You Belong to Me ~ Excerpt #4

Ahhh.... love scenes... sometimes they are the toughest part of the book to write.

This is the first love scene from You Belong to Me. Up to this point, Brenna and Tony have shared a few very chaste kisses. Now, both are having a bit of difficulty remaining distant from each other...

So, chase the kids out of the room, make sure the boss isn't looking, and enjoy!

~*~

Brenna worried her bottom lip as he folded his arms about her and she felt her gown part. The jumping in her belly grew worse, and stronger than before. Her heart seemed to be beating at twice its normal speed, and her mouth was terribly dry.

His fingers were warm against her bared skin as he gently tugged the silk from her shoulders, then reached for the ribbon holding her chemise closed. She held her breath as the gown crumpled at her feet. Fighting to keep her eyes open despite the delicious drowsiness, she
watched with fascination as he pulled at the ribbon and the linen parted easily.

Knowing Tony's blue eyes raked over her with such care, with such slowness, was enough to make her want to snatch her chemise from his hands and yank it closed. She couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so uncomfortable. Never in her wildest imaginings did she envision a man gazing at her with such apparent fascination.

It was impossible to miss how Tony sucked in his breath as the pale fabric slipped aside to reveal the inner curves of her breasts. He eased her chemise from her body and she wanted only to cross her arms over her chest as he gazed upon her bared flesh.

Her yelp was involuntary, his heated palm against her left breast a sudden shock to her system. Fire shot through her with that first contact and it was her turn to suck in a breath as his thumb brushed her nipple. The fire billowed with fury to send her blood bubbling, racing through her veins, filling her ears with the sudden, deafening rush and her body with a sweetly unbearable heat.

“Beautiful.” Tony's whisper rose above the pounding blood. “My lady, you are stunning.”

A flush burned in her cheeks once more as his sapphire eyes met hers. No one had ever used the words beautiful or stunning when describing her. In fact, Charles had always made certain she knew she was just the opposite—as hard on the eyes as sin itself. Still, her breath caught at his gentle caress, and then grew ragged as his eyes darkened.

Her nerves sprang to life as he fondled her breast, her discomfort becoming a distant memory at his touch. No one had ever touched her with such gentleness and wrought such havoc on her senses at the same time. The butterflies had grown into giants as their wings hammered a steady beat against her ribs.

The heat began where his flesh touched hers, spiraling through her and growing stronger. An unfamiliar tightness wound into a knot deep within her belly as he continued to caress her breast. He leaned into her to catch her lips with his, and she melted against him, her arms dangling at her sides, but her lips parting at once as he delved down to taste her. As his tongue skimmed along hers, she reciprocated, allowing hers to dance a slow, sensual beat with his.

He slid his arms about her waist, pulling her closer, groaning softly in the back of his throat as her breasts pressed into his chest. As he continued to tease her by dueling sensually with his tongue, she slowly wound her arms about his neck.

He backed her up, holding her close as he bent to gently push her down onto the bed and covered her with his body. His lips skimmed along the slope of her neck, dipped into the hollow at the base of her throat, crept down over her breastbone.

A soft growl rose in the back of his throat as he trailed his lips over the rise of her breast, but it was her turn to reciprocate the throaty purr when he then caught the nipple between his lips. Her fingernails, acting on their own, sank into his shoulders at the unexpected, delicious tingle, the sensual tightening of that nub as it pebbled beneath his caress.

“Oh, my...” she couldn’t hold back her breathless moan. The sensations tearing through her were unlike any she’d ever felt before. That heat smoldered into a fire of epic proportions, spilling through her to fill her, melding into an ache taking root deep within her core. A pleasurable ache, but an ache nonetheless, and she needed him to ease it and do so soon.

She had the wildest urge to let her fingers roam over him, to familiarize herself with his flesh and sinew. She fairly burned to trace the solid cords of his muscle, the flat planes of his body, and everything in between.

Her belly lurched as she felt his arousal. Knowing what it was, knowing what it meant, was enough to make her feel light-headed. Part of her wanted to open his breeches and explore that massive part of his body but the other part of her wanted to run and hide from him.

“Touch me, love,” he whispered, his words rough around the edges. “Let those soft, delicate hands of yours roam over my body.”

Her tongue felt thick, not wanting to obey as she forced out a throaty, “Touch you where?

“Anywhere and everywhere.”

She shuddered at the huskiness of voice, the gentleness of his kisses. “Tony?”

“What, sweet?”

“What if we...that is...” Heat filled her face, but not that same pleasant heat he stirred, but one of embarrassment. That pressure against her leg was incredible, to say the least, and she had no doubt he would rent her flesh something terrible with that hard maleness hidden beneath the fine material of his breeches.

He suddenly broke away, straightened up, unfastening the falls of his breeches. She could only pray her astonishment wasn’t apparent on her face, but she felt about to drop dead from the total shock. Her belly lurched, her mouth went as dry as dust, and she thought her eyes might pop clear from their sockets as he offered up her first look at a naked man. And what a look it was, she thought with renewed lightheadedness, her eyes involuntarily raking over him in a way that embarrassed her, but obviously amused him, judging by the slow smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh, my...” she breathed again, lifting a hand to her lips as her eyes slowly moved over what he’d bared. “This is not possible...”

Tony laughed softly, much to her surprise. She’d expected him to be annoyed with her for disrupting the moment, not amused by her idiotic innocence. “Oh, it is entirely possible, love,” he corrected gently, nudging the crumpled breeches aside with his foot before stretching
out beside her. “But, mayhap we should wait a while longer.” He reached out to trail his fingers down over the curve of her belly. “For now, I will be content with holding you close until you overcome this fear you have of me.”

“I am not afraid of you,” she countered, shaking her head. “Only...parts of you...”

He grinned then, skimming his hand down lower over her belly. “Parts of me? What parts might those be?”

Damn that blasted heat in her cheeks! It gave her no peace, no ability to fool herself into thinking that mayhap she had nothing to fear. Her blushes gave away her every thought, and she knew it. “Aye. Parts of you. And you must know which I mean.”

Tony pulled her into his arms and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Well, you need not fear parts of me, either.” His lips grazed her shoulder. “As I’ve said several times, you have no need to fear me. I will never use force against you, no matter what. And most importantly, my lady, I will never assert rights that you do not wish asserted upon you.”

As he spoke, his lips crept up her neck, towards her ear. She couldn’t help her giggle at the feathery tickling against her skin. It was hard to imagine a man as large as Tony being so gentle, yet that was exactly what he was. Gentle. She barely felt his caress, but at the same time, she felt it clear through to the soles of her feet.

~*~

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