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Chapter Twenty-six

Leo stood in the doorway, tugging off his gloves casually, as if he had all the time in the world Catherine went dry-mouthed as she watched him She needed him She needed to be held and comforted, and he knew it If she allowed him into her hotel suite, there was no question as to ould happen next

She started as the sound of voices ca out hastily, she grabbed the lapels of Leo’s coat, pulled him across the threshold, and closed them both safely inside the room "Hush," she whispered

Leo braced his hands on either side of her, caging her against the door "You kno to keep me quiet"

The voices beca the hallway

San in a perfectly audible tone, "Marks, I wonder if--"

She drew in an exasperated breath and cra to shut hi her with bold and avid pleasure Even through the elegant layers of his clothes, she could feel the heat and hardness of hi her hands beneath his coat where his body heat had collected

She ue went deep, and she felt corresponding twinges of pleasure low in her sto Her spectacles beca between their faces Leo reached up to remove them carefully He slipped them into his pocket With deliberate slowness, he put the key in the door and locked it from the inside Catherine stood mutely, torn between desire and caution

In the silence, Leo went to light a lalow, as the wick kindled Catherine blinked owlishly at the shadow-crossed rooe dark shape of hi on intiht of how he had filled her, the sweet heaviness of him inside her

Blindly she turned to face away fro access to the row of hooks that fastened the back of her dress The fabric tightened across her brsts as he grasped the dress at the back There was a series of deft tugs, the gar lower She felt hiswarown to her waist and over her hips Sheout of the heap of layered pink silk, kicking off her slippers Turning her around again, Leo unhooked her corset, pausing to kiss each of her shoulders in turn

"Take down your hair" The touch of his breath on her skinthe pins fro the table, she went to the bed and cli tensely as he undressed She couldn’t help wishing she had her spectacles back as she stared at the intriguing, hazy shape of hiht and shadow on his skin

"Don’t squint so hard, love You’ll strain your eyes"

"I can’t see you"

He approached her, every line of his body replete with race "Can you see hly "Certain parts"

Leo gave a husky laugh, crawling onto the bed, over her, bracing his weight on his arht veil of her cheether, the erect shape of hi notch of her body

"What about now?" Leo whispered "A into his face, taking in every breathtaking detail She had to force out words between uneven breaths "But not quite…"

Leo bent to take her lips, locking his mouth over hers in a blaze of sensation She lost herself in it, a kiss that was at once giving and de the shy advances of her own tongue She tasted inside his mouth for the first tied sound, Leo reached for the hearment upward, he helped Catherine to lift it over her head He untied the tapes of her draith torturous slowness, running his fingers along the loosening waist, easing the thin s soon followed, leaving her co his name, Catherine twined her arain She arched into hihness and silk, sht hiswith the soft lobe before he whispered, "Cat I’ain And I want you to lie perfectly still and let me do as I please You can do that, can’t you?"

"No," she said earnestly, "I really don’t think so"

Leo averted his face for awith amusement "That was actually a rhetorical question"

"A rhetorical question has an obvious answer," she argued, "and what you’re asking is not--" She broke off, unable to speak or think as she felt him nibble and lick at a sensitive part of her neck His ue like velvet He worked his way along her ar at the hollows of her inner arile skin Every inch of her body prickled with awareness of hi her ar her skin flushed and da it, until she felt a whiasped, sliding her hands into his hair, trying to guide hi theently "Or do you want rieved stillness, her chest heaving Leo had the gall to laugh softly, histo nuzzle the undercurve of her breast A cry escaped her when she felt his lips brush against the gathered crest Slowly his an to suckle Heat writhed in her stomach, and her hps lifted fro in a soothing circle, pressing her back down

It was i her skillfully but providing no relief Impossible to endure … but he wouldn’t allow otherwise He htly into the hollow of her navel She eak and perspiring, wet at the roots of her hair, her body racked with delight that verged on pain

His roin to her inner thighs, his tongue playing gently on either side … everywhere except the wet pulsing center

"Leo," she panted "This … is not very nice of you"

"I know," he said "Move your legs apart"

She obeyed with a shudder, letting hi positions He used hisher thigh, investigating the ticklish hollows behind her knees, stringing kisses around her ankles, sucking lazily on her toes She sed back a supplicating h her body

After an eternity, Leo had finally progressed all the way back to her neck Catherine parted her thighs, dying for him to take her, but instead he rolled her to her stomach She whimpered in frustration

"Impatient wench" Leo’s hand shs "There, will this satisfy you for now?" She felt hi her swollen flesh Her body stiffened in bliss as his fingers entered her, slipping into the wetness He held the her spine She found herself grinding against his hand, gasping in pleasure Closer … closer … and yet the clax shimmered just out of reach

Finally Leo turned her to her back again, his features hard and sweat-misted, and it was only then that she realized he had been torturing himself as well as her He pinned her ars For an instant she knew a flare of panic at her own helplessness, seeing his powerful body above hers But then he entered her in a hard, slick plunge, and the fear vanished in a flood of pleasure He slipped his free arm beneath her neck Her eyes closed, and her head lolled as he bent to kiss her throat