The heart that beat so wildly in her chest at the touch of his hand now lodged painfully in her throat. "But why—"
"I've explained why," he said. "But now that I sit beside you and gaze into your eyes, all of the reasons that made perfect sense only minutes ago seem to make little sense at all. I can't stop thinking about our kiss, and the temptation to do it again is driving me half-mad."
"Yet you found it easy enough to break away."
"No, it wasn't easy at all." He cupped her cheek with his warm palm. "It was agony, Mariah. Every second that I remain here with you, my will grows weaker." His gaze fixed upon her mouth. "And the temptation to kiss you again only grows stronger."
His answer made her heart swell. She succumbed to the urge to lean into his hand, rubbing her cheek against it like a happy cat. "Then if I asked you to, would you do it?" She licked her lips. "Would you please kiss me again, Nick?"
He shut his eyes on a groan, and her throat thickened at the thought that he might reject her again. But then his hand brushed over her cheek to cup her jaw. Her whole body quivered in anticipation as he slid his palm to the back of her head and pulled her to him. Her breath hitched when his lips met hers, at first brushing over them in a warm caress. She released a sigh of bliss as they slanted over hers. His sliding, nipping mouth sent fingers of warmth tingling through her entire body. He sucked lightly, pulling on her lower lip and gently nibbling with his teeth.
Then his tongue flicked and darted, teasing and tasting her lips. Understanding came quickly as he probed the seam of her mouth. The very moment she parted her lips, he slid his tongue into her mouth. The sensation of it touching and tangling with hers made her stomach flip. The kiss intensified into a frantic game of capture and release. She threaded her fingers through his thick, silky hair as his hands worked into hers, pulling it down and scattering pins.
Suddenly, she was on his lap, engulfed in the heat of his body and surrounded in his musky scent. Lips sliding, tongues tangling, moans mingling, she found herself plummeting into a place of pure pleasure. He cupped her face, and his tongue plunged deeper still. She was breathless, dizzy, drugged with the sensation of his hot, wet mouth, of his big, warm hands skirting up her sides to cup her breasts through her gown. She echoed his moan with a helpless whimper as he pulled away the fichu and reached into the top of her bodice to stroke her breasts.
His thumbs circled the tight buds of her nipples that pressed painfully against her stays, screaming to be freed. She whimpered his name when he broke the kiss and shuddered when his mouth sought the sensitive hollow behind her ear. He sucked lightly on her neck, sending another delicious frisson of sensation straight to the damp, throbbing region between her thighs. His hot mouth traveled the length of her neck to her collarbone in fevered kisses that overwhelmed her senses. Her passage pooled with wet warmth and ached with an empty agony.
When he reached for her laces, she knew she should pull away. It had already escalated well beyond an innocent kiss, but she was robbed of any will to stop him . . . or herself. With each tantalizing touch and every stolen breath, she succumbed a bit further, yielding to him by pieces.
He tugged impatiently at her laces and jerked at her bodice to free her breasts. Cupping them with his hands, he buried his face in the valley of white flesh, kissing and biting, rolling her tight peaks between his fingers. He drew a nipple into the moist heat of his mouth. She threw her head back with a sob, overwhelmed by the sensation of his mouth pulling and suckling. The slow smolder that had begun low in her belly had combusted into flames.
***
Nick devoured her mouth like a starving man. He was already reeling like a drunkard, intoxicated by her eager response. Her breasts were fully exposed, and her eyes were wide with yearning. She arched her back with a needy sound that he eagerly answered, latching his seeking mouth onto a deliciously pebbled nipple. She moaned and clutched at his hair. He was on fire, burning with lust that he had no strength to control. He knew he needed to stop this madness, but every kiss and caress only pulled him deeper into the descent of desire. How could this be? She was a bloody virgin, for God's sake! Was he bewitched?