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the
shivers that chased through her body. He drew her against him, his arms closing around her, and
she
molded to him with a sigh.
After a while, he murmured softly into the pale, fragrant curve of her neck. I m going to make
love
to you all night, Poppy. And the first time, you re going to feel very safe. But the second time,
I m
going to be a little bit wicked... and you ll like that even more. And the third time he paused
with a smile as he heard her breath catch. The third time, I m going to do things that will
mortify
you when you remember them tomorrow. He kissed her gently. And you ll love that most of
all.
Poppy couldn t quite fathom Harry s mood, devilish yet tender as he finished undressing her. He
laid her back on the mattress with her legs dangling, and stood between them as he leisurely
removed his shirt. As his gaze traveled over her, she blushed and tried to cover herself with her
arms.
Flashing a grin, Harry bent over her, pulling her hands away. Love, if you only knew what
pleasure
it gives me to look at you... He kissed her lips, teasing them open, his tongue slipping inside the
warm interior of her mouth. The hair on his chest brushed over the tips of her breasts, a sweet
and
ceaseless stimulation that drew a moan from low in her throat.
His lips wandered along the arch of her throat to her breasts. Capturing a nipple, he stroked with
his
tongue, making it taut and stingingly sensitive. At the same time, his hand went to her other
breast,
his thumb circling and prodding the peak.
She strained upward, her body trembling and flushed. His hands drifted over her in light paths,
across her stomach, lower, down to the place where a sweet erotic ache had centered. Finding the
humid, delicately layered flesh, he teased her with his thumbs, opened her, making her ready for
him.
Her knees drew up, and she reached for him with an incoherent sound, trying to draw him over
her.
Instead, he sank to his knees and gripped her hips, and she felt his mouth on her.
She quivered beneath the gentle articulation of his tongue, every intricate movement provoking,
tormenting, until her eyes fluttered closed and she began to breathe in wrenching sighs. His
tongue
entered her and lingered for an excruciating moment. Please, she whispered. Please, Harry.
She felt him stand, heard the rustle of trousers and linens being dropped. There was hot, gentle
pressure at the entrance of her body, and she made a shuddering sound of relief. He pushed
inside as
deeply as she could accept him, a deliciously substantial invasion. She was stretched, utterly
filled,
and she worked her hips against him, trying to take even more. A slow rhythm began, his body
pressing hers at just the right angle, driving the pitch of feeling higher with each luscious ingress.
Her eyes flew open as the accumulated sensation rolled up to her, relentless in its strength and
velocity, and she saw his sweat-misted face above hers. He was watching her, savoring her
pleasure,
bending to take her helpless cries into his mouth.
When the last spasms had faded, and she was as limp as a discarded stocking, Poppy found
herself
cradled in Harry s arms. They reclined together on the bed, her soft limbs tangled with his
harder,
longer ones.
She stirred in drowsy surprise as she felt that he was still aroused. He kissed her and sat up, his
hand
playing in the loose fire of her hair.
Gently he guided her head to his lap. Make it wet, he whispered. Her mouth closed carefully
over
the pulsing head, slid as far down as she could, and lifted. Intrigued, she nuzzled the silken
hardness, her tongue flicking out like a cat s.
Harry turned her so that she was positioned facedown on the mattress. Hoisting her hips upward,
he
covered her from behind, his fingers sliding between her thighs. She felt a leap of excitement,
her
body responding instantly to his touch.
Now, he whispered into her hot ear, I m going to be wicked. And you ll let me do anything,
won t you?
Yes, yes, yes...
Harry held her with firm pressure, cupping her as he pulled her against his solid weight. She felt
him move her in an insinuating rocking motion, with his aroused flesh poised at the wet cove of
her
body. He entered her, but just barely, and each time she rocked backward, he let her have a little
more. Murmuring his name, she pushed back more strongly, trying to impale herself fully. But he
only laughed softly and kept her where he wanted her, maintaining the voluptuous, metrical
pitch.
He was utterly in control, appropriating her flesh with dizzying skill, letting her writhe and gasp
for
long minutes. Dragging the length of her hair to one side, he kissed the back of her neck, his
mouth
strong and gnawing. Everything he did drove her pleasure higher, and he knew it, gloried in it.
Poppy felt the oncoming rush of fulfillment, her senses preparing for the hot tumble of release,
and
only then did he take her fully, driving hard and deep into her center.
Harry held her until she stopped trembling, her body limp with satisfaction. And then he pressed
her
to her back and whispered one word into her ear.
Again.
It was a long and searing night, filled with unthinkable intimacy. After the third time, they
snuggled
in the darkness with Poppy s head on Harry s shoulder. It was lovely to lie with someone this
way,
talking about anything and everything, their bodies relaxed in the aftermath of passion.
You fascinate me in every way, Harry whispered, his hand playing gently in her hair. There
are
mysteries in your soul that will take a lifetime to uncover... and I want to know every one of
them.
No one had ever called her mysterious before. While Poppy didn t think of herself that way, she
rather liked it. I m not all that mysterious, am I?
Of course you are. Smiling, he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss into the tender cup of her
palm.
You re a woman.
Poppy went for a walk with Beatrix the next afternoon, while the rest of the family dispersed on
various errands: Win and Amelia went to visit an ailing friend in the village, Leo and Merripen
met
with a prospective new tenant, and Cam had gone to a horse auction in Southampton.
Harry sat at a desk in the library with a detailed report from Jake Valentine. Relishing the peace
and
quiet rare in the Hathaway household he began to read. However, the sound of a floorboard
creaking snagged his attention, and he looked toward the threshold.
Catherine Marks was standing there, book in hand, her cheeks pink. Forgive me, she said. I
didn t mean to disturb you. I meant to return a book, but
Come in, Harry said at once, rising from his chair. You re not interrupting anything.
I ll just be a moment. She hurried to a bookshelf, replaced the volume, and paused to glance at
him. Light from the window gleamed on her spectacles, obscuring her eyes.
Stay in here if you like, Harry said, feeling unaccountably awkward.
No, thank you. It s a lovely day, and I thought I might walk through the gardens, or She
stopped
and shrugged uncomfortably.
God, how ill at ease they were with each other. Harry contemplated her for a moment, wondering
what was troubling her. He had never known what to do with her, this unwanted half sister, what
place in his life he could find for her. He had never wanted to care for Catherine, and yet she had
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