Pulling her close, Henry placed gentle kisses across her forehead and temple, withdrawing the pins from her hair until it tumbled around her shoulders in a halo of fire. “Then tell me what you want. How can I make you feel beautiful?”
How could she respond? Being in his presence, basking in his attention made her glorious and brave, as though she were enough because he cared for her.
But tonight he wouldn’t care for her as a friend. He would care for her as a lover.
“I liked it when you touched me,” she said in a rush.
Sliding his hands into hers and interlacing their fingers, Henry pulled her earlobe between his lips and gave it a gentle tug. “Show me.”
With a shuddering breath, she dragged his hands from her side to cover her breasts, then squeezed gently. “Like this.”
He gave a low moan of satisfaction, caressing her as his lips skated over hers, sensations dancing across her body.
“What about this?” Henry’s palms lightened, and he dragged his fingertips over her tight nipples, drawing a gasp from Ellie’s throat.
“Yes, I—I like this. It’s wonderful,you’rewonderful.” But this pleasure wasn’t enough. Already Ellie had learned what else to expect, just how much she could experience in his care. She summoned her bravery. “I liked when you—”
Ellie stopped, the words freezing in her throat.
“Tell me,” Henry purred against her neck, bracing one arm behind her. Supporting her. “If you want me to pleasure you, you must tell me what you want. Honesty, remember?”
I want you to be the only one who pleasures me.But their time was running out. As soon as they left Italy, what they shared would be in the past.
She had best make the most of it. “When you touched me—w-with your tongue—”
“When I licked you?”
His words sent flickers of flame through her body before settling in a rush of warmth between her legs, then incinerating her when he stroked his tongue along the length of her collarbone. “Yes, but not—notthere,” she gasped, her mind having turned to ash.
“Here?” Another slow lick, this time around the shell of her ear.
“Yes, but… lower.”
“Here?” Along the crest of her breast.
Exquisite agony and mindless pleasure scrambled her wits, decimating the reason and self-awareness keeping her in check. “Christ, Henry. My—my—”
“You can say the word, my sweet,” Henry whispered, his words tender and soothing, entirely at odds with the wicked sensations he sent rushing through her. “Practice saying it. You can trust me.”
“My p-pussy.” The words escaped in a rush of air. “I like when you lick my pussy.”
He released a guttural moan and lifted her easily, laying her back on the bed before drawing her knees up and apart. “That was beautiful, El. I’m so proud of you.”
The rush of pride at his praise buoyed her, held her tight as Henry pulled her hips to the edge of the bed and knelt, kissing along her thighs. “I’ve never said that word aloud,” she whispered.
Henry chuckled, his breath sending shockwaves across her core. “I was surprised you knew it.”
“I have a tremendous vocabulary, you know.” Her words came out on gusts of air as he lifted her calves onto his shoulders. “You could always teach me more… inappropriate terminology.”
He gave one long lick through her cleft and she moaned. “I would be delighted to act as your resident expert in all things inappropriate.”
Ellie laughed and gave herself over to pleasure. He had the most remarkable ability to pull her apart, leave her vulnerable and exposed, then build her up stronger, shoring her foundations, filling the broken spaces with gold as he put her together again.
Only now it seemed he was determined to watch her shatter. His mouth tormented her, flicking her center until she quivered with need, then swiping the length of her cleft before he slid a finger inside her, then a second. The pleasure was unrelenting and glorious and overwhelming.
When she came apart, his words against her flesh washed over her like fragments of a dream, full of light and nebulous, unable to be held for long enough to make sense of them.
Come for me. I want to watch you, to feel you.
