to that secret place between her thighs. All from a kiss. A sob rose in her throat, and he swallowed it, ravishing her mouth with devastating expertise. His hands did not stay idle, one held her to him and the other roamed slowly over her, cupping, touching, moulding from her throat to her breasts and her buttocks. And he never released her mouth from his wonderful kisses. And she did not want him to. Verity wanted to live in the moment, to bask in the passion, to revel in the joy of feeling so alive when she had felt empty for so long.
They tumbled to the sofa and their lips parted briefly.
His eyes were dark with arousal and a tenderness that had her heart stuttering. She wanted to protest that they hardly knew each other, but that assessment felt so wrong. There was a sense of knowing beating inside her heart, a feeling of belonging, and it was with this man poised above her, staring down at Verity as if she were the treasure he had been searching for all along.
She pulled him down to her and brushed her lips against his, and he pressed her back against the cushions and kissed her breathless. He cupped one of her breasts through her gown, rolling and squeezing her achingly sensitive nipple, sending piercing shards of pleasure straight to her core. Verity arched into his embrace, a fever of need burning in her veins and sweeping aside all thoughts of modesty and proper behaviour.
She was so lost in passion, it was with a sense of dazed arousal she became aware that her day dress had been pushed to her mid-thighs and Rupert was on his knees before her, staring at her womanly centre, his expression a grimace of desire.
Her entire body blushed a bright red. Though she had known intimacy with the first man she had loved, it had not been like this. Lord Rupert stripped her of defences and roused a decidedly wanton side of her, Verity hadn’t known she possessed. Coupling wasn’t always done in the dark as she had assumed. It wasn’t always sweet and tender. It was this—so raw and provocative, so passionate.
His body dipped, and his tongue stroked that sensitive place at the back of her knee before he sucked the spot. Then he went up with his mouth licking and nibbling, creating a trail of fire. She stared down at him in stark shock.
He wouldn’t!
“My lord…I…Rupert!” she gasped.
Then he did, Lord Rupert placed a kiss against her aching sex. Verity collapsed against the sofa, slapping a hand over her mouth to contain the wild cries he was ripping from her with his very wicked and skilful tongue.
Verity’s heart was pounding so hard inside her chest she couldn’t get breath into her lungs. The hot, moist flick of his tongue against her tender sex made her whimper, and she clutched his shoulders. Nothing had ever felt that good, nothing had ever felt so necessary.
Something raw and primal tightened inside of her, so tight she felt as if she would snap in two. Her skin felt sensitized, and the piercing delight his tongue evoked had her trembling, breathless little cries coming from Verity. Her entire body jerked upward; a muffled cry wrenched from her throat at the astonishing pleasure speared upward and blossomed through her entire body. She burst apart on a wild cry, her fingers tearing at the cushions as Verity felt such shuddering bliss.
Her dress was gently lowered, and Lord Rupert’s forehead rested on her knees. She could feel his struggle for control, and she admired him even more for it, for with a blush, Verity admitted she had lost all sense of herself.
He came up beside her and gathered her into his arms. Verity went, a lump forming in her throat. It astonished her the remarkable intimacy she had allowed and that she did not feel ashamed.
What did he think of her incredibly wanton responses?
There was a deep part of her that felt uncertain. Only a week ago, he hadn’t been in her life, and everything had meandered along the same expected path, even if her life had felt bereft of true contentment. She should dismiss all thoughts of the new baron and their mutual flirtation, there could be no future in it. She must dismiss her impossible hopes of marriage and children, especially with so eligible a rake as the young baron.
But what if his vow to marry her was genuine? And this…this was