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“Oh no, you’re a strong woman. You can take it. No falling down on the job now,” Linc teased. He rolled the first stocking off her leg, then when it got to her foot, she put one hand on his shoulder and he took it entirely off.

Again, as he unsnapped her garter and rolled off her other stocking he spoke to her. Mesmerizing her with words like ravishing and tantalizing. Now she had both hands on his shoulders to keep upright.

Linc stood up and took a step back. “I was right. You do look luscious in the firelight. But I want to see more.”

15

Thank God Leila’s trembling, otherwise she’d catch onto the fact that I can barely keep my hands steady enough to work the hooks on her damned bustier!

“Fuck, baby, your tits are gorgeous.”

Leila giggled. “A dirty talker. Could this get any better?”

“That’s my line.” Linc stopped trying to unfasten the corset and instead traced the back of his fingers down the gentle slopes of her breasts. He was glad to see her nipples were diamond-hard. He so wanted her on the same page that he was on.

“I love your skin. It’s so soft and delicate, it makes me want to lick you up.” He swept her up into his arms and placed her gently onto the plush rug in front of the fireplace. He looked down on her face, and he could see she was as swept away as he was. Then she lifted her right hand and her thumb traced over his lower lip.

“If you love my skin, then I love your mouth. Especially this lip. It’s pouty and perfect for kissing.”

“Is that a request, Ms. Cloud?”

“I’m sorry. Was that not clear enough for you, Mr. Hart?”

Linc leaned forward and licked his tongue along the seam of her lips, reveling as she whined. He did it again, and she whined again. Then she nipped at his bottom lip and he laughed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her up to him and thrust his tongue into her mouth. One of them was gasping, the other groaning. He was pulling her hair; she was scraping his scalp with her nails. It hurt good. Again and again, their tongues dueled as he fought to get to the essence of Leila Cloud. She broke away.

“Off.”

“Hmm?”

“I want your shirt off. Need your naked chest. I’ve dreamed of your naked chest. I want to make sure that I got it right when I was taking care of myself.”

His eyes lit up as he placed her back on the rug, then yanked his shirt over his head. Before he had a chance to say a word, both of her hands were splayed wide on his chest.

“So good. So hard. It’s even better than I pictured.”

Linc grabbed her wrists. “Wait just a minute, Leila. I want to hear more about you taking care of yourself. That sounds mighty interesting to me. I’m thinking that this could require some study.”

“Shut up and let me play,” she said as she wrenched her hands loose and started stroking his chest. Linc closed his eyes and let fire streak through his bloodstream as she stroked him. Then, when she sat up and took one of his nipples into her mouth, he shouted.

“Damn!”

It didn’t slow her one bit. She wrapped her other arm around his waist, trying to get him closer. He had to get things back in hand. He had a little spitfire in the room with him, and wasn’t he a lucky man?

“Oh, no you don’t,” he said as he pulled himself away from her. “I’m not done unwrapping my present.”

Leila pushed out her bottom lip.

“Are you trying to pout to get your way?” he asked.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“Will I get my way?” Leila asked.

Linc shouted with laughter. “Nope, not this time, at least. I have a mission, and you know how strongly I take my missions. Right now, my mission is to see Leila naked in the firelight.”

Her eyes closed and her expression turned dreamy as she smiled. “What happens after that?”