It took a bit of gentle prodding, but eventually she opened her eyes, staring at him with an unfocused gaze. He grinned, charmed by the sight of her and grateful to know that in short order he would awaken to this face every morning for the rest of his life.
“Does your father know you are sharing my bed, you scandalous creature?”
She yawned, easing herself onto her elbow. “No, actually. I slipped in here after everyone had gone to bed. They all think me tucked away in my own chamber. You’ve been asleep for an entire day. I’ve been worried sick.”
She looked to the window, the gray light of approaching dawn showing through sheer, gossamer curtains.
“I’ll have to leave soon, or risk being discovered.”
He snorted. “After the spectacle we’ve caused, I doubt there is anything else we can do to shock them.”
She giggled and sat upright, the motion making her nightgown drape off one shoulder. Nick swallowed, his attention snared by the revelation of that bronze curve of perfect skin.
“Don’t go yet,” he murmured, reaching out to caress the bared shoulder. “I’m in pain and I need you to comfort me.”
She frowned, leaning over him to pull the coverlet back and reveal his naked torso. His bandages were still pristine, wound in layers around his waist.
“Oh, Nick … Are you in very much pain?”
His cock stirred in his breeches, and he groaned. “Yes. Agony. It’s terrible.”
She laid a gentle hand on his chest and leaned down as if she could see through his bandages to the injury beneath. “My poor love.”
“Yes, I am wounded and inconsolable. Perhaps a kiss will make it better.”
Her head swiveled toward him and she narrowed her eyes, though her lips twitched with amusement. “A kiss, hm?”
He nodded, doing his best to look innocent. “Please.”
She moved up his body, her lips grazing one nipple and the swell of his chest. He gritted his teeth and pressed his palm against the cockstand fighting for freedom. It had been too long, and their hurried encounter in the storage closet of the foundling home hadn’t nearly whetted his appetite for her.
Calliope let her mouth graze his lips, but didn’t press into him. She continued her path upward, kissing his brow instead.
“Better?”
He glared at her. “Lower.”
Her smile was coy as she shifted down a few inches, bussing the tip of his nose.
“Lower,” he growled. “Don’t toy with me.”
“Oh,” she purred, her lips a soft whisper over his. “But it’s ever so much fun.”
He raised his head to capture her mouth, delving his tongue in and taking his fill. But, it wasn’t enough. He was burning, his blood heated and rushing straight to his cock. She was here, and his, and he had lived where he might have died. He had to have her, and it couldn’t wait.
“Lower.”
Her eyes flashed as they locked with his, holding his gaze as she worked her way steadily downward. His patience was stretched to its limit as she pressed soft, sweet kisses to his chin, his neck, his chest. He hissed when she lapped at his nipple, gripping her braid in his fist.
“Lower.”
Her eyes flared with shock as she seemed to realize what he wanted, the hard ridge of his cock pressed to her breast as she lay over him, her lovely mouth hovering above his navel.
“You said you’d kiss me better. Well, now there’s another matter more pressing than the wound in my side. I’m dying here, goddess.”
She bit her lip as if anxious in the face of such new territory. Her wide-eyed innocence only made him harder at the prospect of being the one to debauch her.
Then, she was unbuttoning his fall, coming to her knees. He held his breath, his entire body tensing as his cock sprang up, arcing toward her as if with a mind of its own. He opened his mouth to reassure her, to make her understand there was no need to fear, for there was nothing she could do that he wouldn’t like. But, his voice came out on a choked gasp when she lowered her head and gave him the kiss he wanted, tentative but perfect, right on his swollen head.
“Christ,” he muttered. “Yes, Anni … don’t stop.”
Her gaze flicked up to him as she did it again, then again, her tongue creeping out to lap at the bead of wetness seeping from his slit. He groaned, tightening his hold on her hair.
“Do that again.”
She obeyed, growing bolder as she realized how much he liked