Page 39

Taking an unsteady step forward, she let her fingers explore the silk and steel of hard muscles covered in smooth skin.

His light sprinkling of black chest hair crinkled, and when she scraped a nail over the disc of his nipple, he groaned.

Her eyes flew to his face. The raw need hardening his mouth, tightening his jaw, flashing in the dark-blue depths of his gaze humbled Ivy.

She caused such ravenous hunger in this powerful man, and yet he held it in check. For her.

What a marvellous thought.

On a muttered curse, he delved his hand into her hair, gripping her neck and pulling her close.

His kiss was a claiming as he plunged his tongue into her mouth.

She welcomed the invasion. Giving her hands free rein, she rubbed down his chest and over the ridges of his belly, delighting as his stomach muscles clenched beneath her fingers.

Scraping teeth over his bottom lip, she swallowed his growl and revelled in the friction of her stays pressing against her hardened nipples as he pulled her hands from between their bodies and crushed her tightly to his chest. His mouth nibbled along her jaw to her neck where she felt the bite of teeth before he soothed the same spot with sweet, sucking kisses.

She was dissolving into him, losing herself when he pulled back and moved his hands to her waist. ‘Turn around.’ He pivoted her so she faced away from him.

‘What are you doing?’ It felt strangely vulnerable to give him her back.

‘Do you want me to stop?’ Her hair had fallen from its pins and cascaded behind her. He lifted it, and cool air rushed over the back of her neck before his warm breath caused her to shiver in need. He pressed open-mouthed kisses on her sensitive nape. She was melting once more.

‘No.’ If he stopped, she might spontaneously combust in the middle of her room.

Nipping her shoulder, his sharp teeth were dulled by her dress.

Tugging on her hips, he pulled her with him as he took a step backwards, then another.

Sitting on the chair, he drew her onto his lap, her back to his chest, her head falling onto his shoulder, giving him free access to her neck and throat.

His steel shaft pressed insistently against her bottom, and she lifted her hips.

‘I don’t want to hurt you.’

He pulled her firmly back in place. ‘You won’t. Trust me. It feels amazing.’ He ground her against him and groaned. ‘But this isn’t for me.’

Ivy wasn’t sure if he said that to her, or himself. She opened her mouth to ask why this couldn’t be for him, but he was nuzzling her neck. He bit her softly, then sucked the sensitive flesh. Ivy moaned as blood rushed to the surface in a wash of heat.

She didn’t realise his hands were busy bunching up her skirt until the night air wound around her ankles and up her calves, causing her thighs to tremble. She should stop him.

But why? I want this. He wants this. Why can’t we share this magic together, just for tonight?

‘Have you touched yourself before?’

Ivy’s thoughts froze. The very idea was shocking.

‘Because you are going to touch yourself now, Ivy. You are going to show me what you want. What you like.’

She couldn’t possibly. Tensing to stand, he shifted his arm to wrap diagonally over her torso, clamping her tightly against him. His other hand stopped tugging up her skirt. For a moment, they sat together, breaths coming hard, bodies tight with need. ‘Do you want me to stop? You need only say.’

She arched against him but didn’t speak the word.

‘Or do you want to touch yourself, Ivy? Do you want to see how glorious it feels? To discover how much pleasure your body can experience?’

Well, when he puts it that way, only a fool would refuse.

Ivy was no fool. ‘Yes,’ she moaned.

His dark laugh rumbled against her back. ‘Oh, no. That won’t do. You must be specific, or I won’t know. Tell me you want to touch yourself. Tell me you want to feel the wet heat of your quim as you finger that sweet little nub hiding beneath all your layers.’

She could barely make sense of his words, let alone repeat them. ‘I don’t…’

‘Tell me, Ivy.’

The command in his tone was impossible to refuse. ‘I want to touch myself.’

‘Yes,’ he hissed as though her words brought him acute pleasure.

Releasing his grip on her torso, Edward took her hand, tangling their fingers together so the back of her hand pressed against his palm.

His other hand continued gathering her skirt, encouraging her to lift her hips so he could bunch the cotton around her waist. She peeked down and saw her pale thighs glowing in the lamplight.

Oh dear Lord.

Her thatch of maiden hair, dark blonde and coarse, caught the lamplight. If he looked down now, he would see her. Completely bare. The idea of it created a new wave of heat to crash through her body.

‘Hook your foot around my calf.’ His gravelled command meant she would have to lift her thigh and shift her legs apart. ‘Now.’

Before she could fully process his request, her leg was already moving.

Following his orders was oddly freeing. She didn’t have to think about what she wanted.

And if she froze, he froze with her. Waiting for a signal to move forward or retreat.

He was giving her control without the pressure of directing their game.

‘Now the other foot.’

As she complied, he shifted his thighs further apart. Her legs moved with his, and cool air kissed the wet heat of her cleft.

‘Oh my God.’ Just the contrast of cold and hot created a sharp, tingling pulse at the apex of her slit.

‘Yes, darling. Don’t think about anything else except what you are feeling.’

He covered her hand with his and moved them both over her thigh. She felt the sensation of her smooth skin beneath her fingers, the soft crinkle of her pubic hair, and then silky, wet heat.

‘You are so wet, Ivy. Your cunny is making such sweet nectar. I’m going to lick and suck and taste you as you come apart for me. But not yet. Not until you beg me for my tongue.’

Sweet heavens!

Millicent had explained cunnilingus to Ivy, but the whole thing seemed like an embarrassing and hardly enjoyable act for either participant.

She only wrote it on her list because it seemed so improbable.

Until those devilish words spilled from Edward’s lips and all Ivy could think about was his hot tongue licking where her fingers tickled against skin so sensitised, she feared she might scream.

Guiding her finger through her slit, Edward’s thumb grazed over her mound as he slid her index finger through plush folds.

Ivy’s body arched like an electric current ran through her when the pad of her finger grazed against a magical cluster of nerves.

Burning, sweet pleasure pulsed from that small point, zinging through her blood, sparking over her skin, sending a thousand spiralling tingles to every pulse point.

‘What is happening?’

‘That’s your clitoris.’

‘Millie said there was a spot…’

‘Millie was right. Find your rhythm. See what feels good. Rub it, pinch it, flick it. What do you like?’ He withdrew his hand, giving her total control.

Gripping her hip instead, he rubbed his thumb back and forth in a mesmerising pattern.

But not nearly as fascinating as the pattern she was establishing.

Tight little circles, long slides up and down, toying with her aching entrance before bringing the sweet wetness back to coat the tight bundle of nerves currently consuming her.

She focused on the sensation, chasing something elusive, just on the edges of her consciousness as Edward whispered encouragement in her ear.

‘Yes, sweet Ivy. Just like that. Don’t be afraid.’

As she neared the precipice, she held her breath. Something gorgeous and shimmering was just there, a promise away. Millie told her about this pinnacle, this incandescent moment, but she couldn’t imagine the power of it.

‘Don’t stop. You are so close. Let go, Ivy.’ His lips brushed her ear, his voice drowning out any doubts rising from her memories. This was nothing like the fearful images her father created in her mind. This was stunning and fierce. Beautiful and wild.

Edward’s free hand palmed her breast. Clever fingers found her hard nipple and pinched her, the sensation muted by layers of cotton and stays. But it was enough.

With a final tight circle, she imploded, sweet glory pulsing through her with each heartbeat.

Edward covered her hand once more, flattening her palm and rubbing hard against her clitoris, grinding out the glorious sensations until she was quite certain her spirit left her body and joined the cosmos.

Moments passed. Or minutes. Or millennia. It was hard to say, but as she came back to herself, something had changed.

I have changed.

Like a wave cresting or a bird rising from the misty fields, she was reborn.

She was still Ivy but different somehow.

What magic she held within herself! To finally understand the secret looks exchanged between her friends and their partners, to realise engaging in physical intimacy could be a transformative experience of pure joy.

It changed everything. And now she knew, she wanted to feel it again.

‘That was unimaginable.’

‘You are well?’

‘I am very well.’ Ivy felt a bubble of delight fizz up from her chest and expand her ribs. As she shifted to face Edward, the insistent pulse of his hard cock beneath her bottom highlighted an important fact.

Edward had sated her hunger, but his needs were still unmet.

She shifted, and he groaned. Carefully trying to avoid his rather swollen appendage, she stood, letting her skirts fall back around her ankles.

Turning to face him, her eyes travelled inevitably south of his face and caught at the waistline of his breech.