An action that just
brought her closer to him, pressed against the hard length of his body at
breast and hip and thigh as Edward plundered her mouth, bruising her
lips with the force of his passion.
‘That…’ he said at last when the need to breathe forced him to lift his
head. ‘That is what you were inviting and you damn well know it.’
That and a whole lot more, Liza had to admit, even if only in the
privacy of her thoughts. Because the truth was that, held close this way she could be in no doubt as to what else she had been inviting. The
heated evidence of the arousal she had sparked in Edward was hard
against her stomach, making her nerves quiver in apprehensive response.
Apprehensive because the power of his assault on her mouth revealed the
force of the passion she had unleashed and the recognition of that force
made her mind split in two with contrasting feelings.
One part of her welcomed it, something vital and female in her soaring
and singing at the thought that here was a man who wanted her for her.
A man who wanted her as a woman and with no thought at all at this
moment for what she could give him or bring to him in inheritance.
Edward had no need of anyone to give him anything. He was
complete in himself rich and powerful beyond any of her imaginings and
yet right at this moment, this man wantedher .
But at the same moment there was a fearful tremor that knotted her
insides with the recognition of the fact that she had never ever
encountered anything or anyone like this before. The few casual
relationships she had had while growing up had been relaxed and
uninvolved. Even her engagement , she saw now, had been a low-
key affair with no real passion between them. The reasons for which she
now knew.
But this, she recognised as Edward took her mouth again this was
another thing entirely. This made her tremble all over made her legs
weaken beneath her. She was adrift on a storm tossed ocean lifted high
on foaming waves that could just as easily drop her down with sickening
speed, into the darkest, deepest abyss. And if that happened then
those waves would close over her, drowning her completely.She was
totally unprepared for the force of those feelings, as naïve and innocent
before them as she had been when she had first seen Edward all those
years before, tumbling headlong into a wild and foolish crush that had turned her world upside down and inside out.
And the truth was that she didn’t care. For the first time in a long, long
while she felt wonderfully, truly alive. Alive in a way that her relationship
with She and everything about it had never been able to make her feel.
And the most important thing was tha she felt like a woman, fizzing with
the real excitement that being female could bring, burning with the real
heat of a woman’s sensual need.
And so she let her mouth open further under Edward’s. She let her
tongue tangle with the play of his as she gave herself up to the need that
was throbbing in her veins. And she let her body melt against the lean toned lines of his, loving the way that his arms held her, the brush of a
strand of hair against her forehead the heat and scent of him that
enfolded her totally.
Yes she whispered when at last she snatched a chance to speak.You’re
right. That is what I was inviting.She took his mouth in a slow, sensual kiss, slicking her tongue along his
lips and nibbling lightly with sharp white teeth on the fullness of the
lower one, making his breath catch in his throat in response.
And this…The words were spoken against his neck as she trailed her
kisses down over his jaw the strong lines of his throat and into the
hollow revealed by the open neck of his shirt where his pulse jumped and
throbbed betraying the effect she was having on him.Lizw…His hands tightened round her then abruptly released her again. But just as she was struggling with a sense of bitter disappointment she
realised that the release was only so that he could touch her in more
places stroking over her arms, down her back big hands long fingered
warm-palmed splaying out across her buttocks, easing her even closer to
the heat of his hunger for her.
A hunger that she felt too, pooling deep between her legs. A hunger that
made her impatient for more so that when he tugged at her shirt, pulling
it free from the waist band of her trousers, she made no move to pull
away instead nestling closer and pressing swift encouraging kisses along
his exposed collarbone.
The touch of his hands on her bare skin made her draw in her breath on a
sharp, gasping cry, combining her delight and her disbelief that this was
happening all in one sound.
Was it possible that this devastating man really wanted her? She could
hardly believe it, but it was what she needed so much. She needed to feel
his touch, know his possession. She wanted this, even if just for one
night. One night that would wipe away the wounds left by Sam
rejection. After that, let the future take care of itself.
‘I think we could be a bit more comfortable…’
Edward swung her off her feet as he spoke and carried her over to the
big velvet-covered settee that stood against the wall. As he deposited
her on the cushions, he came down with her, his hands already busy with
the buttons on her shirt, tugging them open, peeling the material away so
that it exposed the soft flesh of her breasts in the pale red bra. The sensation of his mouth on her skin was almost shocking in the delight
it gave. Liza felt as if this was what she had been waiting for for so
long—all her life, it seemed. Certainly ever since the moment she had
first set eyes on him in the field stables all those years before.
Her head fell back and she closed her eyes, the better to feel the
tantalising sensations that trailed over her skin from that wickedly
knowing mouth as he kissed his way down from her throat and over the
soft curves below. For a moment he didn’t trouble to remove her bra but
kissed her through the fine silk, swirling his tongue over a straining
nipple, moistening the material so that it clung to her sensitised skin. The
next moment she was choking on a cry of delight as his mouth closed fully
over her teasing at first, then suckling hard. He even let his teeth
scrape lightly over the silk covered n****e making her arch against him in
heated delight.
Edward.
Her hands were in his hair, wildly clutching, holding his head close to her,
keeping his mouth where she needed it. She only eased her hold on him
when having flicked open the front fastening of her bra, he used his
teeth to move the loosened cups to one side allowing his lips and tongue
and teeth unrestricted access to her bare skin. And if she had thought
that the sensations of his caress through her clothing were intense now
she felt close to swooning in delight as he gave the same attention to the
exposed skin creating stinging pleasure waves that seared their way
down from this tiny focus point to the most intimate spot between her
leg where now she burned for his possession.
As if he sensed her need he shifted slightly let his hands move lower
stroking caressing as they went until they were stopped by the tight
waistband of her trousers.
For a moment she held her breath, waiting for him to open the fastening move lower still. But just as he had with her breasts so now he
subjected her to more delightful torture of waiting caressing and
teasing her through her clothes, cupping her so that the heat of his
broad male palm reached her through the cotton, adding to the already
burning need that pulsed at her most intimate core.
Edward!’
It was a cry of protest, of hunger, of need. She wanted more than this.
Needed his touch more intimately. Needed him more. And even when she
lifted her hips from the cushions, pressing herself against his hard
fingers, it was not enough.The pleasure of his touch was blunted by the
folds of material between them and it was not his touch she wanted
buthim . She needed to know the full truth of his most intimate
possession and only that would satisfy her.
They weren’t close enough.He was still fully clothed for one thingfrustrating her need to touch him all over to know the sensation of skin
on skin her naked body against his. She didn’t have his skill with the
buttons her eyes still closed as she dealt with them blind but after a
few moments tugging and twisting they were open and she heard his soft
laughter deep in his throat as he helped her at last, shrugging off his
jacket and then his shirt barely pausing in his attentions to her breasts
as he did so.
And these will have to go…
Kneeling up, he slid down the zip on her trousers, then, hooking his
fingers at the loosened waistband eased them down her legs, taking the
pale pink knickers with them. That tormenting mouth followed the path
of her clothing, kissing its way down the exposed skin from her waist
along her thighs right to her toes then back up again lingering on the cluster of curls between her legs making her cry out in shock and wonder
as her hands reached down to clutch at his dark head once more.
This is what you were inviting.