A Gentleman's Curse (Avenging Lords 4)

Good Lord!

Nerves threatened to weaken her resolve. But she would not retreat now.

“Then be gentle until I’m used to you, and then you may satisfy your needs however you choose.” She pulled back the furs covering their makeshift bed, settled down on top of the cushions, held out her hand and gestured for him to follow.

Hudson loomed over her, appraising her bare breasts, his gaze softening when he stared at her stomach. He grabbed one boot, yanked his foot free and tossed it aside, repeating the motion with the other foot. Then he grasped the waistband of his breeches and pushed them down past his hips to reveal the solid length of his arousal.

Thick and swollen, his manhood looked twice as large as it had before.

With a confident grin playing on his lips, he knelt beside her. “Touch me. Touch me if you dare.”

Heavens above!

Claudia recalled a time when she struggled to look him in the eye. But that was because she was scared to like him, scared her dreams would lead to a life of disappointment. Now, she held his gaze as she wrapped her fingers around his throbbing erection. His large hand clamped over hers and moved back and forth in a slow, teasing rhythm. When he released her, she continued to stroke him, continued to bring him pleasure.

A moan left his lips as his head fell back.

There was something powerful about holding him, about having him at her mercy. Thoughts of closing her mouth over the glistening tip filled her head. Indeed, Lissette had been bursting with ideas when Claudia had asked how a wife might please her husband. Lissette seemed to know an awful lot about the desires of men.

But before Claudia could give the matter any further thought, her pretend husband—soon-to-be lover—clasped his hand over hers.

“As much as I’d like to make love to you all night,” he said, moving to ease her knees apart and kneel between her legs, “the cold weather forces me to hurry.”

“Then hurry,” she said, desperately trying to ignore the fact she was so exposed, “but you must talk to me, prepare me for what I’m to expect.”

The wolf in him flashed his teeth as he gripped her thighs. “Oh, I’ll prepare you, have no fear of that.”

When he lowered his head between her legs, she had no idea what he was about to do. Her only thoughts were of embarrassment until his tongue stroked and licked and teased her flesh in a slow, intoxicating rhythm. A gasp caught in her throat. Words of protest threatened to burst from her mouth. She dug her fingers into the soft cushions acting as a mattress as the waves of pleasure washed away any doubts. The muscles in her core tightened as she floated towards some unknown abyss.

“That’s it, love,” he said, offering words of encouragement as she rocked her hips in need of more. He moaned against her sex, probed her entrance with his tongue.

She should tell him to stop. But in the distant realms of her mind, her voice lacked conviction.

“Don’t stop, Hudson,” she panted, a traitor to morality. “I need … I need …” She didn’t know what she needed. But she knew it was magical, knew she came closer with each suck of his hot mouth.

“I know exactly what you need,” he said as his fingers slipped inside her.

She came apart instantly. The muscles in her core clamped around him. Months of worry and anxiety melted away as her legs trembled with the power of these bone-shattering pulses.

Before she could catch her breath, Hudson climbed on top of her. The heat from his body penetrated her skin, warmed her to the depths of her soul.

“Are you sure you want this?” he said, his tone rough, husky. Not once did he glance at her bare breasts but kept his heated gaze fixed on hers.

Claudia cupped his cheek. He was asking her to choose between one wild, wicked moment of bliss or the aching agony of loneliness. Once would not be enough—she knew that—but the memory would sustain her on cold winter nights.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” he continued, although the passion in his voice belied his calm words. “We can lie here for a while, sleep if that’s what you want.”

“Hudson, I don’t know what is happening here—even Dariell might struggle to make sense of it—but I know I want to forget about the world for a moment. Regardless of all else, I need to be with you.”

It wasn’t lust that drew a soft hum from his mouth. It wasn’t lust that drew him to brush his lips slowly over hers, to close his eyes and taste every inch of her mouth. She knew the feel and the look of it by now. It wasn’t lust she saw playing across his handsome features when he took hold of his solid manhood and pushed gently into her body.

The feel of him inside her robbed her mind of rational thought. “Hudson.” The word rang with invitation. “Hudson.”

“I know, love, I need you, too.” He kissed her mouth, her cheek, along her jaw and neck as he withdrew and then pushed inside a little deeper. “It will hurt, but only for a moment.”

She held on to the bulging muscles in his arms, relished every small movement while fearing what was to follow.

“Tell me what you want, Claudia.”