Chapter Sixteen
Elle’s gasp of surprise dissolved into a soft and throaty moan that rolled up from her very core.
As a kiss, it was intense and forceful and irreverent. Much like the man himself.
But it was also unbelievably sublime and quite possibly the most perfect thing Elle had ever experienced. Powerful, bone-melting, and consuming.
As she grasped the material of his shirt, whimpering while curling her fingers into tight little fists, he swept his arm around her waist to haul her against him, lifting her to her toes.
His mouth was hard, the shape of his lips changing the shape of hers. Then he angled her head and his tongue plunged past her teeth in fierce possession to glide with erotic, velvety heat along hers. He claimed the strangled moan that slipped from her throat and demanded another. Thrusting and twisting his tongue in a passionate dance.
Elle couldn’t breathe. Her body hummed and stars began to flash behind her eyes. Yet, he held her firm, giving no respite from the onslaught of his kiss.
So, she did the only thing she could think to do in that moment—the only thing she really wanted to do. She surrendered.
With a sigh and soft moan, she slipped her arms around his neck and relaxed her spine and tipped her head back, offering her mouth to him. Offering herself to him. Somewhere in the swirl of her stunned and desirous mind, she hoped it would encourage him to go further—to take more of her.
But it seemed to inspire just the opposite.
His hand fisted gently in her hair as he gave a hot flick of his tongue along her lower lip then lifted his mouth from hers.
Thank God he didn’t release her altogether because as Elle opened her eyes and gazed into his fiercely handsome and utterly ravenous expression, she lost all strength in her body. She quite literally felt as though she were melting into him.
His arm tightened around her and his voice was a tendril of black smoke twisting languorously through her senses. “Are ye gonna rail at me fer that?”
Elle gave a small shake of her head.
“Say it,” he demanded gruffly.
“No,” she whispered, earning a soft press of his lips to the very corner of her mouth.
Tingling sparks raced along every nerve in her body, making her feel almost weightless in his arms.
He lowered his head beside hers to press a barely there kiss to the side of her neck.
She shivered.
“D’ye want me to kiss ye like that again?”
She nodded, but he growled in response. “Say it, luv.”
Fearing he wouldn’t do it if she couldn’t say it, she quickly murmured, “I want you to kiss me.”
“Like this?” he asked as he brushed another light kiss to the edge of her mouth.
A sound of frustration thickened her throat. “No,” she breathed. “I want you to kiss me harder. Deeper.” Something terrifying and wonderful flashed in his dark eyes and the next words slid from her lips like silk on the breeze. “Kiss me...as though...I belong to you.”
She had no idea if her desperate demand made any sense, but it must have since she got exactly what she wanted—a rough growl from his chest, his lips hard and forceful on hers, and his tongue thrusting into the heat of her mouth.