Taming the Rake (28 page)

Finally, the gown bunched at her middle and all that remained above her waist were her stays and a thin—very thin—chemise. Coventry stopped breathing. The perfection of her body stunned him. She was all lush curves and slim contours. Her breasts were large and round, standing high above a flat stomach and tiny waist. He made a choking sound and she smiled, aware of the powerful effect she had on him.

Shimmying her gown and petticoat down over her narrow hips, she stepped aside, carefully picking them up and laying them next to her discarded pelisse. She gave him her back again and silently he helped her with the stays, trying to ignore the perfect round shape of her bottom and the sudden urge to clutch her hips and slide deep inside her from behind.
Later
.

Stays unlaced, his fingers itched to cup her luscious breasts as he freed them from their silk and bone bindings.

He could dispense with this self-imposed torture and simply rip her chemise down the middle. Perhaps guessing his intent, she stepped out of his reach and perched on the edge of the divan to remove her half boots.

His heart stopped.

Leaning over, her breasts spilled forward, nearly escaping the fragile bonds of her chemise. The lush swell of flawless ivory flesh was perfectly visible in silhouette and achingly tempting. An image of her on top of him, arching against him with those glorious round breasts bouncing in his face… He nearly reached out and touched her. Instead his fists curled into tight balls at his side, and he forced his gaze to the task at hand.

But there was no escape, even watching her remove her boots proved enticing. Mesmerized, he noticed how tiny her feet were, with delicate arches and slim ankles. Turning his gaze away entirely, he counted to ten.

“Is something wrong?” she asked knowingly.

“No,” he snapped, unable to hide his impatience. “You’re moving too slowly.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, though it was clear that she wasn’t. “I thought you were enjoying the performance.”

He didn’t trust himself to speak. A born jade, he thought again. This wasn’t going at all as he’d planned. He’d wanted to push her, not increase his own sexual frustration.

He was painfully aware that stockings and a thin piece of linen were all that separated him from a glimpse of paradise. A gloriously naked paradise.

Temporary bravado exhausted, it was clear that she was suddenly aware of it as well, though she valiantly tried to hide it. She covered her breasts with her arms and a telltale pink flush spread across her chest and cheeks.

No mercy,
he reminded himself. “Now me,” he ordered softly. “Take my clothes off.”

She hesitated for only an instant before moving to stand between his legs, enveloping him in her sweet feminine scent. Awareness crackled between them, all of his senses were heightened, focused on her every move. When she finally touched him, he felt as though he’d jumped out of his skin. He shuddered and clenched like a man in the throes of ecstasy.

And he was.

His skin came alive at her touch. The sensation of her hands sliding over his chest, slipping under the lapels of his jacket, was excruciating in its innocence. Pushing his coat back over his shoulders, her breasts swayed and jiggled as she struggled to get it off, tantalizing him to the point of madness.

When she’d finally removed his coat, her hands lingered on his shoulders and arms, caressing the hard bulges of his muscles in silent admiration. A powerful wave of masculine pride surged over him. But the sensation of her hands moving over his body coupled with her provocative position between his legs was too much. He felt drunk on her beauty, enchanted by her heady scent. The urge to crush her delectable body to him was nearly overpowering.

She fumbled with the intricate knot of his cravat, her nervousness increasing by the moment. When she trembled, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Taking pity on her, he quickly removed his cravat, waistcoat, and finally, his shirt.

Her eyes widened, but not with maidenly shock at his half-naked body. No, his bold Lady Georgina’s eyes were wide with unabashed appreciation.

“You’re beautiful,” she blurted. Greedily, her eyes trailed over the hard sculpted muscles of his chest, arms, and stomach to the line of hair disappearing behind his trousers.

He tried to ignore the flash of pleasure. Her approval shouldn’t matter so much. Though, of course, it did. He reminded himself that she could never see his back.

He traced the curve of her breast with his finger. His voice sounded uncharacteristically husky. “So are you.”

He wanted to bury his face in the heat of her skin, to taste her honey, to force some of her innocent sweetness to rub off on him—obscuring some of the darkness inside him. Unable to stand it any longer, he slid the thin straps of her chemise down her shoulders and cupped her bare breasts, slowly bringing them to his mouth. Holding her gaze he flicked his tongue over one nipple, then the other. She made a small sound of delight and her eyes clouded with passion.

He wouldn’t look away; he wanted her to watch him as he pleasured her.

When he slid the rosy bud of her nipple into his mouth, her moan nearly unmanned him. She clutched his shoulders to prevent herself from collapsing as he sucked her. Hard. Harder and harder until she arched and shook in his arms. Her hands were everywhere, across his shoulders, on his arms, but when her fingers clawed at his back, he knew she was close.

He liked to keep his promises.

The circle of his tongue and gentle nip and tug of his teeth sent her tumbling over the edge into paradise.

The sweet cries of her release echoed in his ears like a booming death knell—his precious, hard-fought control was fast fading away.

Though he wanted to, he could not deny the connection that sizzled between them. He’d never felt like this before with a woman. Like everything they shared was a moment of awakening. Like watching her in the throes of an orgasm was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

She gazed at him with an adoring expression that terrified him. Tenderness hurt. It made him hope. And hope was the most painful emotion of all.

She was getting too close.

He hardened the softness spreading warmth inside him. Brutal, unharnessed lust, nothing more, he reminded himself. She would reach the breaking point soon. Perhaps even now. “Touch me.”

The harsh tone caused her to look at him strangely. But like a child with a new toy, she eagerly did as ordered. She splayed her fingers across the broad plane of his chest, tracing the thick bands of muscles that lined his stomach.

“You’re so smooth and hard,” she cooed approvingly. His muscles flexed reflexively under her deft fingertips. She dropped a soft kiss on his shoulder. “I love the way you taste,” she murmured, “like warm spice.” She dropped a trail of kisses along his chest. He fought for control as her gentle exploration sent a bolt of heat to his already throbbing cock. The expression of rapture on her face was too much, her pleasure seemed to match his own. What more did he have to ask of her before she would shy from his demands?

“Not there,” he rasped. “Touch me here.” He took her hand and placed it on his crotch, the sudden heat threatened to unman him. He met her uncertain gaze. “Undo my breeches. I want your hands on me.”

She looked as if she might protest. Probably something like, “This isn’t proper,” or some other nonsense about her offended maidenly sensibilities. He held his breath, wondering if this was it. Had he finally pushed her too far?

No, thank God. Her hands skimmed the fall front of his breeches. The thick, round head of his erection jutted against his waistband, threatening to escape. Carefully, she unbuttoned the flap, releasing him from the constricting confines of his clothing. Her eyes widened with alarm.

“You’re so…” A flash of panic sparked in her gaze. “Are all men so proportioned?”

He smiled. He couldn’t help it. So much for maidenly modesty. “No,” he answered honestly. A thought struck him. “Do you know what is going to happen, Gina?”

He used the diminutive of her name like an endearment.

She nodded.

“It won’t be easy for you.”

She swallowed. “So I see.”

Coventry couldn’t recall ever having a conversation like this, at a moment like this. But his wry response to reassure her was lost. When she touched him, encircling him in her hand, he lost the ability to think, let alone speak.

He closed his eyes and allowed the dark sensations to take over. He instructed her with his voice and his hands. Showing her how to stroke him, how to find his rhythm. How to caress her thumb over the round head of his cock. Concentrating all the while on not exploding in her hand as every primitive cell in his body urged him to do.

Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her wildly as she pumped him. Harder. Faster. His mouth and tongue mimicking the furious rush of blood pounding in his engorged manhood.

How dark could he go? How far could he take her? The erotic fantasy that had wormed its way into his consciousness could not be denied. He wanted her mouth on him with every fiber of his being. His conscience argued with him, but he would not heed its warning. This was who he was. If she wanted him, better she find out his wicked delights now.

He caught her hand and looked deep into her eyes, hiding nothing of the gnawing hunger raging in his. “Do you want to please me, Gina?”

She nodded.

“Then take me in your mouth.”

Rather than recoil repulsed as he’d expected, she merely looked curious. “I never imagined…” She wrinkled her nose. “This is done?”

“Sometimes,” he answered truthfully.

“And it will please you?” she asked.

He closed his eyes, unable to think about how much.
Dear God.
“Yes.”

Agony gripped him as he awaited her reply, fearing that he’d pushed her too far. Fearing that now she would run.

“Then it would please me.”

His eyes snapped open with disbelief. His chest ached from the heavy pounding of anticipation hammering his heart.

She lowered herself to her knees, holding his gaze the entire time, until she reached his cock. Then she focused all of her attention on his erection.

“What should I do?”

Suck me,
he wanted to beg. “What I did to your breasts,” he managed through clenched teeth.

A primal moan from the deepest part of his soul tore forth when she lovingly placed those full sensual lips around the heavy head of his cock, drawing him deeper into the glorious recesses of her mouth. His stomach muscles clenched. The bolt of pleasure was so intense and acute he thought he might pass out. Lust he’d experienced a thousand times before, but simple lust paled in comparison to the euphoric sensations exploding through every corner of his body. The wave of emotion that crashed over him was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

Something inside him broke.

He looked down at her, for once not masking his feelings.

The obvious delight with which she took to her task undid him. She loved him with her mouth, laved him with her tongue. No woman had ever given herself so freely to his pleasure. She was a virgin, doing things to him that most wives never dared. The tiny mole at the edge of her mouth danced as her tongue explored him, circling the head then sliding down the long length of him.

He thought he’d go mad.

A heavy bead of moisture glistened at his tip. She looked up at him for guidance. He was holding himself rigid, trying not to spill, but he managed to nod. Smiling, she licked the drop of his pleasure, making a mewling sound of delight as if it were the most divine ambrosia.

He clenched his ass and stomach muscles, preventing the explosion that clamored to burst free.

He was completely at her mercy. He’d wanted to control her, but it was clear that she was the one in control. The irony was laughable, an experienced rake completely undone by the innocent ministrations of a virgin.

The warmth of her mouth enveloped him once again. He couldn’t bear it. “Take me deeper,” he begged, nearly shaking with the urge to thrust, “please.”

She willingly complied.

“Dear God,” he groaned. He’d died and gone to heaven.

His fantasies had done her an injustice. The sensation of her mouth on him was better than anything he could have imagined. Instinct was a mighty weapon. She used her tongue and the sweet suction of her lips with a skill that was inexplicable, were he even capable of rational thought.

Whether it was the combination of her own burgeoning sense of power or her natural inquisitiveness, he didn’t know, but soon, with the slimmest of instruction, she was doing things to him that only the most practiced whores had tried. As she took him deep into her mouth, he moved her hand to his bollocks, showing her how to hold him as she sucked, harder, deeper, faster.

He’d shocked her, though she’d managed to hide it.

Gina had never dreamt of such intimacies, though perhaps she should have. She remembered how her pleasure had heightened when he replaced his hands with his mouth on her breasts, sucking her nipples and driving her toward a shattering release. Would her mouth on his body do the same to him? She had to find out.

When her lips enfolded the velvety skin of his erection, the answer to her question was obvious. His guttural groan of ecstasy echoed in her ears, sending a sharp thrill through her, a fission of warmth spread between her thighs. The pure pleasure she was giving him could not be denied.

The act itself was strange, her mouth around his most private part, but Gina discovered that she liked it. She
liked
the wickedness. The hot, salty taste of him clung to her tongue. She’d surprised herself by her daring. It unleashed something inside her, something barely repressed. The bold adventuresome woman who wanted to learn the sensual arts of pleasure. Who wanted to keep pace with a rake.

She wrapped her tongue around his swollen head, tracing the bulging vein that ran down the long length of him. His size gave her pause. In truth, it frightened her. Despite his assurances, she was not convinced it would work.