“Darling, I’m praying that’s the most ladylike noise you make for the rest of the night.” To prove his point, he returned his attention to her breasts, twirling his tongue around one nipple while his fingers teased the other.
Her moans became a litany that sharpened whenever he switched his attention. Soon she was twisting in his arms, demanding his mouth on her skin, needing the tug she felt go through her with every pull of his lips.
It wasn’t enough now. She tangled her hand in his hair and grasped his solid shoulder, urging him closer. When that didn’t work, she wrapped her ankle around his calf and pulled. “Please, Jasper.”
The sheets were cool against her heated skin, and his hand was solid against her back. She pushed against his chest, lifting his lips from hers. “Your hand.”
He freed it with ease and ran it along her hip until it rested between her legs. “This is the only reason I want to you worry over my hand.”
Sparks pricked her skin as he stroked her there, tracing her folds as he nudged her knees wider. Cool air brushed over her wet skin, but Annabel didn’t have time to worry over it. He brushed the spot that had been aching since he’d kissed her last night, and the sparks doubled.
Jasper tormented that spot, caressing it, flicking it, rotating his thumb over it, catching it between his fingers as he’d done with her nipples, which were now aching with jealousy. Annabel slid her hands over his sweaty shoulders as her heels scraped the sheets. Every breath chafed her dry throat.
Warm air was her only warning before his mouth closed over her center and his tongue delved inside to drink her in. Fireworks exploded against the back of her eyes and her body tried to expand and contract at the same time, ripping a cry from her as she clung to Jasper to keep from flying apart. It was terrifying.
And the minute it shivered to a stop, she wanted it again.
“You are going to kill me,” he breathed against her skin as he kissed the inside of her thigh, his tongue drawing sinful circles. “But it beats the hell out of hanging.”
He moved up her body then, forcing her to release her grip on his hair, which she didn’t remember doing. His kisses had always tasted of him, but now his tongue had a different flavor. Sweeter, darker.
She closed her hand over his shaft. Hot and heavy against her palm, it was difficult to wrap her fingers around it. Her mouth would be a challenge as well, but it was soft enough that perhaps… If she tasted him, would the flavor of their kisses change again?
Jasper lifted his mouth from hers. “I can hear you thinking.”
She stroked him and watched his eyes darken. Heat bloomed in her chest, threatening to choke her words. But it was just them, and he’d never laughed at her. “May I do that to you? Is it the same?”
“Dear God, you are going to kill me.” He lifted her hand from his body and kissed her knuckles. “Yes, I’m fairly certain it feels the same, but no, you can’t right now. I don’t want to be distracted, and I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
Annabel contented herself with putting an open-mouth kiss to the side of his throat, adding a swipe of her tongue for good measure. His salty flavor made her hungry, and the tease of his chest hair made her nipples ache.
He dragged his hand down her body and slid one finger inside her, then two, then three. Annabel closed her eyes and rocked against them as she’d done his tongue.
Then his fingers were gone, and Jasper was between her legs, his strong ribs against her thighs. He slid inside her, stretching her, filling her with heat.
“Look at me, Annabel.” He traced her cheek with a sex-scented finger until she obeyed. His jaw was tight, and his smile looked more like he was gritting his teeth. “Breathe.”
She drew a deep breath, exhaled, and felt him go deeper. Another breath, deeper still. Then he withdrew, leaving her emptier than she could remember. He returned with a groan that made her smile.
The next time he left her, his fingers returned. Just as tempting, but not as satisfying. Still, the fireworks built again, only to sputter when he filled her again, pushing deep and withdrawing until her muscles shivered, only for his fingers to return.
Growling, Annabel pushed to her elbows to glare at her husband. Jasper sat on his heels, covered in sweat, his blond hair dark around his face. His grin hitched at one corner, matching the question in his eyes as he withdrew his hand and positioned his manhood at her entrance. Feeling him inside her was delicious; watching him get there was decadent. It put them nose to nose.
“This?” Jasper asked as he drove his hips forward. “Or that?”
Desire flooded through Annabel, making words impossible, but she knew the rhythm of the game. When he went to withdraw, she grasped his muscled behind and held him to her. “This.”
He stayed, but the strokes changed. Shallow circles and short thrusts alternated with deeper ones that stole her breath and banged the headboard against the wall. After one round of torment, Annabel knew what she needed, and she put her heels on Jasper’s thighs to keep him there. “This. God, Jasper, please. Give me this.”
“Yes.” The word ground out of him as he lifted her hips from the mattress and slammed into her again and again. Annabel’s world narrowed to hearing her body accept him, feeling him hold her in a grip like iron, as he claimed her. Her heart felt ready to explode as she raced toward the sun.
Jasper dropped his forehead to hers. His breath sawed out of him like he’d climbed a mountain. “Fly, sweetheart. Fly.”
And she did, keening his name as she tumbled, only to rise again and again, until he was with her, racing to get closer as his muscles twisted under her hands and his shouts filled the air.
She floated back to earth, but kept her eyes closed as her breathing returned to normal and her senses returned. When she opened them, Jasper was propped on one elbow, watching her with a satisfied gleam in his eyes. He pulled the bedclothes over them. “Better than fine?”
Annabel chucked the nearest pillow at him and squirmed across the bed when he threatened to do the same. He caught her, only to pin her to the mattress for a lingering kiss.
“The sheets are warm over here,” she whispered.
“Travis has warmed the whole bed every night since we married. Hope springs eternal, I suppose.”
“Barnes does the same.” The words were a reminder. She had a bed, a room, on the other side of the wall. Her mother had always been alone in bed in the mornings.
Annabel tossed the covers aside.
Jasper kept hold of her hand. “Where are you going?”
“I thought I should gather my nightdress and—”
“You should stay in this room, which you prefer to the other, and stay naked, which I prefer to your nightdress.” He pulled her back to bed.
“Sleep naked?” Annabel slid back under the bedclothes. “Here?”
His grin was wicked. “I only wore the dressing gown so I wouldn’t frighten you.” He kissed her slowly, but the heat between them built quickly. Boneless as she was, Annabel didn’t realize her ankle was on his shoulder until he was nudging inside her. “Besides, it saves time.”
He was as hard as he’d been when she’d undressed him. “Hope is not the only thing that springs eternal.” Her giggle ended on a lustful moan as he went deeper and she melted around him.
