Chapter Thirteen

Hugh

"Am I?" Her statement, spoken in a businesswoman-like tone, seems odd—especially coming from Avery Hahn. I doubt she actually finds me irresistible. It's more likely that she gave in to her own passionate nature at last and I happened to be the man who had the privilege of benefiting from her realization. "I've been told similar things before, but only by women who batted their lashes at me. They weren't serious. When a woman says that to me, I know she just wants to get me naked so she can brag to her mates about how she shagged a viscount."

"I don't care about your title, Hugh."

"Yes, I know that. But you called me irresistible."

She hunches her shoulders and averts her gaze to the windows. "I can't resist you. That's what I meant."

"And it bothers you. Lusting for me, that is."

"It used to." She aims those luminous eyes directly at me. "But not anymore. I've come to terms with the fact I need you to fuck me over and over until I can't move or speak anymore."

A sensation I have never experienced before seizes me. I think I'm…stunned. Avery has a way of surprising me with deceptively simple statements, but this time, she has well and truly shocked me. Other women have begged me to shag them, but always in a cheeky way. Avery seems quite serious about wanting me to fuck her all night.

I want that too, but… "When I rang you an hour ago, you swore we would only see each other at the office or on our supposedly fake dates."

"Changed my mind."

"So quickly? I don't want you to regret it in the morning."

"This decision didn't happen an hour ago. I've known for a while that I need to be with you at least once, though I didn't consciously recognize that until today."

Yes, that sounds too much like the night when the Duchess of Wackenbourne whispered into my ear that she wanted me to shag her until dawn. Whether she regretted it later, I can't say. But I did, and I do not want Avery to feel that way in the morning.

She lays a hand on my cheek, trailing her fingertips down to my lips. "I won't regret this. I panicked briefly when I had my epiphany, but now I'm ready. In case you haven't noticed, I am insanely attracted to you, have been from the start. We live in different worlds, Hugh, so this can't ever become more than a night of hot sex."

"Only one night?"

"Does it matter? I thought you liked to be spontaneous and let things just happen."

"I do." Why am I arguing about this? She wants me, I want her, and we are both unattached adults. So I pull her close and whisper, "Let's do it."

Her mouth slides into the sexiest, most erotic smile I've ever seen. That expression gives me an odd feeling in my chest, but I can't think about that right now. My cock won't let me. "Get up. We need to undress."

"Here in the living room?"

"Yes, darling, here." I stand, offering her my hands and helping her up. "In the living room, with the curtains open. The trees conceal most of the windows, but I can't promise no one will see us."

"Don't care." She pulls out the clip she'd used to hold her hair back and lets those luscious blonde waves fall over her shoulders. "I need you inside me right now."

I can't help chuckling. "We need to remove our clothes first, pet."

She hesitates in the middle of unhooking the top button of her blouse and stares at me for a moment. Then she flips the blouse up and over her head, flinging it away. The garment lands on the armchair. I stand frozen, gawping at her while she pushes her jeans down over her hips and kicks them away. Avery now stands a few feet from me, wearing only a lacy powder-blue bra and matching knickers.

Oh, and sexy stilettos.

But she kicks those off too.

When I reach for her, she scuttles backward and waves a finger at me. "No, no, no. You get naked first."

"You haven't finished. You're still wearing a bra and knickers."

"Get naked, Hugh. Now."

She is definitely not panicking anymore.

"Have I told you how much I love it when a woman tells me what she wants?" I ask while I unbutton my shirt. "Especially when that woman is you."

"Talk dirty to me. Please."

"If you insist." I shrug out of my shirt and toss it away. The shirt lands on top of Avery's blouse. "See those windows? I mean to push you against that glass, facing away, and push inside you so slowly that you'll be panting for me. Your tits will be crushed to the window, your entire body too, while I fuck you."

"Oh, yes."

The tips of her nipples jut through the flimsy fabric of her bra. I unhook my belt and pull it free of the loops one by one. "Your cream will be all over the window, darling. Then I'll flip you around and take you again, hard and fast, but I won't let you come yet. No, I mean to stretch you across the coffee table and fuck you there so you can feel the smooth, cool surface against your skin."

She skims her palms up her belly and cups her breasts, pinching her nipples.

"Fuck, Avery," I all but growl. "Don't get started without me."

"Can't help it. Watching you undress while you're talking dirty makes me so hot that I almost can't stand it." As if to prove her point, she skates her hands back down her belly and slips one between her thighs to palm her mound through her knickers. "I need you now, Hugh, so hurry it up."

I shed my clothing so fast that I'm breathing hard by the time I finish.

Avery gives me a sexily teasing smile. "Gee, I assumed you wouldn't have anything on under your slacks."

"Sometimes I don't. Today, I wore pants."

"I know. But I was talking about your underwear."

"Those are my pants, darling. That's what we call them over here in the real world."

"Are all you Brits so arrogantly certain that your country is the best in the world?"

"Yes." I saunter up to her and reach behind her back to unhook her bra. "Have you shagged a Brit before?"

"Never."

"A virgin? Well, I will make sure you get the full English."

"I thought that meant breakfast."

"Yes, it does." And I have no idea why I said that. Avery has me so wound up that I can't remember what words mean anymore. But I know how to recover from my blunder. I toss her bra away and push my hand inside her knickers. "I plan to devour you, darling, one lick at a time."

"But it's evening," she says while struggling to catch her breath. "Your breakfast metaphor doesn't work."

"Haven't you ever ordered breakfast for dinner?" Enough of this ruddy metaphor. I tear her knickers off. Luckily, the lace fabric is flimsy enough that I can rip it. Her knickers land on the sofa as I grasp her hand. "Come with me to the windows. I mean to make good on everything I told you I want to do to your body."

She yanks her hand free of mine and trots over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, plastering her body to the glass. "I'm ready."

I laugh as I walk over there to join her. "Yes, you are. And I love your enthusiasm."

Her brows wrinkle. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

She glances down at my cock. "Condom."

"Oh. Yes." I race to the end table and jerk the drawer open to retrieve a packet. Once I've rolled the condom on, I return to the windows and Avery. "I'm ready now too."

"Please, hurry up."

"Well, I never deny a woman what she needs." I kick her feet further apart, grasp her hips, and plunge into her slick heat. "Fuck, Avery, you're so wet it's dribbling down my cock."

"Weeks of unrequited lust will do that."

I rest my chin on her shoulder and start thrusting, slowly at first, then harder and faster while she alternately moans and cries out every time I lunge into her. With all of her glued to the windows, her skin makes little squeaking sounds. She curls her fingers on the glass and squeezes her eyes shut while I grunt and groan, pumping with such vigor that my heart pounds and sweat runs down my temples.

"Oh God," she moans. "I'm about to—"

She lets out a sharp cry just as her inner muscles clench my cock. I hiss in a breath and keep thrusting, even while the pressure inside me mounts every second, and I know I won't last much longer. The sensation of her muscles milking me over and over does me in. An electric shock ripples down my spine and straight into my cock, setting off swift spasms that push me over the edge. I come while buried deep inside her beautiful body, thrusting a few more times until I'm finished.

Though I'd promised to flip her around and take her again, I decide to skip that bit. I'll do it next time. I can't move, anyway. With my chin still on her shoulder, I fight to regain my breath. After a moment, I manage to speak, though my voice comes out slightly hoarse. "Well, darling, are you satisfied now?"

"Yes, oh God, yes. Thank you."

"My pleasure, love. Should we try the coffee table next? Or do you need a lie-down?"

"Don't you dare stop." She wriggles around to face me. "I'm expecting the full English Lord Steamy treatment."

"I never want to disappoint a woman. And I haven't fulfilled my promises yet." I pick her up and take three steps backward. "But I have made good on some of them. Take a look."

She glances at the window, and when she notices the smears on the glass, she grins at me.

That expression gives me another strange feeling in my chest.

I carry her over to the coffee table and lay her down on her back with her calves dangling over the edge. As I kneel in front of her, she licks her lips like she wants to devour me the way I plan to devour her. Well, she can do that later. I still have unfulfilled plans for her body, so I tickle the soles of her feet. "Bend your knees. Heels on the table."

She obeys my command without asking why. "You do things backwards, hey? Most men want to get oral over with right away."

"Over with? You've been with the wrong kinds of men. Do I seem like that sort of arse?"

"No. You are nothing like any other guy I've known."

I drag the tips of my index fingers down the insides of her thighs, barely touching her skin, and she shivers faintly. "When I make love to a woman, she gets my full attention from start to finish. I never rush."

Time to prove that to her. I lick my fingers and trace the wet tips down her thighs while I blow a gentle stream of air across her flesh in their wake. Avery sucks in a breath and grips the table's edges. I nuzzle her mound, pulling in a deep draft of her scent, and groan with appreciation. It's not an act. Everything about her gives me pleasure, even when I'm not shagging her. I keep my gaze on her face while I whisper my hot breath over her mound, then I comb my fingers through the hairs.

"Hugh," she moans, arching her neck. "Please."

I tease her folds with two fingers, skimming them up and down so slowly that she whimpers, then I lightly flick one fingernail over the head of her clitoris.

"Oh God," she cries out. "Don't think I can take much more."

"You can, and you will. Trust me, darling."

"I do trust you."

"Open your eyes and look at me, please."

She peels her lids apart, and our gazes meet.

I tease her clit with the side of my finger this time, and her whole body jerks. "I'm going to pet your soft, wet folds while I thrust my tongue inside you."

"Yes, please, yes."

"No need to beg, darling, but I love it when you do that."

As I stroke her inner folds with my fingers, I lower my head to her opening, exhaling heated breaths onto her sensitized flesh. Avery is breathing harder, and her cheeks are flushed. She has never looked more beautiful or more desirable.

I seal my lips over her entrance and thrust my tongue inside.

She bucks her hips and shouts my name.

And I devour her, lapping at her inner walls, thrusting deep, rubbing her nub all the while. She thrashes and grips the table even harder, her wild movements making the table thump. I feast on her cream, loving the sweetly addictive scent and flavor, until the first spasm of her release hits. Then I plunge two fingers inside her and pump until she finally goes limp.

I lift my head to appreciate the beauty of a thoroughly satisfied woman. "You are stunning, Avery. The way you look just after you come makes me need to fuck you again."

"Oh, Hugh, that was…" She waves a hand as if she's fanning her face. "You live up to your nickname, that's for sure."

I pat her thigh. "You need to recover. Go into the bedroom and get comfortable. I'll find us a decadent snack."

When she doesn't move, I grasp her hands and pull her into a sitting position. She kisses me sweetly, then dashes off to the bedroom.

Am I falling for Avery? Not sure. For now, all I can think about is feeding her so she'll have the energy for another go-round.