and traveled downward, tasting the damp creases of her knees, moving to the hollows of her ankles. By the time he made his way back to her loins, her entire body was sweltering. His head hovered over the place between her legs again. Lottie held her breath, aware of a hot trickle of moisture from her body.
His tongue brushed the peak of her sex in a tentative lap. Lottie could not hold back a wild cry as she arched into his mouth.
'No,' he murmured against her damp flesh. 'Not yet, Lottie. Wait just a little longer.'
'I can't, can't, oh, don't stop...' She pulled at his dark head frantically, groaning as he feathered his tongue over her once more.
Catching her wrists, Nick pulled them over her head and settled his body between her thighs, taking care not to crush her. His shaft was cradled in the hot valley between her legs. His dark blue eyes stared directly into hers as he released her hands. 'Leave them there,' he said, and she obeyed with a sob.
He kissed her breasts, moving from one to the other. With each incendiary swirl of his tongue, she nearly rose off the sheet. His sex slid against her in disciplined thrusts that teased and rubbed and tormented, while his mouth drew hungrily on her nipples. She arched upward with supplicating moans. Stunning pleasure built inside her, gaining intensity...she hovered on the brink, waiting, waiting...oh, please...until the culmination was finally upon her. She cried out in bashful amazement as rich spasms spread from the center of her body.
'Yes,' he whispered against her taut throat, his hips working gently over hers. The sensation eased into long shivers as he smoothed her hair back from her damp forehead.
'Nick,' she told him between deep gulps of air, 's-something happened...'
'Yes, I know. You climaxed.' His voice was tender and vaguely amused. 'Shall I do it again?'
'No,' she said instantly, making him laugh.
'Then it's my turn.' He slid an arm beneath her neck so that her head rested in the crook of his elbow. He mounted her again, the muscular weight of his thighs pushing between hers, and she felt the broad head of his shaft press against the vulnerable cove between her legs. He skimmed it through the moisture in deliberate circles, then nudged against her until Lottie felt a slight burn. Instinctively she shrank from the pressure. Holding still, Nick gazed down at her, his face suddenly taut and intent. He bent his head and touched his mouth to the delicate space between her brows. 'I'm sorry,' he said quietly.
'Why-' she began, and gasped as he invaded her in a single determined thrust. She recoiled from the pain, her legs closing instinctively, but she could do nothing to prevent him from sliding deeper. She was trapped beneath his body, impaled with hardness and heat.
Carefully he pushed farther. 'I'm sorry,' he said again. 'I thought it might be easier for you if I did it quickly.'
It hurt more than Lottie had expected. It was a curious sensation, having part of someone else's body inside her own. It was so remarkable that she almost forgot the pain. She sensed the effort it took for him to hold still. He was trying to wait until she became accustomed to him, she realized. But the discomfort persisted, and she knew that no matter how much time he gave her, it was not going to improve. 'Nick,' she said unsteadily, 'would it be possible for you to finish this part of it right away?'
'God,' he muttered ruefully. 'Yes, I can do that.' Cautiously he tightened his hips, and Lottie realized in consternation that he was advancing even deeper. As the crown of his shaft pressed against her womb, she flinched in distress. Immediately he drew back a little, his hand stroking from her breast to her hip. 'The next time will be better,' he said, keeping his thrusts shallow. 'You're so warm, Lottie, so sweet...' He became breathless, his eyes closing tightly, his hands clenching against the mattress. Despite the pain his movements caused, Lottie experienced a curious feeling of protectiveness...of tenderness, even. Her hands slid over his back, following the deep arch of his spine. She tightened her knees on his hips as she contained his large body, hugging him to herself, listening to the way his breath hitched. Suddenly he buried his entire length inside her and held still. She felt him jerk violently as he released his passion with a harsh groan. Stroking his back, she let her inquisitive fingers wander lower, lower, until she found the tightly muscled curves of his buttocks, harder than she had thought human flesh could be.
Finally Nick sighed and opened his eyes, a blaze of unearthly blue in his passion-flushed face. The way he murmured her name sent shivers down her back. After tucking the linen neatly beneath her arms, Nick rose on one elbow to look down at her. A small frown pleated the space between his thick brows. 'Are you all right?'
'Yes.' A drowsy smile curved her lips. 'It wasn't bad at all. Until the end, I thought it was even better than a shower-bath.'
He made a sound of amusement. 'Yes, but was it as good as chocolate?'
Lottie reached up to stroke the high plane of his cheekbone. She couldn't resist teasing him. 'Not quite.'
Another chuckle escaped him. 'My God, you're hard to please.' He turned his mouth into her hand, kissing the damp hollow of her palm. 'As for me, I'm more content than a sailor at fiddler's green.'
Lottie continued to explore the bold contours of his face with her fingertips. With a flush lingering high in his cheeks, and the brackets around his mouth softened, he looked younger than usual. 'What is fiddler's green?' she asked.
'A place in heaven for sailors. Nothing but wine, women, and song all day and night.'
'What is your idea of heaven?'
'I don't believe in heaven.'
Lottie's eyes widened. 'I'm married to a pagan?' she asked, and he grinned.
'You may yet be sorry you didn't marry Radnor.'
'Don't joke about that,' she said, turning away from him. 'It's not a subject for humor.'
'I'm sorry,' he interrupted, his arm sliding around her waist. He pulled her into the shelter of his body, her back fitting against his hairy chest. 'I didn't mean to nettle you. Here, rest against me.' He nuzzled into the pale streamers of her hair. 'What a fiery little wench you are.'
'I'm not fiery,' Lottie protested, for that quality was hardly something that befitted a ladylike graduate of Maidstone's.
'Yes, you are.' His hand curved possessively over her hip. 'I've known it from the moment we met. It's one of the reasons I wanted you.'
'You said you wanted me merely for convenience.'
'Well, there is that,' he said with a grin, and reacted swiftly as she tried to elbow him. 'But in truth, convenience had nothing to do with it. I wanted you more than any woman I've ever met.'
'Why did you insist on marriage, when I offered to be your mistress?'
'Because being a mistress wasn't good enough for you.' He paused before adding quietly, 'You deserve everything I can give you, including my name.'
A sobering thought dimmed Lottie's pleasure in the compliment. 'After everyone learns that you are Lord Sydney, you will be quite sought after,' she said. A man with his looks, a fortune, and a title to boot was an irresistible combination. He would undoubtedly receive a great deal of attention from women who would want to tempt him into having an affair.
'I won't stray from you,' Nick said, surprising her with his perceptiveness.
'You can't be certain. A man with your personal history...'
'What do you know of my personal history?' He pressed her flat on her back and loomed over her, one long leg sliding between hers.
'It is obvious that you are very experienced in the bedroom.'
'I am,' he admitted. 'But that doesn't mean that I've been indiscriminate. In fact...'
'In fact?' Lottie prompted.
He looked away. 'Nothing.'
'You were going to tell me that you haven't had all that many women, I suppose.' Her tone was loaded with skepticism. 'Although the concept is obviously subjective. What is 'many' for you, I wonder? A hundred? Fifty? Ten?'
'It doesn't matter,' he said with a scowl.
'I wouldn't believe you if you claimed anything less than twenty.'
'You would be wrong, then.'
'How far off the mark would I be, then?'
'I've been with only two women,' he said curtly. 'Including you.'
