Her fabric-covered hand slid across his belly and paused at his hip. She bent and kissed the skin where it thinned over his hipbone. “I love this part of you. It is one of the few places you look vulnerable.” Her hand moved agonizingly close to his cock. “Here on the other hand,” she said, stroking him lightly, “you are all strength.”
She only let the fabric graze him before she caressed his legs. His need to touch her was so strong he almost yanked himself free from his bonds. He could rip the cloth if he tried, but he wanted to fulfill her fantasy. He fought to keep still, but when her hands massaged his thighs, he couldn’t. He twisted and struggled as she had done, lifting his hips upward and inviting her to take him.
She climbed onto the bed between his outstretched legs and used one hand to grip his shaft. To keep from begging, he bit his lower lip until he tasted blood.
When she began to use her tongue on him Mark’s hips shot off the bed as far as they could go.
“Cassandra, please!” How could she make him beg so easily, with barely a touch?
She took him into her mouth then. Her tongue flicked across the slit at the head of his cock, and he decided she had been born to pleasure him.
She moaned as she took him deeper, and he resorted to counting backwards from one thousand, lest he spend in her mouth.
His mind raced, trying to think how he could enflame her enough that she would take him so he would not disgrace himself. “Turn around.”
She released him and looked up. “What?”
“Turn around so I can give you pleasure too.”
She did as he asked, turning so she faced his feet. “That’s it. Now straddle my head and lower yourself to my mouth.”
She kept her hips too high for him to reach her. “Damn it Cassandra. I smell your desire. Give yourself to me.”
She laughed and then lowered herself. He began to feast on her, and before long she was sucking him hard as she pressed herself against his questing tongue. Her sounds of pleasure and her taste were intoxicating.
If she had waited even a second longer to release him, he would’ve pumped his seed into her mouth. As it was, he thought he would die if he had to wait any longer to be inside her.
When she faced him again, her face was flushed and her chest heaving.
“Let me fill you,” he pleaded.
“You were right. The one who is restrained never really surrenders. How can I resist you?”
“You can’t.” He yanked against his bonds, but stopped himself before pulling free.
***
Cassandra had intended to stretch this out far longer, to take the time to touch him everywhere, to tease him with her hands and her mouth, but she could not. Her pulse throbbed and need made her dizzy.
Mark had brought her to the edge of release with his mouth. She’d pulled away, but her need had not diminished. One touch was likely all she needed to tumble into oblivion, but she wanted so much more.
“Tell me what you want,” she purred, mimicking the words he had used against her. Of course, unlike her, he didn’t mind revealing his desires.
“I want you to sit astride me and lower yourself onto my cock. I want to feel your slick, tight passage gripping me.” He lifted himself and made his cock jump. “Ride me, Cassandra.”
She licked her lips and straddled his hips. He groaned when she rubbed his shaft against her wetness, positioning him so she could slide ever so slowly down until their hips met. She sat still for a few seconds, taking in the feel of him. His thighs were rock-hard with tension.
When she used her internal muscles to squeeze him., he gasped. “Cassandra, I can’t wait anymore.”
“Neither can I.” She leaned over him, letting her hands rest on his chest. “Look at me.” He did. She lifted and lowered herself, grinding against him at the bottom of each stroke. Her release built and built until she cried out as pleasure exploded with in her.
As if from far away, she heard a tearing sound. Then his hands were on her hips, forcing them to slide back and forth. Moments later, he shouted her name as he spent inside her.
When she’d recovered enough to speak, she tried to sit up, but Mark locked his arms around her and kept her close.
She blew out a long breath. “You could have gotten free any time.”
“I could have, but I didn’t want to.”
“But you were never truly at my mercy. When I was restrained, I couldn’t escape.”
“Cassandra, I have been at your mercy since the day you walked into Northamberly.”
“How am I ever going to give you up?” Fear gripped Cassandra when she realized she’d said those words aloud.
“Do you have to?” Mark asked.
Was he serious? Did he want to continue their liaison? Hope fluttered for a moment, before regret sent it plummeting. Even if he did, she could not. “Yes.”
“I was hoping you had decided our lovemaking was more than—what was that word you used to describe it at first? Ah yes, you called it nice.”
She shook her head. “It is far more than nice. That’s the problem. The longer we let this go on, the harder it will be to say good-bye.”
The sadness in Mark’s eyes made her chest ache. What was happening? He’d said he would never consider marriage again and so had she. “I cannot see you after our three months are over. It would be too hard on me.”
“Are you always this stubborn?”
“I’m not being stubborn, I—”
“You are so determined to be independent that you would give up pleasure so you can pretend you are in control of your life.”
Pretend? Would it all be pretend? No, she would be free. She had to be. “Unless I am with child, I will have to find work. Governesses hardly have time for lovers.”
He smirked. “I’ve known a few who had plenty of time for me.”
She sighed, not wanting to think about all the other women he had pleasured. “Mark, I—”
He pressed a finger against her lips. “Don’t say any more. I understand perfectly. Once I have done my duty, you would like me to disappear. Not a problem. If you want to spend your nights in a cold bed to prove you don’t need anyone, I’m not going to stop you. There are plenty of women out there who would beg to spend the night with me.”
He jerked his feet, ripping the ties that had held him and rolled her off him. She watched him dress and tried desperately to think of something to say, anything that might repair the damage she’d done.
Shoving his arms into his jacket, he said, “I will call on you tomorrow after I meet with the Lintons.”
“Don’t go.”
“I have fulfilled tonight’s obligations. Thus, I have no reason to stay.” He slammed the door on his way out.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cassandra had finally fallen asleep when the creak of her bedroom door woke her. Her heart pounded as she reached toward her nightstand, hoping to find a makeshift weapon.
The intruder knocked something off the top of her vanity.
She screamed, hoping to alert Sidney and Ewen who were sleeping down the hall.
“Even when women tell me I’m not wanted, I keep coming back for more.” It was Mark. “I could just go fuck Katherine. The funny thing is I don’t want her anymore. You actually made me forget her. Now, I’m obsessed with you instead.”
“You’re drunk.” She smelled the whiskey on Mark from across the room.
“Not drunk enough to stop me crawling back here.”
“I never said I didn’t want you.”
“You did, but what does it matter? I’m back to give you more of what you’ve been promised.”
“Mark, I don’t think—”
He tripped over a footstool and fell against the bed. She grabbed his arm to help him to his feet, but he pushed her back, falling on top of her.
“Little witch, what have you done to me?”
“Nothing.” She shoved at him until he rolled over, and she could sit up. “I think you should go.”
“No.” The anger in his voice made her fear him in a way she hadn’t since their first day together.
“Did you forget?”
“Forget what?”
“Our agreement. You must be ready whenever I want you.”
“Mark, I don’t think—”
He pressed his finger against her lips. “You see I had forgotten too, until tonight. Other people forget things when they’re drunk, but I remember. That’s why I couldn’t drink Katherine away. The more I drank, the more vividly I saw her in my mind. Tonight, I saw you the first time I took you to bed. Then I remembered you are mine to command.”
He kissed her. Angry as she was at his arrogance, her body responded to his touch. As his tongue ravaged her mouth, she fought against his onslaught, trying to keep from falling back on the bed, trying to find the will to resist him.
Her head pounded with the weight of her indecision. Did she truly want to fight him? Yes… No.
He worked his way down her neck, leaving a trail of tingling bites all the way to her collarbone. Finally, she caught her breath enough to speak. “Stop!”
The vehemence of her words got his attention. He lifted his head and pulled away. “I’m in no mood to play games. Do as I say or our agreement is over.”
Anger boiled inside her. “You’re not going to leave. You need me as much as I need you.”
He made a sound of disgust. “I do, and I hate myself for it.”
“Then get out.”
Ignoring her, he brushed her nipples with his thumbs. “No, you’re right. I don’t have the strength to leave.”
She bit her lip to hold in a moan. He continued to torment her. Alternately flicking his thumb or fingers across her nipples and squeezing them. The tightness between her legs grew unbearable.
He shoved her nightgown up and lowered his mouth to her breast. She let her head drop back and supported herself on her elbows. His hot breath warmed her as he spoke. “You’ll spend the rest of your life missing this, longing for just one—” he stroked one nipple with his tongue, “caress.”
“No.” Tears filled her eyes as he bent to pull the tight bud into his mouth.
“I tried to warn you when you first came to me. I told you I was dangerous. You chose not to listen. Now you will suffer for it.”
Tears fell down her cheeks, but she pressed his head against her. She’d lied to him. Once he left her for good, she’d be as good as dead inside. She couldn’t let him touch her soul as he touched her body. If she did, she would give in to his demands to extend their liaison.
Focus on the pleasure, she told herself. Don’t look at him. Don’t think about how much you care. Let your body do as it will.
“You want this as much as I do.” He slipped a finger inside her and used his other hand to wrestle her nightgown over her head. She helped him, wanting to see the fire in his eyes when he looked at her naked body.
He thrust his fingers in and out of her channel. “You’re always ready for me, aren’t you?”
She arched against him.
“Tell me, damn it. Tell me you want this. Tell me to stay.”
“I…”
“Tell me.”
She squeezed her eyes closed, but she saw him none-the-less. In her mind she saw how his gaze penetrated right to her heart. “Stay. I need you.”
She whispered the words slowly as if each one were being pulled from her.
When she opened her eyes, she realized how futile it was to try to hold back from him. She couldn’t hide the desperate need that consumed her every time she saw him. Every time he touched her, she was his.
His hands never left her for more than a second, but somehow he’d loosened his breeches. He bore her back, and she was happy to fall this time. She sank into the mattress and accepted his hard shaft inside her.
He set a rough, pounding rhythm, making no effort to hold back his furious passion. She was thankful for it, because the pace kept her from thinking. Only the deep pleasure of him filling her to the core registered in her mind.
“Tell me again. Tell me you need this.”
“Need you. Need you so much.” Her orgasm wracked her body. She cried out his name and her muscles tightened around his cock.
She expected him to follow immediately, but he didn’t. He pushed at her thighs until they were doubled against her chest, the position giving him even greater access to her body. She hadn’t thought he could not take her any faster or harder, but he did. The look on his face should’ve frightened her. She wasn’t sure he would hear her if she spoke to him, not that she could catch her breath to speak.
Mark looked as if he were torn between killing her and pleasuring her, as if he wanted to punish her for denying him and surrender his soul at the same time. When he finally let himself go, pain and pleasure swirled together in his eyes, and it tore at her heart.
***
Mark rolled to his back and pulled Cassandra into his arms. Within moments, she was asleep. Despite his exhaustion, he lay staring at the ceiling, suddenly achingly sober.
He prayed he’d not misinterpreted Cassandra’s desire. No matter what he’d said, he would never have taken her if she didn’t want it as he did.
Had he become a monster in the last few months? She’d told him he was like a wild beast, and he feared she was right. Yet the wilder he became, the more it excited her.
Mark also feared his eyes had revealed all the things he could not say. When he’d reached his climax, he’d been unable to disguise his need for Cassandra. He couldn’t keep the pain from his eyes anymore than he could hold back the storm of pleasure that surged through his body.
Mark stayed the night with her, unable to leave the security of her arms. Neither of them spoke after their emotional coupling. But they had remained together until well after dawn.
During breakfast, he intended to once again broach the subject of continuing their liaison. He feared he might have even begged, but he did not have the chance.
Cassandra had grown cold again. He watched as she cut her food with deliberate movements, taking only small bites. For several long minutes, the only sounds in the room were the clanking of their silverware and the ticking of the mantle clock.
“I have been thinking.” She looked down at her plate, at the floral centerpiece, at the empty chair beside her, anywhere but at him. “Perhaps I should start inquiring for positions now. There’s only a small chance that I’m with child. I need to be realistic. I—”
“Cassandra!” He refused to listen to anymore nonsense. “You will do nothing of the kind, not until you are safe. We have no idea who else may have been involved with Reddington. Neither of us would have suspected Southwood. But apparently he is even more dangerous than your husband.”
“I would not take a position until the killer is found. But… I’ve been a fool. I should never have come to you, never have tried—”
Mark resisted the urge to shake her. “If you had not come to me, you would probably be dead by now. Would that be better?”
“No, I—”
“We will continue as we have and pretend this conversation never happened.”
“I must find a way to support myself. My aunt does not have the funds to take care of me and my sisters, and I will never go back to my parents’ house.”
He sighed. “Cassandra, I can arrange for you to you have everything you need.”
She slammed her teacup onto its saucer so hard he expected it to shatter. It only teetered there, it’s rattling echoing across the room. “I will not be your whore.”
“Why not? You don’t mind making me yours.”
“I am not paying you for this.”
“More’s the pity. I should have struck a better bargain.”
“Having a sex slave at your beck and call isn’t good enough?”
Mark threw his napkin onto the table and stood so fast his chair turned over. He glared at her for a few seconds, then forced himself to walk away.
He was too
angry to stay. In such a wild state, he might have thrown more cruel words or worse, a confession of love. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do more, throttle her or fall down on his knees and beg her to stay with him.
When she’d dismissed the idea she might be with child, a knot formed in his stomach. He’d been too angry to understand his reaction. As he walked in the chill morning air, he realized he wanted nothing more than to see her body swollen with his child.
Every time he spent himself inside her, he hoped his seed would take root. It must be some primitive desire for procreation, some elemental need. Whatever it was, the knowledge that a baby might grow in her womb increased the ecstasy of their joining.
This feeling was entirely new. Even when he was mired in his obsession for Katherine, he’d never fantasized about seeing her with child. But when he imagined Cassandra’s breasts full with milk, and her belly increasing, a strange warmness grew in his chest, thawing the cold Katherine had put there.
Perhaps she was with child already. Then he would be justified in convincing her, hell, in ordering her to marry him. He would not allow her to refuse him, no matter what their agreement had been. She would not raise his child elsewhere. He knew what it was like to grow up without a father. He’d be damned if he would bestow the same fate on his own child.
With great effort, he managed to push his thoughts to the back of his mind as he neared the address Linton had given him. More important than convincing Cassandra not to leave him was keeping her safe.
He rang the bell and presented his card to the butler. The man returned quickly and showed him into a small study. He was contemplating examining the papers that lay scattered on the desktop when Walter Linton entered. “Foxwood, how nice to see you.”
Once again he was stuck with the less desirable brother. He’d expected Oscar to be the one to handle the actual negotiation. Walter extended his hand. Mark took it, managing somehow to shake it without shuddering.
Walter poured Mark a drink. “I trust you’re still interested in finding a girl for your party.”
Mark nodded.
“There is a young woman we are hoping to acquire shortly that might fit your needs. I assume you do not mind if she requires a bit of coercion before she complies with your wishes.”
A Carnal Agreement (Regency Intrigue Book 1) Page 18