CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
After savoring the sight of her flushed cheeks and parted lips, Darcy leaned over and kissed her brow.
There was no instrument more beautiful nor more pleasurable to play than a woman’s body.
Each woman had her unique sensitivities, and he wanted nothing more than the chance to explore all of hers.
But he had resisted touching her too much.
It took all of him not to claim her, but cognizant of her limited time, he pushed himself away.
She grasped his arm. “Will you…are we finished already?”
He let out a haggard breath. “I may be a seasoned mentor, mademoiselle, but I am yet a man and, as proven before, not without weakness.”
“Thank goodness. I should be appalled to find myself in bed with a saint.”
He could not help but smile despite the gravity of his prior transgression. “I should have shown more restraint than I possessed at the Temple of Bastet. It was unforgivable, especially given the consequences.”
“How chivalrous you are!”
“You are gracious, but I was quite the contrary.”
Instead of being nettled, however, Miss Elizabeth seemed pleased. “You were merely fulfilling the request of a demanding student.”
“And if you recall, you were not in a normal state of mind.”
“I am now.”
He raised his brows. In response, she reached for the buttons of his fall, but he quickly stayed her hand.
“Pray, do not tempt me.”
She frowned. “Why?”
He could sense she meant to challenge him.
“Is your time not limited?” he reminded her. “What if your aunt and uncle return from dinner early?”
“I’ll take the risk.”
It was his turn to frown. The firmness in her tone did not bode well for him.
“I am of sound and unadulterated judgment,” she reassured him. “I wish for more.”
He felt his cock harden further. Still, he hesitated, “Perhaps another time.”
“I have no desire to seek another instructor.”
He looked at her sharply.
“It would seem we ought make the most of this occasion,” she continued, her voice husky with promise.
“You have no regrets, then, of what happened?”
“And if I did? What happened cannot be undone. What purpose would repining serve? But if you were willing to satisfy me then, why should you be less inclined once the main deed has been done? Lest you find me less desirous to-day than you did before?”
He nearly choked his response. “God, no.”
She leaned in toward him, her hand resting on his thigh. “Then take me. As you did. As you will.”
He was lost.
Seizing her to him, he kissed her with desperate fervor.
He could not prevail. Her arguments were too strong, her body too compelling.
This time, however, he was better prepared, but he did not yet reach for the condom.
First, he made love to every inch of her body, caressing her from head to toe with lips and hands.
His favourite parts of her included the smoothness of her back, the slight swell of her belly, and the suppleness of her thighs.
Gently, he removed her skirts and chemise.
“I will see you in your glory this time,” she said when he was done.
Obliging, he kicked off his shoes, discarded the stockings, and pulled down his trousers.
His erection stood at proud attention. She caressed his parts with her gaze, her lips parted as she studied his form.
He closed her mouth with his and fitted his body to hers.
The softness of her skin, of bare flesh to bare flesh, made the blood pound in his groin.
The scent of her desire hung in the air, fueling his lust. It would not be long before he would want to ravish her without mercy.
He groped a breast and fondled the nipple. She moaned into his touch.
He kneaded the orb and toyed with the hardened rosebud till she writhed and panted.
His other hand reached for a buttock and squeezed lightly the tender flesh.
She wrapped her arms about his neck and ground the seat of her desire at him.
His head swam and the blood churned in his groin, but he resisted the temptation to plunge himself into her depths.
Remembering how exquisite she had felt about him, he could not be assured he could withhold from spending before she arrived at her own paroxysm.
Instead, he poured his lust into a kiss.
He moved his hand from her derrière to cup the back of her head and claimed that delicious pair of lips.
She responded in the most heady fashion.
He was damned. For his appetite for this woman would never be tempered or satiated.
Only when he sensed her impatience did he reach for the thin sheath that would have made all the difference before in easing the heartache and suspense.
He slipped the condom on. The pause in action allowed him to collect restraint.
Parting her legs farther, he applied his mouth to her.
Her head fell back as his tongue circled and stroked her.
She gasped in rapture. He teased and lapped at her till she was at the brink once more.
Rising to his knees, he rubbed the length of his desire against her.
Her hands fisted the bedclothes beneath. And then he entered her.
She gasped loudly, and he worried that he might have hurt her, though only the crown of his shaft had penetrated.
It was possible, given the length of time that had passed, the breach was little different than the taking of her virginity.
She had closed her eyes, but when she opened them, they sparkled, setting him at some relief.
He did his best to rein in his urgency. His cock, pulsing at the beauty before it, wanted to indulge in the greatest of all carnal thrills.
“Why do you stop?”
She shifted her hips, and he felt her inner muscles move against him.
The sensation demolished all forbearance.
He sank deeper into her. She felt as glorious as ever.
He had to close his eyes to the magnificence of her hot womanhood pulsing all around him.
He opened his eyes to behold her reaction.
She responded by wrapping her legs about him with the ease of a practiced strumpet.
He buried himself more fully inside her. She groaned her approval.
If only she knew with whom she lay. If she knew who brought her this bliss and rapture, she might be more receptive to his suit.
But it was also possible she would be too shocked and rendered too awkward to want to have anything to do with him. He ought to enjoy the moment. It was likely the last he would have with her.
The weight of the realization made him take her mouth with more force than he intended.
Undaunted, she returned the kiss. Without releasing her lips, he began to undulate his hips.
She met his every thrust. The sensation of her soft, supple body beneath him enthralled, inciting the desire to overwhelm her with the strength and hardness of his own.
Entwining his fingers in hers, he pulled her arms above head and gradually began an earnest rhythm.
He could sense her climax approaching by her shallow breaths, the quickened groans, and how she crushed her pelvis to him.
Withdrawing from the kiss but still holding her arms in place, he concentrated on the angle of his thrusts to push her over the edge and into the pool of ecstasy.
With a cry, she trembled beneath him, her limbs jerking with wild abandon.
Witnessing her in the throes of pleasure, the tension collected in his groin gathered fast and furious.
Pinning her to the bed, he shoved himself at her with desperate vigor till the pressure found release.
The most magnificent pleasure erupted through him, shooting through his legs, making them quiver.
His groans came from a place deep and raw.
His body could know no greater glory. After a few final shudders, he allowed the weight of his lower body to settle over hers, his cock still throbbing inside of her.
“My God,” he murmured as he pressed his forehead to hers.
“My God,” she echoed.
He pulled back to observe the brightness of her eyes and the flush of her cheeks.
The perspiration only added to the glow in her countenance and reaffirmed that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever beheld.
Now that he had come down from the heavens, the very height of elation, he was cognizant that his heart ached as never before.