A Prize Beyond Jewels

‘There’s just no way for a man to hide his reaction to a beautiful woman, is there?’ he murmured self-derisively.

Her silky throat moved as she swallowed before speaking. ‘I— No, I guess not.’

Rafe’s gaze was fixed on her lushly pouting lips. Those same lips that had been driving him insane all evening, when he had been unable to drag his gaze away from watching Nina part them as she sipped her wine, or put food in her mouth, almost groaning out loud when she flicked her tongue across those lips to capture the morsel of lemon mousse that had smeared her bottom lip as she’d eaten her dessert.

Perhaps he had deserved Dmitri Palitov’s earlier warning, after all, regarding Nina. No doubt the older man had made a note of every single occasion Rafe had been unable to stop imagining all the ways Nina’s lushly provocative lips might give a man pleasure.

She moistened those lips with the tip of her tongue now. ‘I— Do you want coffee?’

‘No.’

‘Oh.’

Rafe could sense Nina’s nervousness, just as he could feel the trembling of her body curved so intimately into and against his. He felt the warmth of her hands through the material of his jacket and shirt. Long and elegantly tapered hands that he had ached all evening to press against his bared and throbbing flesh.

Yes, maybe he had fully deserved Dmitri Palitov’s warning where Nina was concerned.

There was no way Nina could possibly miss the fierceness of the hunger that now lit Rafe’s eyes to a molten, heated gold before his gaze lowered to the swell of her breasts visible above the low neckline of her gown.

‘I want to kiss you, Nina,’ he groaned harshly.

‘Yes,’ she groaned, leaning weakly against him as her legs trembled and her hands tightened on his muscled shoulders.

‘And then I would like to bare and caress these pretty breasts.’ Both his hands moved up to cup beneath their fullness, the soft sweep of the pad of his thumb unerringly finding the swollen tip.

‘With my tongue and teeth as well as—’

‘Will you stop talking about it, Rafe, and just do it?’ Nina groaned softly, almost panting she was so aroused. Her teeth clenched as she felt that arousal sweep down and through her body, a rush of dampness moistening the already swollen and aching folds between her thighs.

‘You aren’t afraid to take what you want, after all.’ He gave a throaty and appreciative chuckle as he lifted one of his hands and entwined it in the fiery length of her hair, looking deeply into her eyes for several searching seconds before using that pressure to tilt her head back and sideways as he claimed her lips with his own.

Firm and yet softly sensual lips, that sipped and tasted hers for long torturous minutes, his tongue a fiery caress against that melting softness before his kiss hardened, deepened, as his tongue plunged into the heated warmth of her mouth, duelling before entwining sensuously with hers.

Nina’s hands moved across Rafe’s shoulders to allow her fingers to become entangled in the silky length of his ebony hair as she held him against her. He continued to kiss her deeply, hungrily, his hands moving restlessly down the length of her spine before cupping her bottom and pulling her into the hardness of his arousal, leaving Nina in no doubt as to the length and thickness of that arousal as his shaft throbbed and pulsed against her thighs.

That continued sensual assault, of Rafe’s lips and tongue, drove Nina’s arousal higher still, until her whole body felt on fire with the need for more. So much more.

She gasped for air, her throat arching as Rafe’s mouth released hers to seek out the hollows and dips of her neck. One of Rafe’s hand’s moved to slip the thin shoulder strap of her gown down onto her arm as the heat of his lips now seared across her exposed skin. The zip of Nina’s gown felt cold against her heated flesh as he slid the fastening slowly downwards and allowed both straps of her gown to fall the length of her arms and expose her naked breasts.

The heat of Rafe’s lips now followed the slope of her bared breasts, his tongue licking, tasting, tormenting her fevered flesh. Nina’s knees buckled, only the strength of Rafe’s arm about her waist continuing to hold her up as she felt the heat of his mouth close over the swollen aching tip of her breast before he suckled it deeply into that heat.

Oh, dear heaven!

And it was heaven, dear, sweet torturous heaven, as Rafe’s hand cupped, caressed that aching nipple as he turned his attention to her other breast, suckling that swollen nipple deeply and then softly, his fingers and tongue a never-ending torment against her roused and sensitive flesh, pleasuring her, and causing those folds to swell between her thighs as her juices first dampened and then completely wet her panties.