The Earl's Entanglement (Border Series Book 5)(42)

And she definitely needed it.

He lifted his loose shirt up in one swift motion. Tossing the offending garment aside, he stood motionless, watching her with an intense gaze.

She’d imagined those muscles, had felt them beneath her fingertips, but she hadn’t spared a thought for the scars. An angry scar ran from his right shoulder to his collarbone. It was the most pronounced, but certainly not the only one. Each ridge was punctuated with battle scars, one precariously close to his heart.

He must have known she wanted to touch him. Garrick took her hand and guided it to his expansive chest, covering her sprawling fingers with his own. When his muscles twitched under her fingertips, she squeezed lightly, just enough to ensure he was quite real.

When Garrick released her hand, she explored, trailing her fingers down to his stomach. The sound that escaped his lips emboldened her.

He closed his eyes.

She grew bolder yet.

Wondering if she could arouse the same feelings in him that he’d stirred in her, Emma stepped forward and kissed the area just beneath his neck.

“Emma—” He pulled her against him, her chest slamming against his own. But this time, there was little to separate them, and when she wrapped her arms around him, it was flesh her fingers found.

His mouth lowered to hers, but this was nothing like the last kiss. This one was hard and insistent and filled with need. She opened for him, her body pressing against him—closer, closer, closer—of its own accord. When she felt his hand lifting the bottom of her shift, Emma welcomed the touch.

Still, her curious mind was a light, and she started to ask, “What are you . . . ,” only to stop, mesmerized by his expression. She momentarily forgot about his wandering fingers, focused instead on the corner of his mouth, where he bit his lip. But he didn’t let her forget for long. Without warning, his hand cupped that most intimate part of her. She met the question in his eyes with a slight nod.

She trusted him.

And then his fingers were inside her.

Emma didn’t have time to be shocked. She tried to hold his gaze but could not. She closed her eyes and tilted her back.

“Garrick . . .”

“You know what to do.”

She opened her eyes as the pressure increased between her legs. She held on to him, her knees weakening.

“I don’t.” The slow, sensual smile made her feel as if she were Garrick’s prey. Well, if he wished to consume her, she’d allow it.

“Your body knows.”

And it did.

It pressed and circled against him as he continued to watch her. The pressure was nearly unbearable.

“I can’t.”

“You can, Emma.”

Her whimpers reverberated through the empty chamber. She couldn’t stop them. Couldn’t stop thrusting against him.

When he moved his hand against her this time, she could no longer hold on. Her body exploded as her fingers clenched against the hard muscles of Garrick’s shoulders. The rippling sensations spread from her core to every other part of her body and only intensified when she opened her eyes to find him still watching her.

She licked her own lips then, unable to swallow. Or speak. It was like before, but stronger, more intense. And only when the throbbing began to ebb did Emma remember to breathe.

He withdrew from her then, the loss so poignant she wouldn’t allow it. She reached for his hand, wrapped it around her back and kissed him with her newfound love, raw and unequivocal. Garrick lifted her then, cradling her in his arms, and strode over to the bed. He tossed her onto the bed and climbed atop her, his weight a delicious pleasure.

“I’m going to do it again,” he warned her just before he lifted her shift and made good on his promise. This time, with him lying partly above her but to one side, she was able to grip him more firmly. No longer startled by his touch, she was prepared for it when he entered her again.

Emma knew what to do this time. And when his mouth captured hers, his tongue mimicking the movements down below, she couldn’t hang on for long. She let go nearly immediately, her cries muffled against him.

“My beautiful Emma.”

Oh God!

That pushed her over the edge. A cliff she fell from willingly, never hitting the bottom. With Garrick’s help, she soared, her knuckles painful from clutching him so tightly.

“Never.”

When she finally came back down, her feet once again planted on what felt like solid ground, she realized she’d said the word aloud.

“Never what?” he asked.

Good question. She’d never experienced anything quite like it?

Nay. I never want to let him go.



Garrick rolled to the side, realizing he was likely crushing her. He closed his eyes, attempting to get control of himself. His cock was hard, throbbing, aching to be touched. To glide into her as easily as his fingers . . . nay, that wasn’t helping.

Stop thinking of it.

He needed to think of something, anything, but the passionate response of the woman lying next to him. If he so much as turned toward her . . .

“Garrick?”

“A moment, if you please, Emma.”

He took slow, deep breaths, willing himself to gain control. He had no choice. There could be no relief for him. Not here. Not with her.

Never.

What had she meant?

“Are you well?” she asked.