Chapter 17
Mesmerized by inch after inch of Kate’s smooth skin exposed to his mouth, Jackson knew the night wouldn’t end without his body joining hers. Everything he craved was at his fingertips.
“You are so beautiful.” He lavished the words over the curve of her breast as he tugged her bodice lower. With only a gown to deal with, he soon had her bared to her waist.
As he laid her out on the wide seat, he sat back to absorb the sight. Her thick lashes fluttered closed as her shoulders arched, lifting her breasts higher. His fingertips brushed against each firm mound.
When he toyed with her erect nipple, her soft moan filled the carriage.
“I want to taste every part of you,” he rasped, replacing his fingers with his lips, tugging the taut bud into his mouth.
Torn between continuing his feast or stripping her naked, thoughts of caressing her smooth, bare flesh sent his blood flowing south, tipping the scale. Bestowing one last lingering kiss to her breast, Jackson braced himself above her.
Prone on the bench, her hair fanned out on the cushions, Kate was a vision of beauty. It took every ounce of strength not to forego patience and sink into her, clothing be damned.
But if he couldn’t offer her a bed, he could assure her pleasure.
“Kate, sweet, help me with your dress. Lift your hips.”
Uncompliant, her hands raked up his chest to where his cravat should have been. With his lack of attire, she was free to dip her hand into the collar of his shirt. “You first.”
His cock pulsed at her demand, as if agreeing to being set free. Jackson sat back and tore off his coat. His shirt quickly followed.
His hands reached the falls of his breeches as his eyes met hers. Passion, shining within those warm brown depths, pulled him deeper. Lost in the vision, his fingers stilled over the buttons, and when her hands splayed across his chest, he hissed in a breath of air.
Her delicate nails playfully scraped over his skin, inflaming a trail straight to his groin. If she kept that up, the night would be over far too quickly.
Spurred into motion, he unfastened his breeches and shoved them to his knees, his boots preventing further removal. With the need to join with her rushing through him, he’d make do.
Her perusal grew daring and ventured lower, causing him to forget his damned footwear. His head lolled back when her fingers danced along his erection. And he nearly lost his senses when she encircled his shaft, applying just the right amount of pressure to drown out the world around him.
“Kate,” he groaned.
“I want to taste you.”
His pleasure bordered on pain at her words. “Oh God, I would love nothing more than to feel your lips on me. But I have no control left.” He cupped her cheeks in his palms, leaning down until his mouth brushed against hers. “When I explode, I want to be inside you, gazing into your eyes as you fall apart with pleasure. I want us to go there together.”
Her lips parted on a soft, “Oh,” tempting him to trap the sound with a scorching kiss. Opening further, their tongues danced.
His cock straining for her, he tugged her dress off, craving nothing beyond sinking into her heat. To feel her convulse around him. But he needed something first.
He broke their kiss and sucked air into his starving lungs. She strained forward, trying to renew their connection, and he gave her lips a quick caress. Kneeling between her legs, he feasted his eyes on her exquisite body.
Smooth creamy skin covered sweet curves and high breasts. Earlier, the night had shielded her from his eyes. Now, the carriage light danced over her naked body, accentuating and exposing every dip, every rise.
“Jackson,” Kate pleaded.
He lifted his gaze to her face and realized it wasn’t her perfect body that held her beauty, but her eyes. They carried everything. Trust. Affection. The intensity of her arousal. It was all on display. And each drew him deeper.
He rested his hand on her hip and, as if the world had slowed, raked his palm up her side, over her stomach, between her breasts. Finally coming to rest along her neck.
Through it all, he never glanced away from her face. When she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, he growled at the erotic invitation to replace her teeth with his.
Impulsive words flowed from his mouth. “You’ve seized me. Your body. Your smile. Everything captivates me.” He kissed along her jaw, whispering further acclaim as the tip of his cock brushed against her core.
His voice broke as her wet heat coated him. “So delicate. So strong.” Then he shattered. Unable to hold back any longer, his lips caressed the shell of her ear and he whispered, “You’re mine,” sinking into her with one slow thrust.
Her soft cry filled his ears. He stilled, afraid he’d been too rough. He tried to rise, to look at her, but her hands tangled in his hair, holding him still.
Her breath panted against his cheek, forming a vow. “I’m yours.”
His shoulders sagged in relief, then his world narrowed to the feel of her, tight, clutching him. His cock begged him to move, to race to completion. Tempering the urge, Jackson slowly withdrew and with even more delicate torture, gently slid deep.
With a sudden hitch, her breathing quickened. He struggled to keep his pace steady as the sensual sound spurred him faster. Her frantic grip on his hair prevented him from kissing her, so he worshiped the curve of her neck.
Every part of her surrounded him. Her sounds. Her taste. The steady rock of the carriage teamed with their movements and created a rhythm that sent his head spinning.
Determined to take her with him, his fingers sought the swollen bud above their joining. Her hips lifted higher, faster as he caressed her there.
Undecipherable words fell from her lips until all that remained were erratic gasps. Her hands released his hair only to seize his shoulders. Pulled close, he kissed her, immersing himself in her.
Arching into his body, she tensed, digging her nails into his shoulders. With a kiss, he swallowed her cries of satisfaction. The sensation too much for him to resist, he broke from her lips, plunging deep a final time as his release poured from him.
As his arms gave out, he collapsed over her, trying not to crush her with his weight. Spent, he gulped air into his lungs in an attempt to calm his breathing. His heart pounded heavy in his chest.
Coupling had never touched him this deeply nor moved him this hard. Kate’s fingertips stroked his back, creating unbroken designs. Each feathery touch stirred his blood once again.
His breathing steadier, he murmured, “Are you well? I meant to go slowly.”
Her beautiful laugh eased his worry. “I didn’t want slow.”
He lifted his head, desperate to look into her mesmerizing eyes. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Being your first time, you wouldn’t have known what to want.”
She didn’t back down. “I knew I wanted you.”
“There are many ways to have someone.”
She smirked. “Given that I enjoyed every moment, I’d say I was correct in not wanting ‘slow.’”
Since her desires had resulted in more pleasure than he’d ever experienced, debating the issue seemed idiotic.
Unable to resist her lips, he gave her what he’d meant to be a light kiss. How could he have predicted her response? The way she slipped her tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss until his toes curled . . . His cock, still sheathed in her warmth, stirred and hardened.
He groaned through the kiss, pulling her tight against his hips, desperate for their desires to once again carry them away.
But as the carriage slowed, then stopped, the moment was gone. They’d arrived, their evening at an end.
But are we?