Mr. Hunt, I Presume (Playful Brides, #10.5)(28)

Collin clutched the pillow on either side of his head and bit the inside of his cheek hard, anything to keep from coming. He wanted to make love to her the right way, to feel her body quicken again, to bring her to climax again, to make her cry out his name. But he couldn’t summon the will to pull her mouth away from his aching cock.

Ah, God. Just one moment more. Just one sweet moment more. Or two.

Erienne clenched his cock in her fist and dragged her lips up and down the length, her tongue mapping the ridges and texture of him. When she took the tip into her mouth again, as deeply as she could, his hips arched off the mattress and nearly tumbled her off the bed.

“Jesus,” he groaned, and with that, he broke the spell, grasped her around the waist and drew her fully atop him, at last regaining control.

They rolled on the mattress until she was beneath him again, and he settled in the cradle between her legs.

“I want you,” he said, kissing her cheek, her ear, her neck.

“I want you too,” she breathed, tilting her head back to grant him better access to her tender skin.

Collin lifted on one knee, nudged her thighs farther apart, and positioned himself above her, his cock probing her wet heat. “Are you certain, Erienne?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Take me.”

He closed his eyes, and without preamble slid slowly but determinedly into her wet warmth.

Halfway, he paused, reading the stutter of her exhalations against his ear, counting the wild hammer of her heartbeats against his own chest. He let his lips wander over her cheek, her mouth, her forehead.

Comforting. Waiting.

Only when her fingertips, which had been digging hard into the muscles of his back, relaxed ever so slightly, did he give a last firm thrust and sink to the hilt within her.

He lifted his head to read her features. “Did it hurt?” he asked softly.

She rolled her eyes thoughtfully, as though considering. “Just a pinch.” Then she smiled.

That humor faded into pleasure-pain when he began to move inside her. She moaned, her lashes slid closed, and soon her limbs encircled him, holding him closer as his hips levered against hers, pushing, pressing, arching against her.

It took every ounce of discipline not to come, but he was determined to know the rise and quake of her body in climax yet again. His hand slid between them and he found the flashpoint of her pleasure with a single fingertip, drawing circles, drawing her toward ecstasy, even as he balanced on the edge of his own completion.

At last—and far more quickly than he could have guessed it could happen—Erienne’s hands clenched against his shoulders and she arched beneath him. Her entire body went rigid, her ragged pants momentarily silent, and then she came in a rush, shuddered wildly, and cried his name against his ear.

Only when her limbs slackened around him did he let his body drive itself inside her as it sought by nature, pumping into her again and again, until he too, was swept into sweet oblivion.

They lay like the dead for a long minute, each struggling to regain breath, each loath to draw apart, though perspiration made their skin slick and sticky, and Collin’s arm had gone numb beneath Erienne’s back.

At last she shifted a little beneath him, and he slipped to the side and instantly regained their embrace, wrapped his arms around her, and rested his head in the fragrant crook of her neck. A huge, exhausted sigh escaped both of them simultaneously, one of satiation, a release of years of wanting and tension and grief and confusion. It was all behind them now. He never wanted to let her go again.

He would tell her in the morning.





Chapter Seventeen





One single, piercing band of sunlight streamed through the window, hitting Collin in the eye and waking him. He stretched and yawned, and then ... Damn. He was still in Erienne’s bed, and it was morning. He would have to leave immediately and be careful about it. He quickly rolled over to reach for her … and found the space beside him empty and cold.

He pushed himself up and frowned. Where was she? Had she gone to be with the children? It wasn’t that late, was it? He scrubbed a hand over his face, squinting to see the clock on the mantelpiece. It was barely after six. Surely she wasn’t with the children at this hour. Besides, if she’d gone to be with them, why hadn’t she wakened him and asked him to leave?

A piece of paper on the nightstand caught his eye. It was folded. Edging himself up against the headboard, he grabbed the paper and scanned it. A smaller bit of paper floated out to land on the coverlet. He ignored it for the moment.

C,

I had to go. I cannot allow your lovely sister-in-law to do more for me than she already has. I never should have come here in the first place. Last night was beautiful, and I’ll cherish it forever. I hope you will too.

E





He cursed under his breath. Damn. Damn. Damn. She’d gone. But why? He’d thought she wanted him. He’d thought she’d changed her mind.

He picked up the tiny piece of paper on the coverlet. Let me go.

Bloody hell. He clenched his jaw. Apparently, he’d thought wrong.





*



One hour later, Collin was cleaned, dressed, and sitting in the breakfast room with Derek. Of course, he couldn’t let on that he knew Erienne was gone, but it was all he could think about. He hadn’t said more than two words to his brother since they’d begun their meal.