Page 82 of The Courtship Trap
And then there was only fire.
Only them.
Only this.
Sebastian crushed his mouth to hers once more, pouring every ounce of longing, of years lost and found again, into the kiss. But then, just as he was ready to take her, to claim her as he had dreamed of for so long, Harriet did something unexpected.
With surprising strength and determination, she twisted beneath him again, using his own momentum against him. In an instant, he found himself flat on his back, Harriet straddling him, her hair tumbling in wild waves around her face.
Sebastian blinked up at her, momentarily stunned.
A triumphant smile played on her lips as she pressed her palms to his chest, her touch featherlight yet searing.
“You think you are the only one who has waited for this?” she murmured, her voice husky.
A deep groan rumbled in his chest as she traced delicate fingertips along the taut lines of his stomach, her touch igniting a trail of fire in its wake.
Sebastian’s hands moved to grasp her hips, but Harriet caught them, pressing them back against the mattress.
“Not yet,” she whispered.
He let out a strangled sound, a mixture of a groan and a laugh.
“Minx,” he muttered, but he allowed her this moment, surrendering to her touch.
Her lips followed the path of her hands, brushing over his collarbone, his chest, pausing at the scars he had earned over the years.
She kissed each one.
Sebastian’s breath left him in a sharp exhale.
“You undo me, Harry,” he admitted, his voice low and ragged.
She smiled against his skin.
“Good,” she murmured.
And then she continued her curious exploration.
Harriet trailed her lips lower, her breath warm against his skin as she explored every sculpted plane of his body. Sebastian felt himself unraveling beneath her touch, his muscles tensing with every press of her delicate fingers, every sweep of her tongue.
His head fell back against the pillows, a deep groan spilling from his lips as she kissed down the center of his chest, her hands skimming along his ribs, his abdomen, before tracing the sharp cut of his hips.
“God above, Harriet,” he rasped, his hands flexing against the sheets.
She paused, glancing up at him through her thick lashes, her expression a mixture of satisfaction and something softer—something that stole the breath from his lungs.
“You have always been majestic,” she murmured, her fingers splaying over his taut stomach. “But like this … beneath me … completely mine to touch …”
She lowered her lips to the curve of his hip, brushing a kiss there, then another, her tongue flicking out to taste him.
Sebastian’s resolve frayed at the edges, his fingers gripping the sheets in an effort not to flip her beneath him and take charge. But damnation, he wanted to see what she would do next.
Her mouth continued its descent, her touch teasing, tormenting, until he was nearly shaking with the effort to remain still.
“Harry,” he warned, his voice hoarse.
She smiled, wicked and knowing, and pressed her lips to the sharpest point of his hipbone, making his entire body jerk beneath her.
