Page 64 of Tempting the Earl

Not even when he slowly, intently slid his large hands beneath her buttocks and lifted her to his mouth.

His serious, sensual, unbelievably generous mouth.

The first thing she felt was heat. Then an overwhelming softness—like velvet but more supple. And more insistent. Lastly, pleasure. Pure, delicious, tingling pleasure.

With a rough groan, he closed his eyes to feast more intently on her aching sex.

Released from his gaze, Ainsworth dropped her head back and rolled her spine. Against her conscious direction, her body gave in to the seeking, demanding need inside her. Her pelvis tilted, lifting to him, her hand slid from his shoulder to his head while her other hand remained stretched over her head, gripped fiercely to the curved arm of the sofa.

His tongue moved with wicked mastery along her folds, gliding with tantalizing skill. Awakening nerves with acute sensation that spiraled through her body, making her belly clench and her toes tingle. And when he closed his mouth over that swollen bud at the apex and sucked gently as his tongue performed an intricate dance, she simply lost her mind. The sound that came from deep in her throat sounded foreign. It was too sultry, too sensual and raw to be hers.

But the heavy moan came again. And again, as he applied relentless attention to her most sensitive flesh. All she could do was surrender. Sink into the pleasure, embrace the abandon. Give him every bit of what he was silently, insistently demanding of her. Until she reached a point that felt like an overwhelming frustration.

Her hand tensed and tightened in his hair. Her spine drew taut and her breath was nothing but a series of pants. Something incoherent fell from her lips.

He murmured against her—rich, decadent words. Soothing words. Encouraging words. He wanted her to let go.

But how could she? “I feel like I’m going to fall apart,” she gasped.

“Yes,” he growled. “Fall apart for me.”

“I dinnae...ken if I can.”

“You can,” he assured. Then he set his mouth back to her sex with renewed intensity, focusing explicitly on the things that seemed to drive her the most wild. And within moments that devastating pressure seemed to reach its limit—then hover with delicate sensation—before bursting in a rush of pleasure that pulsed brightly through her body, touching every corner of her existence. The ripples of sensation stole every thought—every breath—as it shattered her then put her back together with soft, drifting pulses.

And through it all, he lavished her with slow licks of his tongue along her wet folds and warm kisses to her inner thighs. Her heart rate eventually slowed, her legs lost all strength and began to tremble, and her hand relaxed against his skull, then fell limply to her side.

With a final kiss to her belly, he rose to his knees and lifted his shirt over his head. Though her mind was still hazy, her attention was immediately captured by the perfection of his body. With heavy-lidded eyes, she devoured the sight of him, barely even noticing when he shifted further to remove his boots and stockings.

She did, however, take notice the second he started shoving his breeches down.

With a catch in her breath, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, not daring to miss a single moment of what would come next. But her sudden movement drew his attention and he paused. His breeches were low around his hips. Low enough for her to see those tapered muscles angling across his hips and a trail of dark gold hair that disappeared past his waistband.

Her throat tightened and her mouth went dry.

The hard bulge of his erection was impossible to miss trapped beneath the stretched material of his breeches, the tip nearly exposed.

Her gaze flickered up to meet his. There was so much heat but also a faint shadow of question. And a furrow of concern darkened his brow. She shook her head slowly. “Don’t you dare stop now.”

The corner of his mouth curved upward and the shadows disappeared. For a second, he looked downright naughty as he shoved his breeches to the floor and kicked them aside. She almost laughed at his sudden impatience, but then she caught sight of his proud arousal and the laughter stopped short.

His erection was long and thick and beautiful. Standing strong from his groin as he sat turned partly toward her.

On impulse, she rose to her knees and sat back on her heels. With her eyes wide, she pressed her hand flat to the warm surface of his chest.

“Lean back.”

His brow twitched, but he did as she requested, settling his shoulders into the corner of the sofa. Drawing one leg up, he let his knee fall open while the other foot remained braced on the floor. The new position gave her full access to his body while his expression encouraged her to do as she wished.

She didn’t take his generosity for granted. Her smile widened with thrilled anticipation as she settled her hands on his knees. The light hair on his thighs was crisp and tickled as she explored the hard columns of muscle tensing and releasing beneath her palms. Her fingertips lightly teased the creases near his groin before trailing softly over the ridged plane of his abdomen, which tightened and trembled delightfully under her touch.

Though she most desperately wanted to reach for the very male part of him that seemed to expand each time she glanced at it, she intentionally avoided it. Something inside her wanted to tease—him as well as herself. She wanted to prolong the temptation as long as she could stand it. So, she pressed her fingers into the muscles of his chest. She tested the sensitivity of his flat nipples with her fingernails. Then she braced her hands on his shoulders as she leaned forward to press a brief, chaste kiss to his lips.

When she pulled back without deepening the kiss in the way they both so obviously wanted, his expression clearly revealed his objection. She smiled and held his passion-darkened gaze as she finally trailed her fingers down his torso.

Hungry for the sight as well as the feel of him then, she lowered her gaze and gently wrapped her hand around his length.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the contact, drawing her attention back to his face. His eyes had closed as his throat muscles had gone taut.

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