Except his hands. “Oh,” Fern exhaled as Alex’s palm swept over her bare breast, her nipple pulling into a tight bud in the chill air.
Alex held still. “Do you like this?”
“I’m deciding,” she replied, and he chuckled against her neck.
“Fern, there are times to be analytical and times when it is best to throw thinking out the window.” His lips danced across her collarbone, settling a kiss against the pulse at the base of her neck. “This may be the latter.”
She placed her hand over his and rocked forward, the increased friction of her breast on the calloused skin of his palm sending her nerves dancing into reckless abandon.
“I must think,” she said, her voice breathy. “If I don’t think, I won’t be able to remember.”
Alex dropped one arm low on her waist, his fingers settling into the curve of her lower back. He rocked his hips against her, eliciting a low moan from her throat. “If you can’t remember this, then I am doing a poor job of it.”
Fern’s head dropped back. She felt as though her bones had taken leave of her body along with her senses. “I want to be sure I’m keeping track of things.”
Further explanation was halted when Alex’s lips closed around her nipple, pulling it deep into his mouth, the delicious suction and slight scratch of his teeth on the sensitive flesh making her moan. She gasped and threw her hand to his head, unable to decide if she should push him away or hold him tight. She settled for gripping his hair as the wicked sensations tore through her.
“What do you need to keep track of?” he asked, lifting his mouth from her chest for long enough to gaze at her, one side of his mouth lifted in a sly smile.
She was momentarily flustered. “Well, what you’re doing. What I’m doing.”
Alex stood to full height and captured her lips with his once more. “You are intelligent enough to know something of what is expected.”
“Of course I understand the logistics,” she replied, as though she were being quizzed. “Although, some of the…specifics are still unclear and warrant further examination.”
His laughter rumbled in his chest below her hands. “Fern…”
“It’s true,” she said, pushing back and meeting his gaze with indignation. “I’ve certainly read descriptions in novels and seen depictions in artwork but it always seemed so acrobatic.”
“Humans have successfully been coupling for generations, without specific instruction,” he assured her, the corner of his mouth lifting. “I’m certain you will get along fine.”
Fern tilted her head as she considered him. “You’re not new to this, are you?”
His cheeks flushed in the flickering candlelight. He was so darling she wanted to hold him close and never release him. “I—well, that is, I’ve—” He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not a lothario but I’m not…green, either, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good,” she replied, feeling strangely relieved. “Then you can teach me.”
“Teach you?” he whispered, almost reverently, as he stroked his knuckles across her cheek.
“I trust you,” she replied.I have not earned your trust,she thought as her heart gave an unpleasant twist.But I trust you completely.
“You’re shivering,” Alex said, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her. “You must be freezing.”
She shook her head, but Alex pulled her closer. Dropping his coat from his shoulders, Alex draped it around her and led her to the blankets she had spread across the marble surface. “You planned this with some detail,” he remarked, his eyes shining with amusement.
“I do not like to leave much to chance,” she said, feeling uncertain of herself. Did he think less of her because of her wanton intentions?
If he did, his eyes showed no sign of it. Freed of his jacket, Alex made quick work of the buttons on his waistcoat and shirt, dropping his braces and removing his shirt before balling the clothing up and laying it on the blanket. He then stood beside her as he took her hands. “I meant it every time I said you were exceptional, remarkable, and brilliant. You are so much more, just—” He hesitated for a moment, his blue eyes flickering. “I lo—”
“Stop,” Fern blurted, pressing her fingers to his lips. “Don’t say it, I can’t bear it.”
“But I mean it, Fern, I—”
“Show me,” she whispered, taking his hands and putting them on her hips, then wrapping her arms around his neck. “Please show me.”
Fern sensed the moment he came undone, when the tethers holding him back, keeping him stoic and responsible for so long, broke loose. She knew, when he pulled her hips flush against his, moaning as he shifted against her, that the rigid length beneath his trousers indicated his arousal. She wasn’t aware, however, of the effect such contact would have on her, how heat pooled between her legs and pleasure spiraled and coiled tight within her. How some primal force ached and felt empty, longing for something she could not name but vitally craved.
Alex eased her back onto the blanket. The scratch of the flannel against her bare skin wrenched her from the moment as she stiffened and wrinkled her nose. He hesitated, then lifted her forward and spread his soft linen shirt beneath her back. “I thought this would be more comfortable,” he murmured against the skin of her shoulder as he laid himself down beside her.
