him, and he wanted to drag her against his chest and kiss her so badly, his teeth ached. He had to resist, for one kiss with her wouldn’t be enough. He ruthlessly reminded himself, “He who conquers others is strong, but he who conquers himself is mighty.”
He could feel the wild flutter of her heartbeat underneath his fingers pressed into the curve of her throat. “Not my racoon.”
His heart slammed against his chest. So close to kissing her but so far away.
“It is you…you who saw me… Since that first night you climbed up into my room, I can forever feel your gaze upon me. You saw.”
That sumptuous mouth of hers curved with a grin that made him want to stroke his tongue at the corner of her mouth. An irrepressible dimple appeared, and he wanted to kiss it.
So he did.
Chapter Sixteen
His kiss destroyed her.
It was unexpected, it was so soft, it was unbelievably tender, and scandalously perfect, for it was just a mere meeting of their mouths, but it felt like everything. A recognition that they were more than just friends, not of ships sailing past each other in the vastness of the world.
Since the first touch of his lips to hers, neither moved. Leaning in farther, she pressed her hands to his chest, quite aware he still held a hand at her throat. Though he had not yet parted his lips, Maryann could taste him…smell him, something dark and delicious, and it stirred a violent hunger to life.
She nipped at his lower lip, and a sighing sound came from his throat. Then his lips parted, and his tongue licked along the closed seam of her mouth. With the softest of moans, she opened her mouth to him, gasping her delight when the hand gently encircling her throat, slid up and thrust into her hair, holding her firmly to him. He ravished her mouth with sensual expertise. At first with soft bites and licks, then with such demanding pressure, her lips felt bruised.
Maryann moved her mouth under his with sensual wonder, little whimpers of need puffing from her mouth to his. Their tongues met, and at first the sensations startled her, then they delighted her. With another moan she followed his lead, taking and giving in equal measure. His tongue slowly stroked hers, and she gave herself over to the heated sensations building within her.
His hands moved to grip her hips, then tightened almost painfully. As their kiss deepened and his mouth grew more demanding, moving over hers in a hot, hungry surge of possession, she trembled at the sheer pleasure he evoked.
Their mouths broke apart, and she gasped shakily.
She stared at him, her lips parted, her breath shallow. “That was my very first kiss.”
Pleasure lit in his eyes, and the unguarded tenderness in his expression sent a profound ache to her heart. She lifted trembling fingers to his mouth. Nicolas leaned in and barely brushed her mouth to his.
“Open your legs and sit on me as if mounting a horse astride,” he murmured at her lips.
She was scandalized by the carnal instructions, but her entire body seemed to pulse in response. The intense sensuality in his gaze stole her breath. The chair was without arm pads, and Maryann shifted, slipping one leg on the outside of his thigh and then repeated the motion with her other foot so that she sat astride him.
Their mouths were barely touching, and his eyes… God, they were so beautiful, she felt as if she were drowning in their depths. His hands shifted, but she did not break their stare, not even when he reached forward, grabbed her nightgown in his fists, and dragged it up almost to her waist.
Peering down, Maryann flushed. Her legs were split so wide to accommodate the width of his hips and the breadth of the chair. Then he unerringly pressed a thumb to that mark he had left high on her thigh. He pressed it, and she whimpered at the resulting ache felt deep inside her sex.
She hesitated, her rapid breathing mingling with his.
“Frightened, Maryann?”
He kissed the exposed part of her throat, then raked his teeth against her beating pulse.
“I can feel the beat of your heart against my mouth. You are afraid.” He sounded darkly amused, rakish. “Such sweet innocence. I am going to enjoy turning you out.”
She thought it prudent to ignore what she realized was deliberate provocation. Then a sharp nip at her flesh pulled a whimper from her.