those violet sweets he used to get in a mixed bag as a boy. He kissed them and he felt her response, a flutter then a flood. She clung to his neck and pulled him in. At first it was so delicate that he wanted to keep it that way, just to skim the surface of this huge well of sensuality that lay in his reach. He wanted to take it slowly, savour every tiny scrap of sensation, draw it out infinitely in case it never came again.
Their lips brushed, breaths mingling, noses rubbing, until the teasing lightness of it made them both wild for more . Now he wanted to show her what she could have. He put his free hand beneath her chin and held that too, so she could do nothing but give in to the increasing pressure of his kisses. Not that she seemed to want to do otherwise. She put a hand on his waist, climbing up him, wrapping a leg over his hip and holding him tight.
He put a thumb beneath her lower lip and pulled it downwards, opening her up for the eager penetration of his tongue. Inside her warm mouth it pushed its way, into a dark place of sighing and softness. She let him in, no struggling, just sweet acceptance. He had forgotten kissing could be so maddeningly sexy. He was far, far gone on the addictive deliciousness of it, pushed over the boundaries of restraint. No sense or reason could prevail against the shocking re-emergence from his depths of pure lust.
He felt he could never get his tongue deep enough or his lips hard enough, however close he came. Kim had her hands in his hair now, her fingers wound tightly in his dark curls, and her tongue pushed just as avidly as his, as if she wanted to scoop out his soul with it. He rolled over on top of her, and then back again, and then she lay on top of him while they writhed against each other like fury, seeing if they could burn each other's clothes off by friction alone.
They kept this up for what seemed like hours, until they rolled too far towards the hearth and Kim's hip was crushed against the tiled surround, causing her to yelp into Rhys' mouth.
He broke off. "You OK?" he gasped.
"Fine, just a bump."
"No, I mean, are you OK? With this?"
She looked dazed, as if she didn't understand the question.
"Are you serious?" she said, her voice broken and husky. "You're the best kisser I've ever met. You're like…I don't even know what you're like."
His furrowed brow relaxed and he grinned, feeling like a king.
"You're not so bad yourself," he said.
"Wasted on those sheep," she said.
"Watch it," he growled and they were back for round two, mouths locked on once more.
If he never kissed another woman, he thought, deliriously mixed up in the lascivious languor of it all, at least he would know that he had been the best kisser this beautiful girl had ever known. He would always have that now. He plunged back in, nipping at her lower lip, licking at her teeth, giving and taking away. Her fingers curled and gripped at him while she ground her pelvis against his, teasing his erection with cruel efficiency.
He lifted his head again and gazed down at her with brooding intent.
"I think you've let yourself in for a lot more than a kiss, my girl," he said.
"Oh good," she said, with a pleasurable little shiver. "I was hoping you'd say that."
He wedged his knee between her thighs and set to kissing every inch of her face, taking it slowly, across her hairline, behind her ear, on the tip of her nose, while the warmth of the fire licked over their bodies.
"Mmm," she said, holding on to his shoulders, wriggling suggestively against him.
"What's the rush?" he chided, testing the limits of his restraint by taking everything at this perfectly lazy pace.
"Ohhh," she moaned, grabbing his arse and squeezing.
He took her wrist and removed the over-eager hand, holding it out to the side.
"You'll have to wait, madam," he said. His lips reached her neck and he feasted on the pliant flesh, knowing how this had always turned his ex-lovers on. Kim was no different. She sounded almost in