Christmas Griffin - Zoe Chant Page 0,77

closed the door behind them and then shattered. Spectacularly.

She knew Hardwick hadn’t packed many shirts. That didn’t stop her from ripping his off.

His chest was hot under her fingers, his heartbeat a drum that echoed in her own chest. She kissed his collarbone, his pecs, ran greedy fingers down the planes of his abs and hooked them into his belt. He growled something that was all meaning and no words, his own fingers slipping as he tried to pull off her own shirt. She teased him, drawing the belt through its buckle oh-so-slowly, and he swore deep in his throat.

“Please,” he begged, and she let him go, stepped back, raised her arms obediently for him to strip her.

He was more controlled than she was. He dropped to his knees in front of her, raising the hem of her sweater inch by inch and peppering her bare skin with kisses. Every touch made every other inch of her skin want to be touched. By the time he reached her breasts, she was shaking.

This was so much more intense than the first time they’d had sex. That had been all fierce need, lust mingling with frustration and the half-wonder, half-terror of knowing the connection she’d sensed was real. Now, Hardwick’s mouth on her was like a blessing, sweet and longing.

He dropped her sweater on the floor and pulled down the straps of her bra one at a time, caressing the soft skin of her breasts and touching his lips to her nipples. Goosebumps prickled across her skin. She gasped, arching her back, her whole body singing out more, more.

“Please, I want you to—” Her breath hitched as he circled her nipple with his tongue. “—teeth—”

He bit down, gently, and Delphine’s legs almost gave out. Only Hardwick’s strong hands around her waist kept her upright. And he kept biting, light, teasing brushes of tooth against skin, up her neck, to her heat-washed lips.

There was a question in his eyes. “What is it?” she asked.

“Last time…” His hands ghosted down her sides. She hitched her hips towards him, and he moaned as her stomach pressed against the hardness between his legs. “It was incredible. If you want to do that again—”

“I want,” she murmured, raising one finger to outline his lips, “whatever you want.”

His pupils darkened. “Slower?”

“Slower.”

“God, I love you.”

Love. The word dove home in Delphine’s chest, piercing her heart. She was helpless as he kissed her again, as slowly as he’d asked for, his fingers slipping under her waistline and pushing her trousers down. Slowly, slowly. She would want fast and hard again, she knew, but this, now, was perfect.

He teased her until she thought she would go mad. She was slick with need, hot and loose-limbed with want. When she slid down his body, laying kisses in a trail that went from his neck to his stomach, his arms tightened around her as though he thought she really was falling. She gently pushed his hands away and sank lower.

He groaned as she pulled at his belt again—slowly, slowly—and she relished the sound. When she freed his cock at last a thrill pulsed between her legs.

She kissed the end of it first, then along one side. Hardwick’s hands tangled in her hair. “Oh, God, Delphine—”

His hips twitched as she wrapped her lips around his tip and she drew back, a smile hovering around her mouth. “Who said he wanted ‘slower’?” she reminded him.

The expression in his eyes made her breath catch.

She held his gaze as she put her mouth on him again, sucking his cock in with sensual, excruciating slowness. She tasted a hint of salt as she swirled her tongue across the head of his cock and felt Hardwick’s groan thrum against her lips. Her own hum, pleasurable and low, made him twitch against her.

When she thought they were both about to break, she pulled away and rose to her feet again. Hardwick crushed her to his chest, his breathing ragged. They made their way to the bedroom, feet tripping over themselves, every step an excuse to stop and kiss and run hungry hands over one another. At last, Hardwick picked her up and lowered her gently onto a coverlet that was soft as a cloud beneath her back. He eased her pants off and stood back, his dark eyes hooded as he stared at her.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice honey mixed with gravel.

There was no self-consciousness. Delphine glowed beneath his hot gaze, basking in his admiration. How could she be