Resuming her seductive ministrations, she let her lips play on his hard rod. Apparently, though, she was driving him to a breaking point, for his hand clenched in her hair.
“Enough torment…” he rasped.
She raised her head to gaze up at him in the firelight. His features had become taut, and when he grasped his erection as if preparing to ignite his own climax, she refused to relinquish control. “No, let me…please.”
Desire dilated his eyes. Holding her gaze, he nodded. His wide shoulders were rigid with tension, the tendons in his neck straining, as if bracing for pain. Yet all she wanted was to give him the same kind of exquisite pleasure he had given her.
With renewed purpose, Venetia bent to him again. No longer tentative, she drew her tongue lingeringly over his arousal, tracing the swollen head with delicate pressure, loving how his breathing had turned ragged, the way his masculine buttocks hardened in her hands….
Surrendering, Quinn gave himself up to her control. When her mouth closed over his aching cock, he shut his eyes at the sublime sensation. Her caresses felt like silk, so soft on his skin, so incredibly erotic.
The innocence of her untutored mouth only heightened his arousal, and when Venetia began to explore him more feverishly, he was ready to claim her then and there. More than anything he wanted to spill himself in the welcoming warmth of her body, yet he resisted the urge.
Instead he let his mind drift into sweet fantasies about Venetia, imagining that he was taking her, surging into her….
The image was almost his undoing. Quinn barely had time to draw her mouth away and replace it with her hand before he gave in to the blissful climax that ripped him. Heat exploded through him, searing in its intensity.
When finally he stopped shuddering and opened his eyes, he found Venetia watching him uncertainly. The endearing insecurity on her beautiful face only compounded Quinn’s desire for her.
“You learn quickly,” he managed to rasp, his voice hoarse.
He caught the shy, pleased smile that hovered on her lips. “I had an expert tutor.”
“I’d say you require little tutoring. Your natural instincts are rather impressive.”
She laughed softly at that and pressed a tender, suggestive kiss on his bare chest.
Regretfully, Quinn held her away. “Forgive me, love, but it will take me a moment to recover my stamina.”
“I can wait.”
Venetia let him dry her wet hand and his loins with a corner of the sheet, then curled her delectable body against him. Quinn pulled her closer, so that she lay with her head on his shoulder, his arm tight around her. He very much liked this side of Venetia. He found her eagerness to please him thoroughly endearing.
Feeling a familiar wave of tenderness, he pressed a light kiss on her hair. Her fledgling power was unexplored as yet, but he’d felt it in her every caress. If she ever decided to wield that dormant power on him in earnest, well…he could be in deep, deep trouble.
Admittedly, though, he was to blame for her newfound sexual assertiveness. He’d set out to free her of her inhibitions and he was succeeding.
In fact, as far as he was concerned, tonight had settled the matter for him: He was not letting Venetia out of his arms. Despite how their union had begun, they could have a good marriage. It would take some doing, but he would somehow make her want to stay with him. As soon as the danger was over, he would focus solely on Venetia and dedicate himself to winning her over.
Frustratingly, however, there had been no progress thus far in catching his assailant. Hawk had interviewed various engineers, scientists, manufacturers, and dockworkers at the shipyard, but had found no indication that Quinn’s chief shipping rival was in any way involved in the attempts on his life. For now the investigation was at a dead end, and he was losing what little patience he had. As a consequence, he’d spoken to Hawk at the ball earlier tonight about their next steps, and together they had decided to stage a trap for his assailant, using Quinn himself as bait. They would need to plan carefully—
Realizing the decidedly unromantic train of his thoughts, Quinn gave a silent, ironic laugh. Now most certainly was not the time to be thinking of assailants and villains. Not with Venetia so warm and willing in his bed…except that they were lying in her bed.
“Next time,” he remarked lazily, “you will come to my rooms. My bed is bigger and more comfortable.”
“You are assuming there will be a next time.”
Glancing down at her beautiful face, Quinn returned her gaze steadily. “Won’t there?”
Venetia hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I suppose your bed would be better. Very well, next time we will use yours.”
Her agreement surprised him a little. “What changed your mind?”
“I realized you are right. We should enjoy each other for the moment…for as long as I remain in England. It need be nothing more serious than pleasure. Meanwhile, we are here, naked, together….”
Reaching up, she wrapped her arm around his neck. “You promised me pleasure, my lord, and I expect you to deliver.”
He chuckled at her deliberate provocation. She understood her formal address would result in his kissing her, and from her expressive, dark eyes, she wanted much more than a kiss.