Page 566 of From Rakes to Riches

With intention, as he slid in and out of her, his thumb touchingthatplace. “Oh, Rake,” she groaned.

But—oh—she wantedmore.

She only realized she’d spoken her desire aloud when he pulled away. She opened her mouth to voice a serious objection, but he pressed a light fingertip to her mouth. “Do you trust me?”

A word wanted to fall from her lips, but it wasn’t one easily spoken.

So, she nodded.

But it was enough. He swung them around so they faced the interior of the room. “Let’s work on getting you more, shall we?”

His feet touched dusty stones, and hers followed. He pulled her close for one more kiss before setting her away. She just caught a glimpse of his wicked smile before he turned her. She reached for the window casement to steady herself, palms digging into rough stone, the valley spread below, the sun shining above, the rain shower gone.

Behind her, Rake bent and removed one of her boots, then the other. “I’m not sure that’s strictly necessary,” she said over her shoulder.

“It is for what I want to do.”

Well.

A bead of heat purled up her spine, slid through her veins, pooled in her sex. She felt vulnerable and open—nervous…thrilled—as if she were careening around a bend, blind.

And only this man could see her safely through.

Boots tossed aside, her trousers were sliding down her legs, and he had them flung away too. Capable hands slid beneath her shirt, bared her bottom to the cool air.

“Gemma,” he said, and she met his gaze over her shoulder. “Your sweet arse might’ve become my obsession.”

Even as a laugh escaped her—there it was, that delight again—he remained utterly serious as he lowered to his knees behind her.

He took her bottom in both hands and bit lightly. “Just as I thought,” he said, his warm breath sending goosebumps racing across her skin.

He licked, and Gemma’s hands tightened on the window casement. Her knees threatened to give way.

“Spread your legs,” he instructed.

Shock traced through her—even as she did as told. Because here was that feeling again.

A thrilling uncertainty.

And yet, through shock and uncertainty,trust.

She very much wanted to know what would appear around this blind bend.

And she trusted this man to show her.

Then she felt it…his lips…his tongue…trailing kisses across her bottom…the backs of her legs. She throbbed… She ached… Though he was giving hermore, to her body it felt like less, as ifa void had opened in her very center that pleaded and demanded to be filled. Surely, it was the only way she would ever feel whole again.

He took a thigh in each hand, and her legs instinctively spread wider. His tongue…oh, his slippery, naughty tongue found…her…sliding along her slit, her back arching to grant him more access to that sensitive—magical—cluster of nerve endings that demanded—oh—just a touch…just the slightest bit of pressure. He held her hips steady, and he gave her a long, slow stroke, and a groan poured from her that sounded more animal than human. The tip of his tongue firmed, and he flicked it against her.

Oh.

And again.

Her legs went wobbly and every cell in her body strained toward the place where he touchedher. Her entire being felt lit from within as sensation rushed through veins, stilling the breath in her lungs. A whirlwind caught her in its wild orbit, taking her higher and higher, teasing her with release…taunting her…pushing her to a height that surely led to oblivion. If only…oh…if only she could…

On the next smooth flick of his talented tongue, the whirlwind let go and she came apart, all the substance of her given permission to leave her corporal form and disintegrate into light and air. She wasn’t simply lit from within. She shimmered… She sparkled… As if she’d become one with the ether beyond the stars.

Inevitably, by slow increments, she began a return to Earth, to this room, to the substance of herself, and glanced over her shoulder to find him settled onto his haunches. That wicked smile on his lips, he shifted forward and bussed a parting kiss on each of her arse cheeks, stealing a giggle from her.

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