Pleasure Me (23 page)

Why was he still standing here? He should have been at the door by now. He tried to move but couldn’t. If he didn’t do something fast there was no hope for him. His feet remained rooted to the floor as he watched her undo her hair so it fell down over her shoulders. God, she was beautiful. Her eyes closed, the scarf she still held in her hand drifted across the tips of her breast in a way that seemed natural, yet he knew it was deliberate.

“Do you like looking at me, Garrick?” The throaty whisper scraped across his senses.

“Yes,” he rasped.

The scarf fluttered against her skin like a butterfly touching first one delicate curve and then another. Her hands cupped her breasts, and in a move that made it impossible for him to breathe, she circled her fingers around her rigid nipples. With great difficulty, he suppressed the raging need to stride forward and take her into his arms. Instead he forced himself to take a step back from her. It did little to assuage the hunger assaulting his rigid cock. Almost as if she could sense his need, her eyes flickered open, and she stretched out her hand to offer him the scarf.

“Tie me to the bed.” It was a soft command that made him stare at her in astonishment. A sensual, yet gentle, smile curved her mouth. “I want
you
to be in control of your pleasure.”

His brain struggled to process her words. This was a seduction of the highest order. She was giving him complete control. Deep inside his head a shout of alarm tried to keep him from moving forward. It failed. She was giving him the ability to make love to her on his terms.

With a guttural sound, he closed the distance between them and tugged her into his arms. She came willingly, her hands sliding up over his chest to cup the back of his head as her lips parted beneath his. A white-hot need thundered through him, and he swept her off her feet to carry her toward the bed. Despite the urgency tugging at his erection, he carefully laid her down, shrugged out of his coat, and knelt beside her. Hesitation hammered at him in a staccato rhythm. Christ Jesus, he must be insane to think this would work. He swallowed hard. She reached up to stroke his face in a tender gesture as their eyes met.

“I trust you, Garrick. I wouldn’t have offered you complete control if I didn’t.”

Unable to speak, he nodded his head and took the scarf from her hands. He gently bound her wrists together then pulled them over her head to tie her to one of the brass spindles of the headboard. In the back of his mind he wondered how many other men had tied her like this. Jealousy streaked through him at the thought, but he pushed it away as he stared down at her. She was a feast for his eyes, every rosy flushed inch of her.

“Touch me.” Her whisper was more plea than demand, and he hesitated. Her eyelids were heavy with desire as she stared up at him. “I want you to touch me.”

He nodded before he reached out to press his palm against her softly rounded stomach. The warm heat of her spread its way into him. He brushed his hand across her silky smooth skin to find the curve at her side. She was soft, pliant against his touch.

“You’re beautiful,” he rasped. A soft blush crested over her cheeks as she smiled up at him.

“Thank you. A woman never grows tired of hearing that.” She bent her leg until her knee was almost touching his mouth. “We like to be kissed, too. Everywhere.”

There was a veiled meaning to her words that he didn’t completely understand. That awkward sensation he despised returned, but this time he crushed it beneath the weight of his desire to touch her. He’d come this far already, and the tantalizing vision in front of him was enough to make him overcome the minor resistance in the back of his head.

Instinct guided him to grasp her ankle and slowly slide his hand upward as he lightly kissed her kneecap. The quiet murmur of approval escaping her encouraged him to trail his mouth downward along her smooth leg to her ankle. She tasted of citrus and spice. Deliciously sweet.

He cradled the bottom of her dainty foot in the palm of his hand to nibble at the inside of her ankle. Another soft sound rolled out of her, and he looked back at her face. If possible, the heat in her gaze made his erection even harder. His heart slammed into his chest at the thought of sliding into her. Would he disappoint her? The old uncertainty embraced him again. He was only half a man; how could he possibly please this incredibly gorgeous creature?

“Don’t think. Feel,” she whispered as if she could read his thoughts.

“Where else do you like to be kissed?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“Where would
you
like to kiss me?”

There was temptation in that question as his eyes drifted toward her breasts. He leaned forward to swirl his tongue around her aureole. Her soft gasp said he was proving an apt pupil. His teeth gently nipped at the hard tip, and she released a low cry of pleasure.

The sound pleased him. He liked knowing his touch had made her cry out. He wanted to hear it again. His tongue swirled around her nipple before he took as much of her as he could into his mouth and suckled her. Immediately, she arched up into him, the moan rolling from her throat exciting him even more.

He switched his attention to her other breast, and another mewl passed her lips. The sudden thought that she might be feigning her pleasure made him raise his head to look at her face. Deep inside, the old fears told him he’d find her laughing at him—mocking his inexperience. Instead, her expression of pleasure reassured him.

She didn’t find his touch repulsive. Her eyelids fluttered open and he saw passion darkening her violet eyes. The look made his heart slam into his chest as his hand slid downward to caress her hip. She arched against the touch.

“I like what you’re doing,” she said in a low and throaty voice. “But I would like it even more if you would kiss me more intimately.”

“More intimately?”

He frowned as he looked at her and followed her gaze downward. Sweet Jesus, she was asking him to kiss her cunny. He’d heard Charles talking about kissing a woman’s sex, but he couldn’t remember too much of the conversation as he’d been quite drunk at the time. Still, the thought of stroking her with his tongue excited him.

A new scent mixed with her sweet perfume as his hand lightly brushed over the baby soft skin at the apex of her thighs. The sharp breath she inhaled indicated her excitement as his fingers gently parted her soft folds.

“Stop,” she gasped. He immediately froze and jerked his gaze up to meet her sultry look. “That nub of flesh you’re touching. If you pay special attention to that—”

He didn’t wait for her to finish speaking and rubbed the sensitive spot gently, yet firmly. The moment he fondled the small piece of flesh, she writhed against his hand. Another moan echoed out of her, and a sense of power sailed through him at the intensity of the sound. He wanted to hear it again.

Quickly shifting his position on the bed, he planted himself squarely between her legs. While still playing with her, he pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh. He studied her face as he pressed his mouth against the inside of her leg, while stroking her with his thumb. A creamy substance coated his fingertips as he continued to play with her.

As he slowly kissed his way down her leg to the inner crease where her thigh met her hip, the look on her face made his blood pound its way through him. It engorged his cock, stretching him until he experienced a painfully acute pleasure. He recognized the precipice he was on, and he faltered. He was on the verge of exploding, and he didn’t know how to keep from coming. How could he possibly please her if he spilled his seed now?

“Garrick, look at me.” Her quiet command brought his head up to meet her understanding gaze. “You want me, now, don’t you? You can’t wait.”

“Yes,” he rasped.

“Then take your clothes off.” He’d bent her leg at the knee and jerked as she ran her toe across his covered erection. “I want to feel your cock inside of me.”

He recoiled from the touch, terrified she’d be able to tell he only had one ballock. The old memories returned as mocking laughter filled his head. He couldn’t let her see him. If she realized what a freak he was . . . he shook his head at the fear rising up inside him.

“No.” His voice was hoarse with panic.

“Please,” she whispered. “I need you inside me now.”

The words were a soft cry of passionate need, and he ached to obey her request. His entire body was shouting out for something he knew was within his reach, but he was afraid to take that last step. Frantic with a mixture of desire, need, and fear, he glanced around the room, for what he had no idea.

“It’s all right if you don’t want me to see you.” Under the soft, reassuring words, he could hear the husky note of urgency in her voice. “There’s another scarf in the drawer.”

It was the crutch he needed. A way to keep his secret and yet possess her body. In a move that he recognized as being clumsy at best, he left her on the bed to retrieve the scarf. Seconds later, he was standing over her. Violet eyes looked up at him and a part of him cried out in protest as he blindfolded her. What he really wanted was to stare into her eyes as he plunged into her, but he knew better. He’d already taken more risks than he’d ever dared before with a woman.

Staring down at her, he drew in a sharp, deep breath. Tied and blindfolded, she was an erotic sight that tempted him in a way he’d never dreamed possible. His body was on fire as heat streaked through his veins. In seconds, he freed his cock from his trousers and knelt between her legs.

Hands braced on either side of her, he couldn’t help kissing her sex. He wanted desperately to please her. His tongue slid between her damp folds, to taste her. She was white-hot against his lips, and she cried out as he savored her. Christ Jesus, he’d never thought a woman could be such a tempting morsel. He wanted to taste every inch of her. His mouth moved upward to caress her stomach then on to her breasts. The moment he captured a nipple in his mouth, she whimpered. It was a sound of pleasure, and he loved hearing it.

An instant later, his cock jumped as she bent her knee again, her foot glancing off the tip of him. Roughly, he forced her leg away from him, and with one hand guided his rod between her slick folds. A mewl of need poured out of her as he pressed into her. As he slid deeper, it felt as though her body was clutching at him, pulling him into her. It was an incredible sensation. His hand had never given him even one tenth of this kind of pleasure.

Blind need suddenly crashed through him and he withdrew before plunging back into her. Her tight grip was an exquisite friction against his cock, clenching around him like a hot vise. What little control he had slipped as he realized how close he was to exploding. Unable to help himself, he began to drive in and out of her with fast, frantic strokes.

In seconds, a familiar rush made him stiffen and he exploded inside of her. The swiftness of his climax made him grimace with self-disgust. He’d not been able to hold his seed long enough to bring her to satisfaction, although he wasn’t really sure what that entailed. Humiliated by his poor performance, he retreated from her and quickly pulled his trousers back on, hiding his diminishing erection.

When he’d concealed himself, he quickly undid her blindfold and freed her from the bed. Feeling like a schoolboy who’d failed to perform a simple task, he turned away from her and moved to stand at the fireplace. He stared into the flames with regret. He was a fool. He should never have allowed her to convince him to make love to her. His uncle had been right all along. He was half a man, and his performance just now proved it.

“Thank you.” The scent of her wafted its way over his shoulder as she came up behind him. Shame prevented him from looking at her.

“For what?” he rasped. “It was a miserable performance by me at best.”

“It was your first time. It takes practice to become a skilled lover.” The gentleness in her voice didn’t soothe his embarrassment.

“It was a mistake to think I could make love to you.” He continued to watch the blue and yellow flames dancing across the logs in the hearth.

“But you
did
make love to me,” she said quietly. “And I promise you, the next time will be even more pleasurable. For
both
of us.”

“There won’t be a next time,” he ground out fiercely. The moment the words were out of his mouth, he flinched. The thought of not touching her again was a crushing blow.

Ruth stepped away from Garrick to pick up and shrug into her robe. A quick glance over her shoulder showed him still standing in front of the fireplace. The stark white of his shirt emphasized his dark features and black hair. His head bent, he stared into the flames as though contemplating some dark fate. It served to intensify the dangerous edge of his sinful good looks, but it was the bleakness to his posture that made her heart ache. Not a good sign. She needed to avoid growing attached to him.

She bit down on her lip at the thought. There had been other lovers in the past that she’d tutored in new techniques, but never a man who was completely inexperienced. There was something exciting about the idea of initiating him into the art of lovemaking. It was like starting with fresh clay and creating a work of art.

In Garrick’s case, it meant teaching him how to please her. No, how to please another woman. She needed to remember that. In the end she’d be alone again. It had been that way since her mother died. That wouldn’t change because there was no permanence to her life. Every man who’d entered her bedroom had always left. Garrick would be no different.

As long as she remembered this was a temporary arrangement, she could take pleasure in his company and his touch. And dear God, the man’s touch was like a hot flame burning her skin. She couldn’t recall ever feeling the kind of desire Garrick evoked in her. Perhaps it was because she’d sensed his lack of experience, and it aroused her.