Free All's Fair in Love and Seduction by Beverley Kendall Page A

hands were around her, cupping her bottom and pulling her solidly against him. She gasped at the feel of his erection at her center. She could feel him hard and thick through the layers of satin and Indian muslin.
    The wanton in her welcomed the undulation of his hips as he ground against her. He did it ever so slowly, like a man who knew how to draw out the pleasure for his mate and extract just as much in return. Elizabeth widened her stance, twining her arms around his neck, as she tried to get closer.
    “Damn, I knew it would be this good, feel this good,” he muttered darkly, almost as if he resented the fact.
    Elizabeth didn’t want him to talk. If he was speaking, that meant he wasn’t kissing her, and that she could not bear. And one kiss was all they could have.
    She brought his lips back to hers with a hard tug and nipped his bottom lip with her teeth, then went about soothing it with her tongue before drawing it into her mouth.
    She sucked. He had taught her this, that not only were such intimacies possible but so pleasurable. A harsh groan seemed to originate from the depths of his soul. It spoke of sweet agony and pleasure so acute, it couldn’t be tempered or contained.
    Time no longer held relevancy. They could have been kissing for seconds, minutes or hours, Elizabeth couldn’t be sure. She only knew she never wanted to stop, and she wanted his hands on her breasts—her bare breasts. The ruched peaks of her nipples threatened to bore holes through three layers of fabric.
    As if sensing her need, or perhaps acceding to his own, he began removing her gown, releasing the buttons securing it in the back with deft flicks of his fingers, while his mouth continued to devour hers.
    Elizabeth permitted it, welcomed the unveiling with an unabashed eagerness that should have made her heat with embarrassment. But as he pushed the blue bodice to her waist, then proceeded to loosen her stays, the slight chill wafting her bared flesh did nothing to cool the fire of his touch. Only when he had her upper body exposed did he lift his mouth from hers, his hooded gaze focused on her breasts with undisguised lust.
    “Beautiful,” he murmured, his voice throaty and raw.
    As if touched by the potency of his regard, her nipples tightened up further into two pointy rose pebbles of need. She wanted his hands on her, his mouth on her. And she thought she’d have her wish in the matter of seconds. But when his hand came up, it wasn’t to cup the weight of her breasts, but to take her hand in his. He walked backwards until the lean muscled back of his thighs hit the mattress. His eyes glowed with sensual intent as the candlelight by the bedside caught his handsome features in a luminous, liquid light.
    “Remove your dress.”
    It was the most darkly seductive order she’d ever received. She knew she should put a stop to this before they reached a point of no return. But the demands of her body overrode reason and she began pushing the dress from about her waist.
    Derek perched himself on the bed and watched her, his throat working convulsively when he swallowed, the vein at his temple pulsing in tandem with each exhalation of breath.
    Her dress landed in a rustle at her feet, soon followed by her lace-edged chemise. She didn’t allow herself to think, because in a situation such as this thoughts could be dangerous and chart the error of her ways. But in that moment, she didn’t want to be right or proper or strong in her will, she wanted to give into her body’s demands.
    However, when she was down to only her thin undergarments, she shot a nervous glance at him. His nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. He looked like a man mesmerized, so completely entranced, he’d slipped into another realm of reality.
     
    “The rest.” His voice scraped the floor of his throat. “Remove the rest.”
    Derek pushed aside the warring factions within him—his brain and his cock—forcing himself not to go to her and strip her