Hawk continued circling her; to her side, then to her back, and, in what seemed like an eternity later, around to her front. Her ears strained for clues, her body vibrated with tension, wondering, waiting.

“The second time will be for teaching. Teaching you how it feels to be loved by a man such as me. ’Tis a thing you’ll never forget.”

His breath fanned the nape of her neck, his fingers picked up a fall of her hair. She could hear only ragged breathing—his or hers, she wasn’t certain. She stiffened at the brush of his hand against the curve of her hip, feeling a wild jolt of electricity charge through her body.

“The third time will be for the jessing and leashing. I promise you that time will be the end of your resistance.”

He trailed his fingers down her neck, across her breasts from nipple to nipple, then down over her taut stomach. His light caress feathered between her legs and was gone, leaving behind an aching hunger.

“But the fourth time, ah, the fourth time when I hear your sweet cries, that one’s for me, lass. For the waiting and the hunger and the agony of wanting you. Just for me.”

His hands were on her shoulders, sliding the silk of the gown over her skin. Undoing tiny pearl buttons at the nape of her neck one by one with something that felt like … teeth? Oh! His tongue flickered against the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck then moved lower still.

Oh dear heavens but this sensuous stroke of his tongue could be her complete undoing. The rough velvet of his tongue traced its way all the way down her spine, then lower still. She trembled.

Her knees weak, she swayed in silence. Can’t make a sound, she reminded herself. Not a good sound, anyway. Only protests.

Just when she was certain she couldn’t maintain her silence a second longer, he stepped back, and she felt a slow breeze in his wake. She turned, attempting to track him in the silence.

The back of her gown was open, her skin damp from his kisses. She waited in mute anticipation. Where was he?

There, she thought as she suddenly felt him grasp the fabric of her dress. He tugged her gown and it fell to the floor in a rustle of silk. The chemise fell next, and then there was nothing but stockings, lace stays, and slippers.

Hawk was grateful she was seeled, that she couldn’t see the tremor in his hands as he slid to his knees and removed one stocking slowly, rolling it down inch by inch as he knelt before her. He trailed reverent kisses down her long, silky leg. From her supple thigh to the back of her knee to her trim ankle, he lavished her legs, first one, then the other, with hot kisses, making certain he didn’t miss one delectable inch of the creamy flesh he’d been dying to taste.

She made not a whimper, but he understood her game. Hating him as she did, she would surely not utter one sound of pleasure unless he could rip it from her throat. And to do that he must keep a clear head. He must not lose control and start thinking about those shimmering curls at the sweet juncture of her thighs, only inches from his mouth, or the silken nub that nestled within, the very center of her passion. From his position at her feet he reveled in every plane and curve of her perfect body. His eyes skimmed over her firm thighs, up her taut, slightly rounded belly, over her creamy breasts to the alabaster column of her neck where it met the black silk hood.

Adrienne knew that if something didn’t happen fast, her legs were going to simply buckle beneath her and she would fall on his face. Not a bad idea, her mind offered. She was shocked. Aghast. But maybe …

She swayed forward slightly.

Hawk groaned as her shimmering curls brushed his unshaven cheek. Kneeling at her feet, he squeezed his eyes shut to banish the vision, the need, unaware that his tongue wet his lip and his mouth demanded …

Shaking, he growled and surged to his feet, and then his hands were on her body and he knew he was in serious trouble. Where the hell had the Hawk gone? he wondered as he tumbled her roughly back to the bed. Where was the Lothario? That legendary master of control who was going to tease her beyond endurance and shatter her defenses? Just where the hell had his will gone? What will? he wondered, for he was lost in a green field of innocence more sweet and lush than any he’d ever known.

Adrienne moaned when his body covered hers, pressing her down into the soft bed. He was every inch a hot, demanding man. Oh, heavenly, the woman within her purred. Take me, she wanted to cry. But not that easily, she wouldn’t give in too quickly.

In a swift motion the Hawk ripped the hood off her head and kissed her, burying his hands in her hair. He kissed her so deeply that she lost her breath and the last remnants of her fear.

She’d kissed a few men before. More than a few. Timid kisses, passionate kisses. Eberhard kisses that had left her cold. A man didn’t kiss like this unless he was very deeply in love.