Free Realm 04 - A Touch of Grace by Regina Jeffers Page B

intoxicating scent, Grace shifted ever so slightly, and Lord Godown’s mouth claimed hers. At first, the pressure was tender, but it quickly turned more demanding, and panic filled Grace’s mind. She would prefer Lord Godown not recognize her ineptness. Grace had never known a man’s kiss. Never even a playmate’s curiosity. “Teach me,” she murmured against his mouth.
    “Open for me,” he exhaled the words.
    Grace, not fully understanding, resumed the pressure of her lips on his until his tongue slid along her mouth’s seam, and then she relaxed her lips. By design, Lord Godown’s tongue pushed past her teeth to invade her mouth’s recesses. Instantly, heat flared within Grace’s chest. She had never known such exquisite intimacy with another human. Her heart raced. She could spend a lifetime in Lord Godown’s arms and never complain.
    Need blossomed between them. His fingers tightened on her shoulder as Lord Godown edged her closer. His lips slid across her cheek and down the length of her neck. She felt his teeth skim the indentation where her neck curved to form her shoulder. His Lordship’s lips sucked gently, and Grace’s skin tingled from the contact. She could imagine Lord Godown biting her and her enjoying every minute of the delicious torture.
    His Lordship’s hand slid along her length. When she lay beside him earlier, Grace had worn a night rail and a dressing gown. It was a bold move, but the inn’s maid had agreed to press the four day dresses she had worn the past few days. As Lord Godown had rarely remained coherent more than a few minutes at a time, Grace had not considered her lack of proper clothing an issue. Now, the heat His Lordship’s touch created made her wish she wore even less than she did.
    Lord Godown shifted to his side, and Grace’s heart raced. “Beware, my Lord,” she rasped through the passion-filled haze. “Your wound…”
    “Does not matter,” he finished for her. “What matters is you. You will always be more important than anything else.”
    His words sent her conscious thoughts spinning. All her life she had wanted for someone to place her first in his life, and whether Lord Godown meant it or not, Grace relished the moment. It was a memory to fuel a relationship or a seduction, and Grace knew exactly which this would be. A marquis could never choose a governess as his wife. He offered her a taste of intimacy, likely the only one she would ever know.
    Instinctively, Grace brushed the hair from his forehead. Although she thought he felt a bit cooler, the warmth under his skin remained. Her own heat tainted her reaction to him.
    Lord Godown loosened the knot holding her dressing gown closed. “This is not something that should happen between us,” he said as his mouth returned to hers. “But I want you, Grace. More so than I can ever remember previously.” The next kiss began in tenderness; yet, desire soon ruled. Their tongues danced an intricate pattern older than time. Instinctively, Grace pressed herself to him. His erection rested at the base of her most private place. She greedily returned his kiss as she rocked against him.
    Never in her life had she wanted anything so completely. Her hands roamed at will. His cheekbones. His shoulders. The flat of his stomach. His muscular arms. When her fingers traced the line of his breeches, he hissed his response. “You play with fire, my Dear.”
    Grace would use these moments to learn every contour of his body. She prayed he would not think her too wanton. “Teach me to control the heat.” Like a magician, he had conjured a vanishing trick, but she wished the show to continue.
    “One does not control it,” he said on a rasp as his hand cupped her breast. “He must simply hold on and permit it to take him where it chooses to go.”
    “Where shall this lead, my Lord?’ She had lived on a working estate and knew the mechanics behind the act, but Grace certainly knew nothing of the passion, which encased