Page 88 of Seducing the Knave

But his hips continued to pummel her. His thick, hard length pounding into her softness. Deeper. Faster. He fisted his hand in her hair—the tug on her scalp making her gasp as she lifted her face in search of his kiss.

She caught his gaze instead. The gray depths of his eyes swirled and flashed with passion and power and reverence. His lips were curled and drawn back in a snarl as he denied her the touch of his mouth.

After thrusting deep—so deep it stole her breath—he then held himself as still as stone inside her. While her inner muscles squeezed and fluttered and her heart raced and her belly twisted with delicious pleasure.

Then he spoke in a menacing growl, “Say it.”

Elle’s entire being thrilled to his demand. Looking into his gorgeous eyes, she licked her lips and took a soft breath.

“I’m yours.”

His mouth fell on hers—hot and masterful—as he reached down to grasp her bottom in both hands. Tilting her pelvis, he angled her to receive his renewed thrusts, each one harder and deeper than the last. Elle went weak. Her whole body submitted to his. Accepting all he had to give. Pleasure twisted and turned and wound tight inside her. Until it reached its limit and fractured into a million pieces of beautiful, gasping, shaking release.

When her body became hers again, she realized that he’d stilled inside her once again. His length hard and hot as her inner pulses slowed and her breath evened. His lips and tongue were soft as they moved over hers, easing her back to awareness.

She didn’t understand why he hadn’t continued thrusting to his own release. But before she could voice her confusion, he turned her away from the wall and took her to his bed. The subtle movement of his cock shifting with each step caused a shiver to course down her spine. He must have felt it or sensed it because a gentle chuckle rolled through his chest as he sat down with her straddling his lap.

Then he reached up to palm the back of her head and took her mouth in another mind-melting kiss that made him pulse inside her. She barely even felt his fingers running swiftly down the row of buttons on the back of her gown. But a moment later, he had her gaping gown lifted over her head and tossed aside. Her chemise was next, and since she’d taken to going without stays, that left her in nothing but her stockings and shoes.

As he went about shedding his own clothing, she glanced down at where their bodies were still joined. The sight was decadent and wicked and it shortened her breath.

Once his body was bared, she flattened her hands to his chest and smoothed her palms over every contour and ripple. She loved the feel of him—the lean strength and controlled power. The hint of viciousness that always remained beneath the surface and the almost harsh tenderness he couldn’t help but express.

As he did now.

Grasping her buttocks with his large hands, he kneaded her softness as he lay back on the bed. Elle would have lowered herself atop him, but he held her in place. Sitting astride his hips. The hard length of him buried inside her.

With his hands on her hips, he guided her body into a lush, rolling rhythm that quickly reawakened those glorious sensations. Bracing her hands on his chest, she took over, learning what new pleasure she could discover.

When his hands returned to her—covering her breasts, pinching her nipples—she moaned and whipped her hips in a fierce circle.

His groan was dark and ragged. “That’s it, luv. Take what ye need of me. Ruin me.”

The pleasure, when it came a second time, left her shaking and trembling but not so mindless that she didn’t watch in awe as he strained beneath her. His muscles bulging and sheened in sweat. His hands grasped tightly around her waist. His gaze locked with hers as a raw sound forced its way up his throat. Then he pulled suddenly free of her to spend the hot, rhythmic pulse of his release against his belly.

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SOMETIME LATER—HOURS...maybe an eternity—they still lay sprawled across his bed. Though both utterly naked, the sweat had cooled on their skin and their heart rates had slowed to even, sated rhythms.

Elle lay across the bed with her head resting on Max’s abdomen. He had one arm bent up beneath his head as he twined her silken curls around and around his fingers. She’d closed her eyes some time ago. He had no idea if she was even still awake, but he didn’t mind as the gentle silence allowed him the opportunity to admire her at his leisure. And he did. Thoroughly.

Her stunning beauty still astounded him. Her sensuality and grace and pride. Even her haughty impertinence. He adored it all. But perhaps especially the last.

He couldn’t begin to guess what had inspired her fierce passion and demanding desire, but he would kill anyone who’d think to take his place.

The sooty crescents of her lashes fluttered then lifted and her lips parted on a sigh that stirred things inside him. As she met his gaze, a soft smile curved her pillowy lips and she lifted her hand from where it had been curved around his bicep to smooth her fingertips over the scowl between his brows.

“Why so fierce?” she asked, her voice a sultry murmur.

Max could only give a short shake of his head and a half-hearted smirk. Any words he might have managed got caught in his throat.

Her gentle fingertips continued to smooth a path down the bridge of his nose then across the crest of his cheekbone before drifting along the ridge of his jaw until she reached the center of his chin. During her exploration, the relaxation in her features slowly slid away as something akin to concern tugged at the corners of her mouth and darkened her eyes.

Then she pressed her thumb to the center of his bottom lip in a repetition of his earlier gesture. He pursed his lips and kissed her before nipping at the pad of her thumb with the edge of his teeth.

She smiled and slid her hand to rest against the side of his face.

His heart stuttered.

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