With that, she loosened the buttons of his trousers and let them fall at his ankles. Without breaking eye contract, Landon toed off his boots and shoved the remainder of his clothing aside, leaving him as naked as she was.
She looked. She’d seen his cock… touched him through his clothing as they made love with the frantic need they had been experiencing in the past few days. But this was the first time she really saw Landon in his full glory for a very long time, indeed.
He was beautiful. The firelight flickered off his bare skin, accentuated every muscle from his broad shoulders to his tight chest to the coils of his thighs… and to the hard, heated cock that curled upward in a carnal display of his need for her body.
Fresh tears filled her eyes, but this time they weren’t from fear for Evelyn, from a realization of what she had sacrificed. They weren’t from sadness or regret at all. They were tears of awe. Of anticipation. Of knowing that tonight she would be his completely. That she could be his, even if belonging to him only lasted a few hours.
She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as she let her body curve flush with his.
“Love me, Landon,” she whispered. “Love me.”
Landon blinked down at her as he realized how much he did. He loved her. He still did. He always had. He opened his mouth… he would have made that dangerous confession, except that her lips tilted and she brought her mouth to his and silenced his words.
Landon lifted her on to the high bed, brought himself up to lay between her legs and stopped. He looked at her. Her hair was spread across the pillows, her body arching toward his with need, and he loved her more than he had ever loved her before.
Bringing his mouth down, he tasted her skin, suckling her throat, gliding along the ridge of her collarbone, taking one nipple between his lips as she writhed.
This love… it couldn’t survive. That had been proven. Juliana had already made her choices and he could never have faith that she wouldn’t repeat that in the future. But that couldn’t change the fact that his heart swelled with feeling for her. All the anger he’d let fester inside of him hadn’t rotted away the love that was so much stronger.
And by God, tonight he would feel it. Surrender to it.
Landon placed a hand on each of her inner thighs. Her legs fell open without any encouragement from him and her sex glistened in the dying firelight. He met her eyes, felt her stare burn into his as he positioned himself at her entrance, readying himself to be welcomed into her heat.
Welcomed home.
And then he thrust. Her body stretched to accommodate him, massaged him as he filled her until he was fully seated. He leaned over her and took her mouth as he began to move within her. She lifted to meet him, rolling her hips in a circle that drove him absolutely wild. Each time he moved, it brought him that much closer to release, but he fought to remain in control. He wanted her to have her pleasure. He wanted to give it to her again and again and again. Until she would remember no man but him. Until he could erase the time that had passed.
He caught her hand in his and eased it down their bodies to place it between them where they were joined. Drawing back from her mouth, he whispered, “Touch yourself.”
Her blue eyes darkened to a magnificent midnight before she cupped the back of his head with her unoccupied hand and drew him down for another kiss.
While he thrust, her fingers worked, brushing the base of his cock as she played with her clit. He felt her approach the brink when the smooth rhythm of her hips became more erratic. They jolted up, her body colliding with his as she careened out of control.
And then she was coming. He felt it in the way her body quivered, milking him. In the way her hand jerked between them. And he heard it in the way she let out a low, wailing cry of release that he caught with his lips. He never let up, keeping his cock moving within her until she panted, collapsing back onto the pillows as a deep flush colored her delicate skin.
It wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He never wanted this night to end. Catching her hips, he rolled onto his back, dragging her with him but never breaking the connection of their bodies.
Juliana didn’t even hesitate. She met Landon’s eyes evenly as she planted one hand on each side of his head and began to stroke. She arched her hips until his cock nearly withdrew entirely, then slipped forward to fill herself again. Over and over, she repeated the movement, keeping her hips moving at a steady, maddeningly slow pace. God, he could feel her pussy clench with every moment, massaging and releasing his cock with the perfect pressure, the ideal wet heat.
Landon sucked in his breath with each stroke and clawed at her hips, urging her to move faster, but she only gave him a wicked smile. As if she knew she was tormenting him with the slow slide of her pussy around him and she liked it. As if she was in no hurry to explode a second time if it meant making him groan and beg for his own release.
Well, two could play at that game. Landon leaned forward to capture one of her nipples between his lips. He sucked ever so gently and was rewarded by her harsh gasp of pleasure and surprise. She clutched his shoulders, but he didn’t let up. He grasped both her breasts, lifting them to lick from one nipple to the other, gliding his tongue between them as if he was working his tongue between her legs.
She jolted and her hips moved faster, almost as if she was no longer in charge of them. Oh, but he could do much better. Locking his gaze on hers, he swirled his tongue around his index finger. Her eyes went wide as he continued laving her nipple with his tongue, even as he reached around behind her.
“Landon-” she gasped out, voice filled with disbelief, questions.
Before she could finish the sentence in her mind, Landon gently probed the globes of her backside apart and pressed his lubricated finger to the rosebud there.
Juliana let out a cry and her hips jolted faster, spearing his finger deeper inside as she rode. She was so tight, so hot, both around his throbbing cock and his seeking, daring finger.
He pleasured her with his tongue on her breast, his cock buried deep and his finger doing wicked things. She threw back her head and screamed out her release, her hips bucking wildly as he felt the thin wire of her control break and she surrendered to ultimate pleasure a second time .
Landon withdrew his finger to clutch her hips. Watching her find such intense pleasure was almost more than he could bear. His balls tightened, pleasure arced from every place in his body and he felt his come move within him.
But this time he didn’t withdraw. He couldn’t. Couldn’t push her away to have his pleasure. The feel of her was too good and he exploded, filling Juliana with his seed as he nearly lifted her from the bed with the arching of his hips.
Juliana collapsed on top of him and he held her against his chest as their ragged breathing slowed into one common rhythm. He smoothed her hair away from her face, and gathered her to his side as she slipped away from his body. But she didn’t leave his bed.
And he didn’t ask her to go.
And he realized, as he drifted into the first contented sleep he could remember in a long time, that for once he wasn’t thinking about the past when it came to Juliana. He was thinking about the future.
Chapter Seven
Juliana winced as her dress rustled loudly in the quiet bedroom. Landon let out a low groan as he reached across the bed toward where she had laid. His arm slid over the empty sheets, searching for a moment before one eye opened and he looked around for her.
“Juliana?” he croaked, voice heavy with sleep and confusion.
She sighed. Somehow she’d hoped to slip away before Landon woke. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay at his side, sleeping the morning away in the afterglow of the intense passion and emotion of the previous night’s joining.
In fact, it was because she wanted it so much that she knew she had to go. After Landon’s previous two dismissals, she didn’t think she could bear having him demand she take her leave of him once more. Have him act as though something magical hadn
’t happened in his bed the night before.
But he was awake now and she couldn’t be a coward about it. She gave her best, brightest, most false smile. “I-I will be out of your way in a few moments,” she said softly. “I only need to do something to make my hair more presentable before I depart.”
Landon wrinkled his brow as he struggled to sit up on one elbow. Juliana’s breath caught at the sight of him in the morning light from the window beside the bed, his skin tanned against the white sheets. His dark hair was tousled by sleep and passion. And his eyes were entirely focused on her.
God, she had dreamed of waking up with him like this a hundred times… a thousand times.
“Juliana,” he began again and she winced. She couldn’t lose the fantasy.
“I know,” she said on a short breath. “I shouldn’t have stayed. I shouldn’t have intruded past the dawn, but-”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Before she could get out another syllable, Landon pushed the sheets away from his hips and got up, completely naked. He stalked over to her and caught her arms before he made quick work of the dress she had been trying to refasten.
Gathering her into his arms, he lowered his mouth and claimed her for a deep, probing kiss that took away her ability to stand.
As she leaned on him, he guided her back with stumbling steps toward the bed. They fell back against the pillows, side by side. Landon continued to kiss her as his hand made a leisurely trail down the curve of her side, then swept down her hip until he cupped her hot sex.
“Mmmm,” he groaned, voice thick with need and sleep. “Very nice. Ready already.”
She arched as his questing fingers parted her folds and found their way inside her body. God, yes, she was ready. It seemed she was always ready when it came to Landon. His hot breath caressed her throat as he stroked his fingers inside her clenching sheath. He curled them up in a slow, steady rhythm, hitting a secret place inside her that had her moaning with the sharp burst of pleasure.
He brought her closer and closer to the brink with his hands and she arched helplessly as he worked her body with every bit of skill he possessed. Finally, she could hold back no longer and she let out a low wail of release. Her body trembled with the powerful sensation and starbursts of light exploded before her eyes.
He left his fingers inside her as she came down from the high of pleasure, but he made no move to take her. He clearly wanted her. She saw that when she turned her face and looked down at the hard erection pressing against her side.
But when she glanced up at him, his expression wasn’t that of a man about to claim. There was something else in his eyes.
“Landon?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
He bent his head and caught her words with another kiss, soft and gentle. Then he pulled away and withdrew his fingers from her clenching body. She sighed with disappointment at the emptiness.
“I never asked you to go,” he whispered against her hair.
She looked up and caught his eye. “But you never told me to stay.”
He watched her for a moment and she saw the war being raged in his eyes. A battle between old angers and new hopes. Finally, he brushed his knuckles along her cheekbone. “Stay.”
Her heart soared with joy at the quiet request, at the soft emotion in his eyes. She leaned up for a brief kiss. “Yes.”
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she snuggled closer to him and rested her cheek on his chest. For a long time they just lay together. She could hear the steady rhythm of his heart, feel him draw breath in and expel it out. And she felt… content.
It wasn’t something she had ever really felt before. Even in the blissful days after their marriage, she hadn’t felt so at ease. Then she had been waiting for her father to come and take her, ruin her happiness. But now her father was more focused on Evelyn.
Evelyn.
Juliana brushed her fingers over Landon’s chest as she let out a sigh. “What about my sister?” she whispered.
His breath ceased to be as regular and she felt him shift beneath her. “I have my best investigators looking for Sin now. We should have word within a few days and then I will set out to fetch her.”
Juliana’s hand froze and she lifted her head to stare at him. “You?”
He nodded. “Of course. That was what I promised. I will bring her home.”
She stared at him for a moment before she let her head return to his chest. “Thank you, Landon.”
He threaded his fingers trough her hair, stroking her scalp gently. His heart rate increased slightly before he drew in a breath to speak.
“I need to know something. I need your honesty.”
Juliana tensed, but she refused to pull away from the comfort of his embrace. “I agreed to anything, anywhere, any time.”
She felt him nod. “Last night after you found out that Evelyn was with Sin, you said that your sacrifice was for nothing. What did you mean?”
Juliana’s world felt like it came to a screeching halt. Had she let something so foolish slip in front of Landon? She’d been rendered so hysterical by the news of her sister that she’d clearly lost control of her senses briefly. And now he was aware of more than she’d ever wanted him to know.
She knew Landon too well. He wouldn’t stop until he had answers.
“It was nothing,” she tried, hoping he would let it go. “Just my upset taking over.”
She glanced up to see him frowning down at her. “There is more to it than that, Juliana. Honesty, remember?”
She swallowed past her suddenly dry throat. Yes. Honesty. He deserved it… even though she knew it would open a wound that was best left closed.
But she was out of choices.
“Very well. If you want the truth, I have no choice but to give it to you, though you may regret asking for it when I have finished.” She struggled to sit up. Pulling the sheet around her bare breasts, she looked at him.
He was staring at her, tension lining his face.
“My father forced me to break our marriage vows.”
Landon flinched, but said nothing. He only stared at her, waiting for further explanation.
She drew a few breaths in the hopes she could calm her racing heart. “When he came to us in Scotland and dragged me aside for private discussion, I intended to tell him he could sod off.” She shook her head. “You told me you would protect me. That our marriage would protect me from his intentions and I knew that was true. I felt so free. So happy. And I was not about to allow him to steal that happiness from me.”
Landon pursed his lips. “But you did.”
She held back a sob and physically willed her eyes not to well with tears. If Landon was going to finally understand what she had done all those years ago and why, she would need to tell him in a calm, collected fashion. Later she could fall apart under the weight of her memories.
“Yes. I did. When I refused to undo the vows we had taken, my father made the one threat I could not refuse. He told me that he had promised a daughter to Breckinhill, and that if it would not be me than he would give Evelyn to the man.”
Landon recoiled in horror. “But-but she was sixteen at the time.”
Juliana nodded. “Only just. She was untried and innocent. She was totally unready for the kind of man Breckinhill was rumored to be. Worse, I fear, than even Sin is said to be.” She shivered. “I pleaded with him to leave Evelyn be. To allow her to come with us if he was only going to use her for his own ends, but he refused. Our virtue was worth more to him than our lives. He told me it would be me or it would be Evelyn. Those were the options.”
She looked away. There wasn’t a way for her to keep looking at Landon and tell him the next part of her tale. “I realized it was hopeless. I made him promise me that if I lied and allowed him to have our marriage declared undone, that he would leave Evelyn out of his horrible plans for the future. That he would never again trade on her if his gambling debts grew large. He agreed. And I let you go.”
Landon g
rabbed her arm and she was forced to look at him. The pain in his eyes was so clear, as if she had left him yesterday, not an age ago.
“The things he said, the things he did…”
She nodded. “I allowed them. I preferred that you hate me and move on with your life than spend your days trying to find a way to get me back while you knew I was forced to be with another. It was easier if you didn’t have to live with the truth… that I did not leave you out of choice.”
His face twisted in a mask of horror. “My God, Juliana, if you had but told me-”
She cut him off. “What would you have done? Landon, you were not the man of influence then that you are now. You had money, but so did Breckinhill. You could not have protected my sister if my father did not give you leave to step in on her behalf.”
“You never gave me the chance.”
He pulled his hand away from her arm and the fire that lit in his eyes was the same one of anger and betrayal that had lived there for so long. Her heart sank. She had lost him again. And this time, she didn’t think there would be any turning back.
*
“How could you?” Landon asked, his mind a spinning top of hurt and betrayal and rage. The emotions were so crystal clear and painful that it was as if he was reliving the first hellish weeks after Juliana left him all over again.
She shook her head as he got out of the bed and grabbed for his dressing gown. “I had no choice.”
“No choice?” he barked while he knotted the robe with shaking hands. “You had all the choices! You gave me no choice when you didn’t allow me to know the truth of what was happening. You vowed to stand beside me through any trial, whether sickness or poverty or heartache. Yet the first test of those vows made you throw me aside as if I was nothing. Nothing!”
She sucked in a breath that shuddered with pain and he glared. How could she have the audacity to cry as if she was the wounded party? Damn her, she had not even given him a chance to be the husband she claimed to desire.
“You were not nothing, you were everything to me,” she insisted, high color flooding her cheeks. She slipped from the bed, tucking the sheet around her lush body as she pled for his understanding. “But my sister was in danger. I knew it was better to sacrifice my own happiness and give her a chance at her own. I knew I was the better equipped to face Breckinhill as his wife.”
Jess Michaels Page 23