The Painted Heart: Snippet

Here is a Snippet from the Painted Heart at about the half way mark. The book is about a woman bought to become living art as a Painted Sister, women tattooed into living works of art. Our hero Mr Blackburn a ruthless self-made man is measuring Elspeth, our heroine, to accompany some life drawing that will be used to map out a design to be tattooed onto her body. He was been pushing her to sign a contract granting him sexual access to her. She has stubbornly refused. He is using a range talents to change her mind.
Blackburn pressed his cheek against her belly and wrapped the tape measure around her waist.
No hand came down to rest on his head. No fingers in his hair.
His jaw tightened.
He rose, wrote the measurements on the piece of paper on the polished mahogany side table, then squatted back down, threaded the tape between her legs and round her upper thigh.
The top of his hand  passed close to her sex.… his knuckles brushing the soft down that covered it.
He looked up.
Elspeth’s eyes were close. She was closing herself off. No doubt in her mind she was negating all the want that was leaking out of her every pore, egging him on.
In front of him was her soft thatch… he looked at the thin white scar he was coming to think of as his.
Damn her but she could try and ignore this.
He pressed forward, curls brushed  his nose, pressed against his lips.
Her shocked intake of breath made him smile into the soft damp of her folds. His tongue flickered out.
And there it was, the weight of her hand as it rested on his head, the fractional tilt of her pelvis as she moved closer to his mouth.