Page 90 of Tender Blackguard

The kiss was ravenous, harsh, and slightly punishing at first. But when Lark slipped her arms around his back, he groaned and eased the pressure of his lips. The kiss then became something altogether different. A passionate seduction. An erotic vow of lust and worship. A consuming force of love and yearning.

And Lark surrendered to it.

All of it. Her longing and her fear. The knowledge that if she were to eventually leave him with her heart shattered, at least she’d have memories of this consuming love to cherish in her loneliness.

The thought roused a soft sob from her throat and she clung to him more fiercely. But he heard the sound and pulled back, his expression fierce with question and concern. As he looked into her eyes, his features darkened even more. Then he brushed his thumb over her cheek as she felt the trail of moisture left behind.

“Once again I’ve made you cry,” he murmured gravely.

Lark began to shake her head, but he gently took her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his penetrating gaze.

“I can’t stand the thought of hurting you. Tell me what I’ve done.” His voice lowered. “Tell me why you left me.”

Lark closed her eyes. The truth was hard to admit. Not because loving him made her feel weak or shamed. But because she feared he’d feel obligated toward her once he knew. He’d insist on doing right by her and taking care of her, and she just couldn’t fathom being kept in a small house somewhere that he visited on occasion while he went on to have a proper family. And she couldn’t begrudge him a family. After all he’d gone through, he deserved every possible happiness. She’d never get in the way of that, but she couldn’t stand by and watch it happen either.

She could, however, be selfish enough to claim just one more chance to experience what it was to be loved by him.

Taking one of his hands, she turned to lead him through the connecting door to the bedroom. The bedclothes were still turned down and a fire still burned in the grate. He followed her without a word, but when she stopped and started to turn around, he slid his arm around her and pulled her back against him. His lips fell to the side of her throat, drifting lightly over her skin. Teasing and tempting until she sighed from the pleasure of it. With his mouth playing at her ear, he reached around to gently cup her breast. Lark’s head fell back against his shoulder and she turned her head to lift her mouth to his. The hand covering her breast slid up to encircle her throat and he held her like that. His fingers and thumb braced beneath her jaw as his tongue delved wickedly into her mouth. Claiming her raw moan and breathing life into her.

The kiss was everything and yet still not enough.

She wanted to feel the heat of his skin against hers, the beat of his heart against her breasts, and the throbbing length of his desire between her thighs. As she tried to turn in his arms, his grip tightened for just a moment before he loosened his hold.

Stepping away from him as she turned around, Lark quickly released the small row of buttons on her gown. As soon as she could, she shrugged free of the garment and shoved it past her hips to the floor. When she straightened, she saw that he’d shed his coat and was making quick work of his waistcoat. Their gazes were intent upon each other as they quickly undressed. Within only a few breathless moments, he was naked while she still wore her light chemise and corset.

Her fingers stilled in the act of loosening her corset strings as the light of the fire moved in a mesmerizing pattern over the hard ridges and enticing lines of his body. She swept her lustful gaze over every inch of him, hoping to memorize the masculine beauty of his form. The shadows and lines and power of his physique. Until she finally allowed her attention to settle on that part of him which most visibly proved his desire for her. Proud, strong, and undeniably carnal.

As she stared, he seemed to throb and grow before her eyes. Her lips parted and heat flooded her sex, making her swell and ache. She glanced to his face and her breath caught. Not even the shadow of his tense brow could hide the fire in his gaze. His need looked almost painful.

And Lark’s only thought was to soothe him.

Stepping forward, she brought her hands to the broad, curved muscles of his shoulders before sliding them down his arms. As her fingertips reached the hastily wrapped bandage around his forearm, regret at not having been there to tend him made her throat tight. Biting her lip, she brought her hands to the hard planes of his chest, where she paused to feel his heartbeat beneath her palm before trailing her fingertips over the healing scar along his side. Then finally, the ridged muscles of his belly.

He tensed under her exploration. His hands fisted at his sides, his chin lowered, and his eyes narrowed fiercely. But she wasn’t quite finished yet.

As she lowered herself to her knees, she thought she heard a harsh curse slide from his lips, but her attention was captivated by the way his thigh muscles hardened and bunched beneath her hands and how the crisp hair on his legs felt against her palms as she slid her hands around to grasp the taut curves of his buttocks.

While he stood as still and hard as a marble statue, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his belly, next to his hip bone. Breathing in the scent of his skin and his desire, she trailed her lips in a gentle caress toward his navel until her cheek rested against his erection.

His swift inhale and the sudden tightening of his abdomen encouraged her. Lifting her head, she paused for a moment to admire the hard, thick length of him before extending her tongue to glide lightly over his tip in a tentative caress.

The heavy groan that rumbled through his chest reverberated in her own body, making her tremble. And she suddenly had to taste more of him. With a wild fluttering in her belly, she slid the flat of her tongue along his length from base to crown. A heavy groan rumbled in his chest as he shoved his hand through her hair to grasp the back of her head.

She melted.

With a half whimper, half moan, she took him into the heat of her mouth. Twirling her tongue and sucking gently as his breath grew ragged and his body began to tremble. Knowing how he struggled to maintain control despite his mounting pleasure only encouraged her to push him further. She wanted his surrender as he’d demanded hers over and over that night in his bedchamber.

But as her own desire raged through her, she doubted how much more she could take. Her body ached for his. The hollowness inside her was demanding to be filled. To ease some of her own torment, she reached between her thighs to stroke her aching core. The heat and wetness and sensitivity of her flesh astonished her, and she moaned around his pulsing crown.

In an instant, he had her laid out on the rug and was crouching between her spread thighs. The ravenous possession in his gaze stopped her breath, and then his mouth was covering her, lavishing her, feasting upon her with abandon.

Her body shook from the explosive pleasure of it. Her release claiming her before she could take a full breath. And while the delicate and powerful shockwaves expanded to every corner of her being, he crawled up her body and took her face in his hands as he slid his erection—thick and deep—insider her. It was a fierce mating. A desperate possession. His thrusts were powerful and demanding, lifting her hips and stealing her breath as his mouth devoured hers and her fingernails scored his back. When his breath grew shorter and his thrusts quicker, he lifted his mouth from hers so he could look into her eyes.

Lark stared into that starkly beautiful gaze and gasped for breath. Her heart welled and her body trembled with another rising wave of pleasure. Just as her core began to flutter and her thighs squeezed tight around his hips, he murmured a truth she’d known from the start.

“You’re mine,” he breathed.

The climax erupted through her body, dancing like fire along every nerve. She was stunned by the explosive pleasure and watched in fascinated wonder as he arched his back to release a raw animalistic roar. His body pulsed deep and thick inside her as his hips continued with short, shallow thrusts.

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