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Her taut shoulders relaxed by slow degrees as she fell into fascination. He was so hot. So alive. Her hands wandered all over his torso, from his stomach to his shoulders, over the dip of his breastbone and the swell of his muscles and the steely curve of his ribs.
She became lost in her exploration, nearly forgetting, oddly enough, that he was there. Not even noticing his deepening breaths and clenching hands.
“Katie,” he finally said, her name a low rasp.
Blinking from her trance, she saw the tortured pain on his face, and she smiled. “Will you touch me, Aidan?”
“Ah, God,” he moaned, and framed her face in his hands. He pulled her down, covering his body with hers, and guided her mouth to his.
Kate groaned when his tongue entered her. She scrambled higher on his body so that she could slant her mouth over his and kiss him with all the yearning that coursed through her veins. Aidan drank her up with just as much urgency.
His hands roamed down her shoulders, over her back, to her hips. She settled her knees on either side of his hips, and her body went heavy and hot. Every muscle, every inch of skin burned as his tongue thrust into her, a rhythm she knew. A rhythm she wanted.
Kate reached for her skirts to ruck them up. When she was settled more soundly against him, she broke from the kiss and sat up.
The sight of him beneath her hit her like a brutal hand. His face was flushed, his eyes glittered. His expression struck some beautiful line between tenderness and cruelty. And above the edge of her skirts, he was naked and so very lovely.
Determined not to lose her courage, Kate inched down and reached for the fastening of his trousers.
“No,” he said, startling her. “No. It won’t be like this. Not this time.”
“What—” she started, but Aidan was easing her up, off the bed. “No,” she said as he rose as well.
But then he eased her around and he reached for the buttons of her morning gown. “Oh,” she sighed. “I can do it.”
“No.”
That simple word stilled her hands. She watched as he slowly unfastened each button, then spread the dress down her shoulders and off her arms. She stared at the pale skin above her white chemise. Her dress fell, pooling around her feet.
Her corset was laced loosely so that Kate could hook the clasps herself. Aidan popped the first hook free.
“Wait,” she whispered. She hadn’t looked at her own body in so long, and now she realized what a dreadful idea this was.
His hands froze. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so . . . It’s so bright.”
“Oh, Katie,” he murmured. “Close your eyes.” So she did, only because she didn’t want this to stop.
She kept her eyes closed as her corset loosened. She squeezed them tightly shut when his hands drew the shoulders of her chemise down. When he untied the delicate string of her drawers, his knuckles pressed the naked skin of her belly, and she began to tremble. Linen caressed her thighs as it slid to the floor.
And then the room pressed into her whole body. The cool air. The wisps of wind when Aidan moved. She could even feel the light on her, naming her a woman nearly thirty, a whole world away from the young girl she’d once been.
“I’ve waited a lifetime for this,” he said. His hands gripped her hips, and she opened her eyes to find him kneeling on the floor before her. Wetness rushed to the place between her legs as Aidan pressed his open mouth to her ribs. His tongue stroked up, up, until it brushed the curve of her breast.
Kate felt her throat open on a sigh. This was . . . It was beautiful. Even in the light, it was perfect. Yes, her breasts were heavier now, but Aidan’s mouth worshipped the flesh. Yes, her hips were wider, but they served the needful purpose of giving his hands the perfect curve to grasp.
His mouth closed over the d
eep rose flush of her nipple, and Kate cried out. He sucked at her, and a shimmering, vibrating tension began to pulse deep inside her, spreading through her body like rings of water until her fingers trembled and her skin buzzed.
By the time he lifted his head and his green eyes rose, Kate was caught in a storm of her beating heart and straining lungs. She could do nothing but stare down at his flushed lips in wonder. How could such a simple touch of his mouth draw her sex so desperately tight? Now she remembered why she’d been so foolish all those years ago. Because being foolish with Aidan had been worth any price, any risk. Because she’d been alive with him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “I could never have imagined how lovely.”
His hands turned her hips, and urged her down to the bed. The linens were cool and crisp against her backside, while Aidan’s hands were hot as they slipped down her thighs. In that moment, she decided there was no more vulnerable place in the world than the inside of a woman’s thighs. She shook as his thumbs trailed lower. He parted her legs and bent his head.
“Aidan!” she gasped, trying to scoot back.
