hand, his fingers twisting in her glorious, sun-brightened hair as his tongue went to work.
A tremor wiggled up her spine, snaking from the small of her back, and he felt it against the forearm he had pressed against the bare skin of her shoulder blades.
Which reminded him... He tugged on one end of that maddening bow at the back of her neck. The bodice of her dress fell to her waist.
Her arm came up to cover her bared body, but he grabbed both wrists and held them at her sides as he stepped back. Breath soughed in and out of his lungs as if he'd been sprinting as he stared at her naked torso.
His eyes closed for a moment as he imprinted the sight on his memory. Small, high breasts. Pale pink nipples. The thin skin at her throat thrumming with the same rapid beat he felt beneath his fingers.
He needed more nakedness.
Transferring both wrists to one of his hands, he reached around to the small of her back and sought the tab of a zipper. Jane made a helpless little noise as his fingers met her flesh, and then she went still as the metallic teeth parted with a hiss of sound.
The dress dropped from her hips and pooled at her bare feet.
Need surged to his groin, and he staggered back, still holding on to her arms. His cock went fully hard as his gaze took in the scrap of sheer undergarment wrapped low at her hips. "Good God," he murmured. Two halves of delicate violet fabric covered her there, laced together at the center with a narrow satin ribbon of a darker amethyst shade that was fashioned into a bow three inches below her shallow belly button.
Swallowing hard, he stepped forward again and deliberately placed her left wrist at her left side, then he did the same with the other wrist. "Don't move," he said, his voice hoarse. "Don't move a single inch."
Her breasts were trembling. He could see the sweet little nipples tightening as he focused on them. The panties were going to have to wait a minute until he could get his spiking lust under control. With one hand on her shoulder, he flattened his other palm against her ribs, then slid it up to cradle the underside of her breast.
She made to break, he sensed it, and he shot his gaze to hers. "Not a single inch, Jane."
His head bent. He rubbed his cheek against the tip of her nipple, knowing his evening stubble would lightly abrade the sensitive point. Her heartbeat sounded loud in his ear. Her hand touched his hair, and he stepped back again. "Not an inch, Jane," he reminded her.
She'd tortured him for days. Now it was his turn.
Her hand dropped, and he rewarded her with a tiny kiss to her nipple. She made another of those yearning noises, and he obliged her by pressing another one on the other bud. When the yearning turned into a low growl of sound, he grinned against her soft flesh and then relented, drawing the jutting nub into the heat of his mouth.
She bowed into the sensation, and he saw her fingers curl into fists. It was so damn gratifying to have her at his mercy. Her body, he quickly amended. He had her body, which was all that he wanted of her.
Her nipple hardened against his tongue. Lust tightened his muscles, and his cock twitched against the constraints of his clothes. He sucked on her, a sweet little tug, and then he thought of those decadent panties and his mouth tightened, his tongue pushing that bud against the roof of his mouth.
Jane's flower scent imbued the air. She was heating up, her skin burning everywhere he touched her. He switched to her other breast, and his fingers toyed with the one already wet. His tongue circled her areola, then lapped at the nipple, teasing her with the lightest of caresses. He sensed the growing rigidity of her muscles, and just when he gave her the smallest bite, she cracked.
One hand jerked to his head, holding him against her; the other reached for the fastening of his pants. Griffin pulled away, leaving her chest heaving and her eyes flashing silver fire. "No," she said, sounding gratifyingly desperate.
Little darling. With a smile, he wagged a finger at her. "Jane," he said, mock-stern. "I call the shots. I'm doing this just for you, you know."
Framed by curling tendrils of hair, her cheeks were flushed. "If you