They were both adults and far enough away from the prying eye of the ton to be safe. No one would need to know what might transpire tonight with her alone with him in his apartment.
So why was he acting as skittish as a feral cat?
Certainly his priggish behavior wasn’t stemming from an overblown sense of honor. He’d told her time and again that he didn’t care what society thought of him. And that he didn’t let the rigid rules of the ton control his actions.
What would she have to do to get him to kiss her again? At the King’s Bath he couldn’t seem to get enough of her lips but ever since their walk in Sydney Gardens, he appeared to be stubbornly set against the idea.
Maybe if she licked her lips as if she’d just savored a juicy orange, he might change his mind.
“Why won’t you kiss me?” she demanded instead.
“Why won’t I—” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m not an animal that attacks every piece of fluff it encounters. Regardless of what you may have heard, I can control my urges.”
So that was it, he was trying to be noble. For her sake. Fustian! Her perfect reputation was ruining her life. Even the most disreputable of rakes refused to kiss her.
“I’m taking you home,” he said and grabbed up his hat.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She supposed she should be thanking him.
He paused halfway to the door. His shoulders tensed. Her heart shuddered in the silence that followed. She didn’t want to leave without his kiss and he appeared determined to deny her. He was going to send her on her way like an errant child.
“Dammit, don’t you dare cry.” He whirled around. She stumbled back a step while he advanced on her. In a flash, his arms were encircling her as he pulled her close.
“I have done as you have demanded. I have taken you to Goldsmith’s.” His deep voice caressed her lonely lips. “I have shown you the terrible trouble a gentleman can make for himself. Now you will do something for me.”
She nodded and then craned her head forward, seeking his kiss. “Anything…”
“Anything?” he said, his gaze pressed through her. “And I can hold you to your word?”
She’d give him the moon and the stars if only he’d kiss her. “Anything,” she whispered.
The heat spiraling between them was suddenly gone. And his lips were suddenly nowhere near hers. There was a calculating gleam in his eyes. He looked dangerous, ruthless. “I will escort you to the upcoming Victory Gala at Sydney Gardens where we will be seen together by others in a very proper setting.”
“I-I-I—” This was impossible.
“And you will stroll through the crowds at the gala on my arm,” he added.
Much to Iona’s chagrin, he stepped far enough away from her lips that she suspected that, unless she made a move, there weren’t going to be any kisses for her this night.
“It appears you have suitably composed yourself,” he said, the lack of emotion in his voice chilled her. Without giving her a second glance, he started back toward the door. “I shall walk you home.”
None of this was going as she’d planned. She couldn’t be seen with Nathan in public. Not when the official announcement of her engagement to Lord Lovington loomed a mere handful of days away.
Blast it! She’d given her word of honor she’d do anything for him. When he’d asked for her vow, her mouth had watered, expecting his desires to be directed toward the shadowy privacy of the bedroom, not to parade their attachment under the scrutinizing eyes of society. She’d simply have to talk him out of holding her to her word and pressing her to waltz into the Victory Gala on his arm. It was a terrible idea. Worse than terrible. It would set tongues to wagging.
A gentleman with his reputation being seen with her would be such an odd match that all of Bath would be tittering by the next morning. Word would surely spread across London before the week’s end. She had to talk him out of this.
Before she had a chance to launch into a somewhat heated argument, he set his hands on her shoulders and directed her toward the door.
“You are impossible,” she huffed, fighting an urge to scream at him. He’d so overset her, she teetered on the verge of matching Lillian’s and her mother’s skill in throwing a tantrum.
“So are you.” He sounded as prickly as she felt.
“Good.” She crossed her arms under her tightly bound breasts and glared.
He was too handsome for his own good. He’d tossed off his hat and his blond hair was in an adorable state of dishevelment.
“I’d hate to think I was the only one suffering tonight,” she grumbled.
“Every blasted moment I spend with you, I suffer,” he shot back.
Oh, he was worse than impossible. Why didn’t he simply go ahead and kiss her? Why make them both suffer? Simmering with frustration, she impulsively rose up on her tiptoes and cupped her hands around the back of his neck. She pressed her lips to his, taking the kiss he seemed so bound and determined to deny her.
“Take me to your bed.” She couldn’t believe those words had sprung from her mouth. And yet they felt right. She didn’t want to go home. Not yet.
He drew back and eyed her critically. She could almost see the thoughts spinning in his head.
“You’re serious,” he said finally.
She was terrified. Excited. And suspected what she was asking would lead to a basket load of troubles. Even so, her enflamed body wasn’t willing to let her sedate, dreadfully proper, logical mind talk her way out of this one.
Unable to speak, she nodded.
“You want me to take you to my bed? And do what a husband would do for a wife?”
That was the hitch. Would his dratted sense of honor toward her again leave him eager to fall on the matrimonial sword for her, like it had done the night at the King’s Bath?
He was watching her with an intensity that left her shaking. Did she see a spark of possession gleaming in his eyes? Was he like all the other dratted gentlemen in her life, interested only in wedding the paragon of perfection, the perfect Duke’s daughter?
As much as she ached for him, she feared that he too didn’t see beyond her pretty façade. Her recent reckless behavior obviously confounded him. She’d caught him frowning at her several times this evening alone.
“Well?” he asked.
While her body’s desires were still warring with her logical mind, she couldn’t seem to speak. This moment was too big, too important for words. Despite her fears and worries about his intentions and the consequences of the moment, this was something she wanted. Desperately.
Yes.
She nodded again.
Take me to your bed.
If she were to succeed in convincing her father that she didn’t have to marry her cousin, or anyone else for that matter, she’d soon find herself an ape leader and confirmed spinster. This might be her only chance to experience the pleasures of the marriage bed she’d heard spoken about only in parlor-room whispers. And she couldn’t imagine letting anyone other than Nathan teach her the secrets of passion.
“I need to hear the words, Iona.” There was an edge of panic in his voice. “Tell me what to do.”
“I need you to complete the lesson,” she managed to choke out and then swallowed deeply. “I need you to teach me how to truly live. I’m tired of hiding behind this serene smile and pretending that I’m happy. Take me to your bed.”
With a low growl, he swept her into his arms and carried her across the room. His pace remained steady and determined, not even letting something as bothersome as a door get in his way. He kicked it open and crossed the threshold into the most private of places—his bedchamber.
A sweet and spicy aroma greeted her. She breathed in deeply.
“What is that heavenly scent?” She whispered the question.
“The candles.” Half a dozen candles were scattered throughout the room in ornately jeweled brass and copper holders. Their flames smelled nothing like the tallow candles used in her bedcham
ber. “I have them imported from China.”
How exotic. It complemented the décor of the room. She’d expected his bedchamber to be plainly furnished, matching the slightly shabby parlor, not a pleasure room more suited for an exotic sultan. Brightly colored silks with elaborate scenes hung on the walls. A crimson silk covered the rather large bed that took center stage in the middle of the room. Dozens of fringed pillows and bolsters spanned across the bed’s headboard.
The silk draping the bed depicted a dark-skinned man kneeling in front of a scantily dressed and equally exotic-looking woman. He was taking the woman’s bared breast into his mouth. The smaller silks hanging on the walls also had exotic men frozen for all time in shocking poses with nearly naked women.
One in particular caught her eye. A young woman, naked from the waist down, was sprawled on her back in a grassy meadow. Her legs were slung over the fully dressed gentleman’s shoulders. And the man’s long, pink tongue—Iona gasped—was licking the tender place between the woman’s thighs. This room was as wicked as…
Her gaze flew to meet Nathan’s determined and lust-clouded blue eyes.
As wicked as Nathan’s reputation. A reputation she’d refused to credit until now. In a state of distress, her mind reeled. What if? What if?
“Why is your room decorated like…like you’re an unrepentant, dangerous rogue?” she demanded to know.
He stopped mid-step and considered the question, his eyes not straying from her body. For the briefest moment, his playful mask slipped and she read regret in those brilliant blue eyes before he gave a negligent shrug.
“This is what society expects of me, isn’t it?”
His reply only caused more confusion. She had a feeling there was a deeper reason behind his playing the part of rogue so completely. And if the persona he presented to society was a lie, she was also beginning to wonder whether everything she knew about him was a lie too.
She was about to press him for answers but he dipped his head and claimed her lips, washing away her straying thoughts and questions. This was Nathan—the Nathan she’d fallen in love with nearly two years ago—not the big bad wolf with a taste for devouring innocent virgins. Although, after seeing that wall hanging, the thought of being devoured by a man was beginning to take on a whole new meaning…
She suddenly felt hot and damp between her legs. Her head was spinning so fast she barely noticed when he dropped her onto his bed.
He climbed on top of her with his legs straddling her. His roaming hands fondled her bound breasts through the layers of clothing while his tongue eased past the barrier of her lips to dip into her mouth. She groaned.
There were too many layers of clothes between them. Her body instinctively ached to feel him against her, flesh against flesh. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed herself against the demanding bulge in his pants. Abandoning all modesty, she rubbed against him, thrilling in the pleasure the friction and heat brought.
He growled in her mouth and pulled away. For a frisson of a heartbeat, she worried that her bold, wicked behavior had shocked him. A blush started to sting her cheeks when he pulled her to the side of the bed.
The feverish heat she saw in his gaze waylaid her embarrassment. He took several quick, shallow breaths while he caressed her between her legs, making her feel anxious and needy. He murmured in a deep voice that vibrated throughout her body how he longed to eat her alive.
“You are the big bad wolf,” she breathed.
He frowned. “Does that scare you? Would you prefer a tame spaniel?”
She bit back a cry when he tucked those magical hands of his behind his back. “No!” She shook her head in earnest. “The only thing that scares me is that this night is only a dream and that I’ll wake up before I find out what will happen next.”
His frown eased a little but his cursed hands remained behind his back and much too far away. “I’m suffering from that same worry.” Finally he reached out for her and gently brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen over her brow. “Promise me you won’t disappear.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she vowed and wiggled closer to him.
His playful grin, slightly crooked and heart-wrenchingly adorable, returned. “Part of me wishes I was peeling a frothy dress off these lovely shoulders.” He gently untied her strangling cravat and began unbuttoning her gentleman’s cotton shirt. Starting at the column of her slender throat, he placed a kiss on each inch of skin he revealed as one button after another came undone. “But then again, this feels right. I’m beginning to believe you’ve got the heart of a scamp. It’s only natural you should come to me dressed as one.”
The heart of a scamp. She liked how that sounded. She was about to tell him so when he cupped her cheeks in his palms and tilted her face up toward him. His thumb traced the arch of her cheek, an altogether surprisingly pleasant experience.
“My beautiful, daring scamp. Tonight has trimmed years off my life but I’d repeat it all again if it meant I’d end up here…with you.” He spoke softly. “Like this.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “There is no other place I’d want to be and no other man I’d want to be with.”
He twined his fingers in her golden hair, pulling away the pins, and gently, oh so gently, stroked her. Iona could barely catch her breath. She wanted him to do more. She wanted to feel more of what he was making her feel. But she didn’t know what to do.
“You’re trembling.” He moved closer. His breath feathered against her cheek. This closeness thrilled her. “Are you frightened?”
“No,” she breathed. “Not at all.”
His lips covered hers. The kiss was gentle at first but, as she melted into his embrace, he became more demanding. He pressed her chin with his thumb to open her mouth to him. His tongue plunged, filling her, igniting sensations that had never existed for her before.
He held her fast against his taut body. Each new sensation led to another more intense one. His hands caressed the length of her spine, urging her closer. Her breasts crushed against his chest and became rigid under the pressure. Her nipples tingled, demanding more. She rubbed the swollen tips against his body, sending urgent tremors coursing through her veins.
He lifted her from the bed and lowered her onto his lap so that she straddled his legs. His long, hard member pressed against her. He was hot there. His heat easily spread through her breeches and to her belly. A sudden moisture and a sweet burning surged between her legs where he was pressed hard against her.
He groaned and with a smooth motion pulled her cotton shirt over her head and discarded it on the hard floor.
“Oh, we can’t have this,” he said. The wicked spark in his eyes zinged through her. He glared at her tightly bound breasts. “We can’t have this at all.”
He reached down to his boot and withdrew a knife that looked as menacing as the card shark’s back at the club. With one careful cut, the cotton batting fell away and her breasts were bared for him to see.
And touch.
“Beautiful,” he murmured.
He gently caressed her. At first she felt awkward. He had the look of a man who was gazing at a truly magnificent sculpture.
And taste.
Much to her surprise, his mouth closed over her breasts, his tongue teasing her nipples, each one in turn, until they became hard and sensitive. And then he sucked. Hard. Demanding.
She felt him all the way through her body. Her heart drummed, vibrating everywhere, especially between her legs. A wet heat burned there and she wondered what would come next. She wiggled against him, becoming more and more enamored with that interesting bulge in his pants.
Not one to sit idly by and let someone else do all the work, she drew a deep breath and stroked his chest.
“Please.” She threw back her head and groaned when he nipped her breast. She rocked against him, rubbing herself along his length, no longer convinced that she’d be able to survive this sweet torture. She twisted her hips, pressing herself against his
breeches.
He seemed as frustrated and needy as she. In a flurry of movement, she was naked and she had managed to peel Nathan’s shirt off. The hair on his chest was golden, tapering into his pants. She pressed her face to his warm chest and breathed in his heady scent.
He tossed her onto the red silk sheets and followed with his own body, kissing and caressing every silky inch of her. His touch was demanding but gentle. And even as he discovered places on her she had never known existed, the sensations building inside her felt oddly familiar and comfortable.
There must be more, she could tell that there was more. She bucked against him and bit his earlobe, as her frustrations grew nearly unbearable.
“Shhh.” His voice was smooth against her throat.
He drew her legs up, bending them at the knees, spreading them wide. She tensed. She wanted him to join her in her nakedness.
She tugged on his breeches, ripping the top button off when she couldn’t seem to figure out how to get him out of his elaborate contraption.
He stilled her fingers. “Easy, love. I’ll gladly strip for you.”
She’d never seen a naked man before. And he was very different from her, large and hard and jutting out. She nearly swooned when she suddenly understood what it was all about.
“Would you like to touch me?” he asked. His voice quivered.
She nodded and reached out. On the surface, he was soft and warm, much like his sunny disposition. But under the smooth skin, his member was hard, unbending. His breath caught in his throat when she first touched him there. Pleased by the reaction, she stroked harder.
“Please, Iona, I’m not made of stone,” he said through clenched teeth, his voice strained.
He could have fooled her, he was hard like stone, though not at all cold like marble. A beautiful statue to be stroked.
And loved.
“Do you understand how this all works?” he asked, peeling her fingers off him. Before she could answer he knelt between her legs.
“W-what—” she started.
He lowered his mouth to her soft flesh.
“Relax.” His voice was hot and moist against the soft hair between her thighs. “Let me teach you.”
Lady Iona's Rebellion Page 14