"I'd caress your breasts until I felt enough time had passed, and then I'd pull your dress up in bunches until you were sufficiently exposed. Does that sound familiar?"
She stared, wide-eyed, at him, her breath rushing past her lips.
"Then I'd rub your sex until it was slick enough for penetration. No more than that, mind you, because if I were a boy, my only goal would be mounting you."
"I see," she whispered.
"But I'm a man, Marissa, so I'll do this instead. ..." Lying on his side, Jude made sure to keep his weight off her body as he kissed her again. Naturally passionate as she was—or perhaps just naturally impatient—Marissa slid her hands behind his neck and pulled him closer. He smiled against her mouth and murmured his pleasure, but he did not touch her. He only kissed, exploring her mouth, discovering what she liked and what she didn't, memorizing the texture of her tongue against his.
When she shifted restlessly beneath him, Jude finally broke the kiss and dragged his mouth down her neck. He sucked at her neck and nibbled her shoulder and kissed his way down her breastbone, his cock aching more with every taste. Her encouraging whimpers drove him wild. He wanted her making those sounds while she took him inside her. Wanted her begging him to give her more.
Jude took a deep breath and made himself calm. He wouldn't take her. Not until they were married. But he meant to show her, at least, that there was more to a man than dancing and tight trousers.
So he drew gently at the skin just above the ruffled neckline of her gown. Her belly sucked in, and her breasts pushed up. The delicate fabric showed the clear outline of her pebbled nipples, pushing against the silk. Jude stifled a groan.
She was a slim woman and her breasts were small, but by god, they were finely made.
His hands clenched the bedspread. He would not enact the very scenario he'd described.
"Jude," she whispered.
He ignored her plea and kissed his way along the line of the fabric. Her hands tightened in his hair and pleasure pulsed into his veins. She wanted this. She wanted him.
Jude eased one hand beneath her robe and curled it over her shoulder so that he could feather his thumb across the very top of her breast. She shivered and arched into his body.
This was a more difficult exercise in control than he'd imagined. And Marissa was showing no restraint at all.
Jude closed his eyes and counted to twenty; then, telling himself he could stop when he needed too, he finally pressed his lips to the thin fabric that covered her breast. He closed his mouth over her nipple, and Marissa gasped in a high, sweet voice.
Christ, yes. that was the sound he wanted. Those gasping, keening sighs. He suhecked her nipple and coaxed more lovely notes, then scraped his teeth over her to hear even more.
He wanted so badly to tug her gown down and see the miracle of her naked body. He wanted to strip her bare and taste every inch of her skin. Then he wanted to bury himself deep within her for hours.
But more than anything, he wanted Marissa to think she couldn't live without him, as he was beginning to think he couldn't live without her.
He kissed her other breast as well, sucking at her nipple through the fabric until she was panting with lust.
Hands shaking with the effort of restraint, Jude lifted his head and kissed her mouth once more. Then he rolled to his back with a wince and closed his eyes. "That is the difference between a boy and man," he rasped.
"What? Why did you stop?" Unwilling to lie there passively, Marissa popped up on her elbow. "You haven't left me satisfied, if that's what you think!"
"Ha! Give me some credit. Half the joy of making love is the pleasure of anticipation. I bet none of your dancing boys have ever taught you that lesson."
"But... but I do not need to be taught lessons! You are not my tutor!"
"No, I am only the man you paid no attention to until three days ago. I am no boy, Marissa, and I am no fool either."
She was silent so long that Jude finally forced his eyes open to look at her. She frowned down at him like a troubled nymph, her lips pink and swollen from a recent tryst in the forest. I do not need you to tempt me, Jude. I like you well enough."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Well enough for what?"
Her lips curved into a smile. "Well enough that I did not want you to stop."
"We've discovered that at least."
She studied him for a long moment. "May I see your chest?"
"Pardon?"