Of course there was a very good chance that tasting her would also cause him to lose control, but he forgot that as he pushed her camisole out of the way.

He sucked in his breath when he finally saw her. “My God,” he breathed.

Ellie immediately moved to cover herself. “I'm sorry, I—”

“Don't say you're sorry,” he ordered hoarsely. He'd been a fool when he'd thought that finally seeing her would end the erotic wanderings of his imagination. Reality was so much more exquisite; he doubted that he'd ever be able to resume his daily routine without picturing her in his mind. All the time. Just the way she was right now.

He leaned down and placed the softest of kisses on the underside of her breast. “You're beautiful,” he whispered.

Ellie, who had never been called ugly but had certainly not spent her life receiving odes to her beauty, remained silent.

He kissed the underside of her other breast. “Perfect.”

“Charles, I know I'm not—”

“Don't say anything unless you're going to agree with me,” he said sternly.

She smiled. She couldn't help it.

And then, just when she was about to say something to tease him, his mouth found her nipple and closed around it, and she was lost. Sensation flooded her body, and she couldn't have uttered a word or formulated a thought if she tried.

Which she wasn't. All she was doing was arching her back toward him, pressing herself against his mouth.

“You're better than I dreamed,” he murmured against her skin. “More than I imagined.” He lifted his head just long enough to gift her with a wicked grin. “And I have a very good imagination.”

Once again, she couldn't hold back a tender smile, so touched was she that he was doing so much to keep this first truly intimate experience from overwhelming her. Well, that was not exactly true. He was definitely trying to overwhelm her, working his magic on every last nerve ending in her body, but he was also doing his best to make sure that she had a smile on her face the whole time.

He was a nicer man than he wanted people to think. Ellie felt something warm and sweet moving within her heart, and she wondered if it might be the first stirrings of love.

Moved by a new sense of emotion, she lifted her hands, which had been lying at her sides, and sank them into his thick reddish-brown hair. It was crisp and soft, and she turned his head just so that she could feel his hair against her cheek.

He held her still for a moment, then lifted his body a few inches so that he could gaze down upon her. “My God, Ellie,” he said, his words oddly shaky, “how I want you. You'll never know how much…”

Ellie's eyes filled with tears at the heartfelt emotion in his voice. “Charles,” she began, and then paused to shiver as a chilly wind passed across her bare skin.