Page 39

He feathered kisses down her long, swanlike neck, which she arced toward him as she grasped his arms. His cock strained, fully erect. Flicking his tongue as he moved lower, he gripped the stone behind her to restrain himself.

It did not work.

Groaning, he pulled the material of her gown down. Lower, and lower still, just enough.

The sight of a bare breast nearly unmanned him. Perfectly round, the nipple so much darker than he’d imagined. Without looking up, he lavished it with the same attention as he had her neck, first circling the taut center, then taking it fully into his mouth.

Lance wasn’t sure when her hands had moved to his head, but they had, and she was pressing him even closer. So he pushed just a bit further, using his teeth to test. When she gasped, he did it again.

And then he made the mistake of looking up.

Eyes hooded, lips in a full pout, Idalia was the final course of the most resplendent meal, and he planned to indulge.

They had to stop.

Covering her on both sides, he stood to tell her just that.

But Idalia was not having it.

“No, not this time.”

He looked toward the door. While this area of the keep may be unused, private, they were taking an impossible risk. “They could come back any moment.”

“Aye.”

He was almost disappointed she’d agreed with him.

“Or they could not. But I don’t want you to stop.”

“Idalia, I—”

“Show me.”

Oh God, no. Please, no . . .

“You know we cannot. You are an earl’s daughter.”

Not an earl. The earl.

But he’d awoken something in her. Her chest heaved with unspent desire. She ached for pleasure, and he wished to be the one to give it to her. To be the first to show her the satisfaction a man and woman could find in each other.

You are risking . . . everything.

Damned if he cared at this moment.

“What are you wearing under your shift?”

That managed to surprise her.

“Under my shift?”

“Aye.”

The woman whose bare breasts were still exposed to his mouth actually blushed. What could possibly make her . . .

“You’ve nothing under it?” he guessed.

She shook her head. “Socking on my lower legs of course, but naught else. Roysa chided me for it, but—”