Tears pricked her eyes and she gave him a soft smile. “You’re just saying that to get into my pants.”

“I’m in your pants,” he told her. “But I mean what I say. I love you, Maylee Meriweather, and to me, you are the most wondrous creature I have ever seen.”

She gave a small sigh of pleasure at hearing him say that. This was the man she’d fallen for. She was terrified to think about what might happen. What if they were just words? What if a man with an upbringing like Griffin’s didn’t know how to love? She worried it was all another misunderstanding, but kept those thoughts to herself. To distract him from her silence, she removed her bra and panties.

“Utterly beautiful,” Griffin said reverently, stroking his fingers up her tanned arm. “Like my own personal Venus.” Those fingertips moved across her shoulder and collarbone, lightly tracing her skin. “I am the luckiest man alive.”

Her hands fluttered as she put them on his formal coat, her desire making her pulse and ache between her legs. “Are you going to get naked with me?”

“Eventually,” he said, and his hand trailed between her breasts. “First, I want to get my fill of looking at you.”

So she stood in front of him, trembling, as he let his fingertips explore over her body. They glided and grazed over her breasts, circling the tips. They moved down the gentle curve of her belly, traced along the lines of her hipbones. They moved between her legs and lightly grazed over the damp curls of her arousal, and she sucked in a breath, hoping for those fingers to push between her legs and open her for him.

But instead, he knelt before her and tenderly kissed the skin just above her mound. “So beautiful.”

She was practically vibrating with desire. “Griff,” she murmured, voice husky. “If you don’t throw me down on this bed and make love to me, so help me—”

He ignored her and pressed his face inward, lightly nuzzling at the curls of her sex with his mouth, and she felt the tip of his tongue graze her clit.

A high-pitched gasp escaped her throat, and her knees buckled slightly. Only his hands on her hips kept her upright. “Oh.”

“Lay down, darling,” he said. “I want to put my mouth on you.”

She did, finding the edge of the bed and sitting on it with trembling legs. Then, as she laid back, she watched as Griffin slowly, methodically undid the buttons on his thick ceremonial coat and then tossed it to the floor, revealing an undershirt tucked into his slacks and those muscular arms. Maylee gave a sigh of pleasure at the sight of that, marveling again at the ugly tattoo on his bicep that seemed so out of character for him.

“My beautiful, darling Maylee,” he murmured, leaning down over her on the bed. He crawled over her, and while she lay flat on the bed under him, he gently kissed her brow, then her cheekbones, and continued on across her face, paying homage to every feature. He nipped at her chin in a way that made her nipples tighten even more, and she shifted, almost panting with desire. Strange how these sweet, thoughtful kisses were more erotic than anything she’d ever experienced in her life.

He kissed his way across her shoulders and on to her breasts, gently taking the tip of each one into his mouth and lightly sucking and teasing at the tip until she was biting back her moans of pleasure. Her hands raked through his hair over and over again, and her back raised off the bed each time his mouth clasped over a nipple. It felt so good; she wanted more, and she ached deep inside for him.

Then his mouth lightly traced down her belly, and his tongue dipped into her navel, circling it and giving her hints of what was to come. “Oh, lordamercy,” she breathed.

“Do you know it makes my cock hard every time I hear you say that?” he murmured, but continued down his path. “I nearly come undone each time. For some reason, that sweet drawl of yours makes me incredibly hard. It’s like I picture your tongue curling over your words, and then I imagine it curling over the head of my cock.”

Oh, God, he was a talker in bed. This was destroying her. Maylee’s hands fisted in the blankets and she panted, silently begging for him to give her more.

“Ah,” he said after a moment, as if he’d discovered something pleasurable, and her breath exploded as her imagination did. “You’re very wet for me, aren’t you, darling?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice, and a small whimper escaped her throat.

His fingers parted her flesh, and she felt his mouth on her folds a moment later, tongue sliding up and down the damp center of her. “You taste as beautiful as you look,” he whispered, and then his mouth went to her clit. His tongue brushed over it, and then he sucked on it, teasing it with his lips.

A tremor wracked through her, growing in intensity. He continued to tongue and suck at her clit, not budging now that he’d found just where she wanted him to be, and the intensity built, exploding behind her eyes. To her stunned surprise, she came in a quick, violent burst, her fingers clawing at his scalp even as her legs spasmed and her heels dug into the bed.

“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh. Oh, lordamercy. Oh, Griff.”

When he’d wrung the last shudders out of her, he lifted his head, lips gleaming from her wetness, and there was a smug, satisfied look of pleasure on his gorgeous face, as if he were proud that he’d been able to make her come so hard. Breathless, she watched as he climbed back up next to her and lay down on his side, watching her recover.

The man looked incredibly pleased with himself.

“Need a moment, darling?” He reached out and caressed her breast, thumbing her nipple casually. He looked as if he had all the time in the world now that he’d satisfied her, but she felt the press of his cock against her leg.

All this casual control? It was an act. And her Griffin was far too good at acting controlled.

She wanted to make him wild. So she rolled onto her hands and knees and gave his shoulder a push, indicating he should lie back on the bed.

His hands moved to cup her dangling breasts, and he made a small sound of pleasure in his throat. “You are incredibly beautiful.”

“You’ve mentioned that once or twice,” Maylee teased, finding her voice again. She tugged at his undershirt and pulled it up, exposing his flat stomach and the muscles there. She contemplated torturing him in the same way he’d tortured her—endless kisses all over his skin—but his cock was straining his pants, and she knew he was already painfully aroused. He’d expect her to take her time, just like he had.

But she wanted to surprise him.

So she shimmied down the bed a little, away from those delicious hands that played with her breasts and began to unbuckle his pants with quick, easy motions. He reached down to help her and she slapped his hand away. “You’re mine now. Sit back and behave.”

He chuckled, but his hands moved away and back to her hair, fingering her curls. He loved touching her hair, so she had to trust him when he’d said he liked it wild and free.

A moment later, she had his pants undone and pushed aside his zipper. He raised his hips so she could slide the clothes down, but she decided on a different tactic, a quicker one. Ripping at the button that held the fly of his boxers closed, she snapped it off and pushed his cock through the fabric, exposing it.

“Well, hello again,” she murmured at the sight of his erection rising up, the crown thick and glistening. “So nice to see you.”

And she grasped the base of his cock and took the head of him into her mouth.

Griffin immediately stiffened on the bed, his entire body going taut. Her tongue swirled around the head, then lightly traced the underside of the crown, exploring him. He was nice and thick, and she was a greedy woman because she loved that he was. She wanted all of him, and just handling him like this was making her ache deep between her legs. She couldn’t wait to feel him deep inside her. Anticipating this, she opened her jaw and took him deeper, sucking hard.

He nearly came off the bed. “Oh, bloody hell, Maylee—”

She groaned with pleasure at his response, the rumble in her throat sending another shiver through his body. So she continued to deep throat him, letting her mouth get good and wet as she slid him against the back of her tongue and took him deeper into her throat. She knew she was doing good when his hips rose to meet her stroking mouth, and his hand fisted in her hair, as if he were trying desperately not to shove deeper.

He pulled her off him a moment later, panting. “No, wait—”

She mewed a protest, trying to pull him back into her mouth.

“Condoms,” he demanded, and rolled off the bed, heading to find them.

She waited for him on the bed, aching and full of need, and he returned a moment later, fingers hastily tearing the box open, his cock jutting out of his opened pants and boxers. She couldn’t help but reach for him again, and he groaned, pulling away from her and extricating himself from his clothing. He had trouble with the boxers and ended up ripping them off, the fabric tearing overloud in the room. Griffin didn’t look like he cared, though. His hair was sticking up in tufts, and his cheeks were flushed with the intensity of what they were doing.

He was gorgeous.

He rolled on the condom and grabbed for her. He sat at the edge of the bed and then patted his knee. “Come sit in my lap, darling.” His cock jutted up, indicating just where she should sit.

Maylee swung a leg over him, and Griffin’s hands immediately went to her hips to hold her. With his hands guiding her, she slid down his front and seated herself, oh so slowly, atop his cock. The push into her body made her breath suck in, and she immediately tensed her muscles, clinging to his shoulders. He was bigger than her last lover, and his cock burned a little as it went in, but he felt delicious. “Griff,” she moaned. “Oh, lordamercy.”

“Maylee,” he groaned in response. “Sweet, bloody beautiful Maylee.”

And he sank her down completely on him.

She cried out, only to have her cry smothered by his kiss. This position allowed her entire body to rub up against his, and she locked her legs around his waist. Her breasts brushed against his chest, and his arm at her waist held her tightly in place.

And he kissed her. Oh, God, he kissed her so deeply and thoroughly that she felt penetrated all over again. Her mind was in a daze, and she whimpered when he bucked his hips and it made everything rock just a little bit deeper.

“My Maylee,” he murmured, rocking his hips again, and then he began a motion she wasn’t entirely sure was legal, his hips moving back and forth even as she rocked her own to increase the friction. Her clit was rubbing against his groin, her nipples were brushing on his chest, and his mouth kept licking and slicking at her own.

It was the most erotic thing she’d ever felt. She’d never had sex like this before, sitting atop of someone and letting him fuck her upright. It made everything so very intimate.

His motions were slow and controlled, but Maylee couldn’t seem to control her hips. She thrust down on him as hard as she could, enjoying his little groans of response. Her own body was trembling, and she felt her sex tightening in response as another orgasm began to build. Her nails dug into his skin and her kisses took on a frantic edge, even as he began to thrust harder into her, encouraging that build.

She felt it in her entire body when she came that time, everything trembling and tightening around him so hard that she knew he felt it, even if she didn’t make a sound. His groan of response told her everything.

Then, he lay back on the bed and rolled over swiftly, and she was pinned underneath him. Before she could question, he pulled back and thrust deep and rough into her.

And she gasped, stunned at how good that felt. When he did it again—faster and rougher than before—the force of his motions shoved her across the bed a little, and his skin slapped at her own. But she clung to him, loving it. “Griff,” she moaned softly. “Oh, Griff.”

“I love you,” he gritted out, the words ragged. “Love you, Maylee.”

And he came, dragging her name out as if it were a benediction.

Maylee curled her arms around him and gave a long sigh of contentment as he shuddered and quaked in her arms, lost in his own orgasm.

When Griffin finally pulled off her, she made a sound of protest as their bodies separated. She didn’t want him to leave her ever again. A moment later, he returned to the bed and curled around her naked body, pulling her against him.