The Temptation of a Gentleman

by Jenna Petersen

  “Did I hurt you?” she whispered as she continued to place wet kisses on his chest and neck.

  “Far from it,” he choked out before he grasped her in animal desire and brought his mouth down on hers to devour and claim. “But I think you’ve played long enough for now.”

  She squirmed as he laid her back on the bed. “But I want to know your body as well as you know mine.”

  Again, his eyes closed and he muttered something unintelligible under his breath before he brought his hand up to cup her chin. “And you will. You’ll have years to find every spot that makes me moan, every way I like to be touched.” He grinned. “And there are many of those. But tonight I’m going to pleasure you.”

  She shivered as his voice dropped to the husky tone she instinctively knew meant that the time for talking was over. Silently she took his hand to place it on her breast and with a smile he followed her lead. He dropped his dark head to her chest and began to suckle one nipple as his fingers teased the other. The sensations he created there seemed to go straight to the core of her womanhood, the place where she grew wetter from every brush of his hand, every sweep of his lips.

  With a slow slide, Noah brought his hand down her body to rest it on her thigh. Immediately her legs fell open, inviting him to touch her in the most intimate ways possible. He took the invitation willingly. He took a teasing sweep of his fingers across the cleft between her thighs and found the tell-tale dampness amongst the dark curls that told him she was more than ready to join with him. With a second sweep, he parted the soft lips there and grazed his thumb across the tight bead of pleasure that had her rising from the bed with a little cry.

  Her eyes were dilated with anticipation, fear and desire. They met his with a wild intensity that both flamed his need and inspired a deeper protectiveness in him.

  “Don’t be afraid.”

  He continued his slow massage of her womanhood as he kissed her deep and slow. She eased her head back against the pillow with a sigh as she arched against his finger. In response, he slid the long, thick digit inside her, mimicking the way he would move when they finally made love.

  Her face filled with heat, her eyes shut as he brought her closer and closer to the brink. He’d brought many women to the edge of where she now balanced, so close to release, but he’d never paid much attention to their reactions. Marion’s breath was short and shallow, and a soft flush tinged her neck and chest. She arched up with a little cry and her inner muscles throbbed around him in release.

  As the blinding colors faded around her, Marion opened her eyes to give Noah a shy smile. The delicious feeling of him touching her was incredible, but not enough for her to forget that he hadn’t taken his own pleasure, not either time they’d lain together in a bed. Tonight she wanted to remedy that. She wanted to experience the full joining of a man and a woman. She wanted to hear Noah cry out her name the way she cried out his.

  When he began to rise from the bed, her hand shot out to grip his arm. “Don’t go!”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. “God, I couldn’t leave now.”

  He peeled her fingers from his wrist and stood up to shrug out of the remainder of his clothes. Marion’s eyes widened as he turned back to her. He seemed carved in granite, larger than life, from his broad shoulders, to the hard thrust of his erection that jutted out proudly from between his legs.

  He returned to lie beside her. “Slow and easy, I promise.”

  “Slow and easy,” she murmured, drawn to touch him as intimately as he’d touched her moments before. With trembling fingers, she slid her hand down his body, over his stomach until her fingertip glided over the curve of his penis. Noah groaned out his breath.

  “The skin is so velvety.” She wondered how he could be so hard and strong and yet tender at the same time.

  With a grunt, he rolled over to lie on top of her. He pushed her legs apart with a gentle nudge until the tip of his shaft pressed against the moist opening there.

  “Slowly,” he said softly before he pushed forward, claiming her inch-by-inch.

  The feeling wasn’t unpleasant, just strange to be filled in such a way. Marion felt as if she were being stretched, but her body seemed made for the task and her nerve endings crackled with the heavy, hard weight of Noah atop and within her.

  “Here is where it will hurt for just a moment,” he whispered as he darted his tongue along the shell of her ear.

  Marion shut her eyes at the dizzying sensations created by his mouth and body. At that moment, Noah drove into her, pushing past the barrier of her untried body and sent a shot of pain through her.

  As she caught her breath, Marion realized the pain had subsided and now she could feel Noah sheathed entirely within her quivering body. She wiggled a bit to test how it felt and was surprised when the pleasure that had built in her before returned, only this time with more intensity.

  Noah groaned and brought his mouth down against hers for a hard, consuming kiss as he began to move his hips in a slow, circular motion. Every part of Marion felt alive as his steady, even thrusts brought her nearer and nearer to release, to the end of the throbbing pressure that was once again building inside her.

  Noah felt himself approaching the edge of a precipice from where he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from taking all the pleasure Marion’s responsive body inspired in him. But he wanted to make her cry out one more time. With shaking hands, he reached between their two bodies and found that little hidden spot within the curls that made her arch even harder against him with a little cry.

  “Now,” he whispered. “Let go now.”

  She did, clasping her arms around his neck with all her might as she let out a primal scream against his damp neck. He caught her cry with his mouth and merged it with his own as he clutched her hips against him hard and poured himself into her.

  For a long time he stayed where he was, only relieving her of his weight by balancing on his elbows. He should roll away and leave her to return home, but somehow he couldn’t tear himself away from her arms. She felt too right laying beneath him, running her fingertips up and down the line of his spine while she looked up into his face with a smile of contentment.

  “I should move.” He placed a gentle peck on the tip of her nose. “I’m crushing you.”

  “I like your weight,” she said, massaging across the expanse of the muscles of his back. “It lets me know you’re really here and I didn’t dream this night. I didn’t dream you.”

  “I would wager you’ve never dreamt something so wicked in your life.” He smiled to relieve some of the emotion she inspired in him with her statement.

  A grin quirked one side of her mouth and the sly look made Noah aware he was becoming aroused by her yet again. It wasn’t as if he were some green young man. God, he wasn’t even in his prime anymore. But this woman with her sparkling brown eyes and giving nature made him react in ways he hadn’t for a long time.

  “No,” she whispered as she lifted her hips a little and placed a hot kiss on his jaw. “But I know what I’ll be dreaming about the rest of tonight.”

  “Only tonight?” Gathering her closer in his arms, Noah surged forward into her again. With a low, possessive laugh he said, “If my goal is to make sure you dream of my touch every night of your life, I’d best work some more on that.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Noah strummed his fingertips across the tabletop and stared at the breakfast room door. A night of lovemaking with Marion should have left him tired, especially since it was before noon and he hadn’t crept from her bed until the very wee hours of the morning. Instead, he felt rejuvenated in ways he hadn’t since he worked on cases in the War Department.

  In those days, everything had seemed possible and interesting. Around every corner danger and intrigue lay in wait. But in the time since his discharge, that feeling had faded, leaving him bored and restless.

  Until Marion.

  Although she wasn’t dangerous, and aside from a few k
ey omissions on her part, she didn’t bring him intrigue, she made him feel alive.

  “Noah!”

  His eyes came up to the door in a flash, but dropped again in disappointment when only his sister entered the room with a wide smile on her pretty face. Griffin followed close behind. He arched an eyebrow at the dark shadows that lingered beneath Noah’s eyes.

  “Good morning Audrey, Griffin.” With a sigh, he rose from his seat.

  “Good morning.” His sister sank into a chair as she smiled at the maid who poured her tea. Once the young woman had done the same for the two men and left the room, her smile turned wicked. “Marion isn’t home this morning.”

  Noah’s heart sank into his stomach and the world that had looked so glorious a few moments before suddenly turned bleak. He shook his head at his swift, maudlin reaction. When had he turned into such a romantic fool?

  “Oh?” He did his best to keep his voice smooth and free of emotion. “Where is she?”

  “Mother took her for another fitting with Miss Fox. Then they’re off for a bit of socializing. She thinks it would be best to introduce her quickly to people in our circle who’ll be her allies. That way when we begin to make the rounds at parties in a week or so, she’ll already have friends on her side.”

  Audrey took a sip of her tea, but Noah could feel her eyes boring into him even over the edge of her cup.

  “A good plan.” He took a side-glance at Griffin in the hopes that his best friend would distract his wife from her singular purpose, but Griffin looked amused rather than poised to play savior.

  “Yes, we thought so.” Griffin grinned. “But it seems you came here for nothing.”

  Noah shook his head, determined to pretend his fiancée’s absence didn’t affect him in the least. “No, no. I’m happy to share my breakfast with my family.”

  Audrey let out a burst of unladylike laughter. “Noah Jordan, London has been your primary residence since we were released from our duties at the War Department last year. In that time, I believe you’ve shared your breakfast with us a total of three times. One of them was Christmas Day last year, and that was only because you hadn’t gone to bed after carousing the night before.”

  Noah pursed his lips. “I wasn’t carousing.”

  Now it was Griffin’s turn to laugh. “Would you rather we call it reveling?”

  Audrey winked at her husband. “And now you wish me to believe that you came all the way across town out of some desire to break your fast with Griffin and me?”

  Noah shook his head as he stirred his tea with vicious speed. His sister and brother-in-law were teasing him as they loved to do, but they were dancing very close to the edge of a truth he wasn’t ready to face himself, let alone share with anyone else.

  “I will admit I wished to see Marion,” he ground out.

  “Didn’t you see enough of her last night?” Griffin asked with a half smile.

  “I’d hardly say a staid supper with my entire family was spending quality time with my future wife,” Noah countered with a superior glare.

  “And you didn’t see enough of her after you snuck back into our home and into her room?” Though Audrey’s voice still held the teasing in it, her eyes had become serious as she searched her brother’s face.

  Noah froze at her accusation. “How did you know about that?”

  “She was once a spy, too.” Griffin had a quiet gravity that brought the room’s tone back to one of seriousness.

  “You haven’t said anything to her, have you?”

  Noah held his breath as he waited for an answer. Marion would be humiliated if she knew his sister had discovered their tryst. It would shake her already lowered confidence about coming out in Society and taking her place as his wife.

  “Of course not.” Audrey frowned. “I would never embarrass her in such a way. And as far as I know, Mother knows nothing about it either.”

  “Good.” Noah leaned back with relief. The last thing he needed was yet another lecture from his mother.

  Audrey moved a chair closer to her brother and looked at him with sincere, caring eyes. “I have very little room to judge the behavior of two people about to be married.” She tossed a quick look at Griffin, who smiled at her. “But I’d like to offer you a small bit of advice.”

  Noah cocked his head with a shrug. Audrey had offered very little unasked-for counsel even during the years they’d worked together. The words of wisdom she had imparted to him had always been good, even if he hadn’t heeded them. And Audrey had gone through her own trials in love. She and Griffin hadn’t always been able to be happy together as they were now.

  “What is it?”

  She smiled to soften her words. “Be wary. Marion is still uncertain about the future and could easily be hurt, even if that isn’t your intention.”

  Noah nodded slowly. He was painfully aware of that fact. “I’ve already taken so much from her.”

  Griffin cocked his head. “Then give her something back.”

  Audrey’s attention moved from Noah to Griffin and her smile widened as a look of complete love sparkled into her eyes. For a brief moment, Noah was shut out of their world and was desperately jealous of what they shared.

  When Audrey returned her gaze to him, her face was lit up. “My husband is not only handsome, but he’s brilliant.”

  Despite his own tangled emotions, Noah felt his mouth turn up in a grin.

  “But what?” His eyes moved to Griffin who was watching him with an unreadable expression. “What can I give to her?”

  Griffin shook his head with a short laugh. “Even after all your years of playing the rake, you don’t know a damn thing about women. Think Noah. What does she want?”

  Noah searched his mind, grasping for the things Marion had told him with words and with actions in the time he’d known her. Marion wanted independence. He could give her that, but not in the way she had wanted for so many years under her father’s thumb. And independence wasn’t a grand enough gesture.

  Marion wanted family and love. The love her father had withheld from her since her mother’s death. The love she had once hoped to find with…

  His eyes widened as he rose to his feet. “Thank you both.” He set his teacup back on its saucer and hurried toward the door. “When Mother and Marion come back let them know I’ll return in a few days. I have an errand I must perform. Take care of her while I’m away.”

  He was halfway out the door when Audrey called out, “Wait!”

  He turned back with impatience. If he wanted to reach Dover before midday the following day he’d have to leave now and ride hard all afternoon and most of the night.

  “What is it?”

  Audrey reached his side. “Where on earth are you going?”

  Noah shot her a cocky grin before he bent to kiss her cheek. “It’s a secret.”

  With a wink for Griffin, he hurried away.

  Audrey turned to her husband with a shrug as she trudged across the room to sit back down. “Besotted.”

  Griffin narrowed his eyes as the man he’d called friend for as long as he’d been alive rode past the morning room window and down the street as if he were being pursued by the devil himself.

  “Yes, Audrey. I think you’re right. And now we’ll just have to see if Noah can conquer love as easily as he’s conquered everything else in his life.”

  ***

  Marion fidgeted in her chair, twisting the fingertip of her glove in her hand under the table. This was the third luncheon she’d attended in as many days, and she still fretted about using the wrong fork or saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. The fact that Noah had vanished a few days before left her feeling even more alone. Her greatest ally had disappeared into the night without explanation or even a goodbye.

  She was left with little but memories. Memories that made her hot in the middle of the night and long for him the rest of the day. Certainly not the kind of reminiscences one should have been having in the middle of an important engagement
with some of the most influential women of the ton.

  “Well, Miss Marion.” A voice shook her from her daydreams. She turned to find one of the women at their table staring at her with hawkish gray eyes. “You seem to have left us entirely. I wonder where you could have gone that was more important than here?”

  Marion bit her tongue to withhold the retort balancing on it. She could think of a hundred places more important than the room she was in now, but she wouldn’t give in to the nasty woman’s picking.

  “I’m so sorry Lady Latimer.” She sighed with relief as she remembered the woman’s name with only mild difficulty. “I became distracted by the beautiful painting on the wall above your head. I wonder who the artist was?”

  This sent the table into ohhs and ahhs over the artwork and made Lady Oswood, their hostess, beam with pleasure at the attention she’d garnered from Marion’s remark. When Marion looked at Tabitha, the older woman gave her a nod of support and pride.

  “I’m surprised a lady such as yourself would even notice the artwork,” Lady Latimer said, refusing to be put off. “After all, you were raised in the country by a tradesman, weren’t you?”

  She sniffed and sent a rush of protective anger through Marion. Though she spared no love for her father, she knew full well that a man who earned his living was no better or worse than one born into it.

  Before she could say any of the sharp words that came to her mind, Tabitha arched a well-defined eyebrow and glared at Lady Latimer. “Why Giselle, a tradesman is only a few steps below a Knight, isn’t he? Your own father would probably agree.”

  The other woman choked on her sip of tea as the ladies at the table all swiveled their eyes to her for her response. When she’d regained her composure, she nodded her head once.

  “Yes, my father might very well agree, Lady Woodbury. I’m lucky to have married an Earl.”