Page 69 of Laird of Smoke
As he loomed over her, she scanned his body as well, dwelling on his shoulders and chest.She tucked her lip under her teeth as if she wished to devour him.
That gesture made him harden with a groan.
Then she lifted her hands tentatively to touch his bare skin.Her fingers felt so delicate upon his ribs.As soft as the sweep of an artist’s brush, painting him in colors of desire.
He lowered his eyes to the top of her leine.
“May I?”he whispered.
She nodded.
He slipped his fingers beneath the neck edge of her leine, sliding the fabric down to reveal more and more of her tempting body.The rapid pulse at her throat.The graceful edge of her collar bone.The soft curve of her bosom.
Her eyes drifted close.Her mouth fell open.She shuddered with anticipation as he peeled the leine off of her shoulders.
He gradually bared her breasts, slowly grazing the tips with the linen, making them stand erect before freeing them from the garment.
“Lovely,” he breathed.
More lovely than he’d imagined.The pale orbs of her breasts were crested with small nipples the color of tawny pink averin berries.
He used his thumb to measure the throbbing in her neck before gliding his fingers along her collar bone and over her sweet shoulders.
Then he ventured farther, watching her face carefully for signs of distress.Her eyes were still closed.But he could read her reactions in the crease of her brow, the tension in her mouth, the pace of her breathing.Lower and lower he swept his fingers, making sensual circles atop her breasts and dipping down between them to caress the flesh with the back of his knuckles.
Sensing no resistance, he widened the circles to encompass her breasts, and her brow furrowed as she strained toward him, as if willing him to touch her nipples.
He smiled.He knew how to be a tease.But he would torment her—and himself—no longer.
He cupped her breasts from underneath and let his thumbs sweep over the sensitive nubs.
She drew in a sharp breath.Her eyes squeezed tight.But she didn’t stop him.Instead, she made a mew of yearning deep in her throat.
That sound fueled his lust.He ached deep in his groin.
“May I kiss ye,” he rasped out, brushing his thumbs over her again, “here?”
She trembled uncertainly for a moment.Then she gave him the tiniest of nods.
His mouth felt divine.Eve didn’t know what emotion stirred her.Fear?Excitement?Deliriousness?Her heart thundered like a wild storm on the heath.And she didn’t want it to stop.Didn’t wanthimto stop.
Adam’s hair tickled in the most delicious way as he lowered his head.His breath sent shivers of delight down her body.When he kissed the space between her breasts, however, she felt one brief frisson of guilt.That was the spot where her convent cross usually hung.
Dear God, if he’d known she was a nun…
Before she could continue that thought, he pressed his lips again and again with gentle affection upon her breasts.And a warmth spread through her that dissolved all guilt.Erased all care.And enveloped her heart.
When he took her nipple into his mouth, she gasped at the sudden spark that seemed to ignite her body.And when he began to suckle there, using his tongue to bathe her flesh and his lips to draw her in, she arched her head back, lost in a sensual haze.
Finally taking his fill, he moved to the other nipple.She groaned as the burning in her veins grew to unbearable proportions.A prickling deep in her loins demanded to be relieved.
Then he released her.For a moment, she was distraught.She nearly disgraced herself by begging him to continue.But he wasn’t finished.And he seemed to know what she wanted.
He tugged on her leine, pulling it down until she could free her arms, then lower to reveal her belly, her navel, and the very top of her curls.
“Ye’ve made me a map,” he murmured.
She opened her eyes just enough to see the glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
