The drawers slid down and Maggie shivered involuntarily as she felt Reeve’s hands on her bare thighs.

“Open your dress, Maggie,” he said, beginning to caress her in the most intimate way possible. “I want to see your breasts.”

Maggie swallowed a moan as her hips began to writhe in response to his touch, and her hands went obediently to the buttons of her dress, even though she willed them not to. She bared herself, except for her thin camisole, and clutched at the bedclothes with frantic hands as Reeve laid his tongue to the shadow of one nipple, then gently scraped it with his teeth. The fabric of her camisole clung moistly to the tender peak as it hardened and strained toward Reeve’s mouth.

And still he fondled her.

Completely lost, Maggie whimpered his name and arched her back so that he had ready access to her muslin-covered breasts. He undid the tiny ribbon ties and she sighed as the camisole was thrust aside by the swell of her bosom.

Greedily, Reeve took one pulsing peak into the warm moistness of his mouth to cosset it there, and with a cry Maggie flung her arms up over her head and grasped at the headboard of the bed in order to anchor herself. When she would have lowered them again to tangle her fingers in Reeve’s hair, he held them in place, her wrists imprisoned in one of his hands.

He spoke against her nipple, his every breath making it tighten into a keener sensitivity. “I’ll leave you too exhausted to rebel again, little Yank,” he promised in a husky whisper.

Maggie clung to the last shreds of her pride, even as her body leapt to obey his every command. “You’ll exhaust—yourself—as well—” she gasped.

Reeve laughed. “Not so,” he replied, and then he sucked at Maggie’s breast until she was half wild with the need of him. Then, and only then, he moved to kneel on the floor and shifted Maggie’s hips so that they were resting on the very edge of the bed. She was totally vulnerable to him.

“Your first lesson in being an obedient wife,” he grated out, and then he nuzzled through her softness to catch her in his mouth.

An electrical jolt went through Maggie as he nibbled at her, and her back arched as if in spasm. Groaning, she grabbed at the bedding with her fingers, sure that she would float away if she didn’t hold on. “Oh, Reeve,” she choked, “my—God—Reeve—”