Hanchart Land by Becky Barker Page A

the bedroom.
    This time when he laid her on the bed, he came down beside her. He leaned toward her with one arm propped above her head and the other across her stomach.
    "We have a lot of talking to do, but it might help if we get past the physical hang-ups first. You enjoyed it when I touched you by the pool, didn’t you?”
    Her eyes widened a little. She nodded her head, but kept watching him in wary fascination. She couldn't seem to stem the flow of blood to her cheeks, and the heat of his big body seared the rest of her. She desperately wanted to reach out and caress him, yet wasn't bold enough to do it. Luke wasn't the least bit shy about touching her. One hand began to play with her hair while the other hand slid over her ribs to her breasts.
    He cupped first one and then the other, molding the soft mounds and teasing their tips until she moaned with pleasure. His gaze stayed tangled with hers for a long time. It dropped to where his fingers had roused her nipples to rigid points. She watched his eyes cloud with desire as they skimmed over his handiwork and then lifted to hers again.
    "Would you like to have my mouth on your breasts?" he asked in a low husky query.
    She closed her eyes to shield her vulnerability. She'd probably just die if he expected her to be able to verbally express everything she wanted and needed at the moment. She didn't even understand herself.
    When she didn't immediately respond, he coaxed," Susy?" He used a nickname she hadn't heard for years. “Tell me what you want, so we don't make any more mistakes. Okay?"
    "Okay." The word was little more than a sigh.
    "Is it all right if I take off your gown and kiss your breasts?"
    "Yes." Oh God, yes, she thought.
    He slid one slim strap off her left shoulder, ran his fingers across her throat and then slid the other strap out of his way to peel the silk down to her waist.
    Susan's heart was doing somersaults in her chest, and she began to wonder if his fast, furious approach might not be easier to withstand than his slow, easy one.
     
    Chapter Six
     
    Luke's head came down and she caught her breath in anticipation, but he didn't take her nipple into his mouth as he'd done before. Instead, his tongue alternately bathed each tight bud with hot moisture, leaving them to dry in the relative chill of the air before repeating the action again and again.
    Her fingers and toes curled. A new, slow-burning tension invaded her body and it was difficult to lie still. When she could no longer stand-the teasing lap of his tongue, she grasped a handful of his hair and urged him closer.
    He didn't disappoint her. While one hand molded her right breast, his mouth locked onto the left, nearly making her wild. Waves of delicious sensation turned into spasms that arrowed from her breasts to her womb. She shifted restlessly on the bed, amazed at her body's responses.
    "Luke!" she cried. Suddenly, she was the impatient one and he wouldn’t be hurried.
    His mouth left her breasts and went on a hot foray across her neck to her throat, where he sucked on an erratically beating pulse.
    When he'd kissed his way to her ear, he murmured, "We're taking it slow, remember?"
    He was making her crazy, and she wasn't even sure how to satisfy the desperate yearning. For starters, she clutched his head with both hands and dragged it up to hers for a kiss. Their mouths met, his still patient, hers almost frantic. She parted her lips and immediately welcomed the thrust of his tongue. Luke shifted his weight more fully over her, rubbing his chest against her sensitized breasts.
    She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing him closer as she slowly undulated her body beneath the strength of his. Their tongues dueled, and then she sucked greedily at his until she drew a groan from deep in his chest.
    He drew back, his eyes on fire, his breathing harsh. "You're not playing fair," he charged. "Kisses like that make a man lose his head."
    Susan took the