Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2

by Tracy Goodwin

  Flames of desire engulfed him as he explored her mouth. All the while, Eve massaged his tongue with hers, the slow, methodical motion heightening his passion for her, driving him insane with need.

  As if unaware of the raging inferno she fanned within him, Eve leaned against his length, her fingers clutching the hair at the nape of his neck.

  His hands slid down her back, to her buttocks. He longed to explore her naked form. After tearing his lips from hers, Colin let out a ragged sigh before managing in a rugged whisper, “I want you, now.”

  “I want you, too. I have no desire to call for my maid or your valet. I just want you.” Eve’s lips were swollen from his kisses as she pressed them against his for one brief moment before continuing, “I feel as if my body has awakened. I don’t know what to expect but somehow I am certain it will be glorious.”

  He smiled at her heartfelt words. Only his wife could be so honest and so disarming.

  Eve trailed her fingernails down his back, over the lightweight fabric of his shirt. She then traced a path upwards, back where she started from only to repeat the process, her every touch sending shockwaves throughout his body.

  Colin’s breath caught in his throat and Eve grinned causing him to suspect that this was a deliberate attempt to arouse him. Her eyes, darker and more intense than he’d ever seen them, locked with his.

  She then let go of him, and a pang of disappointment echoed in his heart. Without taking her eyes off him, Eve reached up and unpinned her hair before shaking her thick tresses, sending them spilling over her shoulders.

  Interpreting her gesture as a silent invitation, Colin combed his fingers through her silken, blonde waves. An intimate act, one performed by a husband with his wife. One that caused his manhood to throb for her.

  Eve had ignited a molten desire within him. He longed to become one with his bride in body and soul.

  He crushed his lips against hers. His kisses, hard and demanding were met by her own intense hunger. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, exploring, caressing. It was as if she couldn’t get enough of him.

  She nipped his bottom lip with her teeth. Colin could hear her gasp for air, felt her bosom rise and fall against his chest.

  “Make me yours,” she whispered, her breathing labored.

  How she thirsted for this man.

  Colin placed his hands against her buttocks causing Eve to moan aloud. Although fully clothed, the intimate gesture still sent shockwaves throughout her body, causing her pulsate somewhere deep within her feminine heart.

  His hands trailed up her spine, nimbly unbuttoning each of the small buttons trailing up her back.

  Eve met his gaze, Colin’s indigo eyes now the color of a tumultuous sea. She then placed her palms flat against the linen of his snowy white shirt before trailing her hands up towards his neck.

  Wrapping her fingers around his cravat, she gave it a gentle tug, pulling him closer to her. Eve brushed her lips against his. The catch in his throat thrilled her, giving her confidence to move forward.

  Tracing his lips with her tongue, Eve’s heart raced at a frantic rate. Colin’s dexterous hands had unbuttoned the last of her dress, peeling the garment open. The warmth of his hands against the bare flesh of her back seared Eve’s skin, forever branding her as his.

  Their mouths still locked, Eve unlaced his cravat before tossing it onto the floor. She then unbuttoned his shirt, yearning to explore his bare flesh.

  Once his shirt was open, Eve wasted no time pushing it from his shoulders. His exposed flesh felt glorious, his heat radiating through her hands, warming parts of her that she never knew existed.

  Colin tore his hands and mouth from her, releasing her long enough to shrug out of his shirt. Eve noted the scars slashing the span of his bronzed chest and rib cage. Five indented lacerations, just like the scar above his lip, but larger. Her eyes searched his for an explanation. In response, Colin stood still, his shoulders proud, his soul exposed.

  “What happened to you?” she asked.

  His intense gaze never faltered from hers. “I left thinking I wasn’t good enough for a Viscount’s daughter.”

  “India,” she whispered. “Colin … the war?

  He studied her, “I was determined to amass enough wealth to deserve you.”

  With tears pooling in her eyes, Eve murmured, “Oh, Colin, you fought in the war?”

  Her fingers traced the scars, each one tearing at her heart like a thousand blades, which is what she suspected had pierced his flesh.

  Eve then leaned forward, bending down to kiss each scar as his muscles tightened reflexively under her lips. Once she was finished, her kisses traced a path up his chest, his neck, to his lips.

  “It is I who does not deserve you,” she asserted before tracing his lips with her tongue, her fingers grasping the wavy hair at the nape of his neck.

  Colin’s tongue sought hers with a newfound intensity. His kisses were urgent while his firm hands inched her dress up her legs, her buttocks, her shoulders, his fingertips leaving a tingling sensation in their wake. His mouth released hers just long enough for his dexterous hands to pull her gown above her head and toss it onto the floor.

  Colin studied her bosom, which swelled above her bodice, the flimsy fabric of her chemise all but transparent. Hooking her corset with his finger, he pulled her closer to him, splaying his palms against her waist. Her breasts, round and full, were the perfect size, he thought, as he tantalized the tight buds beneath the fabric of her chemise.

  Eve quivered, closing her eyes and clutching his shoulders as if to steady herself.

  “Do you like this?” he asked, certain of her answer.

  A guttural moan escaped from her throat.

  Crushing his lips against hers, Colin devoured her in a demanding, soul-searching kiss.

  Eve’s hands trailed from his shoulders to his back then lower, and Colin felt like he would explode with need. It took all of his hard-fought control to remind himself that this was his wife’s first time, and she deserved love, adoration, respect.

  Hell, she deserved a soft bed.

  Tearing his lips from hers, Colin turned his wife around, brushing her hair to the side before unlacing her corset. Then he kissed the back of her neck before leading her to the bed. Eve glanced from the mattress to Colin.

  “What?” he whispered.

  Dear God, please don’t let her have second thoughts. Colin didn’t think he could endure it.

  Silently his wife climbed onto the bed, kneeling at the edge of the mattress. She reached for him, pulling him closer to her. She then placed his hands under her shift, against her bare flesh, against her buttocks while Colin’s need reached an urgent level.

  Bunching the fabric of her shift in his fists, Colin slid the garment over her buttocks, her back then her head before tossing it onto the floor. The sight of her naked form stole his very breath.

  His bride was more beautiful than he ever could ever have imagined.

  His fingers explored the milky flesh above her breasts. She was soft, sinfully so he thought. He knew his touch was exciting Eve as the tight pink buds of her nipples hardened under his attention.

  Go slow. It was his silent command even though it was killing him, his painful erection throbbing harder with every second that he wasn’t inside of her. As if sensing this, Eve hooked the waist of his breeches with her finger and pulled him closer towards her, his chest all but ablaze from her naked breasts heaving against his bare torso.

  Eve unbuttoned his breeches, her fingers trembling ever so. Once on full display, she studied his manhood, her eyes wide with open admiration.

  Colin stepped out of his breeches, noting that Eve never averted her eyes. Her shameless interest in his naked form filled his heart with pride.

  As if sensing what was to occur next, Eve laid on her side in the center of the fluffy mattress. He climbed next to her, noting her labored breathing as he settled his weight.

  “Relax,” his rich baritone was hoars
e with desire as his fingers trailed down her hip and thigh, then towards her womanhood. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

  Eve reached for him, tracing his lips with her soft fingertips. “I’m feeling many different sensations at the moment, nervous is not one of them.”

  It took a few seconds for her words to register in his overloaded brain. Her eyes, dark malachite shining in the candlelight, expressed her desire.

  She pressed her mouth against his with a savage hunger before wrapping her leg around his. The instinctive gesture was his undoing.

  Rolling Eve onto her back, Colin lay atop his wife, her supple body adjusting beneath his weight, molding with his. He tore his mouth from hers and Eve moaned her disappointment.

  Colin then kissed her chin, then her neck. His tongue traced a hot path to her breasts, where he paused before gently nipping one of her nipples with his teeth.

  A shudder of pleasure rippled through her as his warm breath fanned her flesh. This feeling, glorious as it was, was nothing in comparison to what was to come, of that she was now certain.

  Colin traced one of her nipples with his tongue and Eve arched her back as heat pulsated through every inch of her body. He then seared a path to her other breast, her flesh on fire underneath his tongue. This time, he nibbled her nipple before seizing it with his mouth. Eve sighed, her nails digging into his flesh, her feminine core now throbbing with need.

  Eve wanted more.

  Was desperate for it.

  As if sensing this, Colin parted her thighs with his warm hand. His dexterous fingers toyed with the curls at her womanhood as Eve gasped in immediate response.

  He then probed downward, to her feminine petals. Eve’s heart skipped a beat, then two as he caressed them.

  Her back arched instinctively as his finger probed her core, slow and steady. He repeated the process, delving a little deeper with each entry until Eve felt as if she would explode.

  “Please,” Eve implored.

  Colin probed even deeper and Eve clutched the opulent bedding with her fist. She was so tight. Colin feared he would hurt her if he entered with his shaft. It took all of his willpower not to take her now, his manhood throbbing beyond the painful stage.

  “It’s all right,” Eve murmured, lacing her fingers around the nape of his neck. “I’m ready.”

  Colin wasn’t as certain. Did she have any idea what was to happen next? Her intense gaze locked with his. “You won’t hurt me.”

  Her belief in him filled his heart to the point that he was certain it would overflow with his love for her. “Darling ...”

  “I trust you,” she whispered. “You won’t hurt me.”

  He relented, his fingers retreating. Eve’s soft form lay still underneath him, waiting. Still wary of hurting her, Colin proceeded gently. Instinctively, Eve parted her legs, causing his erection to throb harder for her in response. She then arched her back, thrusting herself against his length.

  It was nearly Colin’s undoing as he inched inside of his wife, then out, probing for entrance past her feminine wall. All the while, he watched her writhing underneath him.

  Dear God, this woman was his heaven.

  Exploring deeper, Colin repeated the process as her core tightened around his length. It was an ecstasy unlike any he’d ever known. Flames rose within him, burning hotter with each thrust inside of her.

  Eve cried out beneath him.

  “Am I hurting you?” he muttered in a husky whisper, trying to stop, but she wouldn’t let him. Instead, she began to undulate beneath him.

  They were one, united, as he punctured her feminine wall, as they reached for heaven. Higher and faster, until the universe splintered into thousands of tiny fragments, bursts of color and sound.

  At long last Eve Weston belonged to him. They were united in body and soul. The realization filled his life, his once ordinary world, with an abundance of color and energy.

  Crushing his mouth against hers, Colin kissed her until their spasms subsided, losing himself in her. He wasn’t certain where either began or ended.

  They were one.

  For the first time in his life, Colin felt he had a true purpose. His heart beat for Eve. His every breath was for her. To love her and to be loved by her, to protect her until the day he died.

  His life began with her, and he was certain that his life could end with her as well.

  If she ever rejected him ...

  Colin shut his eyes, blocking out the very thought that frightened him unlike any other. On this night, Colin handed Eve his soul.

  His wife now held the power to grant his every wish.

  She also held the power to destroy him.

  Chapter 15

  Colin studied the shadows lurking amid the flickering amber hue of the dimming wall sconces. Such had become his nightly ritual – watching, waiting, while seemingly-innocent silhouettes shifted into distorted and unholy apparitions.

  Most men would consider such interpretations of mere contours between light and dark to be the figments of an overactive imagination. Not Colin, for he understood that the worst nightmares were conjured from truth. He also knew from firsthand experience that evil does indeed exist, propagating horrors that most refined men fail to comprehend.

  He listened to his bride sleeping soundly beside him in naked splendor, the sound of her rhythmic breathing and the warmth of her body nestled against his failing to keep his insomnia at bay.

  His eyes remained fixed upon the vaulted ceiling where outlines of what appeared to be spindly branches crept upwards. They stretched higher until arriving at the arch where they froze as if fossilized.

  Reminders, though unnecessary, that there was no escape from his past and the many daemons it harbored.

  Eve stirred, stretching as she rested her chin on Colin’s chest. “You’re awake?”

  Cupping her face in his hands, he explained, “I don’t sleep much.”

  Her gaze softened, as if she understood. “This is a new beginning. Perhaps, that will help?”

  Dear God he hoped so.

  “How can this possibly feel so right?” Eve asked, coiling wisps of his soft chest hair between her fingers, “after we caused so much pain for Tristan?”

  Guilt lodged in Colin’s throat. He swallowed hard against it, finding his voice at last. “I don’t know. It does feel fated, doesn’t it?”

  Eve propped herself up on her elbow, her long, golden hair spilling over her milky breasts, the same breasts that his mouth had devoured mere hours before.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  Colin brushed his thumb against her smooth cheek. “I love you, too.”

  A deep line of concern furrowed across Eve’s forehead. “I used him.”

  “Don’t say such a thing,” he responded.

  “It is true though I didn’t realize it at the time.” Staring at Colin’s chest, as if shamed by her admission, she continued. “I could have told him dozens of times about us. Instead, I remained silent. I pretended that I could replace you, convinced myself that I loved him to make me less despicable in my own eyes.”

  At the mere mention of Eve having feelings of affection for another man, tension coiled within Colin’s abdomen like a snake. He didn’t want to consider Eve loving anyone else, especially his younger brother.

  “The truth is that I never loved him,” Eve admitted, her intense gaze now locked with his. “I know now that you’re the only man I have ever loved. I used him to bury what I felt for you.”

  The snake in Colin’s abdomen retreated. Why her admission thrilled him, he knew not; however, in mere seconds the room appeared brighter, the light illuminated from the sconces warmer than before.

  “That’s the reason I feel so guilty,” Eve said as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I don’t know how I can feel such happiness with you, knowing that it came at such a steep price for Tristan.”

  Colin wrapped Eve in a tight cocoon. He should feel ashamed, should be riddled with
guilt for hurting his brother, but, the more Colin considered it, he felt ashamed because he didn’t feel guilty enough. It made no sense at all. Colin knew that he was at fault, yet a relief that he had never known settled within his soul because Eve was his, at last.

  He decided the time for shame had passed. Eve wasn’t right for Tristan. She recognized it as did Colin. Eventually Tristan would realize it as well, though Colin hoped his brother would discover it quickly for all their sakes.

  An idea formed, one that would allow Eve a respite from her guilt and Tristan time to heal.

  “I have an idea,” he announced, pulling the bedding higher over Eve’s shoulders, “how about a change of scenery?”

  “Your bedchamber instead of mine?” she stroked his chest.

  Colin smiled into her hair. “No, although I am not opposed to your suggestion, I was thinking more along the lines of a journey.”

  “Ah,” Eve’s hand stilled. “So we shall run, then?”

  “No running.” Colin kissed the palm of her hand, noting that this had become a habit now and reveling in the intimacy of such an innocent act. “I prefer taking a train.”

  Giggling, Eve leaned against her elbow. “Do you have a destination in mind?”

  Destination …

  Where would he take his bride? He must return in time to check the progress of the Scottish estate renovations though he dreaded doing so since that estate dredged up many bitter memories for him.

  Seeds of his plan began to take root. With Eve by his side, they could make new memories. Additionally, the flurry of activity at the estate would give her activities to focus upon.

  There would be no time for guilt.

  “Our estate in Scotland,” he suggested. “I had been planning to sell it. However, seeing as you are my wife now, you must see it first. Who knows? Perhaps you will like it so much that we decide to keep it.”

  “Our estate,” Eve nestled deeper in the crook of his neck, the wispy strands at his nape tickling her nose. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Our Scottish estate, it is,” Colin said, one of his warm hands cupping her breast.