Page 74 of Tempting the Earl

Magic. Possession and surrender. Pleasure and the deepest connection.

Holding her tight in his arms, he lifted her away from the bedpost and lowered her to the mattress. Their mating was intense and impatient. His thrusts were sharp and deep, relentlessly targeting a spot inside her that throbbed more deeply with every stroke. It was exactly the intensity she needed. A powerful declaration. An unspoken promise of passion unspent.

And the pleasure rose up inside her like a force of nature. All-encompassing, unrelenting, and obliterating. All she could do was hold on to him and trust him to get her there as all other thoughts were scattered like shallow puffs of breath.

She claimed her release first in a furious burst of pleasure that expanded through her body in a tidal wave of sensations. His own climax followed immediately after. Their bodies tensed and trembled together then slid into the sated aftermath of heavy limbs and panting breath.

Before she could fully regain her sense, he shifted his weight, lifting himself off her. But he didn’t leave her. With hands that were almost shockingly gentle after the ferocity of his passion only moments ago, he loosened the belt of her robe and peeled the garment away from her body. Then he slipped her nightgown off as well. When she lay across his bed, naked and warmed, he devoted himself to kissing every inch of her.

The tingling spot behind her ears. The inner curve of her elbow and the undersides of her breasts. The arc of her lowest rib, the dip of her navel, and the arches of her feet. Then he gently rolled her to her stomach to lavish her backside with the same attention. Kisses behind her knees, on the lush curve of her bottom, the hollow of her spine, and her sensitive nape.

By the time he was finished, she was a tingling, melting mess and only then did he stretch out atop her languid, quivering form, sliding a hand beneath her belly to tilt her hips upward to receive him.

Her sigh was deep and sultry as he filled her aching sheath from behind. He thrust in lush strokes that nearly stopped her breath. But when his hand against her belly shifted lower and his middle finger expertly circled her swollen clitoris, her gasps turned to heavy moans. The pleasure built far more slowly this time and she reveled in it. She sunk into the way every reach of his cock inside her spread it further and the sharp edge of his teeth on her shoulder heightened the sensitivity of every nerve until the moment when her body simply couldn’t contain the sensations any longer and they exploded in an array of light and a pleasure so deep no part of her remained untouched.

Chapter Twenty-five

The sun was slowly rising, casting the bedroom in a dreamlike haze. Colin had awoken a short time ago but remained abed. Lying on his side with his head propped up in his hand, he hadn’t wanted to move any more in fear of disturbing the lovely woman sleeping so peacefully in beside him. The soft morning light suited her as she lay curled on her side with her rich auburn hair spread in a tangled riot over his pillows.

He’d have to wake her soon, but first, he wanted to allow himself a few brief glorious moments of unfiltered contentment as he watched the rise and fall of her breath and the gentle flutter of her lashes against her freckled cheeks.

What she’d said last night still echoed through his mind. Something about her words concerned him, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. It was all too muddled and mixed with the other powerful emotions surging through him. Emotions that were shocking and strange and utterly unprecedented.

His breath held as she began to stir. First a gentle pursing of her lips, then a light frown followed by a slow inhale. Then the stretching of limbs. A smile. And the slow opening of her eyes.

But just as her verdant gaze found his, a jolting knock sounded at the door.

They both tensed at the unexpected intrusion upon such a gentle morning as her sleepy expression instantly darkened with a fierce little scowl.

“Bluidy hell.”

Her harshly whispered curse brought a smile to Colin’s lips despite the internal riot of resistance flooding through him.

“What is it?” he called out to prevent whomever had dared to knock from entering unbidden.

“A Mr. Davies has come to call, my lord,” Shaw said from the other side of the door. “He says it’s urgent and insisted I inform you immediately of his arrival. I’ve put him in the library to await your word, my lord.”

“Damn,” Colin muttered in frustration.

“It’s important, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“Davies is Nightshade’s man. It could be news about Mr. Thomas. Or Mr. Owen,” he added with a small spark of hope.

“Urgent news.” She sighed even as she slid across the sheets to press her warm body against his. “I reckon that means you’ll have to get up.”

He draped an arm over her waist and pulled her in even closer as he pressed his knee between her thighs. He was already hardened and throbbing with the need to sink into her heat. “I should,” he admitted reluctantly. “And Mr. Davies doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“What shall I tell the man, my lord?” Shaw prompted from the hall.

“I’ll be right down,” Colin called out before pressing a kiss to Ainsworth’s bare shoulder. “I’ll make it up to you,” he murmured heavily and she gave a small nod. Then he slowly pulled away and rose from the bed to begin dressing.

By the time he was essentially presentable, he believed he had a handle on the lust that had risen so swiftly with her waking. But when he finally turned to look at her, he realized there simply was no way to fully contain such a hunger.

She sat in the center of his bed with her legs swept to the side as she leaned her weight on one hand. It was clear by her avid attention and sensual smile that the whole time he’d dressed, she’d been watching.

He wasn’t sure what it was exactly about that fact that managed to fire his blood back to full intensity in a split second, but there it was, forcing him to adjust himself in his breeches.

“Minx,” he whispered in a low tone.

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