Her hand slid over his shoulder, tracing flesh and hard muscle, and then lowered her head and rubbed her cheek over the roughness of his chest and breathed in his erotic scent. Her hand lingered low on his abdomen and she felt his muscles clench in an involuntary response.

She allowed her fingers to linger in that dangerous place, teasing and promising, and then she bent her head and kissed his shoulder, using lips and tongue to discover and explore his body, gradually moving lower until her mouth rested where her hand had been. His muscles quivered under her gentle touch and she heard the sharp hiss of his breath as she teased him with her tongue. He sank his fingers into her hair and then released her instantly. She glanced up at him and saw that his eyes were closed and his jaw was clenched. Desire burned deep inside her and she bent her head again and closed her mouth over him and he made a choking sound.

‘Flora…’

She lifted her head. ‘Sorry—am I hurting you? Your face is sort of…twisted.’

‘You’re not hurting me,’ he said hoarsely, ‘but—’

‘Good.’ She lowered her head again and used her tongue and her lips until he gave a harsh groan, grabbed her and rolled her onto her back.

‘You have to stop. I’m not going to last five minutes if you…’ He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, tension etched in every line of his handsome face. ‘Give me a minute. Just give me a minute.’

‘Did I do something wrong?’ She was suddenly covered with embarrassment. ‘I—I haven’t actually done it before…’

He shifted so that he was half on top of her, one leg pinning her to the mattress. ‘You’re full of surprises, do you know that? If you’ve never actually done it before, where did you—?’ His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. ‘Learn those tricks?’

‘From a book.’

‘A book?’ He gave a shaky laugh. ‘A book. Typical Flora.’ He bent his head and kissed her mouth expertly and her body trembled and ached in response.

And he hadn’t even touched her yet.

Desperate for him to do so, her hips moved against him and he put a hand on her hip to steady her. Only then did she realise that at some point he’d removed her underwear. And she hadn’t even noticed. She was about to ask him about it when he lowered his head and drew her nipple into his mouth.