She wanted him. Needed him. It was that simple.
As soon as she acknowledged it, something tugged inside her. Tugged. Stretched breathlessly. Then settled into place with a sultry sigh. It was enough. For now. She’d worry about the rest later.
Sliding her hands up over his insanely taut shoulders, she released a breath that was more ragged than soft. His eyes flashed with fire when she smoothed her palms up the length of his throat then slowly dove her fingers back through the silky hair at his nape. The masculine hum of pleasure issuing from his throat urged her to draw his head down.
He might think it surrendering, but she knew better. She was simply claiming what she’d wanted all along. Narrowing her gaze, she replied in a husky tone, “You’d better.” Then she pressed her mouth to his.
He reacted instantly. Tightening his grip on her skull and tilting his head to fit his mouth more aggressively to hers.
Katherine parted her lips, seeking the taste of him. He obliged with a bold thrust of his tongue. It was invasive and demanding and unbelievably erotic. Her heavy moan encouraged another languid thrust, and this time, her tongue was ready and eager to meet his with a twirling caress.
Just as she began to lose herself in the rich, sultry attention of his mouth, his hand shifted from her rear. After a brief and heady squeeze at the inner curve of her waist, he slid his hand up along her rib cage until his thumb brushed across the crest of her breast, flattened beneath the snug fit of her waistcoat.
She broke from his kiss with a gasp at the first pass over her nipple. When he did it again, she arched into his touch. How could such a simple caress create such an intense spread of sensation? Her nipple tightened, becoming even more sensitive in readiness for the moment his large hand moved to cover the soft mound completely. His fingers gently kneaded before he circled the peak with his forefinger.
It was amazing. Sparks of pleasure shot through her, tingling across her skin, dancing through her blood, intensifying her desire. The need inside her was overwhelming. In a wonderful way.
She didn’t realize she’d been fisting her hand in his hair until she released him to press her palms against his chest. “Wait,” she gasped. “Stop.”
A growl slid from his lips, but he lifted his hand from her breast to press it flat to the floor beside her. His expression was fierce with lust raging hot and unfettered in his gaze as he allowed her to push him until her arms could move freely between them. Her eyes flickered closed for a second as his new position caused his thigh to fit more tightly to her sex, inspiring a rush of tingling heat.
But then she remembered why she’d stopped him.
Her fingers flew to the buttons of her waistcoat, releasing them quickly.
As soon as he realized what she was doing, a wonderfully animalistic sound vibrated from his throat.
Katherine’s fingers moved faster.
Chapter Twenty-two
Mason straightened his arms to lift his weight from her soft warmth while she hastily shrugged free of the woolen waistcoat. Grasping the garment, he tugged it free from beneath her before tossing it carelessly aside. His gaze feasted hungrily on her increasingly exposed skin—flushed a pretty pink—as she opened the fastenings of her shirt.
“No corset?” His voice was unsteady.
Her eyes lifted to his. “Corsets are the exact opposite of comfortable.”
He chuckled at her dry tone.
Once she had the shirt open nearly to her navel, he couldn’t wait any more. Grasping the material at her shoulder, he pulled it down until one full breast was exposed. A soft mound of pale flesh, crested with a rose-colored nipple already tightly puckered.
With a growl, he lowered his head to the peak, closing his mouth around it in full.
She gasped then sighed throatily, a sound that made his stomach tighten. Her hands dove into his hair to grip his skull and her back bowed in a deep arch. With the first swirl of his tongue over the pebbled little rosebud, her fingernails scored his scalp.
What a fierce, demanding creature she was.
He suckled deep, drawing her harshly into his mouth.
She groaned—a thick, sultry sound—while the tension in her thighs went momentarily slack.
Mason didn’t hesitate. In a moment, he adjusted to settle more properly between her legs. On the next hard pull of his mouth on her breast, he rolled his hips, pressing his hard, aching length to her core. He craved the feel of her heat against him. Around him.
But not yet. First, he wanted to explore her. Taste her.
Giving another lavish swirl of his tongue before offering just a subtle scrape of his teeth, he tugged at her shirt again until he had it pulled down to where it caught at her elbows. Both breasts were bared to his gaze. Lovely, pert, modest swells. And his for the taking.
As he lowered his head to take the second peak into his mouth, he looked at her face.
Her eyes were closed beneath her slightly furrowed brow, and her thick lashes were an elegant fan against her skin. Her lips were parted and glistening, as if she’d just run her tongue over them. The pulse at the side of her throat was visible and rapid.
She was stunning.
He teased her swollen nipple with little flicks of his tongue. After a moment, he was rewarded with a gentle flutter of her lashes as she opened her eyes. Her gaze was fierce as she met his. Her breath shallow and ragged. The gentle prick of her fingernails on his scalp told him she wanted more. She needed more.
He waited. His mouth hovered above her breast while just his tongue played over the tip.
She watched him with glittering eyes, her focus avid and entrancing. As though the sight of his mouth at her breast was nearly as exciting as the feel of it.
How long would
