"Yes?" She undid the last button and went on her toes to push the shirt off his broad shoulders.
"You're slowly killing me," he warned.
"We don't want that." Taking his hand, she led him to the bed and pushed him down.
"I simply want to seduce my husband."
"That was supposed to be my job," he said gruffly, causing her to lift her brows as she bent to take off his shoes and socks.
"Because you're the man?" She knelt between his thighs and undid his belt and then his zipper.
"Yes," he rasped. "And because I've been waiting for this for a lifetime."
"So have I. Stand." He obeyed automatically, just standing there while she pulled his pants down. And then his undershirt. He heard her breath catch as she stared at the wide expanse of golden skin that was his chest. When she spread her long, elegant fingers over it, near to his nipples, it was he who caught his breath, muscles flinching.
"Sit," she whispered huskily, making sure he obeyed by pushing him back down. "No," she shook her head when he started to reach for her. "Do you know what I spent last night doing?" she asked throatily, fingers edging closer to his small nipples.
"No. What?" he rasped.
"Visualizing this -- you, being here with you as your wife. Legally, emotionally, physically, I'm yours. I keep thinking about how you looked with your shirt off." She eased in a careful breath. "How golden your skin is, the touch of your mouth on mine." When she bent and brushed her lips on his chest, his knees weakened even more. He had never been seduced before, not by a simple touch or sweet words. Before now, sex had been a means to an end, a way to slake his thirst in that very moment. Now it was something else. She was touching his very soul.
"I have to touch you." His voice was thin and strained.
"No," she said, pushing him back on the pillows. "Let me do this, please."
How could he deny her anything? he thought hazily. How was he going to stand this new kind of torture she was introducing without breaking?
When she lifted his hands and wrapped his fingers around the carved headboard, his eyes flared.
"Catherine--"
"Shh."
His body heaved in shock when she straddled him.
"I'm new to this."
"Sweetheart--" his fingers were trembling and tense.
"I want you to tell me if I'm doing it right." She started at his forehead, her lips brushing gently over his skin before trailing downwards. When she reached his lips, tongue teasing the bottom, he felt desire bursting through him like liquid flames.She was using his methods against him, he thought in feverish surprise.
"Baby--" he gasped when she plunged her tongue into his mouth, kissing him with an abandon that awakened so many emotions he was being swamped. Before he could deepen the kiss, she was using her tongue on his throat and moving further down. His fingers clenched as wave after wave of sensations swept through him like a storm.
He lost his mind when she started to nibble on the tautness of his flat stomach. With a muffled groan, he gripped her around the waist and pushed her back on the pillows, face hard and taut with passion.
Chapter 10
"I wanted to do this right," he told her harshly. Shackling her wrists with one hand, he trailed kisses over her forehead, her cheeks, the tip of her nose until he was nibbling on her bottom lip. "Now it's too late." He was moving between her thighs, his erection rubbing against her soft skin.
"I wanted to show you-" he broke off with a groan when she lifted her body to meet his.
"Just-" Using his free hand, he wrapped his fingers around the hot and fevered skin that was pulsing with life. "I can't wait!" he gasped and was about to plunge into her when she stopped him by placing a restraining hand on his chest.
"You can't mean to deny me now!" His voice was strained, an incredulous look on his face.
"There's something I have to tell you." In all the excitement of seducing him, she had forgotten one important detail.
"We'll talk later," he lied. Brushing her hand aside, he tried again, only to have her stop him.