Running one last gaze down his gorgeous, lettered chest, she dropped her head back and said, “You’ll have to work hard to do better than the foot rub.”
“Feel free to direct me if my performance is not up to your expectations.” With that, he half-stood, leaned over, and brushed his lips over hers. Once, twice, then he nibbled on her upper lip.
Her hands came to his furred chest, scrabbling for purchase. Before she could gather her wits to return the kiss, he was back on his knees, his breath wafting over her inner thighs. She’d never been so passive a recipient of a kiss in her entire career. He did not seem to care about her response, however; that wasn’t part of his reward.
He licked up her center and blew a breath over her damp flesh as his thumbs teased her open, and her wandering thoughts scattered. Pointing his tongue, he circled the nub already swelling.
Raising his head, he licked his lips, “You taste better than any spirits. This might replace all my cravings. I shall wish for this every night.”
She thumped her head against the pillow. “Less talking, more stroking, please.”
He laughed, hushing it quickly in light of the guest in the next chamber. “Ah, Belle. Please recall, this ismyreward.”
He leaned in, obstructing her view, and her head fell back, determined to enjoy this rare treat to its fullest. Without vision, her other senses intensified. When he licked just under the hood of her clitoris, she gasped and moaned.
He did it again, and she almost twisted away, the sensation was so powerful.
His fingers paused at her opening, as though waiting for her consent.
“Please...” She twisted her head against the bed coverings, needing him to fill her, hungering for the friction of thrusts. No, of him. This was not simply a carnal act between two consenting adults. This was Luke, someone she cared for despite and because of his failings as well as his strengths. The difference manifested in every stroke, lick, and word, the emotions layering more sensation than mere physical touch.
He responded to her plea by pressing two fingers into her.
“Yes.”
At that, he drove them deep into her.
“Clod—Luke, yes, there.” She corrected herself. It did not seem fair to call him by a derogatory nickname when he was doing such a good job at pleasuring her.
Her hips lifted off the bed as his fingers curled to rub a sensitive spot on each plunge and she did lift her hand to clutch his hair and press his mouth to her. “Please, lick hard. Mercy, I’m so close.”
So he did.
She exploded against him, feeling his firmed tongue press against her spasming nub. Bliss swirled outward from his still-moving fingers, and she had to bring her other fist to her mouth to stop a loud moan. Ecstasy bowed her hips off the bed, pulsing for long moments as she squeezed her eyes shut to savor the release.
She could become accustomed to this. Perhaps it was stronger because her last bed partner had been months ago, rather than due to Luke’s skill or her emotion. She’d keep telling herself that until she believed it, given the short-term nature of their living arrangement.
Finally, hyper-sensitive, she loosened her fingers and gave his head a little shove. She squirmed even from his breath gusting over where his lips and tongue had been.
He withdrew his fingers and sat back on his heels.
She pushed herself up on an elbow to gaze at him.
His eyes were bright with lust, his breathing ragged. “Thank you, Belle.”
Her brows rose. She’d expected him to leap up and demand his own pleasure. This was a new side of Luke, rather more mature than she’d dared hope. She smiled and said, “Definitely better than a foot rub.”
“Thank you.” He bowed his head for a moment to acknowledge her praise. “Will you bind me again, then?”
“Did you...?” She grimaced. How could she, a courtesan, an instrument of pleasure, nay aninstructorof pleasure, not be able to finish the question?
He seemed to understand. “No. I’m not asking for that.”
“Right.” She was confused. His reward should have been achieving his own pinnacle or at best both of theirs. No man had prioritized her enjoyment to this extent. But her brain was not working correctly after his ministrations. The stirrings of respect and liking for him were too fresh for her to act on, and she wasn’t ready to leave her own bedroom so he could finish himself. In the end, she took him at his word. “There is sherry in the house for Charlotte, and I don’t want to tempt you further tonight, so yes. I will cuff you.”
He stripped down to his smallclothes and lay on his back, his cockstand tenting his clothes.
She licked her lips and attempted not to stare at it. For heaven’s sake, her lust should be sated.
