The Bride Tournament (Hexed Hearts Book 1)(49)

His nose brushed hers. Her stomach clenched. Was he going to kiss her again?

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” He licked his lips and the heat of his breath warmed her own. “About that kiss.”

Her nipples beaded against the velvet of her bodice and she shuddered. No! The memory of their kiss drove her crazy and turned her into a wild thing, incapable of rational thought. She parted her mouth to scold his advance.

He was faster.

Gerard’s mouth descended on hers in the sweetest of touches. A light, feathering kiss that made her knees weak. Dancing with him, feeling the strong muscles of his back and arms under her fingers had driven her mad. She pressed into the kiss.

He groaned and slipped a hand along her waist to align her with his large frame. She clutched at his tunic and tried to deepen the kiss. He chuckled and moved his mouth along her cheek toward her jawline. “Does my Ellie miss this?”

“No.” She swatted his chest then curled her fingers in the material of his shirt.

He sucked at the skin behind her ear and she swayed.

“I hate it.”

“I can tell. I’ll stop if you ask me to,” he murmured and kissed down the column of her throat, his hands sliding up her ribcage to push her breasts higher against the low neckline of her gown.

“Okay,” she panted.

His fingers skated across the lewdness of her nipples, straining outward from the velvet. Desire flooded her.

“Okay, what?” he asked and brought his mouth up to kiss her fiercely.

Her fingers tangled in his tousled curls and she forgot what they’d been discussing. They scrambled together in a rush of air and lips. She nearly crawled up his chest to get closer. He gripped her hips and lifted her onto the tabletop.

Large hands dipped down her legs and rucked up the gauzy material of her skirt. Cool air slipped up her calves.

“Gerard!” she hissed into the quiet of the library. “What are you doing?”

“Learning you,” he said and kissed her silent. His fingertips played along her knees, inner thighs, drawing intoxicating little circles along her skin.

Her head fell back on a gasp. His mouth descended her neck toward her cleavage.

“I have to feel you. Have to know what you taste like.” He grunted, the sound strained. Heat followed his mouth as he lightly bit the top of her breasts.

She lifted her head as fierce yearning swamped her. The fire flashed shadows across his strong features, creating a devilish mask of hunger. She gasped, not in fear, but anticipation. He looked as if he wanted to devour her.

“Screw this tournament. You’re mine, Ellie. Mine,” he ground out against her breasts before yanking the tight bodice down. The tearing of stitches ripped through the air and she didn’t care. Warm lips encircled her nipple and he flicked his tongue against the tip.

She squirmed on the table and tugged his head closer, her legs coming up to wrap around his hips. Gerard released her nipple to move to her other breast and suckled and licked and bit. All rational thought fled. She held on tight and felt.

One of his hands slipped up her bared thigh toward her center, where she was wet and warm. No man had touched her there, and she fought to keep her hips still as he traced an undetectable design at the crease where leg met pelvis.

Then, he touched her.

There.

She lit up like a firecracker. Pleasure sparked along her skin and she was lost to his touch as he stroked her and groaned.

“Ellie, you’re so wet for me,” he hissed, pulling up from her torn bodice to stare into her eyes. Hazel thinning as his pupils widened.

She felt the moisture between her legs as he circled a spot that made her eyes roll back in her head. A strange energy built inside of her. Half of her wanted to push him away, the other half wanted to see how high she could fly.

It was magical.

“Kiss me,” she ordered, needing to absorb him. He complied and she threaded her fingers in his hair to keep him there.

His fingers continued to circle and flick and tease, the other hand playing with her breasts. She was about to shatter into a thousand pieces, Gerard her only tie to this place. She struggled against the oncoming rush of pleasure.

“Let go. Let it take you over,” he murmured against her lips.

In a blinding flash of elation, she let go and exploded. Her head flung back on a gasped moan of release as wonder tripped under her skin. She rose and rose and rose.

She came back to reality to find Gerard’s head resting against her chest, their panted breaths the only sound beyond the quiet crackle from the fireplace. What had they done? She needed space from him, not more of these tangled emotions he called forth.

She pushed at his chest and he backed off, giving her room to scramble off the table and yank her bodice back into place. A small tear under the right sleeve was the only evidence of destruction. What had she been thinking? He’d almost taken her on the table in the library, of all places. She wasn’t his intended! Craving solitude and room to think, she tugged out of his hold.

“Leave me be.” Acid coated her tongue as she lied. She wanted him to hold on and never let go.

“But I want you.” His eyebrows drew up as a petulant child's when denied a toy. Muscled arms folded and sinew rippled across his broad chest. A noticeable bulge tented his calfskin trews. She looked away. Despite her virginity, she knew what that “outcropping” meant.