Page 56 of A Fearless Heart
“Embarrassed?”
“Ugh, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because…it’s not proper.”
He pulled her hands away from her face. “Fuck proper.”
He had her sit down on the bench and knelt in front of her. Then he pressed his mouth to her palm, and she wriggled as heat streamed through her. Something about the way he was kneeling, his bent head…it was almost like worship. But in averyprofane way. Cady let one hand fall to his head, running her fingers through the night-black hair.
“What color is your hair naturally?” she asked.
“Sort of blond,” he responded between kisses. He was working his way up her arm now, and she was realizing that the skin on her inner wrist was incredibly sensitive. “Why?”
“Because it’s a bit strange how I’m letting you kiss me senseless and I don’t even know what you truly look like.”
“I look like this, but blond,” he assured her, then grinned. “Do you really feel like I’m kissing you senseless?”
She inhaled as he licked the inside of her elbow. “Yes.”
“And you like it?”
She sighed, “Yes.”
“Would you let me do something else that I think you’ll like?” Gabe half rose, just enough to take a seat on the bench. He slid one leg around so that she was firmly between his thighs.
“Lean back,” he murmured, his mouth just by her ear. Unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to lick her there, sending a shiver up her spine.
Cady leaned back cautiously, her back tensing up the second she felt the heat of his chest.
“Relax, Cady. It’s no good for you if you’re scared.Areyou scared?” he asked suddenly.
“No,” she said after a moment of assessing. “I should be, shouldn’t I? This is out of the ordinary, and that usually makes me hysterical. I suppose it could be the mushroom tea.”
“Or it could be that desire is stronger than fear,” he countered.
“Is this a lesson in bravery too?” she asked skeptically.
“It could be. Here I was just thinking that we were enjoying each other’s company. But how brave are you feeling?”
“Notthatbrave,” she whispered.
“Brave enough to let me touch you a little more?”
“Where?”
“Well, I was just thinking that the bodice of your gown is getting in my way. Mind if I loosen it?”
Cady didn’t mind. He made quick work of a short row of buttons and a tie at the back, and then he gently pulled the fabric of the gown down, the little sleeves falling at her elbows now. He loosened her stays and removed them, leaving only her chemise to cover her chest.
His hands came up to cup her breasts, a layer of the thinnest fabric between them. Cady squirmed, wanting more. “You can take the rest off,” she told him.
“You’re sure?”
“Do I have to make it an order?”
He hooked his thumbs around the straps and she shimmied to help him tug the chemise downward. The sound he made when he saw her bare breasts was so pleased and so primal that Cady thought she might faint just due to the intensity of it. And then he laid his hands on her bare skin, and she knew shewasgoing to faint.
