Free THE DEFIANT LADY by Samantha Garman Page B

game?”
    Ivy feigned wariness. “Oh no, the last time I played cards with you I managed to get myself engaged. Who knows what could happen next…”
    “The worst has already happened,” Cy joked. “We will not be wagering today.”
    “Every moment I spend with you, I find myself more and more comfortable in your presence,” he admitted.
    She blushed at his brash statement. “I never thought such a simple afternoon could be so enjoyable.”
    Looking at Cy, she noticed the admiring look on his face. She swallowed as she stared at his sensual mouth. He reached for her, his arms stealing around her body.
    “Ivy,” he breathed as his mouth moved dangerously close to her supple, pink lips.
    As if of their own volition, her hands roamed up his strong chest, and her fingers settled into the hair at the base of his neck and pressed her lips to his.
    She opened her mouth, letting his tongue sweep in and entwine with hers. Ivy did not know if the resulting sounds of pleasure were hers or Cy’s; it did not matter. She wanted him desperately, and she clung to him fiercely. He tilted her head to the side and trailed his lips down her flushed cheek, over her feminine jawline and down the side of her tender nape. When his hand found her breast, she arched against him and gave in to the tumultuous pleasure. She was lustful and deprived and she did not care.
    Cy loomed over her as he gently positioned her on the blanket. The dying afternoon sunlight was behind him, bathing him in an ethereal glow. She reached up to touch his cheek, and slid her hand down to his chest again so that she felt his rapid heartbeat.
    “May I?” he asked huskily even as his fingers went to the small buttons of her riding habit.
    Unable to form a response, she nodded, wanting his warm hands on her sensitive flesh.
    He sighed as he exposed her creamy skin. Cy’s head, covered in immaculate dark hair, bent over her chest as he kissed her collarbone and moved lower. With a few deft movements, he liberated her breasts from her bodice. For a long moment, he simply stared. His gaze was reverent and hungry.
    “They are perfect,” he said of her round, creamy breasts with dainty pink nipples. “Better than my dream.”
    “Dream?” Ivy asked, her voice breathy with banked longing.
    He did not answer, but his smile was slow, hot, and it inflamed her. He reached out to gently tease her nipple. It puckered. Without warning Cy did something Ivy never expected; he took one ripe bud into his mouth and sucked.
    She gasped in unexpected pleasure as he continued to assault her virtuous flesh. When she thought she would die of sweet torment, he moved to the other mound and paid it lavish attention. She arched against him, realizing her body recognized the ancient call of desire.
    “So beautiful,” he said huskily. His eyes seemed almost black with desire, and he smiled gently. He moved even lower as he slowly spread her shapely legs and hiked up her skirts.
    Ivy weakly attempted to make him stop, her mind knowing she should, but her body betrayed her. “Cy…” she breathed. She was oblivious to everything except the quaking hunger within her.
    “It is all right, love.”
    He gazed at her curly red knoll that gently shielded her most intimate prize. Touching her with one finger, he let out a male grunt of satisfaction. “You are so wet,” he rasped. “Slick with desire for me.”  
    She threw her head back in ecstasy, uncaring that her body was bared to him. And then he did something so intimate, so incredible, Ivy thought she would burst. Cy put his mouth on her delicate, rosy core and began to lick her honeyed folds. He sucked on her throbbing bud as she thrashed from all-consuming pleasure. A warm fire started to burn low in her belly, and its glow spread. Cy tongued her faster and faster, and when she could take no more, she buckled and nearly screamed, colliding with swells of pleasure that washed over her.
    “Dear God,” she whispered, refusing to