Unfortunately, she raised her face to him.
Temptation beckoned anew. Huge sapphire eyes, ripe rosy lips, flawless ivory skin. Hawk locked his jaw, fighting her allure, but he had no defense against her tear-filled eyes.
Bending his head, he kissed a path along her cheekbone to her soft lips. She tensed at first, as if startled, yet the quiver of her mouth under his kiss told him she felt the same intense attraction. When he deepened the pressure, her resistance melted. Rather than pushing him away, Lady Skye responded with fervor, leaning into him as if hungry for his mouth, for his touch.
When she opened to his penetrating tongue, heat seared him. Heat he didn’t want. Possessiveness he shouldn’t want.
He almost left her right then. Buffeted by the emotional jolt of her kiss, Hawk badly wanted to pull away. But instead, his hand slid down her body, caressing, stroking. He’d been too long without a woman, without a soft feminine touch, and every nerve and fiber in his being was clamoring for her softness.
When his palm skimmed along her bare thigh, a rasping murmur that had nothing to do with protest sounded deep in her throat. And when his hand rose again to cup the ripe swell of her breast, she arched into his touch.
She was as eager for him as he was for her, Hawk knew without a doubt.
His lips moving on her flushed face, he laid her back against the pillows and pulled down the bodice of her nightdress, then drew back to drink in the sight of her.
He’d imagined how she would look in the golden glow of firelight. Ivory, velvet-smooth skin. Firm, lush breasts. Rosy-tipped nipples. Luscious, inviting warmth.
Hawk drew a long, labored breath. No sane man could resist her beauty, and arguably there were times when he was not wholly sane—like now, when his head was reeling much less from the liquor that had loosened his self-imposed inhibitions than the powerful shock to his senses.
Craving her warmth, he reached for her. Her eyes closed this time while her back arched again, her creamy breasts trembling, peaking, filling his hands.
Lowering his head, Hawk kissed one exquisite crest. When Skye whimpered softly, he remembered the rough stubble on his jaw and wondered if he had hurt her. But when he began to suck on her nipple, her sigh of pleasure told him he was mistaken.
He intensified his ministrations, his lips closing more firmly on her breast, his tongue coaxing the taut bud to greater arousal.
She was straining against him now. Her fingers curled in his hair, pulling his mouth closer, as if begging him not to stop.
He had no intention of stopping. All he cared about just then was touching her, exploring her. His blood was pounding violently, but as he stretched out beside her, he willed himself to patience, knowing he had to see to her pleasure first.
Reaching beneath the hem of her nightdress, he grazed the curls at the apex of her thighs, then lightly cupped the rise of her woman’s mound, molding it.
She gave a soft gasp, but when he parted her silken folds, her thighs opened wider, unconsciously giving him better access. He ran a finger along her quivering flesh, teasing the small nub of her sex, rolling it back and forth, caressing with his circling thumb. She shivered with delight. Then he eased a finger inside her, finding a hot slick m
oistness and causing her to moan.
Not relenting, Hawk probed deeper, using his thumb to rub and tease. A sob of pleasure escaped her. A heartbeat later she shuddered, her hips twisting and writhing as he stroked her to passion.
It was not long before he brought her to climax. Gripping his shoulders, she came against his hand in a rush of sensation. Hawk draped his arm around her, holding her still when she jerked against him. When it was over, she lay there unmoving, limp and sated, rapture on her exquisite face.
Eventually her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at him in wonder. She seemed stunned, dazed … perhaps because she had never climaxed before?
Hawk was pondering that intriguing question when she swallowed and spoke hoarsely. “Don’t leave me.…”
His heart melted at her pleading whisper. “I won’t. I want you too much.”
He wasn’t about to leave now. She was lush and wet and in a state of sweet sexual arousal, and his manhood was hard and near to bursting. The thought of how she would feel when he plunged inside her made his pain even worse.
“I want you, too,” she murmured almost shyly. Reaching out, she brushed his loins in a tentative exploration.
Her delicate touch made Hawk inhale, partly in surprise. Given her genteel upbringing, combined with her appearance of fragility, he would have presumed her to be an innocent. But any doubts about her experience faded when she curled her fingers around his shaft. Hawk nearly groaned.
In truth he was gratified by the bold way she fondled his body. She seemed to have forgotten all about her nightmares, and modesty as well. It was as if the caressing darkness had cast away her inhibitions.
In response, Hawk crushed the last of his own resistance. Sitting up, he yanked off his dressing gown and then eased her nightdress from her body.
He hesitated a moment then, staring at her tempting form. Firm, proud breasts, slender waist, elegantly curving hips, sweet thighs, the nest of pale curls shielding her cleft.
She was slick and swollen, her pink flesh glistening in the firelight. His cock swelled in response. He wanted to remain tender, gentle, but it was damned difficult when all he could think about was losing himself inside her delectable warmth.