Adrien pressed his fingers to her lips, silencing her. He’d lost all desire to use her as a pawn. He didn’t have the stomach to put her through more scandal. He’d find another way, another opportunity to drive his point home to his sire. “I think you are strong and brave.” He removed his hand from her soft lips. Those were words he’d never uttered to a woman before.
“Oh.” Catherine’s eyes softened. “Thank you . . . I truly meant it when I said I was sorry. I regret the trickery. But not our night.” He didn’t know why but her statement pleased him immensely. “If I had it to do again, I would proposition you instead of . . . doing what I did to your wine. If you will permit me, I have a proposition to make to you now.”
“Oh?”
She bit her delectable bottom lip, something he was dying to do. “For your silence about the event that occurred five years ago, I will . . . I would be . . . your mistress for the next five days.”
His semihard cock turned stone stiff at the inflaming offer. “For five days?”
“Yes, that’s when Philbert will arrive.” She glanced down and noticed the blatant bulge of his erection. When she looked up, she was smiling, clearly feeling confident of his answer. “What say you?”
Adrien tilted his head to the side. “For my silence you’re willing to do this?”
“Yes. I am yours for five days.” She clasped her hands behind her back—a purposeful pose that caused her bodice to gape open, giving him a better view of her tempting tits.
“Interesting . . . a day for every year since the masquerade.” A day for every year he’d fantasized about her. Days and nights to indulge in each and every fantasy.
“Yes.” She was still smiling.
He stepped closer, their bodies all but touching, and slipped his fingers under her chin. “Your proposition is difficult to refuse.”
She maintained his regard, her golden eyes darkening with desire. “Is it now?”
He brushed his lips against her warm mouth. “Hmmm . . . it is.”
“And”—she swallowed—“what is your answer . . . ?”
He trailed his mouth along her jaw to her ear. “My answer is . . .” he murmured and nipped at her earlobe, making her gasp. “No.”
7
Catherine’s mouth fell agape. She clamped it shut the moment she realized Adrien was stalking toward the door.
“Wait!” she called out.
To her relief, he stopped abruptly and turned around.
Flustered and suddenly afraid, she marched up to him. “Why not?” She gestured toward the bulge in his breeches. “You are clearly interested.”
“I don’t want a woman who is intent on playing a martyr in bed. I told you, I have no intention of telling the King or anyone about what happened between us. I came here for answers. You supplied them. The matter is done. Laid to rest. So, if you want sex, Catherine, say so. If you’d like to indulge in carnal pleasures with me for the next few days, be honest about it. I’ll not entertain any more deceptions or denials from you. Speak to me of desire and I am interested. Speak to me of this ridiculous martyrdom, and I will direct my ‘interest’ elsewhere.”
“All right! Yes, I desire you,” she blurted out.
He crossed his arms. “Go on.”
He wasn’t going to make this easy, was he? “I have always desired you. From the moment I saw you across the Grand Salon at the masquerade that night, I . . . craved you. You stirred a hunger in me. I am famished for more. I’ve yearned for you countless nights. I want you to be my lover. I want to revel in all the carnal delights you can bestow. I want to know what I missed in my marriage bed and what I will miss in the next. Is that honest enough for you?”
His sinfully tempting mouth lifted in a smile. “It is an excellent start.” He removed his justacorps and tossed the knee-length coat carelessly to the floor. “Here are the conditions for our interlude of bliss—”
“Conditions?”
He tilted her chin up with his strong, warm fingers. “My conditions are as follows: You will give me carte blanche in bed. You will let me have you as often as I want, any way I choose, without reservation or inhibitions getting in the way. Agreed?”
A thrill rippled down her spine. “Agreed.”
Smiling, he pulled her up against his large sculpted body. “Good. This is a perfect time to begin, wouldn’t you say?”
She flattened her palms on his chest. “Wait.”
“Wait?”
“I haven’t given you my conditions.”
“Your conditions?” He asked the question as though no one had ever given him any.
“Yes. They are as follows: You will give me carte blanche in bed. You will let me have you as often as I want, any way I choose, without reservation or inhibitions getting in the way.”
He burst into laughter. “Ah, Catherine, you are a delight. I am very much looking forward to the next few days, my spirited lady. It seems we are in accord.” He lowered his head for a kiss.
She pressed her fingers against his lips, arresting his descent. “I’m not through. In addition, you will be all mine. For five days, there will be no other woman. Just me.”
The astounded look on his handsome face was darling. Clearly, no one had ever made that request of him.
Catherine stepped back. “Well? What say you to that?”
The corner of his mouth jerked as he fought back his amusement. “I say you’re about to obtain an unprecedented promise from me. I agree to your wish of exclusivity.” He pulled her back into his arms. His delicious erection, so solid and thick, pressed enticingly against her belly. “Anything else? Or can we begin?”
“One last thing.”
His head fell back with a groan. “What is it, ma belle? Be quick so that we can move on to more pleasurable pursuits.”
“I wish the utmost discretion. No one is to know about our arrangement. The last thing I want is to give gossipmongers more to talk about. Or to cause Philbert the sort of pain and embarrassment Villecourt caused me.”
Adrien’s jaw tightened, his expression difficult to discern. Then he brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “No one will know,” he softly pledged. Taking her hand, he pressed his hot mouth to her palm. Sensations tingled up her arm. “Come.” His voice, low and husky, reverberated down to her sex.
He led her out of the antechamber into the bedchamber. Thinking about what he would do to her, what she wanted him to do to her, raced her pulse. She’d given him carte blanche. She couldn’t explain it, this wanton she became around him. But she didn’t dwell on it. Not when she was on fire for him.
Adrien was all hers for the next five days. She was going to relish every moment of it.
Stopping at the foot of the bed, he released her hand. His gaze perused her body. With her bodice open, she felt cool air against her heated skin, but it did nothing to diminish the fever he inspired. Anticipation made her tremble. The ache between her legs was fierce. If he didn’t touch her soon, she’d die.
Impatient, Catherine pulled off the pearl necklace she’d borrowed from Suzanne and dropped it on the bed. Grabbing his shirt, she crushed her lips against his and thrust her tongue into his mouth. His taste was intoxicating. Her kiss was ravenous, stroking and sucking his tongue. Delirious with need, she couldn’t get enough.
Cradling her face between his palms, he slanted his mouth over hers and gave her a slower, more languorous kiss.
Her frustration squeaked out her throat. Determined to quicken the pace, she reached down and grabbed hold of the ties on his breeches, desperate to free him of his clothing, to touch his skin once more, but her hands shook and her fingers fumbled.
He stilled her frantic hands. “I like your enthusiasm,” he murmured against her mouth. “But there’s no need to rush. We’re going to savor every sensation. Slow down. I promise, it will be just as good.”
Slow down? Was he mad? She was about to expire on the spot with lust. “I’d like to ‘savor every sensation’ quickly.”
&nb
sp; He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “Be patient.”
His answer was exasperating, but at least he was untying his breeches. Riveted on his deft fingers, she doubted she’d notice if the room caught on fire.
At last, he freed his shirt from his breeches and removed it, tossing it to the floor.
Her eyes feasted on his strong shoulders. His chiseled chest. And—her gaze moved down his body—the impressive cock straining out of his breeches, the sight weakening her knees, making the nub between her legs throb.
The corner of his mouth rose as he clasped her wrist and brought her hand to his shaft. Catherine eagerly curled her fingers around him. His skin was warm, velvety, yet he was thick and solid. “Is this what you need, Catherine?”
Oh, God. “Yes.”
“How long has it been since a man made you come the way I made you come today?”
He wanted to talk? Now?
“Tell me . . .” he urged softly. With his hold on her wrist, Adrien was keeping her from stroking him the way she yearned to.
She licked her dry lips. “Five years . . . two months . . . one week. The night of the masquerade . . . with you.”
His green eyes darkened. “Jésus-Christ. Everything you do, everything you say makes me want to fuck you.”
Joy and excitement fluttered in her belly. “Then take me.”
He dipped his head and kissed the sensitive spot below her ear. “I will. I’ll ride you all night long. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He stroked her hand down the length of his erection and then back up. Her sex tightened and released hungrily. “Answer me, Catherine. Tell me you want my cock inside you all night long.” Adrien trailed his mouth along her neck and released her hand, leaving her free to stroke him on her own.
“Yes. I want your . . . cock inside me. I want you to take me again and again until we’re sated.” She’d never spoken like this in her life. Never uttered such brazen statements. Never voiced her wants. Not for many years now. They’d always been ignored. Except by him. He’d been the only one who’d ever given her what she wanted.
“As you wish,” he whispered in her ear; she heard the smile in his voice. Slipping his hand inside her opened bodice, he rolled her hardened nipple between his fingers, his delicious torment sending wave after wave of sharp pleasure streaking from the tip of her breast down to her heated core. Her sex ached to be filled. Enveloped by salacious sensations, she closed her eyes. Suddenly, her clothing was too hot, her skin too warm. The urges too powerful, thundering in her blood.
“Now . . . Adrien.” She panted. “I need . . .”
“I know what you need, beautiful Catherine . . .” He stripped away her clothing, discarding each article onto the floor. She didn’t care what he did with her clothes, though she had precious few good things left. She wanted her garments off. His garments off. His skin against her skin. She wanted him inside her and the divine friction their bodies created.
Catherine tried to help with the removal of her clothing, but ceased when she realized she was only impeding his progress. Instead, she used the moments to gaze at his beautiful face, desire and determination etched thereon.
As soon as her caleçons and chemise hit the floor, he tossed her onto the bed. She landed on the mattress with a surprised gasp and a small bounce. She rose onto her elbows, quivering from the inside out. Standing at the foot of the bed, Adrien discarded the remainder of his clothing.
“Open your legs for me,” he growled in all his naked glory.
Her heart missed a beat. A heady rush of excitement swamped her. Slowly, she parted her thighs, her face feeling red-hot. One at a time, he sank his knees into the mattress between her legs.
“Bend your knees, Catherine. Let me look at all of you.” He ran his warm palms over her trembling thighs.
Biting her lip, her heart wildly pounding, she obliged, leaving herself completely open to his view. His features softened, and he stroked his fingers along her slick flesh. A moan slipped past her lips. His touch was light and so deliciously decadent.
“You’re very beautiful. Everywhere.”
His words swirled around her heart, when she knew she shouldn’t let them.
“I haven’t forgotten a single detail about you,” he said, amazement in his tone.
Neither had she, though not from lack of trying. No amount of wishing had made her unlearn what she’d discovered in his arms.
“You’re wet. Ripe for the taking,” he said with a wicked smile on his face. He lowered himself on top of her. His mouth was only inches from hers, their breaths, ragged and rapid, mingling together. The press of his body was sublime. Despite the urgency coursing through her veins, she tenderly brushed his dark hair from his brow and gently cradled his cheeks between her palms.
He grasped her wrists and lowered them to the bed. “Catherine, this is about sex. Mutual pleasure. Nothing more.”
She wasn’t going to allow herself to forget that. “I know.” She thought she heard something in his voice, or perhaps it was the way in which he spoke his words, as though he was trying to convince not only her, but himself as well. She instantly dismissed the notion as absurd.
“This is definitely about sex,” she said with a saucy smile. She played with fire. A novice at recreational fornication, she could be burned, but what woman could resist the allure of Adrien d’Aspe? He could have anyone, and yet, “You want me.”
He arched a brow. “You want my cock,” he countered.
“You want to give it to me.”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “On that point I’ll cede.” He stroked his length along the slick folds of her sex, grazing the head of his shaft over her clitoris and back down, muffling her whimper with a hard kiss.
He released her wrists. She had her arms around him in an instant, returning his kiss with equal fervor.
He tore his mouth from hers. “To hell with this prolongation. It will be as you want—fast and hard.” Rolling off, he flipped her onto her stomach.
Startled by the suddenness of his actions, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Adrien . . .”
His face contorted by desire, he snaked an arm under her hips and lifted her derrière in the air. Her fever spiked. “I’m going to give you what you want. What I want. What we’re here for.”
Her warm cheek against the cool sheets, she quaked with anticipation, her legs wobbly and weak, desperate for his possession.
He dug his fingers into her hips and wedged the head of his sex at her entrance. She choked back a sob. Instead of driving into her as she longed, he slowly slid his broad shaft inside her, stretching and filling her an inch at a time, working his way deeper and deeper.
He groaned. “You have the tightest, sweetest cunt.”
She shut her eyes and gripped the sheets, unable to find her voice, to protest against his unhurried penetration. When he hit the door to her womb, her legs gave out. She collapsed to the bed, his body following hers down.
He reared then and used his strength and weight to drive his cock back into her, hard and deep. She cried out, enraptured. Trapped beneath him, his large form pressing her into the mattress, she took each powerful thrust, unable to move, the friction inflaming her further.
“This is how you want it, isn’t it, Catherine?” he said near her ear between harsh breaths.
“Yes!” Her body was awash with sensations, her every nerve ending vibrating with life. She clenched her inner muscles. He let out a sharp groan. Realizing there was a way to affect him in this position after all, she clutched and released around his thick thrusting shaft. He grunted with each plunge as she milked him toward his climax.
Without breaking his rhythm, he shoved his hand under her hips and found the pulsing bud between her legs. He fingered her with devastating finesse. She whimpered, the beginnings of her orgasm rushing over her.
“Adrien . . . I’m . . . going to . . .”
“Come for me . . . Do it!” He pinched her clit.
Catherine scr
eamed into the mattress, her release shaking her to the core. On her next breath she choked out a long, ragged sob. Of ecstasy. Of gratitude. And thankfulness. He was the greatest joy she’d ever known.
8
Catherine awoke to the sound of a steady heartbeat beneath her ear and two strong arms around her. Her cheek resting on a very masculine, solid chest, she peeked up to see Adrien fast asleep. Carefully, she rose onto her elbow and allowed herself the simple pleasure of gazing at him. His cheekbones, straight nose, jaw, and kissable mouth were etched forever in her mind. It was incredible, really. She’d envisioned this very visage for years and here he was. In the flesh. In her arms. Not just a fantasy come to life, but a dream come true.
Lightly, she caressed his cheek. He stirred in his sleep.
She couldn’t hold back her smile.
The slight tenderness between her legs was a pleasing reminder of their glorious night. Unaccustomed to sexual excess, she should have been exhausted, but she wasn’t. Not in the least. Last eve had been a night of incomparable bliss—so similar to their interlude five years ago when she’d awoken with the same rare sense of happiness that had nothing to do with the success of her ill-fated plan. And everything to do with him.
She didn’t have to sneak away this time.
This time they’d enjoyed a compatibility that was not just physical. Between rapturous diversions, they’d laughed. Teased. Talked. Though she understood the boundaries of their relationship, she yearned to know more about this man. She sensed a profound unrest in him that resonated in her.
Catherine was about to snuggle back down beneath the bedding when a thought occurred to her.
Odette.
She glanced at the window. The sun shone brightly. It was well past dawn. Her loyal maid would arrive at any moment. Though she loved the woman dearly, eccentric in her ways, one never could predict Odette’s behavior. It was best to avoid embarrassment all around and not have poor Odette stumble upon Adrien in her bed.
Awakened by a Kiss Page 7