breaths pushed her breasts up into tight mounds above the edge of her corset. This close, he could make out the darker shadow of her nipples beneath the gauzy fabric of her shift.
“Because I want it.”
“You want what? ”
“Y-you,” she breathed, the word shaking from her lips. “You and your rough hands.”
“Jesus Christ, lady. Are you kidding me? Is this some sort of fantasy about being taken by a brutish, uncivilized American?” The truth was surprisingly painful. He reached for her, finally, wrapping his crude American hands around her soft arms.
“No!” She blinked in shock. “It’s not that.”
“You want it rough?” he demanded. “You want to find out what it feels like to be fucked by a man who’s not soft? ”
He’d thought to shock her into sensibility. He thought she’d begin to cry and struggle. Instead, she swallowed hard and nodded. That was the moment he remembered the way she’d gripped her own neck to gain her pleasure. “There’s something wrong with you,” he growled, and she nodded again. The admission gleamed in her eyes. There was something wrong with her, and unlike Hale, she wasn’t afraid to confront it.
Was it possible that she really wanted what he wanted? Could she be just as screwed up as he was? A dark hope bloomed inside him, blotting out most of his good sense. “Get on your knees,” he said firmly. When her face softened with gratitude, Hale couldn’t believe it. She looked thankful that he’d given such a crude suggestion. His cock throbbed painfully as she sank slowly to her knees.
When she reached the floor, she folded her hands primly in her lap and watched him.
“What’s your Christian name?”
“Lily.”
Lily. Of course. The perfect name for this beautiful flower of a woman. “Lily,” he said, feeling the taste of her name on his tongue. “Touch me.”
She did. Without further prompting, she reached up and fit her hand to the ridge in his trousers. She dragged her fingers gently over him for a few passes, then pressed more firmly as she rubbed. The touching felt good, but the picture she presented ratcheted his pleasure to dangerous heights.
“Now,” he rasped, “the buttons.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” she responded, her English tongue curving the words, and something sharp cut its way through his insides. Yes, Sheriff. That was what he wanted to hear as her hand opened the buttons before slipping inside to curl around his cock. She glanced at him, and when he nodded, she drew it free of his clothing.
That was the moment when his last tie of restraint snapped. Seeing Lily Anders on her knees, her fine, pale hand wrapped around his dusky sex, her eyes watching him past dark lashes…This was heaven. And the very blasphemy of the thought only made it more true.
Hale wound her hair around his hand, then tightened his fingers into a fist. “You know what I want, Lily.”
She nodded, the movement tight against his knuckles.
“So do it.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” she breathed, joy blooming across her face on a flush of color.
He wrapped his free hand around his shaft, and guided her closer. Lily’s lips parted and her tongue touched him. She lapped at him once, and then again, eager little movements that made his hand shake.
“More,” he ordered, and she slipped the head against the flat of her tongue and took him inside.
Yes, this was heaven. A place of such beauty, he couldn’t have imagined it before. Lily whimpered with pleasure as she slid him deep into her throat. When Hale squeezed his fingers, tightening his hold on her hair, she moaned, and as she moaned, she worked him, sliding up and down his shaft in a rhythm he set with the pressure of his hand.
“Damn,” he murmured. “Damn it, you’re perfect.” A shiver seemed to melt over her as he wound his fingers way too tightly in her hair.
Her moan vibrated over his shaft as she pressed closer, so close he could feel her throat tighten against him. “Lily,” he gasped. He