Stolen Little Thing (Little Thing Series Book 1) by Sasha Gold Page B

handsome he’d looked both in his suit and in linen trunks. By the time the bottle was near empty, Esme was tipsy. She lay in his arms, and Luke resumed his gentle seduction.
    He surprised her with his tenderness, and she was shocked the way his touch kindled desire and passion in her. Mostly Esme was astonished by her own eager response to him, her own mindless abandon. His lips and hands explored her body possessively, as though he had always owned her. Making love with Luke was nothing like what Esme had spent so many years dreading. It was nothing like the sordid affair her mother and her mother’s friends discussed in hushed tones. Far from it, and the wonder of it all rendered Esme wordless.
    His body was toughened by seasons and years spent working on the ranch. Esme marveled at the span of his shoulders, shyly running her fingertips along the outline of muscle and sinew. He kissed her neck and traced a slow line down to her breasts. She knew he would touch her there, imagined it many times before, but the shock of his mouth on the curve of her breast made her heart beat wildly.
    He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Don’t be afraid of me, Esme. Not ever.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not.”
    “You have to breathe, sweetheart.”
    She exhaled and laughed with embarrassment. Tugging the sheet up to cover herself, she went on. “I didn’t know you would touch me like that and kiss me like that. It seems very…”
    “Don’t think about it too much, because I’m only getting started. I’m going to kiss you everywhere.”
    “Luke Crosby, I don’t believe you. Wicked man.” She gave him a small, playful push. “I think you’re being cruel.”
    “Tonight I’m going to treat you gentle, but after that you’d better watch out.”
    “You’re trying to tease me. Just like you’ve always done.”
    He stroked her face with work-roughened fingertips. “I’m not teasing you when I say you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. I’m not teasing you when I say that I’m going to make you mine tonight and every night, and I’m most definitely not teasing you when I say that now you belong to me.”
    Luke tugged the sheet, coaxing it from her fingers. What he wanted was to tear it from her and fall upon her and devour her. He’d been aching for her sweet body for days. No, that was a lie. It had been longer. Years. He freed the bed sheet from her grip and tossed it aside. She lay naked beneath him with a sweet, shy smile and a tremble that made lust course through his veins. 
    Her skin was like cream, round full breasts, a tiny waist that flared to sweet curved hips that invited him. He slid his gaze down her slim legs and then leisurely back up. Her hair spread tousled on the pillow. Her eyes, wide and shining – part anxiety and part curiosity. Wondering. He rubbed her full lips with the pad of his thumb and traced a line down to her lovely breasts. He leaned closer and stroked her nipple with his tongue and sucked it gently.
    The soft noises that came from her as he explored the lush fullness of her breasts made every thought vacate his mind. His body was hardening even more with each passing moment. She trembled in his arms. She was innocent, he reminded himself. He needed to take time. To be careful and deliberate even though every instinct inside him snarled, demanding to finally possess her.
    To Esme, it felt like her skin was covered in soft sparks of pleasure. She arched under him, threaded her fingers in his hair and whimpered. When his hand drifted to her other breast and toyed wickedly, it forced her to draw a sharp breath. He cupped it. Then, with his fingertips, he slowly rolled the tip.
    Arousal seeped through her, heating every fiber of her being and sending the most delicious warmth through the depths of her feminine core. Liquid need simmered and she gasped with dismay when he trailed his fingers down her belly. He lingered, stroked a single fingertip along her sex. She