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Eden had waited long enough to taste him. To show him she understood what he longed for, because she longed for the same. But it wasn’t only about the attraction that always simmered between them. It went much deeper than she believed they understood. All these years, she didn’t dislike him because of his arrogance and how he regarded her. He had pulled her to him with every smirk and irritating remark, and for that, she fought against him. She had allowed her fear of exposing her vulnerability keep her from this man.
Falcone only allowed her the one possessive kiss before he rose with her in his arms and carried her to his bedchamber. Their lips never broke apart once except for soft moans escaping their drawn breaths before kissing once again. He slid her along his body, molding her soft curves to his hard ridges.
Falcone turned Eden around and slowly stripped the clothes from her body, brushing soft kisses across her exposed skin. As much as she wanted to rush them along, she enjoyed his gentleness too much to demand otherwise. Once he divested her clothing, he pressed against her back and cupped her breasts. He bent his head, drawing a path of fire along her neck with his gentle kisses, while his fingers pinched at her buds with the softest of touches.
“Do you have any clue how glorious you are, my vixen?” he whispered in her ear before dipping one of his hands between her curls to stroke her wetness.
Eden’s knees buckled at all the delicious sensations of Falcone’s attention. He lifted her and laid her on the bed. She watched him as he impatiently tore off his clothes, the complete opposite of how he had discarded hers. It brought a wanton smile to her lips; she enjoyed the effect she held over him. She lifted her arms above her head and stretched her body out on his sheets.
Falcone growled at Eden’s sensual pose. The vixen realized the power she held over his senses and set out to tease him with her voluptuous body. Her back arched while she stretched. Her breasts were like beacons of light, directing him to start his seduction by suckling her buds until her moans of desire filled his bedchamber. But as his gaze traveled along her silken limbs, her wetness glistened on her curls, demanding that he satisfy their hunger with his ravenous appetite.
“Falcone.” Eden’s husky whisper made its own demand.
“Victor,” he growled.
“Falcone,” Eden teased.
His gaze pierced her until the teasing glint in her eyes changed to hunger. He wrapped his hands around her ankles and pulled her toward him in one tug. At her gasp, he spread her thighs apart, dipped his head to her core, and blew a harsh breath across her wetness. At her moan, he drug his tongue along her folds and devoured her. He had hungered for a taste of her since his fingers teased her earlier. When he licked her off his fingers, he had tormented himself more than he had her.
Falcone’s groan vibrated against her core, intensifying the pleasure he gifted her. Her fingers sank in his hair and held him to her core. She pressed herself into his mouth as his tongue struck against her with one powerful lash after another. But still it wasn’t enough. Her body ached with a need unknown to her. However, Falcone understood how to ease the ache consuming her. He teased her into a quivering mess until she begged him to help her.
“Please, Falcone,” Eden whimpered.
Falcone lifted his head to watch Eden unravel. His fingers replaced the torment of his mouth with swift strokes in and out of her pussy, while his thumb circled her clit. “I cannot, sweet Eden.”
“Please, you must,” Eden begged.
He lowered his head to tease her with one lick. “You know what I request of you.”
His request was simple enough. But Eden had to admit to herself that she refused to fulfill it because she loved how her body responded to him and never wanted it to end. She loved the highs he delivered with each stroke of his tongue, and she loved the lows when he teased her with his refusal. Even now, his mouth caressed along her thighs to the crease of her legs, avoiding her need. It drove her wild.
Eden was a mixture of enchanting contradictions. And he loved every single one of them to a point of madness. With each kiss, he savored the tasty morsel of her desires, a flavor he had become addicted to. The demand to hear his request slipped from his control. Falcone no longer held the power to resist her pleas.
He pulled her to his mouth and struck out relentlessly until she screamed her pleasure. And still he never relented. Each stroke became more demanding as he licked at her cream. Even when she shouted, “Victor. Victor,” over and over, he continued.
Eden floated, trembling from the pleasure Victor gave her. Still, he lay between her thighs, his head nestled against her curls, while he built the ache into an all-consuming passion over and over. Each time she felt herself falling, he would catch her and lay her on a cloud to float while he sent her falling off the edge again.
Victor caught her, worshipping her body with soft kisses while she floated back to him. His head rested against her breasts, suckling on her buds. His tongue traced the soft pink nipple before drawing it between his lips. When he dragged his teeth across her nipple, the familiar moan of her need sang a soft melody.
He rose above her and entered her slowly as he watched the cloudy mist of desire swirl in her eyes. Each stroke in and out drove his need to roar at the pleasure she gave him. He whispered, “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” then pressed deep enough into her core to draw out a gasp from her lips as he rolled them over.
Eden gasped for air at the delicious sensations coursing through her at each stroke of his cock inside her. The arrogant smile on his face only built her desire. However, he must learn how his smirk held consequences. As much as she enjoyed the tingles that zinged through her core, she must teach Victor a lesson. What did it matter if she found pleasure from the lesson too? It was one she must teach.
Eden slid her body down the length of him, her nipples brushing across his hard ridges along the way until she settled between his legs. “It wasn’t difficult at all.”
Her hand enclosed his cock in her warm grip, sliding it up and down with her thumb and brushing across the tip. “What should it matter if I call out . . .” Her mouth drew him inside her mouth deeply, then pulled him out, stroking him again. “Falcone in the throes of passion . . .” Her mouth lowered and repeated the same action again. “Or Victor?” She pressed her tongue against his cock, drawing him in deeper.
Victor was the one who gasped for air now. His fingers clenched the bedsheets as Eden tormented him in the sweetest way possible. Her tongue teased him with soft licks while her mouth sucked him with greed. Her question became lost in his hazy thoughts.
“Also, we should address the appropriate moments when you should or should not smirk at me, Lord Falcone.” Eden swirled her tongue around the tip, savoring his wetness. She drew the head of his cock between her lips and softly sucked on him. “It is quite rude of you to smirk your arrogance after you brought me to the pinnacle of heightened pleasure.”
She never gave him a chance to respond before she drew him back into her mouth and slid him in and out, taking him to the same pinnacle he had taken her. His cock throbbed in her mouth with his need.
Victor could take no more. She had him at her mercy. The need to explode beat against her tongue, but the need to sink into her warmth and share his pleasure with her beat stronger. He drew her up his body and flipped her underneath him. The coy smile gracing her face would be his demise, one he would welcome with open arms.
He pressed into her slowly and gently, drawing the tension out. “My deepest . . .” He pressed deeper. “Apologies, Lady Eden, for my conceit. I will refrain from smirking at you . . .” He pulled out and slid in harder. “While I make . . .” He pulled out again, only this time he slid inside her so deliberately to make his point. “Love to you.”
Eden’s gaze darkened at his apology. He drew her body closer and kissed her as he made love to her. Their bodies intertwined as their souls merged into one with each powerful stroke. Victor loved this woman more than he thought possible.
Eden clung to Victor as he sent them soaring, her heart filled with love for him. She now understood what he had meant earlier about the tide changing. It was a metaphor for the shifting of their feelings for one another. How he no longer wished to clash with her but to explore the dynamics of their attraction. Only it went so much deeper than they ever imagined. It all revolved around the matters of their hearts.
Victor gathered Eden close. His hand stroked along her body, his need to continue touching her held strong. He savored the time with her, aware that it would soon end. He must return her to the safety of her family before the sun rose. He wished for nothing more than to watch the sunrise with her while she lay in his embrace. But he would remain patient for that day to come.
“Victor,” Eden murmured.
“Mmm.” His fingers stroked across her breast.
Eden rolled across his chest and brushed the hair off his forehead. “You may smirk whenever you please.”
Victor laughed, squeezing her in a hug. “As long as you promise to snarl at me every once in a while.”
“Mmm.” Eden placed soft kisses across his chest. Who knew their smirks and snarls had been what attracted them to each other? “I believe I can make that promise possible.”
“Eden?”
“Shh.” She placed her finger over his lips. She wasn’t ready for emotional declarations of love yet.
Victor kissed her finger. He understood her fear of laying her heart open for him to steal. Just the act of her lying in his arms at this moment showed him how she attempted to conquer her fear. He would give her the time she needed to understand he wasn’t stealing her heart but guarding it as the precious gem it was. Until then, he would remain steadfast in his patience and show her how special she was to him.
Victor’s act of following her request only broke down her defenses with him more. Why had she never seen how truly gallant he was? Every other lady she surrounded herself with saw how honorable he was. But she had foolishly convinced herself he played everyone false with his charm. Even now she resisted his gallant offer of remaining quiet with expressing his emotion, believing it to be another flaw in his character when her heart vastly objected.
Her fingers traced over the bruising on his cheek. “Who did you anger?”
Victor closed his eyes at her touch. “Kincaid.”
Eden pressed a kiss against his injury. “Why?”
He opened his eyes to stare into hers as he confessed how he had tarnished her name. “Because I boasted about how I couldn’t refuse your persuasive offer of pleasure.”
“Oh.” Eden withdrew her fingers. “As part of your revenge?”
“No. Since the first time I drew your body underneath mine, my thirst for revenge ended. I acted like an arse because they wanted me to take blame for your appearance at the masquerade party, when it was Worth who pushed the issue and disregarded my warnings,” Victor explained. “I apologize for slandering your good name.”
Eden nodded, folding her hands on his chest, and stared at him. She heard the sincerity of his explanation and understood why he had acted out. “I need to return home.”
Victor nodded in agreement but wouldn’t release his hold. Nor did Eden try to rise. She didn’t wish to part from him with this clouding over them.
“I forgive you, Victor. However, I am troubled by this animosity that remains between you and Lord Kincaid.”
“He involved my sister in a scandal because of his sheer boredom with life,” Victor snarled.
Eden traced her fingers around his lips to ease away their tight hold. “Did you ever take my advice and ask your sister what happened between her and Lord Kincaid?”
“No,” Victor growled. “I don’t need her explanation to know how he jeopardized her marriage and slandered her good name for a bit of fun.”
Eden kissed him before pulling away. “I wish you would speak with her. At least to understand what occurred. After that, if she confirms what you believe to be true, then I shall stand by your side and share your beliefs.”
Victor let her slip from his grasp and watched her while she gathered her clothes. He never replied to her request because he didn’t wish to discuss this sensitive subject with his sister. Over the years, he had watched her marriage flourish. He never wanted to recall the past and cause a disturbance that should’ve stayed forgotten.
When Eden struggled with her dress, he sat up, pulled her between his legs, and finished closing the buttons together. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his cheek to her back. He didn’t want to let her go. They still had so much to share with one another.
Eden closed her eyes, enjoying their tender embrace. What she wouldn’t do to coax him back under the bedsheets. To ease his troubled soul with her affectionate caresses. To kiss away every terror that haunted him. So instead of easing the conflicts that consumed him, she turned in his arms and offered him a bit of humor instead. Her heart was too vulnerable to act in any other accord. “Persuasive, you say?”
Victor chuckled. “Mmm. Very much so.”
Eden bounced away, wearing a smirk. “That is interesting to know.”
“Is that so?” Victor pulled her into his arms again.
“Yes. It is.” She sighed into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Victor didn’t care how she held the knowledge to bring him to his knees, only that she would once again try. He reluctantly pulled away from their kiss to dress for her return home.
During the carriage ride, he held her. He waited until they reached the mews behind her home before he told her of his plans. “I am leaving town for a few days. I’ve made plans to visit my sister and her family. Please do not think that I’ve abandoned you,” Victor expressed.
“And on your return?” Eden questioned.
Victor spoke from the heart. “I hope you will accept my suit.”
“And if I chose not to, will you respect my wishes?”
“No. I will try to persuade your affections with my gallant charms,” Victor declared.
Eden tried to hide her smile at his declaration but failed. “Mmm.”
Victor took her murmured response as a positive sign of their future together. “May I ask for a promise to my next request?”
“Explain it, and we shall see.”
“Can you please keep from visiting Worth’s office while I am away? Lady L has knowledge of your identity and has made threats to expose your visit to the masquerade party. I do not wish to worry over your safety during my absence and would feel much better if you stayed close to home. I fear she will strike against you in the same manner she did Melody.”
Eden squeezed his hands. “If I can ease your mind during your absence, I promise to stay away from Worth’s office.”
“There is more I must confess and I hope you do not see it as a betrayal on my part or your brother’s part. We have contrived a plan to capture Lady L and her gang.”
Eden pinched her lips at learning they had excluded her from the discussion. “And that plan might be?”
Victor winced at Eden’s hurt expression. “A ball held in your home to celebrate Noel’s and Maggie’s marriages. Since we all want you to stay as safe as possible, we hoped you would help your mother with the plans for the ball. You can implement the needs for us to capture Lady Langdale. Worth will speak with you tomorrow morning about how you can help by organizing the ball. You are still a vital part of this plan, just in a different capacity than what you’ve been in the past.”
What he neglected to tell her was who he would escort to the ball. They had all agreed it was best to keep Eden in the dark. That way, the element of surprise would be a genuine reaction, showing proof of his deception.
Eden pulled away. “I will only agree if you agree to my stipulation.”
Victor narrowed his gaze. “And that would be?”
Eden offered him a deal to seal her agreement. “I will remain close to home and help my mother plan a ball that is really meant for a capture if you in exchange discuss with your sister the circumstances of her involvement with Lord Kincaid.”
“Absolutely not,” Victor growled. “I already explained my reasons to you for not discussing this with her.”
Eden patted the bruise on his cheek. “Then we do not have a deal.”
“Damn you,” Victor muttered.
Eden taunted him with her cheeky smile before opening the door to the carriage. “Do make a call on your return. I would love to hear about your visit with your family.”
Victor followed her through the garden to make sure she made it inside safely. Before they reached the house, he swung her around and pressed her against a tree. “Fine. I accept your demand.”
Eden slid her arms around his waist. “That was not so difficult, was it, Lord Falcone?”
As he said before, the vixen could be more than persuasive.