Free THE EARL'S PREGNANT BRIDE by Christine Rimmer - THE BRAVO ROYALES (BRAVO FAMILY TIES #41) 08 - THE EARL'S PREGNANT BRIDE Page A

close to her and kissed her.
    Genny had to slap her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. And then there was fury. Deep, burning fury that she didn’t understand.
    Whatever happened next between Rafe and the young woman, she had no idea.
    She only knew that they mustn’t know she had seen them. She had to get away. Staying low at first, she’d turned and raced for the house. By the time she got there, she was running upright and full-out, calling herself an idiot, wondering what in the world was wrong with her to be spying on Rafe like that, to get so upset. She decided to forget all about it, about the woman with Rafe, about that kiss on the jetty.
    When she saw him later at dinner, he was alone. She never saw the woman again. And though, at the time, she always told Rafe everything—anything that happened to her, every single thought that flitted through her mind—she’d never told him she’d seen him kiss a strange woman on the jetty.
    He was watching her face way too closely—as he always did. “Gen, love. Where
are
you right now?”
    She did wonder who that woman had been, and she considered sharing the old, secret memory at last. But what if that ruined the mood somehow? She would spontaneously combust if he stopped now. “I’m right here. Wearing only a wad of cloth around my waist, aching for you, Rafe. Oh, and my arms are starting to get tired....”
    “Aching for me, did you say?”
    “Let me put my arms down. I’ll show you how much.”
    “In a minute.”
    “Seriously. You’re a dead man.”
    But then he leaned close again. She smelled toothpaste and heat. Electric now, the scent of him. Electric and burning. His beard-rough cheek brushed her shoulder, and his warm breath ghosted across her upper chest. He whispered something. She couldn’t quite make out the word.
    But then it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the caress of his breath, the brush of his black, silky hair on her skin.
    And then...oh, then...
    He stuck out his tongue and flicked her right nipple with it. And then he blew on it, bringing a shiver that coursed through every inch of her body.
    That did it. She moaned.
    And then he leaned even closer. He took that nipple in his mouth.
    It was too much.
    She lowered her arms and speared her fingers in his hair and held him close to her while he did truly wonderful things, first to that right breast and then to the other one.
    And then he pulled back. She growled low in her throat and tried to reach for him.
    “Wait,” he commanded.
    “Fine.” She sat still, glaring at him, as he took her wrinkled clump of nightgown and started easing it up. With a small moan of impatience, she lifted her arms again and, at last, the thing was off and out of her way.
    She went for his boxers, to get rid of them, too.
    But he beat her to it, whipping them down and off and tossing them between the bed curtains toward a chair.
    With a low cry, she reached for him.
    And he didn’t refuse her that time. He wrapped his steely arms around her and he took her down to the pillows, surrounding her in his heat and his hardness. The sheer size of him thrilled her. It was like being swallowed by manliness, just to have him hold her close in his arms. And she did glory in it.
    He touched her, those big hands wandering. She lifted her body toward him, offering him everything, yearning only for him to take it—take all of her. Right now.
    But of course, what he took was his time.
    His hot mouth opened on her skin. She felt the quick, wet swipe of his tongue. And then the sharp nip of his teeth.
    She made noises, pleading noises.
    But he wouldn’t hurry. He touched her all over. And where his hands went, his hot mouth followed.
    She lost herself in pure sensation and she really didn’t care if she ever got found. For the longest, sweetest time, he lay with his head between her open thighs, kissing her endlessly, using his clever tongue and hungry mouth to drive her mad.
    Beautifully, happily, completely