Sweet Enemy




Geoffrey encompassed her hand in his own, modeling how to stroke him, how to vary her speed and grip. He showed her how to run her thumb over his head, how to tickle the rim and how to cup him and give a little tug. Liliana tried each suggestion so enthusiastically, he knew he could not last. Indeed, the burning in the base of his spine intensified so quickly he jerked away from her, grabbing his shirt from the back of the chaise and covering himself only seconds before he spilled himself with a harsh groan.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, concern marring her features.

“Hurt me?” he said when he could breathe again. “Not unless you count killing me with pleasure.”

A relieved smile crossed her face, but then she asked, “So you just experienced what I did this morning?”

He nodded, still finding words difficult to muster.

“You were right,” she said. “That was finished too soon.” She reached for him. “Let’s try it again.”

Geoffrey sat up, holding his hands out. “Good Lord, woman!” He laughed. “My body doesn’t work that way. Men aren’t so lucky as women. We need some time to recover before we can try it again.”

Liliana clasped her hands in her lap. “You mean women don’t? We can…release more than once in a day?”

A wide smile stretched Geoffrey’s face. What fun it was going to be, being married to this woman. He had a feeling his life would be one long discovery, in and out of the bedroom.

“You can release more than once in five minutes,” he said, enjoying the way her eyes widened.

“I don’t believe you,” Liliana said, her lips firming.

He leaned in, taking those lips in a soft, happy kiss. “You will.”

The moment Geoffrey’s lips touched hers, Liliana’s entire being churned with a need that felt almost explosive. It had been building inside as she’d pleasured him, the rush of satisfaction when he’d lost control nearly bringing her to a similar peak. That sensation had banked, but now Geoffrey stoked it back into roaring flame.

More than once in five minutes…If Geoffrey were telling the truth, she didn’t know how she would survive it, so intense was the feeling already.

In quick order, he’d divested her of her dress…She couldn’t even say the moment it happened. She’d only felt the cool air on her puckering nipples and noticed the dress was gone. Liliana waited for the pleasure of his mouth upon her breast, but Geoffrey didn’t oblige. Instead, his mouth moved to her neck, to the sensitive shell of her ear. His moist tongue swirled inside, followed by a nip of his teeth that shot gooseflesh down her body.

“This time, we have all night,” he murmured, his breath warm against her. “We’ll let your climax build slowly, string you so tightly that one release will not be enough to bring you back down to earth.”

Oh my. He lathed her neck and shoulders with his tongue and teeth, sending shivers skittering over her as he tested her flesh with his mouth. Finally, his hands cupped her breasts, weighing them, plumping them. If he were trying to bring her along slowly, he was failing miserably.

“Please, Geoffrey.” She writhed against him, trying to drag his hand down her body, anxious for his touch in the place that ached most for it.

“In due time,” he murmured, resisting. But he moved his mouth to her breast. He sent his hands skimming over her. Liliana marveled how even the simplest touch reverberated in her core. It didn’t matter where he touched—a spot on her hip, the place behind her knee, along her inner thigh—it all intensified her need to feel him there.

And finally, he touched her. Liliana couldn’t control the urge to raise herself into his swirling touch. Maybe that made her wanton, but she didn’t care. She cared for nothing but the release he promised her. Higher and higher she rose. Having experienced this ride only once, her instincts told her the leap was fast approaching nonetheless, and before she had time to fully prepare herself, she was flying.

She cried out, her own passion-grated voice echoing back to her ears. Shocking spasms enveloped her, and every muscle in her body went tense. Geoffrey whispered words to her, but she couldn’t understand what he said, couldn’t focus on anything but the sensations flowing through her.

When she at last emerged, she lay limp on the chaise, Geoffrey’s hand still cupping her intimately. Heat touched her face, and Liliana ducked her head, a little embarrassed at how she’d lost control.

“Now I know you lie,” she said. “There is no conceivable way my body could do that again so quickly.”

A wicked grin spread over Geoffrey’s face. “Care to wager, Miss Claremont?” he asked. “Last time, though I didn’t know it then, I was at a disadvantage. This time, I am not.”

Liliana pressed her lips together in a smile. He may know more about relations, but he couldn’t feel how completely spent she was. And yet, she was intrigued. What if he were correct? She’d never get a chance again to test the theory. “What kind of wager, Major?”

He looked at her intently, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he wished to say something very difficult and very important. But the look passed and he said instead, “The winner chooses the time and place of our next tryst.”

Something akin to disappointment touched Liliana. She wished he had said whatever had been on his mind. Still, she lifted her shoulders, and tension began coiling once again in her belly. “Done.”

Geoffrey kissed her, but his lips did not remain on hers long. She gasped as Geoffrey’s tongue stroked her most intimate of places. Two thoughts came in quick succession. First, she had no idea such a thing was possible, and second, could she pleasure him in the same way? “What are you doing?”

“Winning my wager,” he murmured before suckling her clitoris—she’d looked the word up this afternoon—into his mouth and stroking soft, soft and slow, then fast and rough, sending her senses upward like a shot.

As he had earlier, Geoffrey eased a finger into her. The long strokes teased, searched, until he found a spot that nearly brought her off the chaise.

She had no words…couldn’t come up with a single word to describe what was happening to her. For once in her life, Liliana let her mind go silent and just allowed herself to feel.

She exploded with such intensity, she didn’t know if she’d ever be put together again. It was as if her body, her mind, her heart, her very soul had been rent into several pieces, and she didn’t even know if she had the energy to pick them up, let alone assemble them back into one.

“I believe that was well within five minutes, my dear.” When she opened her eyes, Geoffrey grinned above her. “I would say I win.”

She huffed an exhausted laugh. “I would say you did,” she murmured, closing her eyes once more.

Geoffrey watched Liliana for a long moment, the rise and fall of her breasts, the sleepy relaxed expression on her face, and his chest filled with pride. Odd, but having brought her to completion gave him more satisfaction than when he’d received the same pleasure himself.

He let her rest, slipping on his trousers before gathering her clothes.

“Hero, saint and ladies’ maid?” she said.