But finally, she sat and Landon’s heart swelled with irrational triumph. She was his again… at least for now. And he was going to take full advantage, propriety and pain be damned.
He handed her the tumbler and she took a long sip. Her hands trembled as she set it down on the table on her side of the settee. Landon stared, waiting, willing the moment to stretch forever.
And then, as if by some other force than his own mind, his hand lifted and he touched her. Just her cheek, stroking the back of his hand along curve of her jaw. It was like heaven. Every nerve, every ounce of desire that he had stored away for all these years exploded free in one blazing instant. It took everything in him not to drag her to the floor, tear her dress to shreds and rut with her like an animal.
He let out a low moan when she shifted beneath his hand. “Juliana, hold still,” he groaned. “Just let me-let me-”
She tensed, her eyes widening, but she did as she was told. Utterly motionless, she watched his every move as he slowly relearned the body that had been burned on his brain for so long. He cupped the nape of her neck, tracing the slope of her throat with his palm, then running his fingers across the arch of her collarbone.
Juliana bit back a muffled sigh, but to her credit she didn’t move. Even as her nipples puckered into clear outline against the satin bodice of her gown, she didn’t waver, she didn’t arch, she didn’t speak. She just let him touch her. Any way he wanted. Every way he had dreamed about for so long.
Landon’s hands shook as he ran his thumb along the lace at the edge of her gown’s low neckline. Her skin flushed with desire and her fingers clenched into fists at her sides as he slipped the index finger of each hand below the bodice and tugged. The dress slipped forward, the fabric straining as her breast was revealed inch by inch. Finally, the gown gave way, slipped below the globe as her right breast popped free.
Juliana gasped as the cool air hit her naked skin. But she didn’t feel cold. Landon’s gaze was too hot on her to feel anything but like she was burning. Her nipple strained, tingling even though it was only the gown’s soft fabric that had brushed it. She longed to slip her fingers through Landon’s hair and force his mouth down to suckle her, but she resisted. He had asked her to remain still. To let him do what he wished. And she had agreed to obey his every order when it came to sex. She had no choice but to sit impassive as he simply stared at her naked breast, making love to her with his intensely gray eyes.
He lifted a hand and stroked the rounded underside of her breast. His fingers traced the flesh, enflaming her, sending hot, thick desire to course between her legs. She fought the urge to squirm, to relieve the pressure by wiggling in her seat. His finger trailed up… up and he circled her straining nipple with his index finger.
“Landon,” she moaned, unable to keep the sound from escaping for all the gold in England. “Oh, God, Landon.”
His breath came hotter, faster as he thumbed the peak of her breast, rolling her tingling nipple between his fingers as her body jolted of its own accord.
“I want to taste you, Juliana,” he groaned.
It wasn’t a request for permission, but she nodded at any rate. Landon locked his gaze with hers for a long moment before he tilted his head and stroked his tongue where his fingers had been just moments before.
Juliana couldn’t control herself, no matter how she tried. Her hands came up, gliding through his hair as she slipped back against the settee cushions. Her moan was like a sob, breaking through the quiet room as he sucked her, lapped her, trailed his tongue in a purposeful circle around and around her aching bud.
The feel of his mouth on her skin went all the way through her body, heating her blood, flipping her stomach and wetting her thighs with desire unlike any she’d ever known. It had been an eternity since he touched her… and she realized she had waited every day, every hour, every moment for this. For him.
His fingers found the buttons at the back of her gown as his mouth continued its wicked loving of her bare skin. She hardly felt her dress falling forward, her chemise being slipped from her shoulders. Suddenly she was bared from the waist up and Landon leaned back to look at her.
“Juliana,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Juliana.”
She swallowed hard, her whole body trembling with anticipation. Need. Desire.
Terror.
Landon cupped one bare breast in each hand and brought them together. She clawed at his shoulders, her hips lifting against his chest as he leaned over and lapped from one to the other. Every part of her felt alive in a way she never thought she’d feel again. Her legs fell open beneath his weight and when he leaned in to stroke his tongue in the valley between her breasts she felt the hard, thick thrust of his erection nudge her thigh.
“Please, please,” she moaned, unsure what exactly she was begging for. She just wanted more. More of his touch. More pleasure. More of him. Anywhere. Everywhere.
He moved closer and she lifted her chin, readying her lips for his kiss, waiting for it like it was her next breath. God knew, she needed it as much. Her eyes fluttered shut and she waited…
But nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, Landon was leaning over her, his face tantalizingly close to her own… but he wasn’t moving in to claim her lips. His brow was furrowed as he stared down at her, as if he was battling an inner demon, one he might not defeat.
“Landon?” she whispered, her lips quivering with anticipation.
He expelled a breath and she thought a curse escaped with it, though she couldn’t be sure. He leaned back, releasing her as he rested against the cushions, panting as he tried to regain equilibrium.
Juliana flopped an arm over her eyes. She had wanted his kiss so badly and it seemed like he wanted to give it to her. But then he drew back, like that act was too intimate. More so, even, than claiming her. Letting his mouth pleasure her breasts was fine. But giving her a kiss was too much.
She had earned this, of course, through her betrayal. He had to remember all the other times they had kissed. Like the first time. A kiss in the dark shadow of Lord Misenworth’s London estate during a ball. She still remembered how strange the kiss had seemed… and how quickly she had melted. The need between them had nearly overflowed that night and Landon had asked her to marry him. Run away with him.
She remembered, too, their first kiss as man and wife, stolen outside a Scottish church as rain pounded down around them. It had been a cold afternoon, but with Landon’s arms around her, she had been sheltered from anything unpleasant, anything unwanted. She had clung to him, ignoring the clucking tongue of the man who had married them. Because she was his.
But the one kiss that bore into her thoughts the most was their last kiss, just before her father burst in on them. Landon had been so betrayed when she left. When she turned at the carriage door to give one last glance, he had been standing at the window… wiping his mouth as if he wanted nothing more than to erase her taste from his lips.
That final betrayal kept him at a distance even now as she lay half naked beside him, her breasts still aching from his touch.
She moved her arm to look up at him. He was staring at her, examining her face as if he was trying to decide what to do now. All she could do was wait. And hope he wouldn’t abandon their bargain… and her.
Catching her hand, Landon pulled her to a seated position. He brushed a few stray hairs away from her face. “Do you remember our last night together?”
She winced. It was as she thought. He was recalling that last bittersweet kiss at the inn. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I remember.”
He clasped her hand in the warmth of his own. It trembled as he lowered it, never breaking eye contact, to his throbbing erection.
She sucked in a breath as he let go, but she didn’t pull away. She was too mesmerized by the feel of his hard cock beneath her palm. How long had it been since she felt this? Felt him? Her fingers curled against the scratchy wool of his trousers, stroking the length of him through t
he fabric as she struggled for words.
“You-You mean what we did that night,” she whispered. “What I asked you to teach me.”
He nodded.
“You want me to do that now?” She heard her voice. It had gone husky with desire she had no ability or desire to mask.
“Yes,” he said on a burst of jagged breath. “I want that.”
A powerful torrent of joy exploded within Juliana. If he wanted her to pleasure him, it meant he couldn’t resist her. That his memories weren’t more powerful than his needs. And that meant she had some chance. Some chance to keep his interest while he found her sister.
And perhaps a chance to do something more. To mend what had been broken.
Even though she knew that was a faraway dream.
She didn’t release his cock, continuing to play her fingers along his erection as she slid from the settee to her knees before him. Her bare breasts brushed the scratchy wool of his trousers as she settled between his legs. She looked up at him, snaring his gaze with hers.
“Then lay back,” she whispered, placing her unoccupied hand against his stomach and pushing him to rest against the settee. He slouched, watching her every move as she unbuttoned his trousers.
Juliana was surprised she could even breathe as each button brought her closer to freeing Landon’s straining cock. She was overwhelmed with anticipation of the act he asked from her. Years ago, it had been foreign to her. A little frightening, for she wasn’t sure about the workings of desire, the way to please a man.
Now things were different. Her marriage bed with Breckinhill hadn’t been one of gentleness or much pleasure. But she’d been with the man enough to learn about sex. Now when she loosened the last button and opened the fly of his trousers, setting Landon’s cock free, she wasn’t surprised by its appearance, mesmerized by its color and texture as she had been the last night they shared.
She was only aroused. He had given her great pleasure with his body. And she prayed she would experience even more. She remembered all too well and in far too great a detail the way Landon had once plunged into her, swearing his love and his passion with every stroke. Filling her until she could no longer determine where he stopped and she began. She’d been empty ever since, missing a piece of herself. Maybe, just maybe, she could get that piece back if she joined with him again.
With a shiver, she traced the vein that ran along the underside of his cock with a fingernail, teasing him. Landon’s hands fisted as he sucked in a harsh breath. She smiled despite how fixated she was on the pleasure of being so close to him again.
Leaning forward, she made quick work of her hairpins, letting her locks loose in a wave around her bare shoulders and his legs. Her hair curled around his cock and Landon’s hips jerked toward her.
“Oh God, you smell good,” he growled, almost as if he couldn’t help the words from falling from his lips.
“So do you,” she murmured. He did. Just as she remembered. Clean male, a hint of exotic spice, with an underlying scent of desire. A musk of potent, powerful need.
Lowering her head, she rested her cheek against his thigh. Since she had freed only his cock from the confines of his pants, the wool scratched her face, creating a friction so different from the silky skin she was stroking.
“Take me into your mouth, Juliana,” he moaned, his gray eyes darkening rapidly. They were wild, demanding… and yet he was at her mercy in this one thing. She could control the force of his pleasure with the flick of her tongue.
“Now?” she teased as she leaned forward and blew a hot breath onto the head of his cock. His erection jerked in response, lengthening even further in her hand.
“Yes,” he ground out past clenched teeth. “Now. Now!”
She didn’t wait to be asked a second time. Wrapping her lips around him, she took him deep into her mouth and tasted the faintly bitter tang of his essence as she swirled her tongue around his girth.
“Juliana,” he gasped, his fists pulling at the settee’s cushions, crushing the velvet to a point where they probably couldn’t be repaired.
The sound of her name, groaned at the height of pleasure, gave her a jolt of power and excitement. It incited her to take him deeper, to let her hand join in her sexual torment. Immediately, she set a hard, fast rhythm, daring him to resist, daring him to pretend that her mouth didn’t bring him to the brink within a few strokes.
Landon’s hips jolted in time and his moans turned to harsh cries as she worked him with her lips. She expected the gush of his seed at any moment, waited for it, longed for it, but instead of finding release, he surprised her by pushing his hands beneath her arms. His cock slipped from her lips and she let out a cry of disappointment that was immediately replaced by a moan of excitement when he put her on her back on the plush carpeting.
She expected him to push her skirts aside and delve into her wet heat, but instead he straddled her shoulders. His cock brushed her lips and she opened them to bring him back inside as he leaned over her to shove her skirts up. Juliana’s eyes widened, but her gasp was lost against the rigid thrust of him, as was her cry of pleasure when Landon spread the folds of her pussy open to reveal the slickness of her sex.
She sucked him, holding him steady as she continued to take him deep, roll her tongue around him. But now she was no longer in control. Landon speared his tongue inside her, taking her with his mouth as he thumbed her aching clit. She screamed as pleasure built in the pit of her stomach. It was shocking how quickly he could bring her to the point of explosion. But he had. And he took her over the edge when he swirled his tongue around her clit, sucking even as he pushed two big fingers deep inside her clenching channel.
She bucked, taking him all the deeper, stroking him harder and faster with her mouth as pleasure washed over her in a violent, crashing wave. Her entire body shook as he continued to suckle her, never letting her come down from one wave before he brought her another sharp blast of pleasure.
She felt his balls tighten as she continued her own assault on his erotic control. His moans vibrated against her clit, setting off even more tremors of release just as he tried to pull out of her mouth. She grasped the base of his penis, holding him steady as his seed burst free. She took it all, loving the salty taste of his essence, loving how he bent his head back and howled out pleasure toward the moon like a wolf finally set free after years of captivity.
Together, almost in time, they each shuddered with the final release of pleasure. Landon’s cock slipped from her lips as he rolled onto his side on the floor, panting in time to her own ragged breaths. She looked at him, his skin flushed like her own and damp with sweat. For the first time since he had entered his parlor the night before, he was disheveled. She had stripped away the stiff vestiges of control he so often wore.
And she liked it. She liked being the woman who made him explode with pleasure. The woman he couldn’t keep from touching, even if he would not grant her anything but the most intimate of kisses.
If only he would give her more. But she had lost that. Given it up in the same moment she agreed to go with her father. Was forced to pretend she had never been Landon’s wife.
And now the full ramifications of that horrible choice were coming home to her. Coming home in the way Landon had so easily given her pleasure, yet hadn’t given her even the tiniest piece of his heart.
Chapter Four
In many ways, time had not changed Juliana. She was still as beautiful as ever. In fact, as Landon looked at her, dress tangled around her waist, skin flush with pleasure, he realized she was even lovelier than she had been when she became his wife.
But in some aspects, she was entirely different. Gone was the girl who was eager to learn how to touch him, how to give him pleasure even as he tutored her in her own desire. Now Juliana was well versed in the ways of desire. She had even taken every drop of his seed, despite his attempts to withdraw before he spent.
His eyes narrowed and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. Had she
learned those things from her husband? The damned Duke of Breckinhill had been well known for his carnal urges. A frequent visitor to the lowest brothels in the city, even after his marriage.
The thought soured Landon and he got to his feet, dragging his trousers back to his waist as he did so.
She watched him with a little smile on her glistening lips. She was the picture of a well-pleasured lady and his cock began to harden immediately at the way she stared at him with such open desire.
“Apparently you had a good tutor during our time apart,” he snapped, hating his ugly tone, but unable to control it or the roaring jealousy that so took him by surprise. “Or was there more than one?”
Juliana flinched at his words and the way he stalked away. She got to a seated position, dragging her dress up to cover her breasts.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, her voice filled with equal measures of hurt and outrage.
He took a swig of the stale whiskey he hadn’t touched before their encounter, but he could still taste her on his lips. “You heard me. I was applauding your technique.”
She got to her feet with a stumble. “And you think someone tutored me thus?”
He shrugged. Damn it, why was he so angry? He’d known she was faithless, known she had been in at least one other man’s bed since they parted. Why did it hurt so much?
“You must admit, you were not nearly so comfortable with a cock in your mouth before,” he snapped and hated himself immediately for the words.
She drew back. “You bastard,” she finally said, voice low and shaking. “What do you know of my life when we were apart?”
“I know that you lied, betrayed our marriage vows, entered a false union with one of the most well-known lechers of our day and then came to me offering your body in trade for your sister’s freedom,” he said.
She yanked her gown over her arms. “It was you who made the offer of a trade of sin for Evelyn’s freedom, not I, my lord. And if you think I enjoyed being married to one of the most well known lechers of our time, or that I learned anything about pleasure from his tutelage, you are sadly mistaken. I learned how to give release to myself and to a man by recalling every moment you and I spent together. By reliving every encounter in my dreams.”
Jess Michaels Page 19