Page 93 of A Symphony for the Earl

He cupped her chin and his eyes, dark as graphite, searched hers. “Will you have me? I can’t promise there won’t be moments that we wish to send one another to the devil.” He reached up and brushed away the moisture from her eyes. “Tears, my love? I must truly be losing my touch.”

“Ah, no, a chuisle mo chró, you are wonderful.” She closed her eyes, sighing. “My life is yours, and ever will be, though it took me far too long to understand that.”

“I suppose I should learn Irish. I want to know what you’re saying to me, every word. God, you are so perfect…come to me, love.”

Instead, she slid the delicate gown off her shoulders. “I said you are the beat of my heart. And you are, Richard, always and forever.” Watching his face, she reacted to his sharp intake of breath by letting the garment fall to her waist with a soft swish of fabric.

His gaze slid from the swell of her bosom to the ebony triangle at the apex of her legs. She was gratified to see the pulse at the base of his throat beating fiercely. “You are utterly delectable, Acushla, from head to toe. I do hope that is an endearment and not a fatherly salutation of love.”

She giggled. “It means ‘my beloved.’ And you’re quite handsome, too, although the last thing you need is the compliment of one more woman, Richard.”

“As long as you are that woman, I will humbly accept it.”

She snorted in a very unfeminine way. “As if you could ever be humble, á ghrá!”

Choking with laughter, he pulled her to him. “You brat, I don’t know whether to kiss you or spank you.”

“Hmmm…can we not do both?”

Growling low in his throat, he tipped her back across his arm. Richard cupped her breasts with one free hand and skillfully teased her nipples with the other, alternately rolling them between deft fingers.

There seemed to be a molten path from the tip of her breasts to the bud of her womanhood as he took one rosy peak into his mouth, lapping and sucking until she shuddered with pleasure.

She squirmed, twisting until her aching center found the damp linen covering his masculinity. She moaned at the contact. With a primal grunt, he spanned her waist and settled her against the cradle of his hips, his rigid erection pressed tightly to her mound. A jolt of heat sizzled along her spine.

He dropped his head into the crook of her neck. “Fiona, I could stop now—God knows, we should—but I’m very near the point of no return.”

“It’s not the responsible Earl of Seldon I want—I desire the man underneath all that, mo shíorghra.”

With a fractured groan, Richard scooped her up and walked to the bed, pulling aside the coverlet and setting her down on the pale sheets. He bent and stripped off his smalls. His rampant erection jutted from a nest of dark curls, bobbing between his thighs as he moved toward her.

Nervously, she closed her eyes and opened her legs.

“Open your eyes, my love…we are not starting quite yet.” Amusement threaded his voice.

She peeped up at him through her lashes. “We’re not?” she asked, somewhat disappointed.

His shoulders shook with silent laughter, and she blushed.

“You’re not ready, Acushla.”

“But I am,” she disagreed.

“Remember how you felt earlier when I kissed your delicious—ah—womanhood?”

“What were you going to call it?” Fiona asked suspiciously.

“Pussy, my love.”

“That’s strange. And what do I call this?” She stroked the satiny length of his arousal.

When he answered, his voice was strained. “Cock.”

“Ah. Your cock,” she said softly, running her fingers over the tip. A drop of thick pearly liquid appeared. His breath spasmed, and she closed her fingers around the rigid heat of his phallus, murmuring with pleasure at the velvet head and the way it swelled under her touch.

He made a strangled noise deep in his throat and lifted away her hand. “Fiona, I am quite ready. We are speaking of you, and to take my length, you need to be prepared as you were earlier.”

She certainly wanted more of his lovemaking, but at this moment her focus was on his engorged staff. “I’m drenched now,” she announced, wetting her lips. “Isn’t that ready?”