Page 24 of My Favorite Mistake
“Of all the times for my sight to fail me—wait.” As Fanny’s hand stroked across his bare chest, pushing back his shirt and waistcoat in one fell swoop, Nick suddenly noticed what she had been doing. “You only owe me a kiss. You don’t have to do this.”
“Hmm,” Fanny purred, admiring his sculpted torso as it came into view. “I feel compelled to inform you that there are a couple of things you’ve failed to take into account.”
Nick shuddered under her touch, but his voice remained dull. “What would those be?”
“First off, Billy Blakeley happens to be one of my favorite people on the face of this earth. Did you know that?”
“No,” Nick muttered.
“The very young man you chose to pull up and save, even though you thought the key to your own happiness was catching that round of Double Gloucester.”
Nick blinked and peered down at her, his vision unclouding. “Wait. What do you mean, Ithoughtwas the key to my—”
“And secondly,” Fanny interrupted, “you seem to have forgotten that I never agreed to your little wager. I never said I’d give you another chance if you were the first man to the bottom of the hill.” She looped her arms around his neck. “And I certainly didn’t agree to give you up if you weren’t.”
“Fanny,” he breathed, comprehension dawning on his face, “do you mean you’re not sending me away?”
“I’m not sending you away. I’ve decided I’m going to keep you.” She twined her fingers in the hair at his nape as he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. “Turns out you were right after all—youweresupposed to enter that cheese rolling. Not because you were meant to win it, but so you’d have the chance to show me what type of man you really are. The type who would do the right thing by Billy, no matter the cost. So, your record of having never been wrong still stands.” She shook her head, trying to look put upon. “You’re probably going to be insufferable now.”
He laughed, lifting his head. “Oh, I’m going to be insufferable, all right. And the place I’m going to be insufferable is down at the pub, bragging to anyone who’ll listen about how the prettiest gal in the whole county is mine.”
“Well, then.” Fanny gave him a wicked grin, sliding her hand down over the placket of his trousers, where she was pleased to note that he had risen to the occasion. “I suppose I should go ahead and give you that kiss.” She worked a couple of buttons free, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I’m still deciding whereabouts I should give it to you.”
He laughed, a full-throated, joyful sound. “Of course, there’s the fact that you didn’t agree to my wager. MaybeIshould be the one to giveyoua kiss.” He began drawing up her skirts. “And I don’t need any time to decide. I know exactly where I’d like to give it to you.”
“Well, who’s stopping you?” she asked.
* * *
For all his talk, Nick started with her mouth.
Which was fine by Fanny.Lord, but that man knew how to kiss.
He kissed her like he’d been waiting sixteen years to do it. Which, come to think of it, he had. There were so many little details she filed away, wanting to remember them forever. The way his fingers trembled as he framed her face. The pause in which he pressed his forehead against hers while he drew in a breath as if he needed a moment to compose himself. The sound he made when his lips finally met hers, a sigh of pleasure he seemed helpless to contain.
Well, it all had the predictable effect, and by the time Nick’s hands strayed to the bodice of her dress, Fanny had already unpinned everything for him.
He groaned as he reached his big, strong hands into her stays and lifted out her breasts, pulling back so he could enjoy the sight of them filling his hands. “God, you’re still so gorgeous,” he groaned, flitting a thumb across her nipple, causing it to go hard as a stone. “This is just how you looked in my dreams.”
Fanny gave a shaky laugh as she pulled his shirt free from his waistband, then stroked her hands up his sculpted stomach to the hard planes of his chest. “You’re not so bad your… your… Oh,lud.”
She was unable to complete her sentence on account of the fact that Nick had chosen that moment to lean down and press a kiss against one of her nipples. Sinking to his knees before her, he proceeded to subject her breasts to the best sort of torment.
Around the time he started using his teeth was when it occurred to Fanny that she might die if he didn’t start touching her between her legs. That was when she realized he’d been drawing her skirts up for some time without her noticing. As his thumb found that magical nub between her folds, Fanny sighed her pleasure. Lord, how right she had been. Nick Cradduck was definitely the sort of man who was worth keeping around.
After teasing her until her hands were fisted in his silky black hair, Nick pushed her up against an old oak tree, then lifted one of her legs, draping it over his shoulder so he could bury his face between her thighs. Given how exquisitely aroused she was, it only took a minute of Nick’s tongue laving her pearl to send her tumbling into bliss. While she shook with ecstasy, his strong, capable hands held her in place so he could milk every last drop of her pleasure, and also held her upright when her trembling knee threatened to buckle.
She gave a breathy laugh. “Give me a moment to get hold of myself, and I’ll return the favor.”
He’d risen to his feet and was yanking the placket of his trousers open with one hand. “Next time. Right now,”—he suddenly lifted her high against the tree, wrapping her legs around his hips— “all I want is you.”
Well, Fanny was already as wet as October, so even as thick as he was, Nick slid inside her nice and smooth. “Oh, lord,” she gasped. “That feels—”
“So good,” Nick said, finishing her thought. He pressed a kiss against her temple. “It feels right. Like you were made for me.”
Fanny wouldn’t have disagreed with him, even if she’d had the breath to do so. He started loving her with long, slow strokes. Given how recently she had come apart, she wouldn’t have thought she could find her pleasure again. But Nick was remarkably patient, given how many years he’d waited for this moment, and kept up a leisurely pace until he had Fanny squirming in his arms.
He brought a hand to the juncture of her thighs. “Too soon?”
