‘Upstairs?’ His voice sounded thready, even to his own ears. Maeve nodded, leaning imperceptibly closer, and he realized that as he’d been fighting his desire for her, she was tracking along the same path. He slid his hand up her bare forearm and squeezed.
‘No,’ he murmured. ‘Upstairs is too far.’
He wasn’t sure who kissed who first, only the next moment, Maeve’s lips were against his, her breath in his lungs. He fell backwards in a graceless slump, laughing against her mouth as her thighs bracketed his hips. ‘I couldn’t wait,’ she said, kissing the sensitive corner of his mouth, under his ear. ‘Days, Jude.Days.I can’t stand it any longer.’
His heart leapt into his throat. ‘You have no idea.’
She leaned back to shove her hands under his shirt. Her palms were as hot as a brand on his skin. He wanted her nails, her teeth. The mark on his chest had been too long faded. ‘I think I havesomeidea,’ she said, shifting against him.
He trembled, already too close, and stilled her restless hips. He levered himself on his elbows, nodding to the chair facing the fire. ‘Sit on the chair.’
A dark blush traced its way down her throat, bringing out the pinkness of her lips as she got to her feet and lowered onto the chair. She crossed one leg tightly over the other as she watched him make his way over to her.
Well. That certainly wouldn’t do.
He braced his hands on the chair’s arms and leaned down. Her eyes were glassy with want as she stared up at him. A dull buzzing settled deep in his skull, erasing everything that wasn’t her.
‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ he said, dipping down to run his nose up her neck, taking in her scent. ‘I’m going to get on my knees. You’re going to tell me when to stop. Okay?’
He wasn’t sure she was breathing as she nodded. He wasn’t surehislungs were functioning. Wherever this untested confidence was coming from, he would use it while it was here.
A memory floated to the surface as he lowered to the ground.Weeks ago, kneeling in front of Oakmoor’s shrine. Maeve’s hand on his throat, the trembling in his thighs as rain coated them both. How he’d thought, desperate and weak, that he’d do anything to remain kneeling at her feet.
So much had changed, but not that. Never that.
Jude inched her dress up her thighs, kissing her black stocking-covered calf. He stared at the curve of flesh over the top of the sock on her thigh, momentarily entranced. Last time, this had gone quickly. He hadn’t had the time to truly learn her like he wanted to. Pulling down her sock, he rubbed the short stubble on his jaw against her until she sighed, skin reddened. Somehow, the sight of her bare thighs was the thing to end him.
‘Jude,’ she whispered, voice strained.
He urged her knees wider before looking up. ‘Yes?’
‘Hurry up.’
He kissed her thigh. ‘You know, I don’t think I will.’
Smiling at her annoyed huff, he slid her final layer off, dropping the thin fabric behind him. He pulled one leg over his shoulder, leaned in, and stopped.
‘Jude.’ Her leg tightened over his back. ‘Stop being a tease.’
Her skin was dewed with a fine sheen. The long rope of her hair hung down the side of her neck, gilded in the firelight. Jude couldn’t look away from her mouth. He’d kissed her. He was on his knees for her. She begged for his touch with low, murmured words.
Look at you, he wanted to say.
Instead, he gave her what she wanted.
Her thighs didn’t take long to clench up around his ears as soon as his mouth was between her legs. He remembered what she liked from last time, angling his head, sliding his fingers inside her. He forced himself to pull back when she groaned.
Her eyes snapped open. ‘Why’d you stop?’ He kissed her lightly between the legs, deciding not to answer. She tried to pull him closer with her leg. ‘Not nice.’
‘Very nice.’
‘Jude. Please.’
He decided he liked the desperation in her voice and leaned in for another taste. Immediately, Maeve’s legs began to tremble, trying to spread wider. He felt her touch on the crown of his head, skating back to palm the base of his skull. She pulled his mouth closer, moaning. Too close. ‘Jude, I’m—’
He sat back on his heels.
‘No, no…why?’ Maeve whined. Her eyes were wild. ‘I thought I got to tell you when to stop. How can I when you won’t—’
