The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,34

The dark need that sparkled in his stare was so powerful, so tempting. She never wanted it to go away. She wanted this man to look at her this way for the rest of her life. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. So she savored it now by sliding the gown the rest of the way down and standing before him in her underthings.

“Phillipa,” he murmured, and his eyes roamed over her slowly from head to toe.

She fought not to shift under that focused regard, but it was nearly impossible. She’d never been particularly comfortable in her own skin. She’d enjoyed sex with Erasmus, at least at first, but her nudity had always made her blush.

She felt that same heat creeping into her skin without even removing the rest of her clothes, and found herself lifting a hand to cover herself.

He shook his head as he reached for her, dragging his fingertips down her bare arm. “You don’t need to hide from me,” he whispered. “Never hide from me.”

She nodded and forced her hand away. He caught her waist and pulled her against his chest again, his mouth finding hers with hungry desperation. She unbuttoned his jacket and shoved her hands into the warmth of him, letting her palms explore against his linen shirt, finding strength in the body she had been fantasizing about for weeks.

He grunted, a sound of masculine desire and approval, and pushed the jacket away. He unwound his cravat awkwardly, trying to keep kissing her as he did so, and she found herself laughing at the attempt. He smiled against her lips and managed to drop the length of fabric aside. His hands slid into her hair as it fell and he angled her mouth against his more firmly.

She loved the flavor of him, mint and tea and desire. She wanted to memorize every note of it, like he was a fine wine uncorked at last for her to enjoy. It would be fleeting, but she wanted to get drunk on him nonetheless.

He seemed to want the same, and for a short time it was just tongues tangling and teeth clicking, seeking fingers unfastening and unhooking. At last, she pushed away, panting with desire, and watched as he tugged his shirt over his head. She caught her breath.

He was delicious. She’d felt the implied power of him when she held his arm or when he embraced her, but there it was, proven by the sculpted curves of muscle and sinew. He had a lean strength to his body, with muscled arms and a flat stomach. Chest hair lightly peppered his pectorals and a thin trail trickled down his stomach and into the low waistband of his trousers.

She reached out, hand shaking as she traced that line with one finger.

“What are you thinking with that look on your face?” he murmured.

She glanced up to find him watching her intently. She smiled weakly. “I’m wondering if you are real or some long dream I’ve conjured up to get me through this impossible time. I’m wondering if I’m going to wake up before I get everything I want.”

He caught her waist and brought her closer. “I’m very, very real, Phillipa. And I’m going to give you everything you want.”

He leaned in to kiss her, but she dodged his mouth. Instead she held his gaze as she grasped the waist of his trousers. She let her hand slide down the front, feeling the hardness of him beneath the fabric. The tendons in his neck flexed as he clenched his jaw with a harsh intake of breath.

She watched him as she unfastened first one button on the placard front, then the other, and let the fabric fall away. She slowly let her gaze come down, and her body clenched.

It was a very nice cock. Not that she had many to compare it to, and not that she wanted to make that particular comparison in this moment, but there it was. He was hard, fully hard and the long length of him curled up toward his stomach. She caught him in hand, stroking once, twice, and reveling in how this man who kept himself always in control dropped his head back and made a sound that was almost inhuman.

She stroked her thumb across the head of him, sliding a drop of his essence across the soft flesh. He surged into her hand, and in that moment the control snapped. Animal heat, more dangerous and powerful than anything she’d ever seen, took over the lines