reveling in the sensation of his wool tuxedo against her bare skin. Her eyes fluttered open as his mouth moved lower, biting and licking its way down her neck until he found her nipples. She cried out when he took her breast in his mouth, and a hot ribbon of need seemed to unspool from her nipple to between her legs. In the glossy surface of the snow-battered window, she caught a glimpse of their reflection and was stunned by what she saw—her bare body writhing against Artem, who had yet to shed a single article of clothing.
Before she could bring herself to feel an ounce of shame, he gathered her in his arms and carried her to his massive bed, that blanketed wonderland that had so intimidated her the first time she’d been here. Had it been only fourteen days ago that they’d sworn to one another they had no desire to sleep together?
She’d been lying then. Lying through her teeth. Ophelia had wanted this since the moment she’d set eyes on Artem Drake. No, not this. Not exactly. Because she hadn’t known anything like this existed.
She struggled to catch her breath as Artem set her down on the impossibly soft sheets. Then he leaned over her and kissed her again, with long, slow thrusts of his tongue now, as if his body was telling her they had all the time in the world and he intended to make good use of every wanton second. As his hands found her hair and unwound her ballerina bun, she couldn’t stop touching his face—his perfect cheekbones, his chiseled jaw and that secret place where his dimple flashed in those rare, unguarded moments when he smiled. The most beautiful man she’d ever seen, looking down at her as if he’d been waiting for this moment as long as she had. It hardly seemed possible.
He wound a finger in the diamonds around her neck and grinned as wickedly as the devil himself. “My grace.”
Ophelia balled the sheets in her fists, for fear she might float away. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, yet somehow not quickly enough. She wasn’t sure how long she could survive the heavenly warmth flowing through her. It was beginning to bear down on her. Hot and insistent. Then Artem moved his hand lower, and lower still, drawing a tremulous, invisible line down her body, until with a gentle touch he parted her and slipped his fingers inside her.
“Oh,” she purred, in a voice she’d never heard come out of her mouth.
“Ophelia, open your eyes. Look at me.”
She obeyed and found him watching her, his gaze filled with dark intention. His hand began moving faster. Harder, until she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.
Before she knew what was happening, he’d begun kissing his way down her body. And were those really her breasts, arching obscenely toward his mouth? And were those her thighs, pressed together, holding his hand in place?
Yes, yes they were. Artem’s touch had made her a slave to sensation. She’d lost all ability to control her body, this body she’d once moved with such perfect precision.
Then his mouth was poised over her center, and she found she couldn’t breathe for wanting.
“Please,” she whimpered. Oh, please.
She wasn’t even sure what she was begging for. Just some kind of relief from this exquisite torture.
“Shh,” Artem murmured, and his breath fluttered over her, causing a fresh wave of heat to pool between her legs. It was excruciating. “I’m here, kitten.”
Kitten.
Oh, God.
He pressed a tender kiss to the inside of one thigh, then the other, and the graze of his five o’clock shadow against her sensitive, secret places nearly sent her over the edge.
Then his mouth was on her, kissing, licking, tasting, and it was too much. She suddenly felt too exposed, too vulnerable. She was drowning in pleasure, and she knew that if she let it pull her under, there would be no turning back. No forgetting.
How could she return to normal life after this? How could she live the rest of her life alone, knowing what she was missing?
“Relax, kitten,” Artem said in a hoarse whisper. He sounded every bit as wild and desperate as she felt. “I want to see you come. Let go.”
He slipped a finger inside her again and she closed her eyes, tangled her fingers in his hair and held on for dear life. She didn’t want to lose this moment to worry and fear. She wanted to stay. Here.
In this bed.
With this man.
So she did it. She let go. And the instant she stopped fighting it and let the blissful tide sweep her away, she shattered.
Stars exploded behind her eyes and she went completely and utterly liquid. She felt like she was blossoming from the very center of her being, and for the first time, the concept of petite mort made sense. Little death. Because it was like she’d died and gone someplace else. Somewhere dreamlike and enchanted. She could feel herself throbbing against Artem’s hand, and it seemed as though he held her entire life force, every heartbeat she’d ever had, in the tips of his fingers.
And still he lapped and stroked, prolonging her pleasure, until it began to build again. Which seemed wholly unbelievable. She wouldn’t survive it again. So soon? Was that even possible?
“Artem,” she protested, even as she arched beneath him, seeking it again, that place of impossible light. Wanting him to take her there.
“Yes, kitten?” He pressed a butterfly-soft kiss to her belly and stood.
Ophelia had come completely apart, and there he was. Still fully dressed in a tuxedo, with his bow tie crooked just a fraction of an inch. He looked like he could have just walked out of a black-tie board of directors meeting...aside from the impressive erection straining the confines of his fly.
Ophelia swallowed. Hard. She needed to see him, to feel him.
Now.
She rose up on her knees and ran her hands over the expanse of his muscular chest. He cupped her breasts and pressed a kiss to her hair as she slid her palms under his lapels and pushed his jacket down his arms. It landed on the floor with a soft thud.
“Are you undressing me, Miss Rose?” he growled, and bent to take a nipple in his mouth. That crimson ribbon of need unwound inside her again, and she arched into him.
“I am.” She sighed, dispensing with his shirt as quickly as she could manage. One of his cuff links flew off and bounced across the floor. Neither of them batted an eye.
She had no idea what she was doing. She’d never undressed a man in her life, but she was no longer nervous, hesitant or the slightest bit bashful. He’d unlocked something in her. Something no man had ever come close to discovering. Something wild and free.
She unzipped his fly and slid her hand inside, freeing him. He was hard—harder than she’d imagined he could possibly be—and big. Intimidatingly big. But the weight of his erection in her hands sent a thrill skittering up her spine.
She linked her gaze with Artem’s and stroked him. He moaned, and his eyes went dark. Dreamy. Bedroom eyes, she thought. Watching him watch her as she pleasured him made her head spin. As if she’d done too many pirouettes. Ophelia’s pulse pounded in the hollow of her throat, right where Princess Grace’s diamonds nestled.
When she bent to
