Page 62 of To Follow her Heart

“Nothing and no one can part us now,” he said, and she felt the warmth of his breath on her skin as he lowered his mouth to kiss her, and oh, what a kiss.

It was sweet at first, like the kisses they’d exchanged often in the days after they’d married in the orchard, but little by little it moved on and deepened as he held her tighter and teased her mouth open. Kitty gave herself over to it, to the touch of his mouth that seemed at once a single kiss and a thousand kisses, all tangled together and invading her soul, making her giddy with desire.

At last he pulled back and stared down at her, his eyes roaming over her with a possessive quality that made her squirm with anticipation.

“Too many clothes,” he announced, a wicked quirk to his lips.

“Well,” she said, trying to sound tart, and not as though she was quivering from the inside out. “You’d best take them off, then. I don’t have a maid to help me.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Oh, well, if I must. I don’t know, not married five minutes and already she’s ordering me about.”

Kitty huffed and forced herself to appear stern, though her lips twitched helplessly as she stood and tried not to fidget as he began undoing, unhooking, and peeling away the layers. He helped her step out of her gown and petticoats, and spent what seemed an age seeking out all her pins until her hair tumbled loose about her shoulders.

“I’ve wanted to rid you of these pins since the moment you burst back into my life,” he said, the warmth of his words brushing the back of her neck like the silky black locks as they came free. “I wanted to see it loose, like it was when we were together in Ireland. I think we were barely tame, either of us, but you… my god, Kitty, you with bare feet and tangled hair and your petticoats hitched up and streaked with mud. I loved you so… I love you so….”

He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck and Kitty shivered with pleasure as his arms wrapped about her. She closed her eyes, covering his hands with hers and smiled, remembering—just as he was—the idyll they’d made of their haphazard lives. She sighed as he released her, and he returned his attention to her clothing.

When only her chemise and stockings remained, Kitty discovered she was just a little bit nervous. He was still standing behind her as she stared down at the thick rug beneath her feet. She felt rather than saw him move, and decided she couldn’t stand to keep inspecting the carpet any longer. She glanced up.

He was staring down at her with a smile in his eyes that made any doubts vanish.

“The first time I saw you, I thought perhaps you were a Sidhe princess,” he said, reaching out to coil a thick, dark curl about his finger. “One of the tricksy good folk the maids had told me about, and you would tempt me to follow you down to your fairy fort and keep me there for all eternity.”

She smiled up at him, delighted by the admission. “You did? Why didn’t you run away then?”

“I didn’t care if you were, I wanted to stay with you for all eternity. I still do.”

Kitty laughed at that, but then he got to his knees before her, his large hands curling about her ankle. He lifted her foot, caressing the curve of her instep before he rested it on his thigh. His hands moved up and up and over her calf, over her knee, up until he reached her garter. He untied it, though it took him a moment, and she noticed hands were trembling. She trembled beneath his touch, not with fear or anxiety but with the pleasure of having his hands upon her.

Slowly, so slowly, he drew the stocking from her leg until it passed her knee. Then he pushed her chemise out the way.

“Such a pretty knee,” he said, pressing a kiss against it.

Kitty’s breath caught in her throat. He carried on peeling the stocking away and then pressed a kiss to her bare calf, and then her ankle, and then her foot, bending low as if he would worship her, until the stocking was discarded, and he began over again.

When both stockings had been tossed to the side, he slid his hands beneath the chemise once more, sliding the fine fabric up as his warm palms moved over her legs. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her inner thigh, the feel of his mouth on her so intimate and delicious that Kitty shivered and sighed. She closed her eyes, abandoning herself to his touch.

“Did you enjoy it when I touched you last night?” he asked, the words breathed against her skin as his mouth moved over her, kissing his way higher and higher in tiny, damp increments. “Did you like how it felt?”

“Yes,” she said, almost swaying with pleasure. “You know I did.”

“You liked my hands touching you here?”

Her breath hitched as his fingers brushed the curls between her legs, a flood of warmth pooling low in her belly.

“Yes,” she said again, her voice husky now, her breathing so fast she felt dizzy with it.

“Good,” he said, sounding dreadfully smug. “Then you’ll like this even better….”

Kitty gasped, her eyes flying open as she realised he meant to kiss her there…. But then he had, his mouth upon her, his warm tongue toying with her as she exclaimed, the sound fading to a whimper as reached out grasping at the bed post to stop her knees from buckling.

Luke moved back, chuckling softly before he stood, pulling her into his arms. “Perhaps you’d best lie down for this,” he said, a smile in the words as he tugged at the tie fastening her chemise and loosened it, drawing it down to pool at her ankles.

He paused then, the feather soft caress of a fingertip gliding over her skin, making her shiver as his touch traced a path from her neck to her breast.

“I can’t believe you are mine, Kitty. After so long wanting you….” He ducked his head as he cupped her breast and sought her nipple with his mouth.

Kitty cried out, clinging to him, holding him against her as he suckled and kissed and her body melted from the inside out. He tormented both breasts with equal devotion until she was hot and liquid, restless with need.