An Unexpected Earl (Lords of the Armory #2) - Anna Harrington Page 0,72

he was to her.

But then he placed a slow and lingering kiss to her very core, and her worry melted away. Beneath his lips, she felt how much she meant to him. All of her doubts vanished.

With a soft sigh, she draped herself backward over the desk to let herself enjoy every moment of this special kiss. But her pulse continued to pound, so strongly that she was certain he could hear it. Hear it? Good Lord, he would be able to feel it, so fiercely was the desire throbbing inside her, and right there, too, right where his lips were now teasing at her with increasingly persistent kisses—

He licked her.

She gasped, but he murmured soft reassurances against her and did it again. This time, the slow caress of his tongue rolled a shiver of pleasure through her, all the way out through the tips of her fingers and toes. And when he continued to do it, she could only bear the delicious sensation by digging her fingers into his scalp.

Then the caresses changed. No longer the sweeping, exploring licks of before. Now he simply plundered, devouring her in large, openmouthed kisses that made her body shake and her knees clench against his shoulders as she tightened like a vise around him.

A whimper of need rose from her throat. Her pulse raced beneath the relentless plunge and retreat of his wicked tongue, her blood flashing hot. Her hands grabbed at his head, and she closed her eyes against the rising desire to surrender total control.

Then he shifted, moving his mouth just a bit higher, closed his lips around the little nub there, sucked—

Her hips bucked as pure pleasure shot through her. “Brandon!”

She slammed her legs closed as the sensation became unbearable. But his shoulders between her knees and his hands stroking along her inner thighs kept her spread open wide to the sweet torture of his mouth.

Unable to hold back, she broke with a cry. The coiled spring inside her shattered, and pleasure spiraled through her in a wave of warmth that heated her from the inside out.

She collapsed bonelessly against the desk, overcome with release and emotion. Her fingers combed in gratitude through his silky hair as he rested his cheek against her thigh to catch his breath.

Slowly, he rose to his feet and gathered her into his arms, then carried her across the room to the bed. He gently placed her onto the counterpane and paused only to remove his breeches before following down over her with a heated kiss that was singular in its intention.

He was going to make love to her.

She pressed a hand to his shoulder. He stilled immediately, staring down at her in the firelight.

“Pearce…” Through the tears that heated her eyes and the tightening of her throat, she couldn’t find the words to express all that needed to be said. Just as she could no longer find the resolve to keep him away.

He didn’t move, but she felt the change in him, so much was he already a part of her again. Not disappointment, not anger. But understanding. “You once loved me.”

God help me, I still do…

“Give me that love again, and let me love you in return.” He stroked his knuckles over her cheek, and the tender touch seared pain all the way down to her soul. “There’s no longer anything keeping us apart.”

When he lowered his head to kiss her, her hand at his shoulder stopped pushing away and now grasped at his bicep to keep him close. This was what she had always longed for, for Pearce to make love to her. But so much had happened, so much that would keep him from her in the end…

Yet at this moment, he was here with her, asking her to allow him to love her. For now, she would let that be enough.

“Yes,” she whispered, barely louder than a breath.

But he heard and deepened the kiss. On his lips, she tasted the love they shared. The certainty that he was the man to whom she wanted to give her innocence came over her as suddenly as a summer storm and just as intense, just as electrifying. She knew it with every breath she drew, with every ounce of her being—tonight was right, with him. This man she’d loved since she was a girl.

He trailed kisses down her body, across her breasts, and lower to the flat of her belly. Heat flared between her legs in anticipation, shooting up inside her in