Sebastian watched as the play of emotions she was feeling clearly wrote themselves on her expressive face and debated his next move for less than a minute before he reached down, took her hand in his and pulled her all too willingly from the room as Devlin’s voice followed in their wake.
I heard Devlin call out, but I could not hear what he was saying, and truthfully, for once, I did not care, not one little bit. As Sebastian dragged me up the stairs and down a hall that I had never ventured before, I had to take two steps to his one to keep up.
The hallway was dark and there were only two doors that I could see. He stopped in front of one and twisted the handle, the heavy door squeaked loudly as it swung open. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me inside the darkened room. With my body smashed up against his, I barely had a chance to take a breath before his mouth came hungrily down on top of mine. I slid my hands up over his shoulders and pulled his jacket.
He lifted me in his arms and walked forward; and pressed me back against the hard wooden door. Then he turned the key in the lock and then braced his hands on either side of my body. “I have been dying to do this all morning,” he said huskily and then lowered his mouth to claim mine once again.
It was another searing, breath-stealing kiss. His tongue pushed in, delving deeper. The velvety warmth enveloping me as I kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm. His hands slid down my back, and then he gripped me tighter as he pressed his forehead against mine.
“Tell me, were you waiting for this as well?” He nipped playfully at my chin and neck.
“Yes.” Surges of desire shot through me with every nip, every lick.
“Damn,” he murmured hotly, leaning into me. “You taste sweet.” He slid his lips down my neck, kissing the delicate skin at the base of my throat.
Arching against him, I pressed in closer. Frantic with need, and want, my fingers tugged at his jacket desperate to feel his exposed skin.
“My sentiments exactly,” he laughed, and began to work the buttons on the front of my gown; his fingers caressed the delicate skin with each button. Stopping briefly, he shrugged out of his jacket and let it fall to the floor. And then his hands were back on the front of my gown and mine were trying to open the buttons of his shirt, neither of us making much progress. Everything was moving too slow.
“Too many damned buttons,” he groaned, running his hands over my breasts, toying with my nipples through the fabric. “This is not going to work,” he said, and grasped the edges of my gown. One sharp tug and the fabric ripped, buttons flew off in every direction, pinging against the walls and floor. “Sorry,” he murmured and claimed my mouth once again.
I tried to do the same to his shirt. I tugged, pulled, and got nothing. Not even a tiny tear. Everything was taking way too long. I boldly went straight for his trousers instead. My fingers fumbled over the buttons as I tried to release him.
“Let me.” He reached down and released himself.
I took his hard length in my hands and marveled a the feel of his velvety skin.
“Careful love.” He pulled in a swift intake of breath.
“Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, your fingers are just c…old,” he said, but the word turned into a groan when her fingers tightened around his length. Lowering his mouth back to her breast, he gave her a little payback, teasing her nipple with his tongue, wetting the tip and then blowing gently, making it pucker.
“Not fair…,” I couldn’t stop the moan of pleasure erupting from me as he sucked even harder. Reaching up, I cradled his head, and clenched fistfuls of his hair as ripples of pleasure washed over me.
One-handed, he reached down, pulled her gown up, and used the other to slide over the rounded curve of her derrière, squeezing the soft flesh.
“My God…” He pulled her undergarments out of the way. Lifting her leg, he reached down between them both and slid one finger inside her, making her gasp in his mouth. The need to be inside her was too overwhelming. “I can not wait.” He pulled his finger back out and thrust into her body again in one swift movement. Her head banged against the door from the force.
“Are you all right?” He moved his hand behind her head.
“Yes.” I nodded.
Sebastian eased back and then pushed inside again just as slowly, as he claimed her body for his own once again. Intense pleasure coursed through his as she squeezed against him. Every ounce of control he had, dwindled away as he began to lose every ounce of control.
His hips pumped faster, harder. My head banged against the door, as did the rest of my body. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was the way he was making me feel. I felt wanted and wicked, as I held on, feeling every muscle in his body tense underneath as he slid back and forth with swift, deep, strokes.
“That feels incredible,” he exhaled in pleasure while her mouth suckled and teased his nipples with her tongue. The action spurred on his more basic, primal desires and he went wild, driving into her harder…faster.
“Sebastian….”
Clenching his buttocks, he continued to pump into her. Again, he was beyond reason, beyond comprehension, he was completely enraptured in the throes of passion. Animalistic abandon consumed his body and mind, spurring him onward towards his own spiraling climax. “Oh God,” he moaned, thrusting faster, harder, burying himself deeper, sweat dripping and splattering down his chest, until he too found his own earth-shattering, mind-blowing release.
Breathing heavy, Sebastian released her leg and her gown slid back into place, rustling softly on the floor. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “Good morning,” he said at last and leaned down, stealing another kiss from her sweet lips.
Every muscle in my body felt like jelly. “Good mooorning,” I stretched out the words and then started to laugh.
“That was... WOW!” I said, not even able to begin to elaborate what that had felt like. Every moment had felt sooo good; my entire body felt exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.
His dimples made an appearance as he smiled down at me and my stomach swooped from the sight.
“I take it you enjoyed yourself?” he said laughingly.
The sound was deep and warm, making me want to press my face against his chest, wrap my arms around his waist and never, ever let go. I was completely, unequivocally, head over heels in looooove with him.
“Well…YEAH!”
He pulled me into a brief hug, and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Was it ah…good for you?” I asked suddenly unsure, and rested my face on his chest. .
He laughed again, his bare, sweat-dampened skin shifted under my face and rumbled deep inside. “Yes.”
He turned thoughtful for a moment. Yes. He repeated in his mind. It was such a small word and a definite understatement. Sex with her had been…so many things at one time it was hard to put a name on it…unforgettable was about as close as he could get. That realization bombarded him with another barrage of questions. He had put her to the test and she far surpassed any limits he had set for her. He felt himself slipping, falling…he was out of control, but there was nothing he could do. She said she was from the future and he wanted to believe her even though it was utterly ridiculous. Maybe in her own mind she thought she was. He exhaled.
What of the supposed legend? What was her part in that? He had no answers. The real question he needed to ask himself now was what was he going to do about it? He disentangled his body and stepped away from her.
I wiped the wetness from my cheek and then tucked the sweat-dampened pieces of my hair behind my ears. He was giving me a strange look. Self-consciously, I fixed my gown so my boobs weren’t showing. The fabric was torn so it didn’t work very well. I leaned against the door. I felt really shaky, like I had been doing a massive workout for over an hour. Granted I never worked out, at least not in the real, “I am a hardcore fitness junkie” sense of the word. I was a junkie all right… “A chocolate—coffee—fast fo
od—designer clothing junkie.” But exercise? Not so much. Once I’d taken a spinning class with Janice and almost dropped dead. I told Janice my heart was not supposed to pound that loud or hard and my thighs, butt, and body in general were sure as hell not supposed to ache for so long afterward. It took two weeks to get my body to feel slightly normal again…but Janice had assured me it was all part of the “No Pain, No Gain” dictum.
Right. With Janice’s apparent stamina, it was no wonder there was a line of men waiting outside her proverbial door.
As Sebastian set his clothes to rights, I looked around the room we were in. It was a pretty room. French blue, hand-molded walls, delicate Marie’ Antoinette-looking furniture and a grouping of floral paintings on the far wall. “Whose room is this?”
Sebastian shrugged back into his jacket and looked over his shoulder, seeming to notice for the first time where we were. His eyes widened for the briefest of moments and averted his gaze.
What did he do that for? I felt sick suddenly. What happened to his warm smiles? Oh, now he was frowning. It was going to be bad. I could feel it. Oh, why did I have to open my mouth?
I glanced around the room again. Was I being paranoid? It was just a room. Just a really- pretty French-looking room…my mind screeched to a halt and backed up. It dawned on me, whose room it had been. I reached down, smoothed a wrinkle from my gown, and then straightened. I took a breath and held it until I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Then the words tumbled right out of my mouth even though I didn’t want to know the answer. “Tell me,” I urged.
Sebastian glanced in my direction and then brought his attention back to his cuff. It must have been a magic cuff because for some reason he couldn’t take his eyes off it. I was waiting for him to pull out a bouquet or an array of colorful hankies, like a magician.
He exhaled a rather large breath and then let go of his sleeve and threaded his fingers through his long thick hair and pushed it away from his face. “I did not think…” he stopped in mid-sentence. “ We should get out of here.”
“Why?” I prodded again. What am I doing?
“Please,” he said none too nicely. “I am sure you are nipping at the bit to get back to Devlin,” he added with a hefty dose of sarcasm and then he gave me a cutting glare.
I felt like he just kicked me in the gut. All the warm feelings of fuzziness from our lovemaking had quickly turned into something coarse and unwanted.
Suddenly an image of my favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Piddle, popped into my mind. It was a stupid thought from childhood. He was a white rabbit with patchwork pants. I did everything with him and loved him more than any of my other toys. One day I was serving “High Tea” to my toys, which was actually Swiss Miss cocoa with mini marshmallows. Mr. Piddle had gotten a hefty splash of cocoa and had to go off to take a long hot bath.
Unfortunately, once he came back, his snuggly fur was never quite the same. It was rough and coarse. Apparently, I vacillated quite a bit as a child because after that, my feelings for the poor unfortunate rabbit had waned and Mr. Piddle was stuffed away in an old box under my bed marked “Stoopid Toys!”
Now I couldn’t help but wonder if the same would hold true for my feelings for Sebastian. Would they ever be the same or would I shove him into a box in my mind labeled “Stoopid Men.” Ironically, there were a lot more men in my imaginary box, than in the real box of unwanted toys.
“I am not worried about getting back to Devlin,” I uttered finally, barely above a whisper.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. He could not help but wonder why it took her so long to defend herself against his unfair accusation. Nervously, he fidgeted with his sleeve again as his mind filled with sudden dread.
He looked at her and her face was still flushed from their love play but her eyes glistened with unshed tears. He suddenly felt like an ass and scrubbed his hands over his face. “It is nothing Katherine. This is just a room. Can you not leave well enough alone?” he asked, he voice sounded frustrated, maybe even angry.
His crappy tone hurt more than I wanted to admit. I looked about the room once more. The room was not masculine in the least. The bed was lovely, with bright airy bed hangings covering the gilded edges of scrollwork and flowers. It was not the least bit ugly like the one I was stuck sleeping in.
The windows faced east so the morning sun could shine in the room every morning. Suddenly I couldn’t catch a breath, I felt like I was suffocating. Turning to leave, I grabbed the handle to the door. The damn thing was locked. I jiggled the handles, trying to get the hell away from him before I humiliated myself and started crying.
He reached out and grabbed my hand in his own.
“I want to leave…let go…please.” I turned back to look at him.
“I am sorry. I should not have said that.” He let out an unsteady breath and released my hand. “This room is, was, going to be Marguerite’s room,” he finally admitted, albeit reluctantly.
“I thought I was in Marguerite’s room now?” My brow creased in confusion, even though on some level I had already guessed what he just told me. Knowing this did not make his admission any easier.
“That was merely a temporary room…until we married.” His eyes flickered briefly around the room and then he stepped forward.
I took a deliberate step back. The knife he had plunged in my gut earlier, twisted. No. no, no, this was the room they were meant to share as man and wife? And he brought me here? Ugh! What in the hell was he thinking? Seriously? I shuddered from the thought. I was an interloper, an imposter that was living the life Marguerite should have had. Waves of nausea hit me. I covered my face. “What am I doing?”
“It is not what you think.”
“Really? What do I think?” I dropped my hands and stared at him in disbelief.
“I did not love her,” he said, just above a whisper.
“Oh, and you love me?” I huffed out a bitter laugh. “You do not even know me. I am not even supposed to be here.” Tears that had already formed in my eyes from the hopelessness of the situation began to slip out.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again.
“Do not bother to try to make sense of it. I do not even understand what is really going on. How do I fix what is wrong when I am not sure what is wrong to fix?” I pushed him away, shook my head.
“What happens when you fix this problem?” he asked.
“I have no idea. Who knows, maybe I will poof back to the future and you will forget you ever knew me.” More tears slipped out and I swiped them away.
“Look at me.” He stepped closer. His stomach twisted in knots. He could not lose her. He just could not. He had his answer, even if the why’s or how’s she was here did not make a bit of sense. All that mattered right now was the here and now. She was his and he would not, could not, let her go, ever. That realization in itself was staggering and not something he would take lightly.
He knew he had made a mess of everything with his callous remarks. He did not mean them of course, but he felt like he was cornered. And he lashed out, like he always did, trying to push her away. And if he was not careful, he would push her directly into Devlin’s awaiting arms. He would be damned if that happened, so he needed to make her understand now what she meant to him before it was too late.
“I will never forget you, Katherine. You are my world now, and are not, will not be going anywhere.” He reached out and turned her around. He shook her shoulders, trying to make her understand what he was saying. “I will not let you go…ever. Do you understand?” he said each word with finality. He gathered her in his arms. He could not let her go. She was his and that was that. At least that is what he told himself.
“Oh no…” Broken sobs slipped out. “That is what the knight said too!” I clung to his hard body and my shoulders sagged in defeat. “And that poor girl, she disappeared to God only knows where this time and now he is all alone.”
“Who disappeared?” Confused, Sebastian shook her again.
“Marguerite, your real betrothed… He, the knight, loved her you see, and then she disappeared into thin air, and now he is all alone,” I sobbed out the words, feeling again the suffocating devastation of the knight as I heard his cries in my mind all over again.
“I do not care.” Sebastian looked down at her, and pulled her hand away. “That is his problem, not yours. You can not leave me,” he added with conviction.
“Oh really, why’s that?” I sniffed loudly as my tears finally abated.
“Because I intend on making you my wife, very, very soon.” He pulled her body back into his arms and ran one of his hands down the length of her hair.
My tears dried up as quickly as they started and my mouth dropped open as his words finally sunk in. “Wait…what? You want to marry me?’” I searched his face to see if what he said was true, or was I hearing things? He smiled down at me and nodded his head for clarification. His heart-stopping dimples reappeared. “You want to marry me?”
“Of course I do,” he said with sincerity. “How in the hell do you think I could go on without you in my life? You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am not going to let you go…ever.” His voice quieted. “That is, if you will have me?” He lowered down on one knee and took her cold hands in his own. “Will you…” he trailed off. “ I am sorry, what is your last name?”
A huff of laughter slipped from my mouth. “Jamison. My last name is Jamison.”
“Jamison,” he repeated as if he was accustoming himself to the name. “Will you marry me Katherine Jamison?”
“Katherine Nicole Jamison.”
He lifted his brows. “All right,” he said, and then cleared his throat. “Katherine Nicole Jamison…will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He lifted his brows expectantly, waiting for a response. She did not answer. He swallowed hard and tried again, his deep baritone voice not sounding as sure as it had moments before and he asked once again, “Katherine Nicole Jamison, will you be my wife?”
A Knight Such as This: Enhanced with Interactive Content: (Time Travel Romance) Book 1 & 2 (Ravenhurst Series) Page 31