The Consolation Prize (Brides of Karadok #3) - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,54

what you would prefer I should say,” Una said with perfect truth. “I’m afraid I don’t have any experience to draw on.”

He gazed at her a moment. “Sometimes actions speak louder than words.” Una’s eyes darted uncertainly over to the bed. Did he mean she should simply climb into bed to await his pleasure? As if guessing the way her mind was working, he said softly. “Come and sit on my lap, Una.”

She pushed back her chair at once and rounded the table. Once she had sat square in his lap, his arms came around her and he looked full into her rather hot face.

“I like this shift,” he said, his eyes dwelling on the tops of her breasts. “It shows off your womanly form to perfection.” He paused a moment. “And I can see the outline of your pretty, dark nipples underneath.”

“Northern shifts are more fitted than Southern ones I find,” she answered, dimly aware her words had not precisely struck the same chord as his.

“You weren’t wearing a shift when I woke that first night and you had to fetch me a basin,” he continued smoothly. “You were entirely naked. I noticed it particularly.”

“I was wearing one when I was put to bed,” she answered awkwardly. “But you—”

“Yes?”

How could she possibly say out loud that he had wanted to fondle her breasts? She stared at him tongue-tied and miserable.

“Just say it,” he recommended, his hand hot and heavy where it rested on her thigh. “I like a woman with a bold tongue in her head.” He squeezed her thigh. Then a sudden cloud passed over his expression. “Unless you’re about to say I ripped it off you,” he said, looking suddenly apprehensive.

“Nothing of the sort!” she hastened to assure him. “I pulled my straps down for you, you see …” She was breathless now and anxious to dispel his fears. “You wanted … um … that is you seemed to want …” She shut her eyes so she could no longer see his expression. “I was under the impression you wanted to touch my breasts.”

“I’m sure I did,” he rumbled back. “So you pulled your straps down for me, did you, sweetheart? I wish you would do so again.”

Una’s eyes sprang open. Far from looking annoyed or bored with her, Armand’s gaze was fixed on her with searing intensity. She reached for her straps and pulled them down, peeling the filmy material from her generous breasts, so the shift bunched at her waist. Armand made a growling sound deep in his throat, and Una’s gaze darted to his for reassurance.

His eyes were hooded now, and she would think him sleepy, if they did not gleam so. “What did I do last time?” he asked huskily. “Tell me.”

Una swallowed. To her memory he had pawed and slurped at her bosom before practically falling asleep face-first in it. However, she had a strong suspicion this would not go down well. “You … er … said you wanted a taste,” she admitted, scarlet-faced.

Again, he made the growling noise in his throat and Una felt something stirring beneath her bottom. “I bet I did,” he said thickly. “What about you, did you like it?”

Una cast her mind back. “Yes,” she admitted with slight surprise. That part she had not minded at all.

Suddenly one big hand was cupping her left breast, lightly squeezing it. “You’ve a fine pair of … breasts, princess,” he said in a gravelly tone. She guessed he had been about to use a ruder term, and then gave a gasp when it dawned on her what he had called her.

“You must not call me that, Sir Armand,” she blurted, as he lowered his head to her breast.

“Ah, but you keep calling me Sir Armand, and I have to cure you somehow,” he answered with a wink.

She had just drawn in a breath to point out that her words were not considered high treason, when he sucked her nipple into his hot, wet mouth, and her mind turned blank. His other hand slid from her outer thigh to her inner and then considerably higher, until Una whimpered to feel his fingers slipping through her nether curls, to that which they concealed.

He released her breast with a lascivious lick. “Delicious. Did I not touch you here before, princess?” he asked and though his tone was teasing, she could hear a thread of real concern running through his voice as he ran his thumb gently up and down her slit. She bit