Completely breathless now, Arabella reached for him and clutched at his shoulders. Her body was feverishly hot, straining against his hand as he continued his delicate ministrations…drawing his fingers between her feminine folds, cupping her naked center with his palm. When she began to pant, he drank deeply of her mouth, as if he treasured every gasp she surrendered to him.

And it was a surrender, Arabella realized dazedly, unable to understand why she had fought him for so long.

She was filled with dismay when his kiss suddenly ended, then startled when he unexpectedly transferred his attentions below her waist. Dipping his dark head, Marcus settled his mouth on her inner thigh and began moving upward, tracing the earlier path of his fingers, trailing searing kisses on her skin.

It shocked Arabella when he pushed her skirts above her hips, baring all her secrets, and shocked her more when she felt his warm breath dampen the golden curls at the juncture of her thighs. She trembled violently as she realized his intention. He meant to kiss her there!

At the tender flick of his tongue over her sensitive flesh, she jerked, lifting her hips halfway off the blanket.

“Steady,” he whispered, his hands moving to her thighs to hold her down.

His tongue stroked her, probing her folds. Then he drew the swollen bud into his mouth as his middle finger slipped inside her.

The sensation was incredible-his hard finger sheathed in her flesh, his scalding mouth working its magic on her sex.

Her breath coming in hoarse whimpers, Arabella shut her eyes, her head shifting desperately back and forth on the blanket. She was unbearably hot, filled with tension and excitement and wild anticipation.

Her hands clenching spasmodically, she gripped Marcus’s shoulders, clinging blindly, seeking more of this fevered pleasure that had caught her up in a maelstrom of desire and frustration. She needed something she couldn’t even begin to imagine, something that was clawing at her, tearing her apart.

Yet Marcus wouldn’t give her surcease. When she uttered a low, keening moan, the growl in the back of his throat signaled his approval. He continued laving her, caressing her, arousing and teasing and tormenting until she thought she might die from the wild pleasure he had kindled in her.

Then suddenly her senses exploded. Arabella cried out as reality splintered into a thousand sensual fragments of pleasure and her entire world dissolved in pulsing heat.

She was only dimly aware of the passage of time. Even when her pounding heart slowed, she lay there limp and unmoving. Her whole body felt gloriously weak and blissful from the ecstasy Marcus had given her.

When finally she regained her senses, it was to find him stretched out beside her, watching her tenderly.

“See now what you have been missing?”

Yes, she saw very clearly. His lovemaking had stunned her. She’d been overwhelmed by a storm of emotion and sensation.

This was what made sensible women turn insensible, Arabella realized. Yet her insensibility had a great deal to do with Marcus himself. He was undoubtedly a magnificent lover.

“It is no wonder,” she murmured hoarsely, “that females fall all over themselves trying to attract your attention.”

“I am gratified you noticed.”

He smiled lazily down at her, a dark glint in his blue eyes, as solicitously, he drew down her skirts to cover her bare limbs.

Arabella sat up shakily. Something was missing, though. According to her friend Fanny, there was much more to lovemaking than what Marcus had just shown her. She eyed him in puzzlement until it struck her: He had seen to her pleasure but not his own.

Her gaze slid downward toward his hips, where she could see his buff breeches straining across the thick bulge at his groin. “That is all you mean to do?”

His eyebrow rose to his hairline. “You weren’t satisfied?”

“No…I mean, yes, of course I was. It’s just that…I understand that it is painful for a man to be aroused without…you know.”

He laughed softly. “It is painful, love-almost excruciating. But I will endure it. You are not yet ready for your next lesson. Now the anticipation will make it all the more pleasurable when I finally make love to you completely.”

The prospect of Marcus making love to her completely made Arabella’s pulse leap with wild excitement, but she didn’t mean for it to happen. Rather than argue, though, she said somewhat shyly, “Would you like me to…to stroke you to ease your pain?”

The amused tenderness in his expression grew. “You are all kindness, to be so concerned with my comfort.”

“It seems only fair,” Arabella said, another blush rising to inflame her cheeks.

“In point of fact, I can deal with the ache myself.”

When he reached down to unfasten the front of his breeches, she automatically lowered her gaze again. Her eyes widened as comprehension dawned: Marcus meant her to view his naked loins.

Her breath went shallow as he drew out his long member. Thick and darkly rigid, it jutted out from a sprinkling of crisp black hair at his groin. The sight of that huge, swollen arousal caused her throat to go dry, her stomach to contract.

“I presume you have never seen a naked man before,” Marcus remarked.

“No,” Arabella rasped.

“Are you shocked?”

Not shocked exactly, she thought dazedly. Despite her genteel upbringing, regardless of the dictates of modesty, she was captivated by the sight of him. Indeed, she would have liked to see all of Marcus naked. She suspected his body was far more beautiful than any other man’s. Virile, masculine, hard, corded with lean muscle.

While she stared, he cradled his shaft, running his thumb over the blunt, velvety head. The casually erotic caress made her breath catch.

“You should watch as I pleasure myself,” he suggested.

Fascinated, she could do nothing else. Her eyes fixed on his loins, unable to look away, as he cupped the heavy sacs beneath his phallus.

“Of course this would be much more pleasurable with you,” Marcus said, curling his hand around his turgid length and squeezing.

Arabella inhaled a sharp breath when he began moving his hand slowly up and down, stroking himself.

“I’m imagining making love to you right now, sweet Arabella. It’s very arousing.”

She swallowed hard. It was indeed arousing. She felt a shameful thrill at the intimate picture Marcus painted.

“Can you imagine having me inside you?” he asked as he gripped his heavy shaft harder. When she didn’t reply, he raised his head. “I would like very much to be inside you, Arabella.”

He met her eyes, held them intently, as deliberately he increased the pace of his strokes. Shortly his face became tense with control, the skin flushed, Arabella saw. The teasing glint in the blue depths darkened into something both primitive and powerful.

Her heart began to pound while an aching tightness coiled throughout her body. She could almost feel Marcus’s lengthy shaft gliding slickly between her feminine folds…

His jaw locked as his fingers kneaded harder, sweeping up and down his tumescence in swift jerky motions. His breath was harsh and uneven…until his climax came abruptly.

Clenching his teeth, Marcus shut his eyes and arched against the explosive release. A low groan escaped him, but as his pulsing seed shot out, he captured the spurting milky liquid in his cupped palm.

Arabella watched, her heart thundering in her ears. Her body felt as if it had suddenly burst into flames with him.

When a moment later Marcus opened his eyes, he smiled. “Regrettably, my little exercise in self-satisfaction is only a temporary solace. I still want you as fiercely as before.”

Arabella couldn’t find the voice to respond. She was still staring at him, her lips parted, her breath shallow.

He took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his hand clean, then quite calmly refastened his breeches. She remained speechless even when he sat up and fastened his gaze on her still bare breasts.

Then he reached up to brush her nipples with his thumbs, making her gasp again. “Now that you know the kind of pleasure you can feel,” Marcus murmured, “you will be anticipating our lovemaking with relish.”

Before she could deny his prediction, he drew up her chemise and then her muslin bodice to cover her breasts. “However, we don’t need to debate the issue now. Finish your wine, sweetheart, so I may take you home. You have another class to give this afternoon, remember?”

“Y-yes…I remember.”

Arabella shook herself. She did have a class later today, yet her dazed mind had trouble concentrating on such mundane matters when she could still feel the erotic stroke of his hands and mouth on her body, still imagine his hard flesh moving inside her. Marcus had given her a stunning experience she would never, ever forget…

Arabella felt herself frowning as she readjusted her clothing into some semblance of decency. It wasn’t his lovemaking that was so troubling, she suddenly realized. It was that for the first time in her life, she could begin to understand her mother…why her mother had succumbed to the incredible pleasure an attentive lover could bring.

Of course, she would never fall in love and lose her head over a man the way her mother had done, Arabella vowed. She would never destroy her family for the sake of her own amorous gratification, no matter how rapturous.

Her gaze went to Marcus as he gathered up the remains of their picnic.

But at least now, however, she could wholly understand the temptation.