4

“What…?” The single word came out of Ella’s mouth on a shallow breath.

“You asked for my help. You stole your way into my cab, insisting on my assistance. Do it.”

She remained frozen. Unsure. She’d never been completely naked in front of a man before. Do it, a voice inside rioted. He stepped close again, his body all but touching hers. That knee-weakening heat returned, enveloping her, and the bud between her legs now pulsed in time with her quickened heart. He reached around and opened the first button on her bodice.

Then the next, and the next, with practiced ease.

“Do it, Sarah,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t think about it. Just do it. Show me the beauty that’s hidden beneath all this fabric. Do it with confidence…” Another two buttons opened before he removed his hand. “We can stop if you want. Or do you wish to proceed?”

Her long-dormant nerve endings hummed with life. She could run from the room like a coward again. Or she could see this through.

You’re not a coward.

Everything she’d ever accomplished had required bravery and strength. The last thing she’d do was to back down from this exhilarating moment, the likes of which she’d never known. Or might never know again.

She made quick work of the buttons as she began stripping away her clothing with determined purpose. His long expert fingers helped her here and there until she stood in just her chemise.

Her heart thudding wildly in her chest, she met his gaze in the mirror. His eyes had darkened, and she still couldn’t believe she’d stirred the desires of a man like this. A man who could have any female he wanted.

“Ah, now. Don’t lose your courage. Take off the chemise.”

She fisted the material and willed her hands to move. Taking a fortifying breath, she yanked it up and off, tossing the article onto the pile of discarded clothing on the floor. Trembling, she forced her gaze to his. He gave her a slow perusal.

She held her breath, not knowing what he’d say. It took all that she possessed to keep her arms at her sides and not cover herself up.

“Dear God…you’re even more breathtaking than I imagined.” He’d imagined her unclothed? A fresh wave of desire crested over her, moisture pooling between her legs. Reaching around her shoulders, he captured her chin again and turned her face toward her image. “Look at yourself. You are…perfection. Mouthwatering curves, gorgeous breasts with the prettiest pink nipples that I’m sure taste as good as they look. Those long, exquisite legs…” He took a small step back, and tilting his head to the side, took in her backside before returning close behind her and murmuring in her ear, “…the sweetest bottom I’ve ever seen. The stuff of every man’s fantasy.” Her breaths were rapid and raw and impossible to quell. No man had ever made her feel the way this man did. “You are what men want. Everything a man could want and more. Any man who has you is the luckiest of men. Alfred was offered all this and didn’t deserve an inch of you. I can’t believe he didn’t spend hours physically worshiping all this loveliness.”

Her skin felt overly sensitive, and the void in her core ached so badly, yet he’d barely touched her. And it was eroding her sanity. “He never saw me like this.”

He released her chin, looking incredulous. “He merely lifted your skirts?”

She nodded. Please touch me…

He shook his head. “The fucking fool.” He gripped her shoulders. Her knees almost buckled at the feel of his hands against her sensitized skin. “You’re going to seduce him with confidence about your appeal. Approach him and tell him you want his cock. You need his cock. You haven’t been able to stop thinking about your encounter together. You have to have him again.”

Abruptly, he stepped away, scooped up her chemise, and held it out to her. “Now you know what to do.”

She spun around to fully face him, stunned. He couldn’t be serious! That was it? He had her unclothed and he wasn’t going to show her the pleasure he’d talked about earlier? Show her the pleasure Octavius had denied her? Her body was in riot. She could see from the tenting of his trousers that his “interest” was still raised. There was no way she could simply put on her clothing and leave.

He wants you. You want him. That gave her nerve.

His head was turned toward the hearth, his arm still holding out her undergarment. She pulled it out of his hand and waited until he finally returned his gaze to her, and she made sure he saw her toss the chemise back down onto the pile of her other garments.

She didn’t miss the surprise that flashed in his eyes.

“I want you.”

He let out a sharp breath. “Sarah, I wanted to show you how highly desirable you are. You’re an innocent who was taken advantage of by an unscrupulous individual. I am trying to be noble, and it is killing me. I only fuck anonymous women in pleasure clubs.”

His manner of speech should be off-putting, but it wasn’t. Perhaps it was his way to push people away, but for her, his blunt language, from his lips alone, only stirred her desire for him more. “Then I qualify, since you don’t know my identity.” She was all but panting for the man, but he rested his hands on his hips and didn’t respond. “Ever since this morning, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and the things you said. I…” She swallowed. “I want your…cock. I want to feel…you inside me.”

“Sarah, I know what you’re doing. You must stop. I’m hanging by a thread.”

“It’s the truth. I want to know real passion and pleasure. Don’t let me go back to my lonely bed to spend one more night without having experienced it. I want to know it with you.” She tilted her chin up a notch and summoned her final argument with this obstinate man. By turning his words on him. “You wouldn’t want to decimate my newfound confidence by turning me away, would you?” If this didn’t work, she might have to launch herself at him.

Suddenly, she was shoved up against the wall beside the mirror. She gasped in surprise. He drove his tongue past her parted lips, giving her a kiss with mind-spinning intensity. Gripping his shoulders, she held on. He tasted so good. Every swirl and stroke of his tongue against hers, made her delirious for more.

“You’re too clever for your own good,” he growled against her mouth and cupped her mound, making her start. “Easy… I’m going to give you what you want.” He dipped his head, brushing his lips along her neck, his hand lightly massaging her sex. She whimpered, widening her stance to give him better access. Desperate for more friction. “That’s it. Just like that. You’ve got the softest, silkiest little cunt. So warm and wet.” He kissed that sensitive spot beneath her ear. She dug her fingers into his shoulders. His rhythmic strokes over her private flesh were driving her to distraction, decadent sensations flooding her form. Arching her back, she tried to grind herself against his palm, but he easily evaded her engorged nub. “Not yet…” He bit her earlobe, making her mewl. “We’re going to play before you come for me.” He gave her clitoris a sharp little pinch. She bucked with a cry. “Very nice response.” His fingers were now circling the entrance to her core, around and around, with the lightest, most maddening touch. Making her squirm. Her head fell back against the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her vaginal walls clenching reflexively, desperate to draw his fingers in.

He told her how sensuous she was. How intense her release was going to be. Milking more moisture from her sheath.

His lips brushed against hers.

“Which of these pretty berries should I taste first?”

She opened her eyes. It took her a moment before she realized he meant her nipples. “Either… Both…” She could barely speak. Then it happened. A full smile formed on his face. It was the most beautiful thing to behold.

Slowly, he lowered his head toward her breast. Releasing his shoulders, she dropped her hands to her sides and dug her nails into the wall, bracing for the sensation about to swamp her senses. She felt a luscious flick of his tongue across her nipple, leaving her trembling for more. His fingers still tormented her quim. And instead of giving her nipple another stroke of his tongue, he gave it a sensuous little bite. She shot up onto the balls of her feet with a cry, the voluptuous sensation reverberating through her body.

Instantly, he soothed her frenzy, drawing the pebbled tip into his mouth. Each silky suck melted her mind.

The moment she lowered her heels onto the floor, he drove his fingers inside her, and began pumping them in and out. She was lost to the double sensation coiling through her breast and in her core. All she could do was whimper and moan, sounds emanating from her sounding nothing like her own. Her hips were thrusting and straining toward him completely of their own volition.

He released her nipple and met her gaze. A half smile adorned his mouth. “I like your eagerness. And how you’re squeezing my fingers. You’re soaking my hand, beautiful Sarah. You want to come for me, don’t you?”

“YES.” She needed more friction from his fingers. Or die.

“Then let’s focus on that sweet little spot inside you right…here.” His buried fingers gave a strong stroke over an ultrasensitive spot inside her vaginal walls. A sharp sensation shot through her sex and vibrated up her spine, snatching the air from her lungs. He struck up a steady rhythm over that spot. The sensations were so strong, she was writhing wildly, unable to back away.

“Don’t fight it,” he told her. “I know it is intense. Give in to it. It’s worth it, trust me.” Adding his thumb, he massaged her throbbing clitoris, in masterful coordination with his thrusting fingers. His strokes grew stronger, with perfect pressure, building her up to a plateau she’d never known. She threw her arms around him as she barreled toward her release.

Pleasure exploded through her body. She surged up, a scream wrenching from her lungs, euphoria flooding through her system. Her feminine walls contracting around his fingers, clenching and releasing again and again. Squeezing her eyes shut, she rode through her orgasm. Each fierce spasm melting her muscles until she slumped against the wall.

Then his fingers were gone. The wall against her back—gone. And she fell onto the mattress. Opening her eyes, she realized he’d picked her up and tossed her there. He stood at the end of the bed, stripping away his clothing. Discarding it to the floor.

“Spread those gorgeous legs for me. Wide.” There was a gruffness and urgency in his voice as he tossed off the final article.

She didn’t move, not just because her muscles felt heavy and lax, but because she was riveted by the sight before her. Nothing had prepared her for how breathtaking his naked form was. Statues she’d seen of Greek gods were not chiseled as flawlessly.

He gripped his sex and stroked it from head to base. A sobering sight. He was much larger than Octavius, and that encounter had been painful enough.

Almost as though he’d read her thoughts, he spread her legs for her and lowered his body onto hers. “I’m not going to hurt you. There’s no need to tense.” He stroked his sex along her slick folds, coating himself with her essence, then wedged the crest of his cock at her entrance. Slowly, he pressed into her still-quivering core, feeding her his length a sublime inch at a time. She moaned, her body stretching to accommodate him, giving way to the downward pressure, the sensation deliciously inflaming.

He softly cursed. “So snug… Christ, you feel so good.” He dragged his shaft almost completely out. Then drove back in. Her gasp mingled with his groan. He began to plunge into her with deep, solid thrusts, slowly increasing the speed and power of each downward stroke.

Her sex was overly sensitive from her recent release. The sensations were fierce. Engulfing. A fresh wave of hot hunger slammed into her. She couldn’t believe it was happening again. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t move. His every skillful stroke driving her bottom into the mattress. Driving her toward another stunning climax.

He grazed his lips along her neck to her ear. “You’re going to come for me again,” he rasped, his breaths as hard and heavy as her own. Capturing her nipple, he gave it a pinch, holding it captive. Letting the pressure build and build, until a hot pulse shot from her breast down to her sex. She cried out as another shattering release rocked her body.

He growled, thrusting through the glorious spasms rippling along her sex, until the very last one ebbed. He jerked himself out, crushed her to him and buried his face in her neck. With a long, deep groan, he spent himself against her belly, his body shuddering, until he’d drained himself dry.

Ella tightened her arms around him, threading her fingers in his hair, and simply held him, waiting for their breathing to calm. She’d never felt such a sense of bliss. It had permeated down into her very marrow. Looking up at the ceiling, she marveled at her luck. Somehow, the stars had aligned, and she’d actually tasted true passion.

A small miracle, that.

“This is the sort of desire and passion I’d read about,” she said softly.

He raised his head. Gone from his eyes was that harder edge he usually had. They were a soft gray. A half smile tilted his mouth. He brushed his lips against hers, which turned into a long, languorous kiss. “You’ll have to tell me what books you’ve been reading.” This time with a full smile that made her stomach flutter. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

When he returned, his abdomen was clean, and he carried bath linens. Unsure what he was about, she watched in amazement as he sat on the edge of the bed and used the dampened linen to press gently between her legs. She started.

He cocked a brow. “Tender?” he asked, moving to her belly to wipe her stomach clean.

“No. Just a little cool.” She’d never been bathed in any fashion by a man. Octavius hadn’t cared what mess he’d left behind in the aftermath of their encounter. She was suddenly feeling shy as he dried her with gentle care, when shy was the very last word that would ever describe her. Why was she surprised by his response or actions? He was a considerate lover. In every meaningful way.

This man had set her world ablaze tonight. Lady Luella, awkward, unmarriageable, ungovernable, undesirable, had been utterly desired this night. She swallowed down an embarrassing squeak of joy that threatened to slip past her lips.

He tossed the linens to the floor and stretched out beside her, propping himself onto his elbow. She turned onto her side and mimicked his pose.

“I think you must be the best lover in all of L’Anonyme.”

Softly, he chuckled. “Thank you. If you wish, please feel free to expand that scope,” he teased with a grin.

She laughed, loving this side of him, and his smile. “Apologies!” She played along. “You are no doubt correct on that count, sir. In fact, they should give you free membership for all the benefit you bring to their establishment.” She grinned at his laugh. She barely knew him. Yet, their connection felt so natural, as though she’d known him forever.

She liked who she was around him. She’d very much liked him from the start, this man who not only guarded his privacy, but also the secret of a painful event that had happened to him at Christmas. This duke—a fact his staff had poorly concealed, though they had tried—who could have anyone, wanted no one.

He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. She closed her eyes and returned his embrace, relishing the feel of being held by him.

Once the weather permitted, she’d leave here. This would become but a cherished memory.

The last thing she could allow herself to do was lose her heart.