Out Of Her League, An Erotic Romance (10 page)

Moving with exquisite slowness, he reached for the buttons of her pale blue frock. His hands were large and masculine; his knuckles grazed her breasts as he worked, rubbing the light cotton cloth against her skin. She clenched his shoulders as he worked, biting her tongue in impatience as he fumbled with the tiny buttons. She wanted him to tear the garment from her, to put his hands on her flesh, to cup her breasts and tease her nipples with his tongue, but he wouldn’t be rushed. Button by button, inch by inch, he moved with methodical precision down the front of her gown.

Reaching her waist, he loosened the knot that fastened her skirt. Then, like a gaily wrapped package that had been stripped of ribbons and string, her gown parted to reveal the gift within.

Kate, dressed in the scarlet corset he’d glimpsed the day they met.

It was a vulgar thing. A naughty thing. A garment designed to flaunt every lush curve on a woman’s body. A scarlet tease meant to heat and inflame and arouse. A garment that had thrilled Kate from the moment she’d seen it, and judging from James’s sharp intake of breath and the hungry intensity with which his gaze raked over her body, he liked it as well.

The corset was fashioned of ruby silk and crimson lace, held in place by ribbons tightly criss-crossing down her back. Smooth silk hugged her hips, stays nipped in her waist, and sheer crimson netting cupped the lower half of her breasts, leaving her upturned nipples fully exposed. She wore black boots with the highest heel she owned and her sheerest pair of black knit stockings, held around each thigh with a length of ruby ribbon. A pretty bow showed just above the creamy juncture of her thighs.

“It’s a French design,” Kate said. “Madame Terreau called it lingerie.”

“God bless the French.”

James licked his lips and reached for her. He drew one finger between the shadowy cleft in her breasts, then reverently traced the hollow of her ribcage. He pulled the pins from her hair, scattering them carelessly on the ground. She gave her head a shake, allowing the golden masses to fall freely, cascading over her shoulders and down her back. James eyes glowed as he watched her, deepening in color and intensity as though lit by a faraway fire. He gave a low murmur of appreciation and brought his index finger to her mouth, tracing her lips.

She caught it and brought the tip of that digit into her mouth, sucking it, teasing it with her tongue.

James made a harsh noise that was part laughter, part groan. He lifted her from his lap and stood her an arm’s length away from him. His gaze raked slowly over her body.

“Turn around,” he said. “No—slowly. That’s it. Now bend over.”

Kate obeyed, bending from the waist to give him a full view of the luscious globes of her ass. She straightened and tossed back her head, feeling the ends of her hair brush against the top of her buttocks. She swayed her hips from side to side, letting the golden lengths caress her ass like a downy fan.

James drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Now face me again,” he said, his voice rough with an emotion she couldn’t identify. “Lift your arms.”

Kate lifted her arms over her head, grasping one wrist with the opposite hand. She stretched herself up to her full height, holding herself just out of reach. She shook her shoulders, letting her breasts bounce in their soft crimson cups. She looked at James, watching the lust in his eyes become glittery hard, sharp.

A wicked smile curved her lips. She thought of the ways she’d learned to pleasure herself and demonstrated that knowledge. Moving with a boldness she she hadn’t known she possessed, she lowered her hands and drew her fingers slowly over her thighs, between the juncture of her legs, over her belly and between her breasts. As her gaze locked on his, she lightly toyed with her nipples.

“God, Kate.”

James grabbed her, wrapping her in an iron embrace. Locking her body against his own, he swept his tongue into her mouth, filling her with the delicious taste of him. Kate kissed him back, hard, sensing the same urgency within him that she felt within herself. This was not their usual case of rushed foreplay, always keeping one ear cocked for the approach of Dr. Michaelson. As enjoyable as those episodes had been, this was different. This was utter surrender.

She let herself go, kissing him with all the need and longing that had flooded through her body from the moment she’d put her hands on his wound and been knocked off-balance by a heady physical awareness of the man. Kissed him with all the pent-up sexual energy she’d stored from the moment she’d felt the electric current pulse between them. There was no holding back. She wanted more, needed more. She felt James’s cock harden against her thigh, the bulging erection hidden beneath his trousers announcing itself against her flesh.

His physical reaction filled her with quiet power, daring her to reach for what she wanted. She might be innocent, but that didn’t mean she was going to follow along like a docile virgin. All her life she’d taken care of others. She didn’t want to give herself away any longer. To lie flat and submit. This was her chance to live out the vivid fantasies that filled her mind when she was alone in bed.

She knew exactly what she wanted. Maidenly acquiescence didn’t interest her. Neither did a slow, gentle deflowering. Kate wanted to take. She wanted to have James, to make him hers. Breaking off their kiss, she grabbed at his trousers and unbuttoned them, her fingers lightly brushing his erection as she tugged the tawny cloth down his slim male hips.

She reached up and pulled off his jacket, dropping the garment carelessly on the floor. His cravat followed. The navy silk slipped through her fingers, light and fluid. Next she reached for the collar of his fine linen shirt. She slowly unfastened the stays, pressing her lips to his skin as she moved from his throat to his stomach. Her fingers lightly traced his biceps, his muscular torso, the smattering of dark hair across his chest.

He responded in kind, dragging his fingers through the ribbons that fastened her corset, caught in a similar frenzy to rid her of her clothing. Shoes, stockings, drawers—all unnecessary impediments to their lust fell to the floor. They moved their hands over each other’s bodies in rabid exploration, touching, tasting, licking, biting. Tumbling against one another in a passion so intense it was almost anger.

Kate was dimly aware of a vase crashing to the ground, books knocked from shelves, a small chair overturned. None of it mattered. Their need swelled and grew. It was more than just Kate or James. Their passion became a thing outside themselves, a growling, hungry, wet, desperate thing, an animal that would devour them—to which they would willingly sacrifice themselves—if only to find the release they craved so desperately.

James tore his mouth from hers, his breath coming in hot pants against her throat as he said, “We have to slow down. I won’t last. I want it to be good for you.”

“This is good for me,” she rasped back, one hand trailing down his stomach.

He let out a shout of laughter, followed by a vivid oath. He scooped her up and deposited her on the room’s lone bed. Kate lay flat on her back, her knees pressed together, her ankles crossed. While his gaze moved hungrily over her entire form, her eyes were drawn to one particular portion of James’s anatomy. Standing as he was at the side of the bed, his penis was nearly at eye level. Her fascination with that uniquely male instrument was such that she couldn’t pull her gaze away, no matter how unseemly her interest might appear.

James was a large, muscular man. However it had not occurred to her until that moment that his cock would be of equal proportion. His shaft was long and thick—far thicker than her own two fingers—and stood firm and erect against his belly. Unlike other young women who’d been raised in sheltered homes, Kate’s medical background had lent her an understanding of the mechanics of intercourse. She was also aware how small and tight her sheath was. As she contemplated James’s shaft entering her, an emotion that was equal parts apprehension and excitement stirred within her belly.

“I didn’t think you would be so large,” she managed tremulously.

His lips quirked. “Clever girl. The way to a man’s heart is through his ego.”

“I didn’t mean to flatter.”

“Even better.”

He climbed onto the bed, sitting upright on his knees. Kate scooted backward to make room for him, resting her spine against the pillows stacked along the headboard. He was just inches away from her, so devastatingly, overwhelmingly male. Burnished skin, broad shoulders, muscular chest, rippled stomach, slim hips. As thrilling as that was, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from his sex.

She lifted her hand, then hesitated, her eyes searching his. “May I touch you there?”

“I will go stark raving mad if you do not touch me there.”

Gathering her courage, she reached forward and wrapped her hand around his cock, taking in the length and breadth of him. His member was as thick as it appeared—her fingers didn’t quite connect with her thumb. The skin of his penis was silky to the touch, yet rigid as well, a stiff rod pulsing with a life and virility all its own. How utterly fascinating. She tightened her grip experimentally and drew her palm up and down along his length.

James drew in his breath in a sharp hiss, his jaw clenched. His body quivered, as though strained with the effort of holding himself back.

Kate’s worried gaze shot to his. “Am I hurting you?”

He gave a rough shake of his head and closed his eyes. “No. I like it. Too much.”

His words made little sense to her, but she returned her attention to his anatomy, needing to acquaint herself with this strange and wonderful male appendage. She drew her fingers under his sac, feeling it bunch and tighten beneath her touch. Her thumb traced the bulbous tip of his penis, toyed with the pulsing vein that ran the length of his member. His cock quivered and jerked in her hand.

James could take no more. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her beneath him and stretched her out flat on the bed. Bracing himself on his elbows above her, he captured her lips with his, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as his groin pressed into her belly. Kate hungrily returned his kiss. She reveled in the unanticipated joy of naked flesh meeting naked flesh. Their bodies joined without a stitch between them. Her soft feminine thighs wrapped around his thick male thighs. Her lush breasts flattened against his broad chest.

His rigid erection rubbed against the soft nest of curls that covered her sex, revealing an vacancy between her legs she’d never before been aware of. Suddenly the victories she’d had bringing herself to climax were hollow without James. Incomplete. An aching, throbbing emptiness rose inside her, demanding to be filled.

As though sensing her thoughts, he drew one hand along the swell of her hip, then brought it to rest between her legs. A bolt of alarm shot through her and she stiffened slightly. He drew back, his breath ragged against her throat as he murmured, “Let me touch you, Kate. I’ve waited so long.”

Her resistance melted at his words. She arched her back, willing to give him whatever he wanted, her body craving his touch more than she craved air. Her passion had waned slightly as she’d given rein to her curiosity and allowed herself the thrill of exploring James’s throbbing shaft. But now, as his fingers wove through the thick golden tangle of curls that covered her mons, unerringly coming to rest on the tight pink nub of flesh at the entrance to her sex, her need returned with a vengeance.

Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse doubled. She lifted her hips to receive his hand, biting her lip as he separated the slick pink folds of her sex and massaged her clit in tight, teasing circles.

Pleasure sparked within her. Heat built in her belly and drifted lower, pulsing between her thighs. She gave a small whimper, wriggling her ass in unspoken delight at his erotic stroking. She placed her hands over his forearm to better follow the motion of his hand. She parted her knees to allow him greater access. Just when she thought she could stand it no longer, he slipped two fingers inside her.

Alarm rocketed through her. Kate’s cry was soft and breathy. “You mustn’t,” she cried. She was accustomed to the way her body reacted to pleasure, but he wouldn’t be. Softly she confessed, “I’m...wet.”

“Thank God.” His breath came out in a rush against her cheek. “That’s just how I want you. Hot and wet and ready for me.” He withdrew his fingers. They were slick, glistening, shimmering with her liquid desire. The scent of her arousal filled the air.

He brought his fingers to her breast and rubbed the juice of her sex over her nipple, until it, too, glistened with her desire. He used his tongue to lick it clean, then repeated the process on her opposite breast.

Kate writhed beneath him, moaning her pleasure. Her nipples grew erect and elongated. She dug her hands through his hair, pulling his face into her breasts, grinding her hips against his groin. The length of his stiff, hard penis brushed against her swollen clitoris with every sway of her hips. Her muscles tensed and her toes curled. She clutched his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin, not knowing what to ask for, arching against him in a desperate plea to bring her satisfaction.

James rose above her. He stilled with the tip of his penis poised above her vagina, his cock slick and hot and throbbing, the head of his shaft lightly teasing the bouquet of dark golden curls covering her sex. He gave an exploratory thrust, a half-push, then stopped himself with a sharp intake of breath. “God, you’re tight. You’re so tight.”

“James, please.” It was all Kate could manage. She needed him. Now.

His gaze raked over her, wild with hunger and raw need. “Kate. My Kate. You’re meant only for me.”

His voice was ragged, strained with the effort of holding himself back. He covered her mouth with his own, swallowing her cry of startled pain as he drove himself inside her, tearing through her thin barrier with one hard, swift stroke.

Kate froze for a moment, absorbing the unwelcome intrusion of pain. Then, as swiftly as the pain had arrived, it ebbed and began to recede. As the stinging eased, she felt her muscles tighten around James’s cock, felt him throbbing inside her, saw the tightness of his jaw, noted the muscles of his neck strain with the effort of holding himself back.