Page 72 of A Deal with the Devil

He was already pulling up her skirts, using his boot to urge her feet apart, widening her stance. Opening her for his touch. He stroked up her inner thigh, slowly. “So soft.”

She squirmed, trying to get closer.

“What do you need, firecracker?” She reached for him blindly, but he pinned her again. “Say it.”

Their eyes met and there was a brief, brief moment where some unfathomable, unknowable fork in the road was taken.

“You.”

And then he was on his knees and pressing his mouth to her. Licking at her, flattening his tongue over her bud, sucking it into his mouth like a delicacy. She nearly screamed, her entire body quivering.

And then he pulled away. Again.

“Not here,” he said hoarsely.

“Rhys.” Why was he still pulling away, torturing her, making her wild? Did he want her to beg again? She would beg. Pleasure coiled too tightly in her center, denied a release.

He licked her again, as though he couldn’t help himself. Then he rose, eyes just wild enough to make her feel better.

“Not with everyone waiting for us on the other side of this door.” He kissed her again deeply, reverently. “I’m going to take my time with you.” The whisper tickled her ear and had her nipples tightening in anticipation. “I’m going to make you whimper my name and then I’m going to make you come until your legs give out.”

They might give out right here and now. Her knees were decidedly weak.

She had read about lovers who brought each other to the edge again and again, only to deny the final release. Stretching out the sensations, building toward the climax. She had never experienced it before. It was invigorating. Painful. Frustration. Amazing.

She hated it.

She loved it.

And because she had no intention of burning with need alone—and because she was desperate for one more forbidden touch—she stroked him once through his breeches, and then again, gripping tighter. He cursed, bucking into her hand. “Oh, you’ll pay for that, little firecracker.”

“Promise?”

His laugh was soft with just a hint of menace. “Oh, I promise.”

“When?” she taunted.

“Tonight.”

Kitty left the study knowing she was flushed, as pink as the inside of a seashell. She was half convinced Pan winked at her. She had never been so aware of her body, of her legs, of her quim swollen and fluttering with every step she took. She was grounded to every sensation. And yet oddly felt as though she might float away.

Devil followed behind her after a gratifying pause to adjust himself. She could see the fun in it, since she wasn’t suffering alone.

Yelena waited on a bench set under a mirror the length of a swimming pond. Shelby greeted Devil while Tom brushed sawdust off his beaver-crowned hat in a stunning dark green.

“What are you doing here?” Devil asked him. “I sent you down for ice for your eye.”

“I’m on my way.” Tom did not look the least bit intimidated by his brother. Interesting. He winked at Kitty again. “A pleasure, as always, Miss Caldecott.”

Devil’s eyes sharpened. “You two know each other?”

“We are old friends,” Tom said lightly, accepting a swan-headed walking stick from Shelby. His grin faded, turned serious. “She saved my life.”

Kitty shook her head. “Not really.”

“Absolutely you did.”

“Explain,” Devil said.