Free Between A Rake And A Hard Place [Pirates of London Book 2] by Emma Wildes writing as Annabel Wolfe Page A

what we wish if we don’t worry about inhibitions. Let me show you exactly what I mean.”
    Cassandra had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
    His hands rested on her thighs and then widened them with subtle pressure. “Not to oversimplify it, but this is largely about trust.”
    Maybe so. She certainly felt vulnerable naked and open before him, but before she could argue, he lowered his head and kissed the plane of her stomach, and then moved a little lower. When she tensed as his mouth grazed her labia, he captured her legs to keep them from closing, and he said softly. “Trust, remember?”
    She certainly remembered when he shocked her irrevocably by lowering his head to put his mouth against the very place she certainly thought no one would ever wish to kiss, much less do whatever he was doing.
    “Christopher!”
    “Hmm.” His tongue did something that made her body quiver.
    Decadent.
    Indecent.
    Heavenly…
    . ..let yourself feel …
    She listened to that advice, especially since the bones in her body had melted into heated wax. “Oh.”
    “Uhm,” he said in response, his dark head nestled between her thighs, his hands cupping her bottom.
    It was like nothing she’d ever imagined, and her breasts tightened, her spine arching in an involuntary movement that Cassandra simply could not control. Her hands slipped along the silk sheets and she made a sound that was most unladylike.
    And surprisingly did not care.
    Trust. Fine. She must because otherwise she certainly would not be letting him…never would she allow… this .
    The sensation built, making her gasp out loud with an increasing urgency and then suddenly she was flying free over the waves of pleasure, drowning, coming up for air, and being pulled into the delicious undertow again.
    Until she washed onto the shore. Christopher was the one who held her, his face amused when her eyes finally fluttered open, his rangy body next to hers on the bed, the gentle rock of the sea embracing them both.
    He touched her cheek. “You are incredibly…”
    What ?
    He stopped. And then shook his head. “I was going to say beautiful but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t do you justice.”
    His language would normally have shocked her, but she was getting used to his ungentlemanly approach and besides, she had hardly just behaved as a proper lady. Lax and yet still quivering, she said tartly if breathlessly, “No doubt you’ll be damned anyway, Mr. Ives.”
    “No doubt.” His fingers skimmed her breast and his gaze was wicked, his smile slow and suggestive. “I think you might be worth the fires of hell, my lady.”
    * * * *
    Marcus hesitated and stood outside the door, his hand half-extended to knock, arrested by a slight sound.
    Christopher. You fool .
    He recognized that sigh and the slight feminine laugh that followed along with a low masculine response. He wasn’t surprised—quite the opposite. Resigned would be a better way to put it. As much self-control as Christopher might have exerted during their voyage so far, the earl’s glorious daughter had proved irresistible after all.
    Had it merely been lust, his friend might have triumphed. That was the part that bothered him. Somehow he doubted the earl would ever view a man who made his living with a sword to be suitable for the lovely Lady Cassandra, and he had the uneasy insight that this was not that simple.
    Still, an interruption now would no doubt not be welcome and he had always wondered, if it came down to it, who would win if he and Christopher ever came to blows. He was slightly taller and weighed a little more, but his old friend was maybe the most resourceful human being he had ever known, and a skilled fighter hand to hand. There simply was no taking Ives by surprise—it didn’t happen and had kept him alive through some very precarious situations.
    No, Marcus wasn’t going to try and stop what had probably gone too far already.
    He wasn’t even sure he would if he could. Christopher