Suzanne lost her breath. Naked?

She recognized that look in Leo’s eyes. He meant it.

The light ache between her legs suddenly intensified. Her gaze dropped to his perfect mouth. She licked her lips, starved for a taste.

“Aren’t you going to try your drink?” he asked.

“Hmm?…Drink?”

He smiled. “Yes, your champagne and iced cream.” He brought the goblet she held in her hand up to her lips. “Taste it. Tell me what you think.”

“I think I’d prefer to taste you instead.”

“I’m glad to hear it. And you shall, in due time. Try the iced cream and champagne first. It’s the only taste you’re going to get. The rest will have melted by the time I’m through with you.”

His words sent a hot rush through her blood. Quickly, she took a sip and let the cold sweet fluid slide down her throat.

“Well?” he prompted.

“It’s delicious.” It truly was. But she’d rather be enjoying Leo.

He pulled the goblet out of her hand and set it down on the table beside her. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve tasted your pretty nipples. I remember how delicious they were. Open your bodice for me.”

Suzanne’s hands flew to her neckline and began opening the fastenings in haste. His words made her breasts feel achy. She couldn’t stand having them confined any longer.

Leo watched, patient, the hunger in his eyes spiking her fever.

She struggled, her fingers fumbling. Upon arriving at Montbrison, she’d been shown to her rooms, where she’d washed, and with the help of one of the servants, changed into the fresh gown waiting for her. She was out of practice with the many fastenings found on such costly attire.

He pushed her hands away, pulled her off the table, and back onto her feet. “Let me,” he said and stripped away her clothing with confident skill. Stopping to press hot kisses against her skin. Until he had her naked before him.

And her breathing was sharp and quick.

Leo took a step back, his gaze moving down her body in heated appreciation. She felt a heady rush.

He sat her back onto the table with ease. Then pressed her back onto the wooden surface. The table linen felt cool against her heated skin.

Leo placed his hands on her thighs. “Spread your legs. I want to see all of you.”

Those blunt carnal things he said made her head spin. He was so sinfully delicious.

She complied with his request. Too on fire to be bashful in any way.

He skimmed his warm palms up her thighs. Stopping at the apex of her legs, he ran his thumbs over her wet folds, and opened her further.

She was so utterly exposed and vulnerable to him. Her sex wept.

“Dieu, you are so beautiful… Every inch of you,” he breathed, scoring his thumb lightly along the slit of her sex. She gasped and curled her toes, mentally willing him to penetrate her with his hand. Desperate for some friction. Any friction from him at all.

“You are going to be my delicious dessert, Suzanne.” His fingers slid inside her. She didn’t know how many. But he was using just enough to create the perfect pressure, giving her inner walls scintillating strokes. She whimpered. “Are you sore?” he asked.

The slight twinge of discomfort melded with the pleasure and swamped her senses.

Oh God. “A little…”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“NO.” Was he mad? She was dying with desire. The nub between her legs throbbed.

“Good. Now, back to those gorgeous nipples. So pink and pert…They need to be sucked.” Without missing a stroke inside her sex, he reached for the crystal goblet and held it over her body.

She froze. He wasn’t about to…

Leo tipped the goblet and splashed a drop of the cold liquid—directly on the sensitized tip of her breast.

She let out a soft cry.

Swooping in, he sucked her chilled nipple into his hot mouth. She arched up hard, a loud moan shot up her throat, her fingers tangling in his dark hair. The tantalizing pulls of his mouth drove her wild. She clenched down around his pumping fingers, unable to help herself, as they continued to slide in and out of her sex.

Leo lifted his head and swore. “I love your reactions.” He plunged his fingers all the way in. The decadent sensation reverberated through her core, all the way up to her clit. Snatching her breath away. Her clitoris ached so strongly, it was unbearable. She raised her hips and tried to grind against his hand.

“No. Not yet,” he gently admonished. “We mustn’t neglect the other nipple.”

She couldn’t take anymore. He’d kept the strokes in her sheath purposely light. Feeding her fever. But not alleviating it.

“Leo…open your breeches and… OH!…” Cold champagne and iced cream splashed onto her other nipple. She bit down on her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the thrill of his mouth.

It came swiftly.

His hot tongue and lips heated the cold tip of her breast, plying it with mind-melting licks and soft sucks, sending voluptuous sensations flooding through her body.

She shuddered.

Suddenly, his mouth was gone. And he’d stilled his fingers.

Her eyes flew open.

“Don’t stop!” Good God. She was going to kill him. If she didn’t die first. She’d never felt so out of control. So consumed with desire. “I need to…”

“Come? You will. But first you are going to learn how to hold it back. It makes for a stronger release. Place your hands on the edges of the table and be very still.” He smiled. “And I’ll let you come very, very hard.”

She was so delirious with need, she quickly grabbed hold of the edges of the table on either side of her. Anything. As long as he got on with it!

The last thing she expected was for him to withdraw his fingers, set the goblet down beside her, and pull up a chair. Seating himself between her legs.

“Jésus-Christ. Look at you…” He spread her thighs wider still. “The beautiful Suzanne Matchet naked and wet on my table. A most mouthwatering fantasy.”

He dipped his head, slid his tongue inside her. She clutched the edges of the table tighter. She felt his tongue withdraw, then, with a long, luscious lick, he lapped up her essence from her opening to her throbbing clit.

She jerked her hips upward with a cry.

“Oh, you taste better than my favorite iced dessert. If you want me to continue, you must stay still. Or I’ll stop.”

She was panting. “Leo, I haven’t punched you since I was a child of ten. That will definitely change if you stop.”

He chuckled softly. “Idle threats. Your lovely little clit is swollen with need. And so neglected. Shall we do something about it?”

FINALLY. “Yes!”

“Then be still.” He slid his fingers back inside her, curling them and delivering a stroke directly over that ultrasensitive spot inside her vaginal walls. Her hips shot up off the table. He pressed his other hand down on her belly, pushing her bottom back onto the table.

“Be still…”

“I-I can’t.” He was pushing her beyond her limits.

“Yes, you can. You are going to have to trust me. And I will make it worth your while.” He stroked the same sweet spot inside her sex. A soft, measured stroke. She stiffened with a whimper. The sensation was intense nonetheless. Yet, she managed to keep relatively still.

“Much better,” he approved. “Now, let’s give this sweet bud some much needed attention.” He picked up the goblet.

Her heart lurched. “Leo… N—” Before she could voice an objection, he dripped a drop of chilled drink directly onto her heated clit. Her hips shot up. His hot mouth came down on the bud and sucked the droplet off. She screamed and shuddered.

Inside her sheath, his wicked fingers still tormented that spine-melting spot.

“That wasn’t still,” he admonished. “We’ll try it again. Be still now.”

She was shaking so violently, her body rioting for release, that being absolutely still was beyond her control.

Suzanne closed her eyes and braced herself for the next glorious assault on her senses. Another cold drop dripped onto her, followed by another hot suck of his mouth. She was teetering on the brink of a shattering orgasm. Each cold drip, pulling her back. Each silky suck shot her to the edge.

His name screamed in her head, or perhaps from her mouth.

The abrupt sound of the chair scraping backward startled her. Leo was standing. He’d set the goblet down on the table beside her.

The expression on his face had changed from desire to feral hunger.

“You’ve no idea what you fucking do to me. You belong with me,” he said, then swept her up in his arms and stalked into his bedchamber.

He dropped her onto the bed. She landed with a small bounce.

Leo stripped off his clothing quickly and grabbed the base of his generous sex, giving it a slow stroke from root to tip. “Jésus-Christ, you make me so hard.” Arousal quavered through her body. She had only a moment to take in his muscular form and his impressive shaft, before he sank a knee into the mattress between her legs, lowered himself onto her.

And drove his cock inside her with one solid thrust.

She moaned in approval. He was so hard and large. He felt incredible.

He claimed her mouth, his tongue driving past her lips. She threw her arms around him, their bodies molding so perfectly together. She felt completely possessed. For the first time in a long time, she felt complete.

And she rejoiced in it, her body taking each deep thrust and delicious drag of his solid length.

Driving away all the emptiness she’d felt.

Her release was imminent—every fiber of her being screaming for it. There was nothing she could do to halt the powerful orgasm that was surging inside, no matter how much she didn’t want this perfect pleasure to end.

A large, hot wave slammed into her, vaulting her into ecstasy. She screamed, euphoria flooding through her. He drove in harder, ramming her repeatedly as Suzanne basked in the sublime sensations, her sex wildly pulsating around him, clutching and releasing his thrusting sex.

Leo suddenly reared.

He tossed his head back, eyes shut. A deep sound of pleasure rumbled from his chest as he spent himself between their bodies. In the grips of his release, the muscles in his neck and strong arms corded.

He never looked more beautiful.

His body finally relaxed. He buried his face in her hair, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Her body was still shaky. She tightened her arms around him and held him, basking in a sense of deep contentment she hadn’t known in years.

Seven years, to be exact.

Lifting his head, he gazed down at her, a slow smile forming on his lips. It was infectious. She couldn’t help but return it. He brushed his lips against hers. “That was pure bliss.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

For the first time since her father died, she felt so light, she could fly.

“I love what you do to me,” she told him.

His beautiful smile was unwavering. “It is what we do to each other that makes this so special.”

“I don’t think I will ever forget iced cream.”

He grazed his lips along her jaw to her ear. “It never tasted as good as it did today.” He pressed his warm lips to that sensitive spot under her ear.

Suzanne closed her eyes. Oh, the things he said and did. She was on dangerous ground. And she well knew it. Falling madly in love with Leo d’Ermart wasn’t difficult—for any woman. Especially her. He was her one weakness. Tender emotions were welling inside her. And they were getting stronger by the moment, crushing her defenses into dust.

She needed a distraction. Quickly. When a thought came to her.

“Leo, what is the third reason?” she blurted.

He lifted his head, his brow furrowed. “Pardon?”

“You said you’d tell me what the third reason was for coming to see me in Maillard. What is it?”

He cocked a brow. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, of course.” It had tormented her thoughts long enough.

“To thank you for your note.”

Her brows shot up. “To thank me?” That rude note?

“Yes, I was rather flattered that after seven years, you couldn’t resist mentioning my ‘exalted posterior.’” He grinned.

She blinked.

Then burst out laughing. “That was the mysterious third reason?”

“It was. I thought it might get a rise out of you. And I like it when you’re fiery.” He dropped soft kisses along her shoulder, and she shivered.

Leo d’Ermart was too overpowering for her senses. And was perilously playing havoc with her heart. She had to protect the foolish thing.

Yet, he’d made no real mention of a future beyond Christmas Day. And she had to make sure her heart survived intact once this sojourn was over.