Clockwork Countess by Delphine Page B

tightened around her , his lips pressing more urgently against hers.  H er mouth opened under his , like a rose blooming in the sunlight, opening to the warmth of his tenderness , the ardent longing that called to her as their kiss deepened into something luxurious and blissful, his tongue awakening hers as they brushed together.  Sweet and warm as melted caramel.
    With a deep groan, his hands encircled her waist and he pulled her against him, running his palms up the length of her back to cup her head firmly as his kisses strayed from her lips to the tender flesh of her throat.
    Her eyes fluttered back at the trail of fireworks his kisses sparked across her skin.  When he reached the collar of her high- necked mourning dress, Roderick paused, but she found herself wantonly pressing her taut breasts against him, hung ry for something she did not understand. 
    His breath came in ragged pants as he claimed her sweet lips again, kissing her with a passion that erased all reason.  She clung against him, her blood pumping in her ears, her body filling up with heat.  She felt his fingers roaming down the back of her gown, unhooking the little fastening s that held her strict black dress in place.  Suddenly her bodice felt like a prison she couldn’t escape quickly enough, as he slid her gown down her white shoulders to her waist exposing the fullness of her aching breasts beneath the barest whisper of her muslin chemise. 
    Rowan sucked in her breath as his hand cupped her generous flesh, his thumbs circling the tips of her nipples through the thin muslin until s he cried out in pleasure and felt a warm tingling in her sex, a rising heat that longed for more .   Moved purely by in stinct, she leaned in closer, straddling him , so she could feel the hard bulge of his arousal even through his trousers and the layers of her petticoats. 
    She felt his strong hands encircling her corseted waist, holding her slightly away from his body, his breath coming in short ragged bursts as he looked up at her with a fire raging in his eyes.  “We shouldn’t be doing this…”
    But she couldn’t bear for him to stop.  E very primal urge in her screamed out for his heat and his touch as she arched her back, exposing the full ripeness of her breasts to his view, the stays of her corset only accentuating the heavy fullness of her creamy flesh beneath the almost transparent chemise.
    Cursing, he pulled the muslin from her breasts so he had full view of her rosy nipples and brought his mouth tantalizingly close to her skin.  She could feel the warmth of his breath on her exposed flesh and it only made her hunger for the feel of his mouth, his tongue.
    She grasped at her own breasts, squeezing them and offering her body up to his lips.  “Please…” she whimpered, pulling his head closer, running her fingers though his soft dark hair.  He responded with the tip of his tongue, teasing at her tau t nipple until the throbbing ache between her legs was unbearable.  She brushed her tingling flesh against the bulge in his breeches and his eyes shot open.
    “Rowena, no... ” b ut his hand was cupping her generous breast, his tongue swirling circles around her rigid nipples as she brushed her aching body against the fi rm bulge nudging at her sex in a way that drove her completely wild . 
              “Dear God…” he moaned, his mouth nuzzling the swell of her soft body as his hands slid up under her petticoats to caress the smooth skin of her calf and then up the inside of her thighs, his fingers set ting off a tremor of pleasure through her whole body. 
    She moaned, pushing herself more fervently against him, the friction of his hardness against her damp sex, even through the layers of petticoats and her bloomers, was maddening.  He was kissing her again, hot and sweet, one hand pinching almost painfully at her swollen breast, the other moving fa r ther up the inside of her thigh as she swayed against his