the sleeves so that Noble could yank it down my hips. When the fabric caught on my necklace, I removed that, too. Stripped down to my chemise with my outer layers pooled at my feet, I felt lighter and slightly chilly, desperate for his heat.
Noble ran his palms over my bare arms and shoulders, smoothing out the goosebumps. He stared down at the low neckline of my chemise, the peaks of my breasts showing through the thin white cotton. Abruptly, he swiveled us, seating me on the writing desk. Then he bent, closing his mouth around one nipple through the fabric and biting until pleasure edged into pain. Stars twinkled across my vision, and I gripped the back of his head, holding him there.
Desire pooled in my stomach like warm honey, slick between my legs.
When he moved to the other nipple, the air cooled the wet circle he left behind. I tipped my head back, enjoying his slow worship of my chest. His fingers fisted in the fabric at my hips as he pressed kisses into the bare skin of my cleavage, my collarbone, the sensitive hollow of my neck. He was neither rushed nor hesitant; he exuded control as he cupped my breast with a firm hand and bit down.
The fact thathewas doing this to me made my heart pound with wild angst. The sight and sensation of him touching me—I could barely comprehend it.This is Noble, my frazzled mind kept repeating.Noble, Noble, Noble. For so long, I had been denied; it was overwhelming to finally give myself over to the pent-up need.
He must’ve sensed the shift in my thoughts, my distractedness. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Us,” I answered honestly.
He stood straight again, regarding me squarely. “It’s a lot, isn’t it?”
I nodded, grateful I didn’t have to elaborate. “You seem a lot calmer than I am,” I added on a laugh.
“I’m not.” He cupped my face in his hands. “But we can go as quickly or as slowly as—”
“Want and want and want,” I repeated.
His observant eyes zigzagged across my face, no doubt taking in the contradictions: the tension beside my eyes and the soft, eager parting of my tingling lips. I realized I was panting a little when his attention dropped to my chest again. He brought a hand to one of the wet spots on the front of my chemise and grazed it with his knuckle.
“I can’t believe I get to do this,” he murmured, staring at the tiny point of contact.
It felt like my fluttering heart was about to break out of my ribs and fly free. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I said. “Finally.”
Noble’s gaze shifted to my neck. He cradled my jaw—possessively firm but reverently gentle—and pressed his thumb into my pulse point. “Your heart is racing.”
I flattened my hand on his chest and felt a rapid thudding. “So’s yours.”
“But you want my touch, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question so much as an observation. His eyes were tactile, sweeping over my flushed skin and tight nipples.
“Yes,” I replied anyway.
“I can tell,” he murmured.
Then he was trailing his fingertips into my hair. He found the pins that held my bun in place, pulled them loose, and let my curls unravel. All the while, he watched, observing my tresses. When my hair was loose and flowing down my back, he sank his fingers into it and gave it a sensuous tug, tilting my chin up to accept his kiss.
“I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“Had I known, I would’ve worn my hair down more often.”
“That’s why I never told you,” he said. “You’re a tease.”
He wasn’t wrong.
With his fingers still tangled in my hair, Noble grazed my bottom lip with his teeth. I felt the scrape all the way down in my belly and moaned against his mouth.
“Mhmm,” he mumbled, like he agreed with me.
Then he pulled back, taking me in, about to say more, but—
He noticed my scuffed knees again, the dried smudges of crimson on my white chemise.
