“So now would not be appropriate?” His mouth skimmed across her skin to nibble at the spot where her arm met her shoulder.
“No. But I like what you’re doing.”
“Good. I like it, too.” The boyish satisfaction in his voice made her laugh.
He immediately jerked up his head. The shuttered expression on his face sent regret lancing through her. Whatever his uncle had done, laughter had clearly been part of the humiliation. She met his gaze with a steady look.
“Laughter in the bedroom is a joyful sound, Garrick. I laughed because I liked what you were doing, and I was happy you liked it, too.” She didn’t allow her gaze to waver from his until his expression relaxed. With a smile, she tipped her head toward her shoulder. “Now please resume.”
Her firm command made him chuckle, and the sound sent a shock wave through her. The man’s laugh was rich as sin and equally devastating. His mouth caressed her shoulder again, and she closed her eyes at the pleasing touch. The heat of his breath gently stirred the hair against the nape of her neck and he swept it aside to nibble on her earlobe.
“Do you like this?” he murmured with a faint hint of vulnerability hiding deep behind the teasing note in his voice. It endeared him to her.
“I like it very much.” She turned her head to kiss his bare arm braced next to her head. “I like it whenever and
wherever
you touch me.”
He lifted his head to stare down at her with a pleased look on his dark features. He’d obviously heard how she’d stressed the word
wherever
. One hand cupped her breast as he circled the nipple with his thumb.
“And this?”
The question was rich and sinful in her ears as she trembled at his touch. Dear God, this tutoring session was wreaking havoc with her body. How easily he manipulated her senses with his voice and touch. He was devastating now, but when his last lesson was complete he would break hearts with just one look.
“Yes, but at the moment, all I can think about is how good it feels when you’re inside me,” she said softly. His hand stilled at her breast, and she saw passion sparking in his gaze as it warred with the fear inside him. For the first time, she pushed him. “Please, Garrick. I want to feel your hard cock driving into me, filling me until we’re both satiated.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, and she waited with bated breath for his answer. It came quickly. Desire engulfed his features at the same instant his head swept downward to capture her mouth in a hard kiss. She shuddered as he gently bit down on her bottom lip, forcing her to give him greater access.
The moment his tongue danced with hers a hot breeze brushed over her skin. Brandy and raw male heat flooded her senses with a force her mind registered as dangerous, but she ignored the warning. Instead she welcomed his heated touch as he teased and tormented her with each stroke of his tongue. When he lifted his head, she whimpered a protest. Her eyes fluttered open to see the dark desire on his face, and a flash of regret as he gently blindfolded her.
11
Garrick suppressed a groan of frustration as he covered Ruth’s beautiful eyes. He wanted to see her full expression when he sank into her, but he didn’t have the courage to bare himself to her completely. With a growl, he left her lying on the bed for a moment and turned his back on her to fumble with his trousers.
“Garrick?” The tentative note in her voice made him jerk his head toward her.
“I’m still here,” he said gruffly. He shoved his pants off his legs and glanced downward with uncertainty. His cock was obviously ready—was he? She was a siren pulling him toward her, only he wasn’t sure if he’d end up broken on the rocks.
“Are you . . . all right?” The concern in her voice did something unexpected to his heart, but he refused to define it. He turned around to face her, and the sight of her sucked the air out of his lungs. Exquisite. That’s what she was. A feast for his eyes.
“I’m fine,” he rasped. “I’m just enjoying looking at you.”
“Wouldn’t you rather be doing something else at the moment?”
The breathy sound of her voice slammed into him like a sledgehammer. It sent lust pounding through every one of his muscles, and his erection expanded until he ached. Christ Jesus, what was this woman doing to him? Other women had tried to tempt him into their beds, but this one was accomplishing his seduction with little effort at all. He watched as her hand drifted down toward her sex in a languid move that made breathing difficult for him.
She arched her body slightly, her pink tongue flicking out to wet her lips. The instant her fingers slipped between the glistening folds of her sex, he forgot to breathe altogether. She was the most erotic sight he’d ever seen in his entire life. Part of him wanted to thrust into her hard and quick, while the other half of him wanted to go slow and prolong the pleasure of touching her. He leaned over her, and a smile curved her lovely mouth as if she could see him through the blindfold.
“There you are.” She sighed as she blindly stretched out her hand to touch his face. “I love the way you smell. You should always wear bergamot so I can find you even in the dark.”
“I shall remember that.”
“I thought you’d changed your mind.” Her quiet observation made him stiffen. How easily she could read him. Not until this moment did he realize he’d been contemplating doing just that.
“I almost did.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Her hand slid around to the back of his neck to tug him downward.
He went willingly. The feel of her silky soft skin against his was a heady experience. His body covered every inch of her, and she warmed him until his blood was running hot and thick through his veins. Between her legs, his cock pressed against her sex, and he drew in a ragged breath as her hand reached for him.
“No.”
The sharp command made her freeze against him. He grimaced and pulled her hand away from him. “Forgive me. I just don’t—”
“It’s all right. I understand.”
Although the blindfold hid her violet eyes, he was certain that if he could look into her gaze, he would have seen that gentle understanding. He could hear it reflected in her voice, and see it in the sweet curve of her mouth. He shuddered. God help him, but he wanted to please her.
“Tell me what you want, Ruth. Tell me how to please you.”
“You already know how,” she said with a smile. It was the mischief in her voice that made him wish once more that he could see her eyes. He knew they’d be sparkling with an invitation he wasn’t about to refuse. With a light kiss to her mouth, he brushed his lips along the edge of her jaw to where he could nibble on her ear.
She tasted of honey with just a trace of something deliciously seductive. The taste of it on his tongue was like an erotic aphrodisiac. It aroused him until desire sent hot tension charging through him. He drew in a deep breath of her scent, his body demanding he assuage his need for her.
“Is now the right time to say something wicked?” he asked as he pressed against the entrance of her sex. Her response to the small thrust was a sharp gasp. “Is that a yes?”
“Ye . . . yes.” She trembled beneath him, and he sought the curve of her neck with his mouth. Gently nipping the skin just below her ear.
“Do you . . . I want to feel you tight around my cock.” He choked back a groan at his awkward utterance and waited for her to laugh at him.
She didn’t. Instead, she wrapped her legs around him, her heels digging into his buttocks. In a quick movement, she pushed herself onto his rod before he knew what was happening. Her body clenched around him tightly and dragged a moan out of him.
“Is it tight like you wanted?” she teased. The breathy laugh she released was a wonderful sound, but it wasn’t the one he wanted to hear right now.
“Yes, you minx,” he rasped as he thrust his hips forcefully against hers.
The small
oh
of surprise her mouth formed below her blindfold sent a rush of satisfaction through him. Swallowing the knot of desire rising in his throat, he gently rocked his body against hers. The slow precision with which he managed to thrust into her surprised him. His body was demanding an immediate release, but unlike the last time, he wanted the pleasure to last.
He wanted to savor the way her soft, silky smooth body fit his. Breathing in her sweet, tangy scent, he sought her mouth in a hard kiss as he pushed deeper into the heat of her. God, she felt wonderful. He wanted to stay buried in her like this for a long time.
Suddenly, she moved her hips against his, and the friction it created made his cock jump with pleasure. She was slick and buttery around him. He groaned as the heat of her cunny tugged on him. It was like having a velvet vise wrapped around his rod. Her body squeezed then released the pressure against his erection with a mindnumbing pleasure his hand had never been able to give him. It fired his blood until he was sliding in and out of her in a natural, steady rhythm that surprised him. Her soft moan floated upward and filtered its way into his brain as he pressed his body deeper into hers. The sound excited him. It said he was pleasing her.
It encouraged him to increase the pace of his thrusts until she was matching him stroke for stroke beneath him. Suddenly, her fingers dug into his shoulders as she clung to him, and her hips jerked fiercely against his. Her body clenched tightly around him as spasm after spasm rippled over his cock until he groaned from the intense pleasure of it. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined being with a woman would be like this.
She didn’t stop shuddering around him as he continued to thrust into her. Each time he retreated, her body protested by clinging tightly to him. It increased the friction against his rod until every stroke of his body into hers was a delicious torment. A wild stirring in his blood sent a harsh demand for satisfaction streaking through him.
Lost in the hot, creamy feel of her, he drove into her at a frenzied pace. The harder his stroke the more intense the friction. It was an unbelievable sensation. He felt as though he were racing up a steep incline, his body demanding he reach the top before his lungs gave out.
The tension of the moment snagged its way through his back and arms until the pressure building inside him threatened to lock his body rigid. He slammed into her with one last thrust, and it pulled a shout from him as his cock jerked and throbbed inside her. His breathing labored, he hovered above her as wave after wave of intense pleasure assaulted his body. Ever so slowly the sensations abated until he found himself sinking down into her welcoming warmth with his forehead pressing into hers. God, he wanted to look into her eyes right now. His fingers reached for the blindfold, but a warning cry in his head made him caress her cheek instead.
“Another examination you’ve passed with flying colors,” she said huskily.
“You made it effortless,” he murmured as he kissed her. He wanted to go to sleep and wake up with her in his arms.
“And this?” She pointed to the blindfold, and his heart skipped a beat as the fear came rushing back.
He quickly rolled away from her and lunged for his pants on the floor. His trousers fastened, he turned around and stopped where he was to stare at her. They’d not bothered to undo the bed, and Ruth was nestled among the tousled bedspread and sheets. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
The gold bedding was the perfect foil for her luxuriant chestnut hair, and it emphasized the peach-colored hue of her flushed skin. The blindfold was still in place, and his throat bobbed as he marveled that he’d not even thought to tie her to the bed. It was a sign of how safe he felt when he was with her. Even more amazing was the fact that she was waiting on him to remove the blindfold. It was a simple gesture, but it indicated how sensitive she was to his needs. The realization shot a bolt of emotion through him, filling him with the sudden urge to tell her everything. But it wasn’t a chance he was willing to take.
He tensed as he envisioned her looking at him. Would his deformity make her recoil from him? He grimaced as he removed her blindfold, and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the soft light in the room. Her gaze met his and she smiled.
“Perhaps it’s wicked of me to say so, but there’s something erotically sinful about being blindfolded when you’re pleasuring me.” Her voice was sultry music in his ears, and another surge of desire barreled through him. The sensation was becoming all too familiar where she was concerned.
“So I pleased you?”
He winced. The words were nothing short of a cry for reassurance. Damn it to hell, he was far too transparent.
“More than any man I’ve ever been with,” she whispered.
There was a catch in her voice that said she’d shared more than she meant to. Her words brightened the darkest corners of his heart. He instinctively knew it was a mistake to take pleasure in her comment, but he didn’t care. A delicate yawn parted her lips, and he noted the way her eyelids drooped slightly. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist.
“I’ll leave you to sleep,” he murmured.
“Don’t go. Put out the lights and stay a little longer.”
She shook her head and drew back the covers of her bed. The moment she slid beneath the sheets, he knew he wasn’t going anywhere. The warmth in her violet eyes promised he’d find peace and comfort in her arms. He quickly doused the gaslights in the room so that the only light came from the small fire burning in the hearth.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkened room, he turned back to the bed and saw her lying on her side waiting for him. She stretched out her hand to him, and he crossed the room to accept her invitation. Lying down beside her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her into his chest. Without a word, she snuggled into him, her hand resting over his heart.
He liked the way she felt in his arms—the way he felt when he was with her. She aroused his protective instincts. He’d always watched over his sisters and Mary, but this was different. This was a territorial emotion at the most primitive level. He pushed the thought aside. It was simply a reaction to what had happened tonight.