Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
For one dreadful moment Dev froze, and Liv’s breath caught in her throat. Had she been too bold? Too brazen?
Please. Let me help you.
She tensed, her lips ghosting his, fully expecting him to thrust her away. His body was rigid, as if he waged an internal war, but then he took a deep, shuddering inhale and simply . . . broke.
His lips crashed down on hers and he fisted her hair, tugging her head back, holding her in place. Liv gave a startled gasp as his hot breath mingled with hers and his tongue slid into her mouth.
Finally!
With a growl, he tore his lips away and slid his nose along her cheek and jaw, kissing a trail to her where her pulse hammered against her throat, and she grasped his shoulders, then his neck, pressing herself against him shamelessly.
He pulled her even closer. One of his hands slid down her back to cup her bottom while the other tightened in her hair as his mouth returned to hers, and he groaned in satisfaction against her lips.
“God help me, Liv, I can’t resist you.”
“Then don’t.”
He kissed her so thoroughly it was almost like drowning.
Liv closed her eyes and reveled in the utter thrill of his possession, kissing him back with all the furious desperation she’d held inside for so long.
Lightning flashed beyond her closed eyelids, but it was no match for the swirling delight of his tongue, for his lips molding against hers. The room began to spin.
She tilted her head as he trailed kisses to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, then along her collar bone.
And then his hand was sliding down, slipping inside her silk dressing gown and over her breasts.
Then even that frail barrier was too much, and he pushed the nightgown aside, and his warm palm cupped her breast, and she rose up into the touch, feeling her nipple pebble against his palm.
When he lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth, she grabbed his head in both hands, her knees suddenly weak, but he held her up, arching her back as he swirled his tongue, sending a jolt of thrilling awareness between her legs.
“Christ, you taste so good.”
The room tilted as he lowered her onto the bed and followed her down, covering her with his body. He tugged open the sash of her dressing gown and pushed it aside, running his hand along her ribs, her waist.
Liv squirmed against him, loving the slide of her body against his, the way his weight pressed her down into the soft mattress. He was overwhelming in the most perfect way, and even though he was so much larger than her, she didn’t feel worried at all.
When he lifted off her to pull his shirt over his head she helped with fumbling enthusiasm, and she bit back a sigh of delight when she finally smoothed her hands over the warm muscles of his chest. Even in the semi-darkness, she could tell he was sleek and beautifully proportioned.
Her stomach clenched in nervous excitement.
He sat up, straddling her, bunching the silk of her nightgown at her hips then pushing it up, and she responded by lifting her arms so he could pull it up and over her head.
Her skin pebbled at the wash of cool air, and she just knew her cheeks were pink with embarrassment at being naked beneath him, but the wonder in his voice when he slid his fingers down her throat quashed any nervousness she might have felt.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. “You’re so beautiful.”
He stroked her breasts and she arched up into his touch, and when he bent back down to kiss her, she responded wholeheartedly. Her heart was pounding, the scent of his cologne wrapping around her like woodsmoke.
“Need to slow down,” he panted against her lips, almost as if he was speaking to himself, but Livvy shook her head.
“No. No slowing. We need to keep you distracted.”
He pressed a kiss to the edge of her jaw with a desperate little huff. “Believe me, woman, I’ve never been more distracted in my life.”
She squeezed his shoulder and wriggled beneath him, eager for more. “Show me how to please you.”
“You are pleasing me.”
“You know what I mean.” She tried to slide her hand down his chest, to the buttons of his falls, but he caught her wrist with a chiding sound.
“Not this time.” He rocked his hips and she became acutely aware of the rigid length of him pressing against her stomach. “Next time I’ll let you touch me as much as you like, but right now, God, I need you.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.” He sounded relieved, reverent, as if he’d been absolved of every sin he’d ever committed.
He kissed his way back down her body, breath hot against her skin.
He sucked her nipple into his mouth, flattened his palm over the gentle curve of her stomach, fingers stretching between her hipbones, then moved lower.
He pushed her thighs apart, firm but gentle, and Liv’s eyes rolled back in her head as he leaned in and licked her slick folds.
She should have been embarrassed; he’d made her so wet, so quickly, but her blood was thrumming in her veins, a shimmer of tense, nervous energy, and she couldn’t bring herself to care. She could barely catch a breath as jolts of pleasure made her twitch and tense.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he growled. “The things I’ve dreamed of doing to you. Liv, you have no idea.”
He groaned low in his chest as he nuzzled the crease where her thigh met her abdomen and she arched up in delight as he circled his fingers between her legs, spreading her wetness around, teasing her mercilessly with little taps before sliding one inside her.
“Devlin!” she breathed, half in shock, half in wonder.
“Good girl. You’re so sweet. Does that feel good?”
Her only response was a guttural, affirmative hum. She tilted her chin, head pressing back into the pillows as he stroked, stretching her, then added a second finger that made her squirm.
It was too much and not enough, a wicked unfamiliar ache that made heat pool low in her belly. She dug her heels into the mattress and lifted her hips, trying to ease the building torment, to have him hit just the right spot, like he’d done before in his study—
He seemed to be finding it equally pleasurable, mumbling praise and curses into her skin, and she groaned in disappointment when he suddenly withdrew his hand and moved back up to kiss the corner of her mouth.
“Not yet,” he breathed with a rueful chuckle. “Not without me. I want to be inside you. Can I, Liv? Please?”
She gave an enthusiastic nod, almost too breathless to answer. “Yes.”
The mattress dipped as he rolled off her in one swift move, and in the next flash of lightning she saw him standing at the end of the bed. He flicked open the buttons of his falls and pushed them down, but the darkness returned before she could see him fully. She bit back a huff of disappointment.
He settled himself over her again, his forearms pressing into the sheets by her head, and the exquisite feel of his warm, naked skin pressing down on her made her catch her breath. He was warm and huge and utterly encompassing, and she’d never wanted anything more in her life.
She widened her legs and he settled between them, and they both stilled as the slick head of his cock settled at the center of her, nudging her entrance.
“Slow,” he groaned, sounding like a man being tortured on the rack. “We’ll go slowly, I swear.”
A vicious burst of rain lashed the windows, rattling the panes as if someone was throwing gravel, but Dev didn’t even flinch as he pressed forward.
Liv bit her lip and tried to relax. She’d thought his fingers had prepared her, but this, this was more; not pain, exactly, but an unfamiliar burning, aching pressure.
He stilled when she tensed, rested his forehead against hers.
“Am I hurting you? I’ll stop if you—”
“No! Don’t stop. It’s just different, that’s all. I’ve never—” She moved her hips, instinctively trying to ease the discomfort, and the movement slid him even deeper.
He hissed out a curse. “All right?”
“Yes.” It was true. Her body was already getting used to the new sensation, the fullness, the incredible connection, and a delicious liquid warmth was flooding her body.
Emboldened, she arched her back, and the sudden change of angle was a shocking improvement.
Little shivers of pleasure tickled her limbs as he slid in a fraction more, and she clenched around him automatically.
“Fuck,” he panted, sounding a little dazed. “That’s—Just . . . hold still a minute. “You need a minute to get used to—”
Her body relaxed fully, softening and melting, and he let out a strained sound, half laugh, half curse as he slid in right to the hilt. Her inner muscles fluttered.
“Unghhh. God. The feel of you. God, you were made for me.” He sounded almost delirious and Liv bit back a delighted smile. She was doing this to him! Scrambling his brain and making him feel good. Making him forget everything but the two of them.
“Hold on, love. I can make this good for you. But I have to move.”
He pulled back, sliding out of her almost to the tip, then pushed back in, and the sensation made her innards clench in pleasure. “Oh!”
He did it again, and again, each time an easier glide, and the delicious friction made her bite her lip. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he increased the pace, burying her face into the strong muscles of his neck, and his thrusts became a little more urgent.
“Come for me, Liv. Can you do that, sweet girl?” He slid his arm under her knee, angling her leg up around his hip, and suddenly the angle was perfect.
Each stroke hit that elusive, maddening spot inside her, and she threw her head back, moving against him, straining to reach the glimmering peak just out of reach.
And then the darkness exploded with colors. Her inner muscles clenched and released in a glorious heart-pounding flood of ecstasy.
Dev seemed almost as delirious. He surged against her, muscles rippling, but with one final, frantic thrust he withdrew from her body and fell to her side, his whole body shaking and shuddering in what was presumably the male version of the incredible earthquake she’d just experienced.
Liv could barely catch a breath. Her entire body felt glowing, weightless, and she flattened her hand on her chest with a stunned little laugh, trying to still the pounding beating of her heart.
“Devlin Hamilton! I think you just killed me.”
His weary chuckle rumbled against her ear. “Only a little death. You’ll be right as rain in no time.”
She bit back a grin, elation and giddy happiness threatening to burst out of her. “You’re not supposed to mention the rain,” she reminded him pertly. “This was supposed to be a distraction.”
As if on cue, another blue-white flash of lightning illuminated the bed, and she caught the glint of his sleepy smile before it faded. A few seconds later the thunder rumbled.
“I think the storm is getting further away. Are you feeling any better?”
Dev’s fingers touched her cheek, then traced the line of her nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good.”