Once Touched, Never Forgotten - By Natasha Tate Page 0,35

her lapse to drift his fingertips over the bare transition from waist to rib to bra, from spine to vulnerable neck.

She shivered while his fingers conspired with sunlight to flood her exposed flesh with heat. Goosebumps of awareness collected in all the places he continued to leave untouched. Unnerved, she squared her shoulders and held on to her bodice as if it were the last remaining protection she possessed. “This doesn’t prove anything.”

He ignored her as if she hadn’t spoken, his fingers reaching up to withdraw the multiple pins from her upswept hair. Colette locked her knees and concentrated on drawing breath.

“I mean it,” she said in a shaky voice, but he continued the silent, slow release of each pin until her hair finally listed and fell, its heavy weight settling against her back.

He reached for her hands next, prying them apart until she stood before him, her bodice listing forward and moving with her agitated breaths. He dipped his head until his mouth hovered over hers, so close she could feel the heated waft of his breath.

Awareness prickled along her skin, making the fine hairs on her arms and neck rise, and she swallowed against the moan that gathered in her throat. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to remain still. To win.

But how could she, when he’d stripped her of all her defenses? His hands trailed along the fragile wings of her collarbones. The soft brush of his fingers against her skin left her trembling, and she shuddered as his fingers drifted reverently over the tops of her breasts and then down and around her ribs to the open seam at the base of her spine. Knowing what he intended to do, knowing that soon she’d be fully exposed to his heated gaze, made her nipples constrict into near-painful points.

“Ready to kiss me yet?” he asked into the silence punctuated by their mingled breaths.

She wanted to shake her head, to force the denial through her parted lips, but her ability to speak had vanished along with her will. Paralyzed with desire, she simply stood without moving as he threaded his fingers beneath the opened vee at her back and pressed the black silk sheath down over her hips. Her dress crumpled to the floor about her ankles, leaving her clad only in her demi-bra, black heels, and transparent slip.

She shivered, and he lifted his hands back up to the sides of her neck, his thumbs trailing along the line of her jaw. He pressed against the thin ridge of bone, his touch demanding and soothing at the same time. Strong fingers tunneled through her hair, dragging a low moan up to her throat as he massaged her scalp. She wanted to arch up against him, to give in to the temptation to fling her arms around his wide shoulders and haul him close.

He stroked lower, his thumbs manipulating the tight muscles at the sides of her neck and the twin aches at the joint between neck and shoulder. Pain and delight merged, drowning her in sensation and a heavy desire for more. More. His mouth dropped to her ear to whisper, the hum of breath and sound eliciting a shiver that collected in a poignant ache at the tips of her breasts.

“Tell me you want this, Colette.”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, words still out of reach.

A low huff of laughter caressed the side of her neck. “Still stubborn as ever, I see.”

He stood close enough that she could feel his erection, thick and insistent, against her belly. Knowing that she aroused him left her feeling slightly drunk, more than a little dizzy, and scared. Scared that she’d lose her heart to him all over again. His fingertips had drifted from her neck to graze soft circles around the tight knot of her straining nipple.

Colette sucked her lips between her teeth and tried to keep from crying out. She wanted to snatch his wrist and pull his palm hard against her aching breast. Embarrassed by how easily he’d dismantled her defenses, she closed her eyes and willed her traitorous body into submission. Until a few seconds later, her held breath was expelled in a rush when he dipped his fingers beneath the cup of her bra, lifting her breast within his warm, waiting hand.

“Colette,” he breathed, and her heart stuttered to a standstill as he bent his head to press his hot mouth against her puckered flesh. Trembles claimed her legs, stealing her balance and forcing