“Those two leering bucks aren’t harmless. They want nothing more than to have you in their beds.”
“What if they do? You have no right to be jealous!”
In one distracted part of his mind, Heath acknowledged the novelty of the fierce emotion he was feeling. He never became jealous over a woman. Yet both Poole and his younger rivals had made him livid with it. Or rather, he was livid at the attention Lily had shown them. Her consorting had roused a primal male urge to carry her back to his lair and keep her safe from all his competition.
How had this spirited hoyden managed to do what no other woman ever had?
Lily was glaring at him as if she wanted to box his ears. “This is positively absurd. I am returning to the soiree this instant. Let me pass.”
“No.”
“No,” he repeated as the air between them crackled with tension. He’d had enough of her resistance, enough of her denials. Lily didn’t want those lecherous blades, she wanted
Determined to prove it to her, Heath stepped forward and hauled her into his arms.
It started as a kiss of mastery and domination, with no hint of gentleness. His need was all about possession as he plundered her mouth…ruthless, relentless, his tongue thrusting with a hunger that was angry, thorough, and devastatingly passionate.
Lily felt his hunger as his strong hands pulled her even closer. Her resistance lasted another heartbeat before she gave in entirely. With a seizure of need she melted against Heath, kissing him back with ruthless abandon.
She reveled in his fierceness…yet what had started as angry and intense quickly turned hot and tender; their kiss became wild, delicious, and stunningly sensual. Lily gave a helpless whimper at the sheer power of it.
Her heart was hammering and her breath came in ragged pants when Heath finally drew back to stare at her. Desire throbbed in the air, along with a telling pulse between her thighs.
Lily’s heart pounded harder. He meant to make love to her, she could see in his eyes, in the intent expression on his face, illuminated by the pale glow of moonlight.
“I want you, Lily,” he stated, his voice a low, husky rasp. “And I know you want me.”
“Yes,” she said simply.
Sliding one hand around her nape, he stroked the base of her neck in a light, tantalizing massage before reaching up and relieving her of her turban. Making short work of the pins that held her hair up, he spread the dark mass over her shoulders.
Then his hands began to move gently over her body, exploring her with enthralling seductiveness, tracing her shape through her gown and causing Lily to shudder with longing.
“Will we leave our clothes on this time?” she asked in a breathless murmur.
Heath flashed a smile that came close to taking her breath away. “Not this time, love. I want to see and feel and taste all of you…and for you to do the same with me.”
He undressed her then, not allowing her to help. Lily was excruciatingly aware of his slow movements, the erratic rhythm of her heartbeat, the heavy pinprick of sensations in her body.
When he had dispensed with her last garments, he stood back to take in her nakedness. The expression on his face was almost reverent as his gaze caressed her. “I have imagined this countless times…how perfect your body would be, how exquisite. How it would feel to make love to you with nothing standing between us.”
She had imagined it, too, which was why she felt surprise and disappointment when Heath led her to the bed and sat her down, then left her there.
But he was only stepping back to remove his own clothing, Lily realized with gratitude, watching as he began with his coat and waistcoat. His cravat and shirt came next, before he moved on to shoes and stockings and satin knee breeches.
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his body completely naked for the first time. He looked utterly perfect himself, she thought, her enthralled gaze wandering over his magnificent shoulders, his wide chest, his narrow waist and hips, his long, powerful legs.
Muscles rippled and played beneath the satiny skin of his broad frame, while his arousal thrust out thick and swollen from the juncture of his thighs.
The sight made Lily’s mouth go dry. She stared, hypnotized, as Heath came to stand before her. When he put a finger under her chin, lifting her gaze, she found herself drowning in the shadowy glimmer of his eyes.
She shivered as he urged her back upon the narrow bed, and when he joined her, stretching out his full length beside her, the muscles in her stomach clenched in anticipation.
Lily drew another sharp breath as their naked flesh touched. He felt amazing, warm and smooth and hard and muscular. Her senses came alive at the exquisite, profoundly male textures. The softness of his bare flesh, the heat and steel beneath. And his loins…His erection pulsed and strained against her abdomen, she could feel the scorching heat of it.
Stirring restlessly, Lily pressed her body against his, wanting to be even closer.
“No, keep still and let me pleasure you,” Heath murmured.
Obediently, she lay back and let him have his way, but it wasn’t easy to remain still when he began to stroke her, his hand wandering over her skin, his touch skimming like a breath.
Her nipples were excruciatingly taut, and when his palms barely brushed over the pouting buds, a spark of fire kindled inside her and flowed downward to her female center.
Lily bit her lip hard as she surrendered to the deft expertise of Heath’s hands. She was enchanted by the pure sensuality of it…his magical touch, the quiet hush of the night, the muted moonlight pouring over them like liquid silver.
His hands left her breasts and tangled in her hair, while his mouth joined the tender assault on her sanity. His feathery kisses were a tantalizing caress on the underside of her throat before moving upward over her jaw to her cheekbone. Then, with the slow eroticism of a dream, his lips settled on hers.
Lily made a soft sound like a sigh as his mouth enthralled hers. For long heated moments, she lay there beneath him, drinking his breath, absorbing his taste, savoring his enveloping warmth, his masculine scent. Her sigh became a soft whimper as his fingers spread deliciously through her hair, guiding her even deeper into his kisses.
She was enraptured…held spellbound by his gentleness, paralyzed by his sweetness.
He continued to feed her the thick, dreamy pleasure, dazing her with his mystical power. Just now there was nothing in the world but the two of them, and yet her body yearned with the need to know more of him, stung with a hunger for greater fulfillment.
She was infinitely grateful when his hand returned to the naked swell of her breasts. Her nipples were aching and throbbing, and when he pinioned one between his thumb and forefinger, fiery sensations pulsed inside her, throbbing through her belly.
Then he cupped the mound in his hand and took the peak into his mouth, suckling, laving with his hot tongue. Lily dragged in a shuddering breath as melting heat began to blaze throughout her body. When he went on rousing her with pleasure, she sank her fingers into his hair, holding his head to her breast.
Heath, it seemed, was not content with merely tormenting her nipples, however. Breaking free of her clutching fingers, he trailed his mouth down to her abdomen.
Lily burned where his lips pressed, but she went rigid when he nuzzled her nest of curls at the vee of her thighs.
“Easy,” Heath murmured. “I won’t hurt you.”
Her heart feverishly pounding, she strove to be still, waiting while his large hands framed her thighs, holding her legs apart, exposing the heart of her to his touch. Then deliberately, he set his lips to her soft flesh, pressing a long, hot kiss against her feminine center, dredging a breathless gasp from deep within Lily’s throat.
Heath paid her no mind. Instead, he lapped at her slowly, teasing the folds of her cleft in deep, velvety strokes, sending lashes of heat to the very core of her.
He seemed to savor her, his attentions first long and slow and languid, then more intense…his tongue alternately delicate and butterfly light, then firm and rough and urgent.
Her breathing grew increasingly ragged, racing with her heart at the devastating stimulation. Her body was raw with wanting, the pleasure sharp and riveting, a feast of sensation. But Heath prolonged the delicious torture until Lily was faint with bliss.
