But quite recently, he found himself developing a strange liking for the wench. And it had been arranged to have her released once his sister left in a few days, considering she followed through with the plan. But he didn’t see at all how he’d allow her out of his grasp. He wanted her with a burning sensation that threatened to engulf him. His manhood could testify to that.
Shoving the dagger back inside the drawer, he massaged his chin and thought on it. If he had anything at all to say about it, Miss Rolfen was not going anywhere and he was going to make sure of that.
A brief knock came on the door and he sat up. It must be Gilgallon. Ulric had been expecting him.
“Come in.”
The guard stepped inside and shoved the door close. “Milord.”
“Have you discovered anything?”
“No, sir. No one in town happens to know her. It’s like she doesn’t exist at all.”
Ulric scratched his temple in thought. “That...or she’s not from around here.”
“Possibly.”
“I shall keep an even closer eye on her then. Thank you, Gilgallon.”
“No problem, milord.”
The guard bowed his head and then turned to leave.
“Gilgallon?”
“Sir?”
Ulric shifted awkwardly in his seat and brushed at the collar of his shirt. “Perhaps, you should ask Cook to prepare you a proper lunch. I doubt the biscuits and lemonade my sister feeds on is likely to suit your appetite.”
Gilgallon’s face lit up with a strange brightness as he left the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him.
* * *
“My sister is off again, apparently.” Ulric slid into the library, fully knowing he would have discovered her there. “Widow Shentil seemed to have decided to enjoy the local theater tonight before she leaves in the morning.”
Audelia Rolfen’s hand paused as she made to turn a book leaf. “Lord St. Rosso.”
It was a cold acknowledgment if not any at all but Ulric moved in closer to study her beneath the torchlight. Her smooth skin glowed with youthful radiance, and his fingers itched to touch it.
“This is the only place I’m fortunate enough to find you on so many occasions. I have to conclude it’s your favorite place in the house then.”
She continued reading...or pretended to read. Ulric preferred the latter. “Or perhaps it is the only place I can go that I’ll be out of the way of others.”
“Is there anyone in particular?” Her gaze met his briefly before lowering again. Ulric smiled and took a turn about the room, when all he wanted to do was march over to her and sample those lips that had been tempting him for the past few hours. “Are you avoiding me then?”
“Trying,” she muttered flatly, turning pages much faster than natural for any reader. “But failing terribly.”
“You continue to wound me.” Ulric approached her now but she did not bat even an eye. “But you must think I’m easily set aside.”
“I have no wish to set aside what I haven’t the power to move, sir.” The blasted woman turned another page. “Though if you want me to leave, you have all the right to dismiss me.”
Smiling, he took a couple more steps forward, the front of his boots brushing against the hem of her dress. This time she did stand, leaning backwards as she did so as if she dared not touch him. Audelia slammed the book shut and he gently took it from her grasp.
“ ‘The Romance of the Rose’,” he commented, handing her back the book. “I’d have never guessed you were a reader of such...ardor themes.”
Her brown eyes glanced slantingly up at him. “I may be a thief but I’m very much a woman.”
Ulric stepped closer, so close she finally had to tilt her pretty little face up at him. “I’ve noticed.” His gazed raked over her slowly and hotly, making sure she caught his meaning and did not mistake him. “I’d have to be a fool not to notice.”
“Sir--”
“Have you ever been kissed, Audelia?”
She gasped. Yes, it was the reaction he’d been hoping over. Stepping backwards, she stumbled a bit, dropping the book on the floor. Ulric pursued, eventually backing her against a bookshelf.
“Do not come any closer,” she gasped. Her tone was steely but her eyes vulnerable and needy and perhaps as desire-filled as his was.
“Have you?”
“I have.” Which was the truth but he needn’t know how many times.
“Then you should be aware of the fact that I’m about to kiss you now.”
“N-no,” she sputtered. “You mustn’t.”
Ulric reached a hand up to brush his knuckles against one warm blushing cheek. She shivered at his touch which sent a leap of encouragement straight down to his groin. “Because?”
“B-because I do not wish you to. Are you to take advantage of me when I cannot defend myself? Y-you must truly be the worst of rogues.”
“I merely mean to taste that fiery mouth of yours,” he clarified. “Not to lift your skirts and have my way.” If her cheeks got any more redder, Ulric might think she’d be about to explode. Chuckling wickedly, he added, “At least, not yet.”
Her hand came up fast and fierce but he caught it just in time before she’d succeeded at what he thought, by no doubt, would be a rather resounding slap. “Unhand me, you beast.”
To the contrary, he held on and gently massaged her relatively calloused palm, using his other hand to tip her chin upwards. Her shaky breath fanned out against his hand, sending tiny tremors surging through him. Up this close, she was even more beautiful and his mind was already constructing images of all the things he wanted to do to her. To run his hands down that slender neck and free her of the restrictions of that wretched dress. He wanted to dip his head and suck on those lovely breasts until she was beneath him, hot and wet, and begging him for more. Good god, if he continued like this, he’d spend himself before he managed to accomplish anything else.
Easing much, much closer, Ulric fully backed her against the shelf and pressed himself against her lithe body, enjoying how she fit perfectly against him. Those small supple breasts squeezed against his chest, swelling above the neckline of her dress and giving him a wondrously delicious view. Ulric wanted...and he wanted right now. Pressing her captured hand firmly against his chest, he held it there, certain she could feel the wild pounding of his heart there. Audelia’s eyes widened only slightly, her pupils dancing with surprise and just a hint of uncertainty.
His head had already dipped, angling towards hers when she released a shock gasp.
“No. You can’t--”
Slanting his mouth gently over hers, Ulric swallowed her protests, tightening his hold on her as she stiffened in his arms. He kissed her slowly, nipping and tasting and sampling her sweetness, and licking on that trembling bottom lip. He continued teasing and taunting her, encouraging her until he felt her limbs loosen and her body leaned into his. When her mouth shifted slightly beneath his, hoped soared from deep within his gut and lust kicked its way downwards, causing his balls to tighten with need.
Good Jesu, his shaft was as hard as a rock and he ground himself against her, deepening the kiss and feeling utterly satisfied that she was kissing him back. When he eased back a moment, she was breathing just as hard as he was, her stunning eyes fluttering open slowly.
“Tell me to kiss you,” he demanded, pressing his pelvis harder into her, making her feel what she was doing to him.
“I--”
“Tell me. Tell me to taste you and pleasure you. Say it.” He pressed a thumb against the imprint of her right nipple and rubbed it gently.
Audelia’s mouth opened slightly as she sucked in a shaky breath. “Lord St. Rosso--”
“Ulric.”
She shook her head. “Do that again.”
“Do what again?”
“Kiss me.”
And that was all the encouragement he needed. Ulric lifted her off her feet and sat her down on the desk across the room, working quickl
y at the ties on the front of her dress. He shoved fabric and fabric aside until he had her small ample breasts in his hands. Moving between her legs, he bent forward, lowering his mouth over one pebbled areola and suckled. Audelia gasped out loud, back arching as she offered herself to him.
“Sweet,” he murmured against her chest as he moved over to her other nipple and flicked his tongue over it. “Tell me again, Audelia.”
She squirmed, fingers now gripping tightly in his long thick hair as she held him close to her. “Damn you! I said kiss me.”
Ulric chuckled and crushed his mouth against hers, drinking from her sweetness as she met his tongue thrust for thrust. “Now, that’s more like it.”
Twelve
Ulric watched Audelia as she re-did the ties on her dress, not daring to move an inch until she looked up at him. He’d never imagined her to be so verbal in the throes of passion but then again, he hadn’t expected her to taste so sweet either. She was like a siren, unknowing of the fact, in the most pleasing of ways. And as much as he’d enjoyed that she’d allowed him to kiss her senseless, he was not in the mood for any changes in her attitude anytime soon.
“You are awfully quiet,” he managed. “Even for you.”
“I generally am. In case you hadn’t noticed.” She finished with the ties on her dress and looked up at him. “If you are asking if I am having regrets, then the answer is no.”
Ulric nodded, satisfied with the answer but still a bit puzzled. “I’d not expected you to be like this.”
Audelia frowned. “How’d you expect me to be?”
“Screaming off my head right now, I suppose.”
She chuckled, which also surprised him. “I permitted you, did I not?”
Ulric rest his hands on her waist and leaned in, his mouth inches from hers. “Yes. Yes, you did.”
“Then I suppose that’s it then.” She glanced down at his big hands on her hips and tried not to squirm. “I should like to stand, though. My legs feel a bit cramped.”
“Oh.” Ulric lifted her down to her feet and took her hand in his. “Sit with me a bit, will you?”
“But I must--”
“Relax, Audelia. I’m not expecting my sister back for another few hours or so.”
He was fastly becoming an avid user of her name, Audelia thought. And as much as the idea frightened her, she feared that she liked very much how it rolled easily off his tongue. She liked the other things that he did with his tongue too and even though she knew she should have rejected him, Audelia could not find the courage to do so. Lord Ulric St. Rosso was becoming too likable far too quickly. Silently obliging, she allowed him to lead her over to the sofa where he sat her down before taking his own seat. Audelia watched him carefully through the corner of her eye, swallowing as he invaded on her space, his large gorgeous physique so close that the side of her knee was pressed against his hard thigh.
“Do you not see your sister often?” she blurted, eager to break the silence but truly had not intended for that to have been her first utterance.
Ulric gazed at her and arched a brow. “You mean business, don’t you?”
“I’m curious, is all. Are you two quite close?”
“Damnation, must you throw so many questions?” Chuckling, he reached to his feet and paced a bit. “Ryia and I are not the closest of siblings but she is my only sibling and I believe that owes her quite a great degree of my affection.”
Audelia nodded, not obtuse to the slight annoyance in his voice even though it was obvious he tried to conceal it. “She seems very happy.”
“So I’ve noticed,” he said, sinking back down onto the sofa. “And I’m satisfied that she is. I must admit that I hadn’t totally approved of her marriage to the baron but...I saw that they were in love even from then. For that reason alone, I had given my blessings.”
Frowning, she shifted to look him in the eye. “Why had you not approved?”
His jaws clenched tightly and then unclenched. “She was young. Just two years your junior when he offered for her. I’d thought she’d needed more time, to gain experience with other suitors before she decided what love was.”
“And you? You know what love is?” she asked lightheartedly. “I’d have never thought you to be a believer of such...ardor themes.”
Ulric chuckled, intrigued by the way she’d spun his own words back at him. “I’ve seen love. My mother and father had loved each other. Quite ardently. When he died, she’d been brokenhearted and lonely until her own passing not very long after.”
Audelia glanced away, focusing her gaze on a nearby lantern that burnt brightly before them. “A love like that must had been very great, indeed.”
“Look at me,” he whispered and when she didn’t, he gently turned her face towards his. Her pretty brown eyes were flooded with so much sadness and hurt, his gut clenched at the sight. “Tell me about them.”
“Who?”
“Your parents.”
Jerking her chin from his grip, she glanced away again. “I may have permitted you to kiss me and...touch me but that hardly obligates me to confide in you.”
Something spiked inside of Ulric that, for an instant, he felt the sudden urge to shake her senseless. “Do not toy with me, Audelia. If I did not truly want to know, I would never have asked. Now quit acting like a child and look at me.”
It took her a moment to face him again, her eyes hard and angry. “My parents are dead. Are you satisfied now? I do not know them. I don’t even know what they look like save for the evidence that I try so hard to seek from my own reflection.”
Ulric remained silent for a minute, trying to find the proper words to say back to her. He’d never had much experience with consoling others, not even Ryia. When their own parents had died, she’d locked herself away that he scarcely even saw her. And when her grieving was over, he’d thought it had been too late to offer any consolation. Letting out a low breath, he took Audelia’s hand and brought it to his lips, feathering light kisses against her palm, fingertips and wrist.
“Forgive me,” he said. “If you wish not to speak on it again, I shall not bring it up.”
Nodding, she lowered her eyelids and sighed. She then met his eyes again sheepishly. “I...I know a thing or two about what happens between a man and a woman when they are...attracted to each other.”
A pulse ticked heavily in Ulric’s neck. “Are you admitting that you find me attractive?”
“I’m sure that many females are aware of the fact.”
“You’ll find it pleasing that I’ve not made the acquaintance of many females.”
“That’s because you’re a hermit.” And she flashed him a dainty smile.
“And you have spent too much time already with my sister.”
Audelia giggled and shifted some more, her legs brushing against his own. “I-I suppose we can try some of that.” She swallowed visibly, her eyes on his lips. “What happens between a man and a woman, I mean.”
“Are you certain?” Oh dear god, please say yes.
She nodded and reached for his hands. “Yes.”
Ulric grabbed her over onto his lap, shoving her skirts aside and parting her knees so that she straddled him. Hands moving fast, he undid the ties she had redone so carefully, trying his best not to rip the blasted thing. For heavens sake, women’s clothing was far too complicated for his liking.
A throaty moan escaped her as he buried his face within the valley of her breasts, sucking on the sensitive flesh there. Ulric was already hard and ready for her but he was damned well going to be patient about it even if it killed him. Dragging his mouth from beneath her own eager lips, he filled his hands with her breasts.
“Are you a virgin?” She was not at all innocent but it would not have surprised him either to learn that she had never been taken. As much as he’d been with his own fair share of women, Ulric had never deflowered a wench before and he had to admit that it would suit him greatly if he did not have to do so at the moment.
Her cheeks blushed hotly for a moment, as if with embarrassment, until she slowly shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
Sweet, merciful Jesu. Ulric lifted her skirts and reached between them, almost shouting with triumph when he found her drawers. Ripping away the thin fabric, he pulled her down to kiss him, gently pressing his thumb against the sensitive bud he found at the apex of her thighs. Good gracious, she was already wet for him.
“Touch me,” he breathed. “Take me in your hand, Audelia.”
She hadn’t hesitated either, reaching for the button at the front of his breeches and freeing his straining manhood. For a moment, she just stared down at it, eyes round as she gawked at his member. Ulric knew he was not small--had never been--but if she continued to look at him like that, he was surely meant to explode into a thousand pieces. To his relief, one slender tentative hand reached down between them, her fingers brushing lightly over the head of his shaft. Stiffening, Ulric groaned, his hips flexing eagerly at her touch.
Just when he thought he could not have taken it any longer, Audelia’s fingers brushed down his length--from tip to base--once, then twice and then far too many times. Pleasure struck him hard and fast, swelling so deep that he had no intention of being the sole participant of it.
Gently easing her upwards, he raised her hips until he could feel his positioned length at the entrance of her wet heat.
“Forgive me if I’m a bit rough,” he groaned, slowly lowering her onto his shaft. Her tight heat enveloped him like a blasted glove. Gritting his teeth, he glanced up at her as she bit down on her bottom lip. “I fear I may not be able to contain myself.”
And with that Ulric flexed his hips, thrusting upwards and burying himself deeply inside her warmth. Sweet heavens, he must be in paradise. Audelia’s cry echoed throughout the room and he pulled her down to smother her mouth with his before moving within her again. With every delicious slide of his manhood, Ulric sucked on those lips, swallowing her whimpers and passion-filled moans.
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