It was Lady Emma who answered, for surely Emily couldn’t have been so bold. “Shall we see if my imagination falls short of the reality?” she teased, stretching out her hands to strip the shirt from his shoulders.
She marveled at her own audacity. Amazing how a man’s admiring gaze could free a woman to be so terribly naughty. But he didn’t seem to mind. He obligingly yanked off his trousers, then his stockings and drawers, leaving him as naked as she.
Naked. And completely unashamed. She sucked in a startled breath, and he grinned.
“Well? Do I meet with your approval?”
What was there to disapprove? He had a broad chest with hair that held just enough red tint to make his body appear gilded in antique bronze. His waist showed no signs of thickening, and between his lean thighs…
She jerked her gaze back to his face, somehow managing to hide her alarm. “You’ll do, I suppose.”
Do? she thought. He would split her in two with that…that male appendage of his! Obviously she’d misunderstood this matter of mating entirely. Surely women weren’t built to accommodate such a thing. Surely God had made an error when creating Jordan’s private parts.
Never mind about ruining her—Jordan would kill her!
But it was too late to escape, too late to protest her lack of experience. Already, he’d caught her in his embrace and was backing her toward the bed with clear intent, his member jutting against her thighs. “You ‘suppose’ I’ll ‘do’? We’ll see about that, my darling Emily. When I’m through with you—”
I’ll be dead for sure, she thought in a panic just before he tumbled her back on the bed, parting her legs so he could kneel between them.
His gaze was hot on hers as he caught her hands, pinning them on either side of her head. It left her open and exposed in a way she’d never felt before, and her panic increased when he lowered his head to her breasts. The instinct to fight him surged up in her…until his mouth closed over her nipple and his tongue swept it in a caress as thrilling as it was gentle.
She went limp beneath him. Oh, dear heaven. When he did that, she almost believed he wouldn’t kill her. At least not with pain.
No, pleasure was his weapon, one he used most cleverly. Everywhere his mouth touched there was heat, excitement, secret enjoyment. And his mouth was everywhere…sucking each breast until she arched beneath him, then trailing down to taste her navel. His evening’s growth of whiskers rasped against her skin, but that, too, was a seduction, reminding her that he was a man and she was very, very much a woman.
Their fingers were entwined now as he marked a path of kisses along her lower belly with skilled lips and tongue. He made her acutely aware of her body, treating each hollow and slope and indentation to lavish caresses that made her squirm and sigh. She’d never guessed that a man’s mouth could provide such wanton luxuries.
And such torture. He made her want things she couldn’t put a name to, made her ache in places she’d never ached before. He seemed to be aching, too, because more than once he groaned and the muscles of his face were tight with restraint.
What he was restraining himself from doing, she wasn’t sure. But if this was only the beginning of his seduction, she would never make it to the end.
Then he took her by surprise, pressing a kiss into the thatch of hair between her legs. She nearly shot up off the bed. While she watched in shocked fascination, he released her hands so he could part her curls and bare the soft folds of her flesh for a second, more intimate kiss.
Something curled up tight inside her, something urgent and most assuredly wicked. “Wh-What are you doing?” she whispered before she could stop herself.
He cast her a secret smile. “Has no man ever done that to you?”
What should she answer? Did every man behave so outrageously in bed? Her mother’s terse description of lovemaking had made no reference to such wild acts.
Thankfully, he supplied the answer himself. “Apparently not.” He caressed her with his mouth again, this time lingering over her until it felt as if a spring were twisting inside her, tighter and tighter with every touch of his tongue to her too sensitive skin. She grabbed fistfuls of damask coverlet to keep from clasping him to her and showing him just how wicked she was.
But she couldn’t keep the small cries of pleasure from escaping her lips. “Yes…oh, goodness gracious…Jordan…Jordan…”
“Do you like that? Does it please you, my darling Emily? Or shall I stop?”
“No!” Shame swept her at this evidence of her wantonness, but her hips moved toward his mouth of their own accord. “I mean…I don’t know…please, Jordan…please….”
He didn’t stop. His tongue was inside her, stroking her…tightening the spring until she could almost not bear it anymore. So much tension…it was too much…she would never endure it…
Then suddenly it snapped, spinning outward to shoot pleasure through every limb and vein and muscle. It tore an animal cry from her as her body arched up off the bed, then collapsed in a great shudder of release.
When she could think again, she found him watching her with a grin of pure male satisfaction. She was smiling, too, and couldn’t seem to stop. Every part of her body felt soft and languid and delicious.
“I will ‘do,’ will I?” he growled as he moved back up over her, planting his hands on either side of her shoulders. Sweat plastered tendrils of auburn hair to his forehead, and his face wore a look of raw desire. “Now we shall see if you will do, my darling.”
Her pleasurable languor vanished as she felt his member probing between her legs until it found the entrance and inched inside.
Oh, dear, what was she supposed to do now? She had no idea! What did he expect of her?
“Good God, you’re so tight…” he murmured as he slid deeper, his eyes closing in obvious satisfaction.
Tight wasn’t the word for it. He filled her so utterly she couldn’t think of anything else. Surprisingly, her body seemed to stretch to accommodate him. Still, there was pressure…a great deal of it. It widened her most uncomfortably.
Surely this was as much of him as she could hold. Surely he couldn’t move inside her any more. Yet he did, sliding farther and farther until she thought he might cleave her in two. She shifted beneath him, trying to make him seem not quite so…so…intrusive.
Suddenly, he gave a forward thrust that seemed to tear something inside her, wringing a cry from her lips. He froze and his eyes flew open to fix her with a look of shock. “Good God! Damn it, Emily, what—”
He broke off as she gazed up at him guiltily.
Every muscle in his body went taut. “You lied to me. Devil take it, you lied!”
She nodded, feeling more than a little relief that she needn’t pretend anymore. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I think the damage…is done. But I can stop—”
“Don’t!” If he stopped, he might not see a reason to keep his end of the bargain. Desperately, she clutched at his hips, anchoring him to her. “Finish it, please. You promised!”
His eyes glittered bleakly. “But I’ve hurt you. I should have taken more care.”
“It always hurts the first time.”
“So they say,” he bit out.
She wriggled her hips a little, surprised that some of the pressure had eased. “Truly, it’s not so bad.”
He clamped his eyes as if in pain. “If you keep that up, I swear I will finish it.”
“Good.” When his eyes shot open, tormented and still angry, she undulated against him again and whispered, “I want you, Jordan. Virgin or no, I want you…so badly…please…”
The anger seemed to drain from him. “Then hold on, my darling. I’ll try not to hurt you any more.”
Her only answer was to lean up and kiss him squarely on the lips. With a groan, he kissed her back, driving his tongue deep into her mouth as he began moving inside her again.
This time there was no pain, and the uncomfortable tightness seemed to ease even more. A sw
eet tension swelled inside her loins, like the one she’d felt when his mouth had caressed her. As it grew, a restless need to swivel her hips against him overcame her.
When she did, he tore his lips from hers with a gasp. “Good God, Emily…such an innocent…and such a wanton. You are…amazing…”
“So are you.”
Amazing and wonderful. The feel of him inside her, driving into her, possessing her, was so incredible that she was glad, glad, she’d given herself to him.
His gaze burned into her, possessive, fierce. “Now you truly are mine,” he rasped. “Mine. All mine.”
“Yes.” She would always be his, no matter what happened after this night. She could never be anyone else’s.
She clasped him to her, trying to memorize the feel of his slick skin, the faint, musky scent that clung to him, the unbelievable pleasure of his body fused to hers. My love, she thought, realizing with some sadness that it was true. She loved him. She’d always loved him. And after tomorrow, when it was all over, she would still love him.
But she couldn’t tell him. He didn’t want love or “any of that nonsense.” So instead she showed him, giving up her body to his hot thrusts, reveling in the way they sent her reeling into a mindless dream.
“My darling,” he whispered as he drove into her with an almost frantic pace. “Yes…yes, Emily…”
Then he plunged into her so deeply, she thought he’d reached the very center of her soul. And at that moment, the tension broke inside her with a burst of light and unbearable release. She was still arched against him, her fingers digging into his back, when he cried out her name and spilled himself inside her.
For a moment, the world ceased to exist. There were only the two of them joined together, suspended in sweet intimacy.
Then he collapsed on top of her. And as she floated slowly back to consciousness, sated and rapt and near to swooning with pleasure, it dawned on her that it was over. Now. Forever. She would never have him again.
That’s when she turned her face aside and wept.
At first Jordan was conscious only of the most marvelous sense of fulfillment he’d ever experienced in his life. Emily was completely his. Despite his fears for her, she had entered into their lovemaking with an enthusiasm that was endearing. He felt sure he’d pleased her. God knows she’d pleased him.
He buried his face in her slender neck, marveling once more at the softness and delicate fineness of her skin. Then he heard the sobs.
She was crying! He pushed himself off her in alarm. Good God, he’d hurt her more than he realized!
Stretching out next to her, he cupped her cheek in one shaky hand. “I tried not to hurt you, darling. I’m sorry, so sorry.”
She shook her head wildly, struggling to regain her breath between hiccuping sobs. “You didn’t…hurt me.”
The tension in his chest eased a little. “Then why are you crying?”
Scrubbing tears away with her hand, she gazed at him with reddened eyes. “Because it was so…wonderful. And I’ll never get to do it again.”
A laugh escaped his lips before he could stop it. “Even I can’t do anything about that. I’m afraid a woman can only be deflowered once in her life.”
The words sobered him: only once. He’d done the unthinkable—he’d taken a woman’s innocence. He waited for the anger to come, the sense of betrayal that she’d managed to accomplish with trickery what no other woman had. Yet all he felt was happiness that it had been him and no one else.
“I…I don’t mean the deflowering,” she stammered. Color suffused her face as she glanced away. “I mean, you and I shall never make love again.”
“I don’t see why not.” He stroked her golden hair, a strange peace settling over him as he made the only possible decision he could. He’d always known what would be expected of him if he ever made love to a woman like Emily. But he hadn’t thought he’d be so pleased about it. “Certainly we must be discreet until we marry, but after that—”
“Marry!” She sat up, crossing her arms over her breasts in a vain attempt at modesty. “You aren’t going to marry me, Jordan! You can’t!”
Her reaction surprised him. “Of course I can. And I will, now that I’ve taken your virginity. I’m not such a cad as to debauch a woman, then send her home without so much as a fare-thee-well.”
“Then give me a fare-thee-well. But you needn’t marry me—I told you that from the beginning. This was a bargain, that’s all. It was the only way I could think of to keep you silent.”
Slipping from the bed, she hurried to where her chemise lay and pulled it on. He stared down at the red stain she’d left behind. A bargain, that’s all. The horrible words pounded into his brain. Did she truly see it that way?
Well, it didn’t matter how she saw it, he thought wearily. It didn’t change anything. He sat up, wishing she hadn’t left the bed so quickly. “Emily, be practical. We must marry. It’s the only thing that will save your reputation.”
“No one knows of this. It needn’t affect either of our lives.”
“Too late for that.” He climbed from the bed and approached her. He gathered her in his arms, and though she stood stiffly, she let him hold her. “I could never let you walk away now. What if you find yourself with child?” Tipping her chin up, he stared into her anxious face. “Would you deprive the child of his father?”
“No, but…it’s not likely, is it? We only…I mean, it was just once—”
“Believe me,” he said bitterly, thinking of his parents, “just once is all it takes.”
Her face turned ashen. “I’ll deal with that problem if it happens. But I shan’t let you marry me. I know you must think that I planned it all along, but truly, I didn’t come here expecting you to marry me!”
“I know that.”
“I-I thought you would be delighted to have me without any obligation. I didn’t expect anything else. Truly, I didn’t! I would never force you into marriage!”
He didn’t know whether to be pleased or insulted by her frantic eagerness to convince him. “I believe you, darling.” He cradled her close. “I’m offering marriage because I choose it. I want to marry you.”
“No, you don’t. You’ve said a thousand times you have no use for virgins.”
“I know what I said. If matters had been different, I wouldn’t have sought one out. But I’ve already had the virgin, so honor dictates I must marry her.”
She twisted away from him, her face filling with hurt. “Honor? That’s why you wish to marry me? To preserve your honor?”
“Now, Emily—” he began in a soothing voice as he reached for her.
Swatting his hands away, she caught up her gown and pressed it to her chest like a shield. “I don’t want your honor!”
With a scowl, he found his drawers and drew them on. This was turning into a lengthy discussion, the last thing he wanted right now. What he wanted was to take her back to bed and make love to her again.
But it appeared she would have none of that. Obviously, she wanted him to make some foolish vow of love. Well, she was not getting that from him. Bad enough he was so obsessed with her that even the thought of marrying her made his blood race and his hands itch to hold her again. That was all the power over him he wished to give her.
“We are going to be married, Emily,” he said evenly as he advanced on her. “That’s the only way to fix this situation.”
“There is nothing to fix!”
“Isn’t there? Come now, Emily, you were so desperate for my silence that you ruined your entire future to obtain it. I’d say there’s a great deal that needs fixing, and marrying me will certainly do it! Nesfield won’t be able to touch you then.”
Frantically, she scrambled into her gown. “You don’t understand! I have to continue my masquerade, and you mustn’t stop me! I won’t let you stop me!”
“Why?” He grabbed her by the shoulders as she tried to pull up her gown. “What is so important about this masquerade that you’d go to such
lengths to protect it?”
For a moment, he thought she might actually tell him. She looked as if she wanted to tell him. Then her face stiffened, and she shifted her gaze to the door behind his back. “Let me go, Jordan. Unless you intend to keep me a prisoner here, I’m leaving. Now.”
He dug his fingers into her shoulders, fighting the urge to shake her senseless. “What do I have to do to prove I have only your welfare at heart? You said once that you couldn’t trust me because I felt only lust for you. But I’ve offered you marriage. If that doesn’t prove you can trust me with the truth, what will?”
She slumped in his arms. “It’s not a matter of trusting you. If I…tell you, then I risk a more certain ruin than anything so paltry as the loss of my virginity. More than that I cannot say.”
“Nesfield, devil take him. I won’t let him hurt you, do you hear?”
“You can’t stop him.”
He thrust her away and strode to where his clothes lay on the floor. “We’ll just see about that,” he snapped as he dressed.
“No!” She jerked up her gown, then ran to him and grabbed his arm. “No, Jordan, you must leave him alone!”
“He’s taking advantage of an innocent young woman. I will not leave him alone!”
“You promised!” she cried as she clung to his arm. “You said if I came to your bed, you would keep silent!”
He froze, looking down at her pale face and the panic in her eyes. Her unfastened gown—that damned scarlet gown—hung so low he could see the lacy edge of her chemise, and beneath it, the creamy swell of one breast.
“I did my part,” she said in an aching voice. “Won’t you do yours?”
Deuce take her. He couldn’t refuse when he knew how much she’d relinquished for his silence.
And yet…She’d asked him not to say anything to Pollock or Nesfield. He could only assume that she would also consider his speaking to Lady Dundee a violation of their agreement.
But there was one person whom he could speak to, someone who could make her recognize the wisdom of marrying him.
The Forbidden Lord Page 24