Page 66 of Tempting the Earl

Still, he seemed to hesitate. The tension remained high throughout his body. “The consequences—”

“I’m well aware of the consequences,” she interrupted as she pulled back. She hated having her autonomy challenged at any time, but she especially didn’t appreciate it now. “But I shan’t hold you responsible, if that’s your concern.”

For some reason, her assurance seemed to anger him. He did nothing to hide the sudden darkening of his countenance or the flash of temper in his eyes as he suddenly and quite fiercely grasped her around the waist and laid her back on the couch again. His body covered her, and though he held much of his weight on his braced elbows, she was undeniably trapped beneath his superior strength.

And she didn’t hate it.

In fact, a tingling thrill coursed through her at his display of physical mastery.

“We’ll manage the consequences together or we go no further,” he noted harshly.

His words stirred her awareness as she realized how unintentionally hurtful her words may have been. The last thing she wanted to do was suggest she thought he was anything like the man who’d so callously seduced and abandoned Davina.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she looked intently into his eyes as she replied, “You’re right and I’m sorry. We’ll manage whatever comes together.”

As she finished speaking, she couldn’t stop herself from shifting her legs, parting them to allow for his hips to settle more deeply against her. Her reward was the undeniable pleasure of the smooth blunt head of his erection fitting into place right where she wanted it most.

They both stopped breathing as their gazes locked.

Ainsworth tried to lift her pelvis, seeking more pressure from that glorious part of him. But he tensed, preventing the deeper contact she craved so recklessly. She made her displeasure clear in her expression as she raked her fingernails insistently down his back.

But he didn’t flinch and he didn’t soften.

“You’re certain you want this?”

“That’s what I just said, isnae it? How can you possibly doubt it?” she asked as she palmed his buttocks and tried lifting her legs around him.

A low grunt sounded from his throat, but he held firm, pinning her hips to the sofa with his as his erection throbbed against her slick, aching flesh. “Then let me make it good for you,” he finally muttered hoarsely. Lifting up just a bit, he slid his hand between them. As his fingers glided over her sex, he lowered his mouth to hers.

The taste of him was instantly intoxicating, his tongue bewitching. She surrendered to the sensations aroused by his skillful caress, giving herself over to his more experienced direction, trusting now that he wouldn’t try to stop again.

When she first felt the pressure of his finger pushing into her body, she arched at the oddness of it. But he just continued kissing her with mindless passion. Soon, the rhythm of his finger thrusting in and out, sliding through her wet heat, reaching deep inside her where new and wonderful sensations were awakened had her panting for more.

When he added a second finger, stretching her, she crooned in the back of her throat as the added pressure seemed to heighten the building pleasure. She started muttering incoherently against his lips. He answered with soothing words she couldn’t quite comprehend.

It wasn’t enough and she tried to tell him so.

Maybe she managed it, because he shifted then, withdrawing his fingers from her body. She knew right away when she felt pressure again that it was no longer his fingers claiming entrance. The intrusion was hotter, smoother, and significantly broader.

She tightened her arms around his neck and kissed him with utter abandon, signaling her encouragement and desperate need with her entire body in the only way she knew how.

He responded by sliding one arm beneath her shoulders, holding her close, while his other hand slipped beneath her hips. He claimed her with steady, insistent progress. No more hesitation, no more doubt. Just a strong, slow thrust. Until he was fully encased within her and all she could think—all she could feel—was that no matter how long she lived, she’d never belong so completely to anyone else.

COLIN COULD BARELY think. The world existed in her. In her kiss. In that moment of suspended wonder between her inhale and exhale.

Pressure was building inside him. Need, lust, and a deep and primitive urge to possess warred with the still somewhat rational corner of his brain that warned him to go slow. To curb the near-violent hunger raging inside him. To hold tightly to the reins of control that were threatening to slide from his grip.

He didn’t want to lose control. He didn’t want to become mindless with physical craving. He wanted to remain fully present and wholly aware of every moment. Because he’d never experienced anything so perfectly fulfilling and beautifully stirring as making love to this stunning, unpredictable, compassionate, and challenging woman.

Being so deep inside her was pleasurable beyond imagining. But then he slowly withdrew—carefully measuring her reaction to the movement—and realized he’d only begun to explore and understand what could be experienced. He pressed forward again, reclaiming her. And there was even more.

The pleasure compounded with every plunging stroke. Spreading wildly through his blood and consuming every sensation in his body. It was more intense and more astonishing than anything he’d ever experienced. The need in his body was passionate and primitive, but she met him every thrust.

Their kisses soon devolved into short pants and harsh moans, yet she continued to boldly meet his gaze, demanding more from him. Giving more of herself with every sigh and every roll of her hips. She held him fast in her embrace with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

The pleasure became so great inside him that every breath he took threatened to break the dam holding back his climax. He clenched his teeth against it. Not yet. If he had his wish, this would go on forever. The steady layering of intense sensations. The deepening intimacy. And the wild, untamed, utterly mind-stealing pleasure.

Adjusting the movement of his hips, he changed the angle of entry and shortened his thrusts.

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