Page 37 of The Rogue’s Offer

“I believe you said I was to touch my nipples when I was alone and imagine your mouth was on me, your tongue flicking over them.”

“Christ Jesus,” he ground out the moment she stroked her nipples. Desire flashed in his green eyes as his throat bobbed, and he swallowed hard. “Damn it to hell, Ophelia. You need to leave—”

“Why? I’ve yet to hear you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t share your bed.” The tension in him was palpable, and she heard the unsteady sound of his breathing as she halted in front of him. “Well, Mathias? I’m waiting.”

“Because Chelmsford won’t like it,” he grounded out between clenched teeth.

“You must be privy to information I’m not,” she murmured as she lightly touched his chest. “I’m unaware that Lord Chelmsford has any say in what I do, where I go…or whose bed I share.”

Ophelia trailed her fingers along the line of a hard shoulder, and he shuddered beneath her touch. Boldly, she leaned forward to kiss the rounded edge of his shoulder then nibbled her way inward toward his neck. When she reached his throat, Mathias dragged in a deep, sharp breath. Strong hands grasped her arms as he forced her away from him.

“Enough,” he mumbled as he put space between them. An undefinable emotion flashed across his face while alarm warred with desire in his jade-green eyes. She narrowed the space between them again to lightly stroke his cheek.

“What are you afraid of, Mathias?”

“I’m not afraid,” he growled low and deep in his throat. “I’m afraid for you.”

“For me?” Startled she jerked her head back slightly to stare at him bewilderment.

“Havenstock was a bastard. I don’t want to frighten you, and I’m quite apt to do just that, because right now my willpower is almost non-existent,” His words were frayed with a raw passion that made her heart skip a beat.

“I won’t break, Mathias,” she whispered as she met his gaze steadily. “I trust you not to hurt me.”

He studied her for a long moment, his entire body as rigid as one of the oak trees at Marymont. Suddenly blowing out a harsh breath, he tugged her against him and kissed her. The heat of the caress wrapped its way around her until her body was on fire. Every inch of her seemed consumed with the white-hot feel of him against her body, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to feel her skin against his.

Her hands reached for her chemise, and with his lips still crushing hers, she tugged the fine lawn upward. She broke away from him just long enough to pull the chemise over her head. The garment fluttered to the floor, forgotten as she was in his arms again. As he kissed her, his hands pulled the pins from her hair until it fell over her shoulders. Long fingers slid through the fallen tresses to grasp the nape of her neck and pull her even closer.

The strong flavor of whiskey brushed across her tongue as it mated with his. Everything about him flooded her senses with a multitude of sensations. His mouth left hers and skimmed its way down her throat to the curve where her neck and shoulder met. A shudder rippled through her, and she gasped as his hands cupped one breast and his mouth singed the rounded top portion.

A wild tremor rocked its way through her, and she arched backward with a silent prayer that he would take her in his mouth. She gasped as his tongue flicked across her nipple. It sent another shudder rippling its way through her. The instant his mouth closed around the rigid peak, a moan of delight blew past her lips.

Her fingers spiked through his dark hair, and when he bit gently on the stiff nipple she cried out from the pleasure of it. He repeated the sweet torment on the other breast. With each flick of his tongue, the intensity of the wild sensations stirring her blood made her ache for something more.

The world shifted beneath her feet as he swung her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. As the mattress gave way beneath her, she stared up into his green eyes. They glittered with passion as he studied her a long moment. At his hesitation, she reached out to touch a hard thigh.

“I want this, Mathias. I want you to show me how it should be between a man and a woman. All I experienced in my marriage was humiliation.” Her fingers slid up his muscular thigh to caress his hip. “But when you touch me, all I feel is pleasure. A pleasure I don’t want to end.”

An emotion she couldn’t define swept across his face as he nodded his understanding. Despite her reassuring words, there was a visible restraint in his movements as he removed the rest of his clothing. When he’d tossed them aside, she tried to keep breathing.

Everywhere she looked was lean, hard muscle. The sheer magnificence of him made her heart skip a beat before it began to race with excitement. As he sat down beside her on the bed, she reached up to touch his shoulder in a gentle caress. Slowly, as if savoring the moment, his gaze swept down the length of her then upwards until their eyes locked once more.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight in my life.” Heat burned her cheeks at the compliment, and his mouth tipped upward slightly. “It’s true, sweetheart. You’re exquisite.”

The words were a soft breeze against her throat as he lowered head to burned a steady, leisurely path downward with his mouth. Every touch of his lips on her skin sent invisible flames streaking across her body. They burned hot on her flesh as his mouth explored the curve of her waist then her hip. The moment his mouth nibbled at the inside of her thigh, she gasped in surprise and trepidation.

Fear of humiliation, born of the past, made her instinctively shift her body away from his touch in an attempt to escape. Panicked at the thought she’d made a mistake where he was concerned, she trembled with apprehension. A strong hand grasped her hip in a gentle hold to still her movement as he lifted his head to meet her wide-eyed gaze. His fingers stroked her skin as he soothed her in an obvious effort to ease her trembling.

“Close your eyes, and trust me,” he said quietly.

The silent promise in his green eyes that he’d do nothing to hurt her slowly eased her fear and her trembling subsided. She swallowed what was left of her apprehension to do as he’d ordered and allowed her head to fall back into the soft mattress. When his mouth caressed the inside of her leg a moment later, she stiffened as her fear of degradation returned.

In response, his fingers massaged her hip and waist in a soundless gesture of reassurance. A split second later his tongue slid into her and swirled around the sensitive spot between her legs. Shocked, she cried out in surprise before the air left her lungs.

The instant her body jerked against his mouth, his hands caught her hips in an inflexible grip and prevented her from retreating. With each stroke of his tongue, her senses sparked to life in a way she’d never known. Everything was heightened to a new pitch of awareness. The warm masculine fragrance of him brushing against her nose, the small gasps of air she heard as they escaped her mouth and every jolt of pleasure as her body responded to each stroke of his tongue.

Even the strength of his hands on her hips as he held her firmly in place was emphasized all the more acutely. Her skin tingled in a pleasant way as each of her nerve endings hummed with a breathtaking excitement. She barely had time to comprehend the strength of her heightened senses when his teeth scraped across the most sensitive part of her.

Unexpected pleasure streaked through her, and a cry of surprised delight flew past her lips. In response, his tongue circled the now almost unbearably sensitive spot before his teeth tugged at her again. Dear God, not even in the dark of her own room when she’d touched herself had she ever experienced such intense delight. She had thought it impossible to know—feel passion, but she’d been wrong. This was beyond anything she’d ever imagined was possible to feel or experienced.