He leaned in and swiped the flat of his tongue over her core, and she arched her back with a gasp of shocked pleasure.
“James!”
His answering groan made her melt.
“God, you’re sweet. Like honey.”
She felt like honey. Liquid and melting and utterly decadent. Her initial embarrassment slid away, replaced by bone-melting pleasure. Her eyelids fluttered closed.
His finger joined his tongue at the entrance to her body, circling, teasing her with possibility.
“Have you ever touched yourself, Kitty? Have you ever given yourself pleasure?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks heated at the shameful admission. Gently born, unmarried ladies weren’t supposed to have such wicked knowledge.
She felt his amused huff against her thigh.
“And how did you discover such things?” He sounded intrigued, not censorious.
“I found Andrew’s book of naughty pictures.”
“Good girl.” His low praise made her flutter and throb.
She’d opened the silk-bound folder of Japanese woodcuts not knowing what they were. At first, she’d only noticed the strange, stylized drawing style, so different from the satirical cartoons of Rowlandson and Hogarth. Then she’d noticed what the figures were doing, and eyes had widened in shock. Scores of lovemaking couples, the man’s erect member shown in clear detail, pushing between the legs or lips of the woman. Hands grasping naked breasts, fingers squeezing thighs and flesh, tongues licking.
One particularly bizarre image showed a woman with a giant octopus between her legs, her body arched in ecstasy as it feasted on her. Looking at it had produced a strange, squirming sensation in the pit of her stomach, a throb deep in her core.
It was the same sensation James was making her feel now. She squeezed her thighs around his head and tilted her hips, wordlessly begging him to continue.
He seemed to understand her urgency. He swirled his tongue again, licking into her, languid swirls and stabbing flicks, and the stimulation was almost too much to bear. When he tapped the little bead of nerves at the top of her sex it bordered both pleasure and pain, and she squirmed against him, desperate for completion.
“James!” she groaned, pleading.
His finger teased her still. Slow maddening circles that promised but never delivered. He was a terrible, wicked tease.
“Come for me, sweetheart,” he murmured.
He pressed his palm against her, adding just the right amount of friction, and the pleasure crested and broke in a glorious, throbbing release. Kitty clutched his shoulders as she convulsed, her head thrown back in ecstasy.
When she finally caught her breath she slumped, boneless, against the pillar and opened her eyes to find James drawing her skirts back down her legs. The satisfied smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye made him look piratical and endearing all at once.
Kitty smiled back at him, still a little dazed, then frowned when he stood and adjusted the prominent bulge in the front of his breeches.
“Oh! You haven’t—” She gestured between his legs. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shook his head with a rueful laugh. “Not now. We need to get back to the castle.”
“But it’s not fair,” she pouted.
“It’s all right. I’m used to being in this state. It’s been almost constant, with you close by.”
He held out his hand to help her up and Kitty took it. Her legs were still a little shaky, and her body felt flushed in the most delightful way.
James sent a fond, rueful glance at their shell-encrusted surroundings. “One day, my love, I’m going to bring you back here and make love to you so thoroughly you won’t be able to think about it without blushing.” He pressed a teasing kiss to the tip of her nose and Kitty laughed.
“I look forward to it, my lord.”
“But your first time should be somewhere more comfortable.”
