by Clee, Adele
Desire flowed through him like a fast-flowing river. He stared at her parted lips, at the rapid rise and fall of her breasts as her breathing raced.
“Perhaps such an intimate exploration calls for more comfortable surroundings,” he suggested, although the angel on his shoulder sought to remind him of his duty. The devil reminded him that loving any woman brought nothing but pain. For the first time in his life, he listened to neither.
“Then we should retire to my bedchamber while the mood for work still compels you.” Beneath her innocent demeanour was a seductress in the making.
“Be assured, I’m compelled to work hard this evening.”
“Then we should not delay.”
She captured his hand and pulled him towards the door. An excitable energy vibrated between their palms. Anticipation had his heart pounding, his cock throbbing.
Once inside her bedchamber, she released his hand.
“Close the door, Noah.” She kicked off her slippers and placed them carefully in a box on her dressing table, along with the dainty diamond earrings she clutched in her hand.
He closed the door. The click of the key in the lock was like sweet music to his raging lust—the introduction to this intriguing sonata.
“Is it bright enough for you to make your observations?” she said, unstoppering the bottle of rosewater on the side table and dabbing the scent on her wrists.
A single lamp cast the room in a soft golden glow. Her porcelain skin would look pearlescent beneath the seductive lighting.
“I intend to study the evidence closely.” He could barely keep his breathing even. “One lamp is sufficient.”
She touched her fingers to her neck, moistening her lips as she stroked absently back and forth. “I expect you’ll need me out of this gown, though I have no wish to disturb Kathleen. I usually bathe before bed, though it’s too late to lug buckets.”
He crossed the room and closed the gap between them. “Then allow me to play lady’s maid. Allow me to remove your clothes and draw damp linen over every inch of your skin.”
She smiled, though he sensed her nerves. “Is that before or after you make a study of my bare thigh?”
It occurred to him that he should be mindful of her situation. “Eva, you understand what will happen if I do any of those things? You understand how events will naturally unfold?”
“Yes,” she panted, lust clearly holding her body in its tight grip, too. “We will make love, Mr Ashwood, though I ask that you do not raise your expectations. Inexperience hinders one’s pleasure, I’m told.”
Was that another tale she’d heard from her godfather?
He smiled. “I am already satisfied beyond measure, and we’re still fully clothed. But yes, we will make love, Eva. I imagine it will be wild and deeply passionate, though you may stop proceedings at any time. You need only say the word.”
Her bright blue gaze dropped to his mouth. “Then while I still have command of my senses, let me say that I have never wanted a man the way I want you.”
The knowledge sent a rush of blood to his heart, despite having little to spare. “And I have never wanted anything as much as I want you.”
She seemed pleased. “Perhaps you should kiss me.”
“We are equals in this bedchamber, madam,” he teased. “Perhaps you should kiss me.” When she hesitated, he added, “Embrace the woman who indulges her pleasures. Know that I am entirely at your disposal.”
With sudden confidence, she touched her palms to his chest, smoothed her hands over every taut muscle as she pushed his coat off his shoulders. “I would like to undress you, sir. Will you indulge me that?”
Damn right, he would!
“Noah,” he reminded her, shrugging out of the garment and throwing it to the floor. “Kiss me first, and then you may tear these clothes off my back.”
The first tentative brush of her lips fed the flames that had been simmering since he entered Newberry’s ballroom and caught sight of her through the crowd. The sweet taste of her, the unique taste that had him in a delightful quandary, rippled through his body in penetrating notes and musical waves.
If this was a sonata, the teasing sweep of their tongues was the exposition. Desire laid bare. Raw. Exposed. Their need to explore this profound connection being the main theme of the composition.
It came as no surprise that the first movement progressed quickly. The soft, temperate caresses exploded into a frantic rhythm, a need to delve deep into each other’s mouths, to taste, to drink, to feast. Breathless pants filled the air. Groans of pleasure rang through the room—the tempo stimulating and highly erotic.
Eva tried to unbutton his waistcoat while still devouring his mouth. His lips were anchored firmly to hers as he tugged her skirts up to her waist, stroked her bare thigh, grasped her bottom.
He should slow things down, but he tore his mouth from hers, swung her around and tugged at the row of tiny red buttons. Impatience made him clumsy. One button tumbled to the floor and went skittering across the rug.
“I shall pay for any repairs.”
Eva pulled at the neckline. “Just get me out of this dress, Noah.”
Had they made love many times before, he might have simply unbuttoned his breeches, bent her over and thrust hard from behind while she gripped the bedpost and sang his name. Such was his insatiable need for this woman. But they were kindred spirits. Their joining amounted to more than satisfying lustful urges.
Instead, he worked on the buttons, untied the bow, and pushed the sleeves from her shoulders. He slid the silk down over the gentle flare of her hips, leaving a claret pool on the floor.
When free of her petticoat, he set to work on her stays. Anticipation built again as he imagined reaching around and cupping her breasts, teasing her nipples to peak.
But the lady had something else in mind.
Her stays had barely hit the floor when she turned on her heel and flew into his arms. The clash of their mouths tore a groan from his throat. Eva grabbed the edges of his waistcoat and ripped the damn thing open.
Hellfire!
The need to bury himself inside her warm body overwhelmed him. And so, with his lips fixed hard to hers, he lifted her off the floor and carried her to the luxurious canopy bed. The need to hear her cries of pleasure, the need to feel her shudder beneath his touch, reached fever-pitch as he lowered her down onto the mattress.
“I must examine your thigh before we go any further.” He removed his cravat as efficiently as the king’s valet and dragged it from his neck.
Dreamy eyes—eyes glazed with the need to experience the dazzling heights of her climax—looked up at him. “Should I not remove my shift first?”
The answer was no. Seeing her naked form sprawled on the bed would be his undoing.
“Eva, the urge to taste you intimately has taken possession of my mind.” He dragged his linen shirt over his head and threw it somewhere behind him.
She drew in a sharp breath, seemed fascinated by his bare chest. “Your body is magnificent.”
“You’re magnificent.” She was the epitome of sublime.
The minx reached up and grasped the waistband of his breeches. “Hurry. Let’s be magnificent together.”
* * *
Perhaps she deserved the moniker Dauntless. It took every ounce of courage she possessed to grip Noah’s breeches and trail her fingers down to the solid bulge demanding her attention. Of course, she wasn’t in her right mind. A wild wantonness had taken command of her senses. A divine madness as potent as any drug.
“Hell.” Noah closed his eyes, and his head fell back.
Through his breeches, his manhood swelled beneath her rhythmic touch. Watching him proved addictive. Knowing she had the power to arouse him sent her confidence soaring.
“You’re not as innocent as you seem, minx.” His voice was a husky whisper.
“Oh, I am. But I learnt a thing or two when spying on my godfather and his mistress.”
He covered her hand t
o stall her. “At this rate, I’ll embarrass myself and spill in my breeches.” But that didn’t stop him guiding her hand over his solid erection. “What else did you learn?”
Oh, she wished she hadn’t mentioned it now. But the feel of him—swollen against her palm—encouraged her to be bold. “That a lady needs … needs stimulation, too.”
He moistened his lips. “To their detriment, some men fail to consider their partner’s pleasure.”
“But you’re not one of those men.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I doubt there’s a selfish bone in your body.”
“I’m being selfish now.” A wicked grin formed as he gripped the hem of her shift and slid it slowly up to her knees. “I’m of a mind to take everything I want.”
Eva held her breath. Cool air danced over her skin, yet her body burned.
Noah pushed the garment past her thighs. “I shall start by attending to your injury.” The rakish gleam in his eyes faded the instant he noticed the bruise. “Mother of all saints!”
“Hush. The servants will hear you.”
“Love, they’re going to hear a damn sight more than a curse.” He stared at the ugly mark—a palette of purple and blue and black. “I know you said it was a nasty bruise but—”
“No doubt it will fade in a week.”
“Then I must conduct a thorough examination every night, at least for the foreseeable future.”
“Yes, you must.”
The thought of having him in her bed, again and again, left her giddy. Her heart felt light in Noah Ashwood’s company. Light, yet as full and as engorged as his manhood.
“You might change your mind when we progress beyond me gaping at your marred thigh.”
Yes, the shock of seeing her injury had stolen the urgency from their lovemaking. But there was a way to solve that problem.
Eva sat up. She gathered her shift and drew it over her head, took his hand and pulled him down on top of her as she collapsed back onto the mattress.
The feel of his warm skin pressed against hers was her undoing. She claimed his mouth in a savage kiss. A kiss that cried of unrestrained longing. A passionate, erotic kiss full of pants and groans—an act of possession. Their tongues were so deep in each other’s mouths she shuddered from the pleasure.
They writhed on the bed. Noah eased between her legs, grinding against her sex while still wearing his breeches.
Eva dragged her mouth from his. “Undress. Undress quickly.”
He straightened, took a moment to catch his breath, but did not strip off his clothes as expected. His gaze drifted over her naked body like the kiss of the sun’s rays—hot, inviting, scorching her skin. There was something carnal about the way he drew his bottom lip between his teeth as he admired her form.
“I’ll undress in a moment.” He touched his fingers lightly to her abdomen, seemed to marvel in the softness before trailing down to her intimate place. “I want to pleasure you first.”
She knew what he intended to do. Once, she had walked into the dining room to find Mr Becker’s hand beneath his mistress’ skirts while the woman bounced happily on the chair.
A bolt of pleasure anchored her to the bed when Noah began massaging her sex. Her aching nipples hardened. Her gasps seemed to excite him, every soft caress robbing him of breath, too.
“Do you like me touching you like this, Eva?”
“Like it? It’s divine.”
But then, just as the sweet coil inside wound tighter, he stopped his magical ministrations. The longing, the unsated desire, was almost too much to bear. But Noah Ashwood was a man whose thorough approach to work applied equally in the bedchamber.
He came forward, braced on muscular arms, and kissed her passionately on the mouth. The kiss fed her growing need for him. But then he moved again, pressing his lips to her neck, to her breasts, feasting on her nipples until she no longer cared who heard her desperate pleas.
“Don’t stop.” She arched her back, threaded her hands into his hair.
“I don’t intend to.”
He kissed her abdomen, the brush of his mouth like the faint tickle of a feather, kissed her bruised thigh, teased her legs open. Her sex was exposed, laid bare while those greedy green eyes grew heavy at the sight. And then he was kissing her there, making love to her with his mouth and tongue.
“Good Lord.” Eva clutched the coverlet in her fists.
Each sweeping stroke, each divine suck and lick, drove her to the brink of something wonderful. Inside, the pressure became intense. The strange force slowly engulfed her until her world shattered.
“Noah!” She came apart crying his name, shuddering against his mouth.
He cupped her sex as the tremors subsided. “You were beautiful in your release, Eva.”
His husky voice reached her in some faraway place. She opened her eyes and their gazes locked over her naked body, spread on the bed like a feast. No one had ever called her beautiful. “Even when thrashing about like a madwoman?”
“Even then.”
The warm feeling in her sex journeyed northward, settling around her heart. She could live like this forever. Days spent writing and helping the needy. Nights spent locked in his passionate embrace.
A sudden thought tore a gasp from her throat. “He nestled down into the sweet valley and drank God’s dew. You weren’t referring to the countryside when you wrote that line. After your expert attentions this evening, the words take on an entirely new meaning.”
Noah stood. He ran his tongue over the seam of his lips and sighed. “Tasting you was beyond heavenly.”
Her sex pulsed in response. This man knew how to say all the right things. “Then remove your clothes and let’s skip to the end of the poem.”
With a look that made her core muscles clench, he tugged off his boots. “I have no intention of rushing. I intend to thrust slow and deep into your welcoming body.”
Eva’s breath caught in her throat.
He held her in his emerald gaze as he unbuttoned his breeches. “I should warn you, I’m so hard it might come as a shock.”
It came as a huge shock.
A highly aroused shock.
Noah Ashwood stood naked, bathed in a candlelit glow. Shadows danced over every chiselled contour. His muscular thighs looked as strong and as powerful as a gladiatorial champion. The lean planes of his abdomen drew the eye to the tantalising trail of hair leading down to his jutting manhood—smooth and as hard as marble.
“You’re not afraid?” he said with a teasing glint in his eyes as he stroked the length of his impressive erection.
“Afraid and excited.”
“We don’t have to do this now.” He glanced at the door. “We don’t have to do this at all.”
A fierce panic surged to her chest at the thought of him leaving. Her heart ached to join with him. Complicated emotions were at play. Too complicated to understand while her body thrummed with need. She doubted she would feel this way about any man again, and she was hardly a girl in her first bloom.
“You cannot tease me with mouth-watering confectionary and then close the box.”
He laughed. “You have the look of a woman who wants to devour every last one.”
“With such delights on offer, a lady is bound to be greedy.”
He climbed onto the bed, crawling over her with panther-like grace, stopping to kiss her breasts, to take her nipples into his warm mouth, to suck, to tease, to drive her insane.
“Open your legs, love.”
She opened for him and took him between her thighs.
“You’re certain you want this, Eva?” He came down on top of her, his manhood pressing against her intimately.
“I’ve never wanted anything more.” Every inch of her body burned.
He rocked his hips, breaching her entrance. “Do you think you can handle my intrusion, Miss Dunn?” he said, reminding her of the words spoken at their first meeting.
“I welcome your intrusion with bated breath
, sir.” She ached for it, yearned for it.
The mischievous twinkle in his eyes became something more profound as he eased himself into her body. “Then know that I shall treasure this gift always.”
His endearing words caused an intense flurry of emotion. The sensation of being stretched, of their bodies joining, fed a need so deep it almost brought her to tears.
“You can touch me, Eva.”
“Yes,” she whispered, releasing the coverlet. She knew what would happen the moment she set her hands to his bare skin.
He was so hot, so hard. Her fingers throbbed as she stroked his back, grabbed hold of his hips.
“I’ll try not to hurt you.”
“I trust you,” she breathed, relishing the weight of him pressing her into the mattress.
He kissed her as he rocked slowly in and out of her body, made love to her mouth in the same cautious way, bridling his lust, curbing his passion.
“Is this the first time you’ve made love to a virgin?” she said, tearing her mouth from his.
“I don’t want to cause you pain.”
Eva cupped his cheek. “I doubt you ever could. Do what you need to so we may move past the awkward part. Do it now. Do it quickly.” She gripped his hips, urged him to take the final plunge. “I need you inside me, inside me fully.”
Noah sucked in a sharp breath and thrust hard. “Hell and the devil!” he cursed as he buried himself to the hilt.
Merciful heaven!
She was suddenly full, full with him. Noah Ashwood. It took a second to remember how to breathe. Yes, it was a little uncomfortable, but nowhere near as painful as she’d feared. A rush of raw emotion mingled with a wave of divine pleasure. The need to hold him there and never let go proved as powerful as the need to feel those delicious tingles.
“God, Eva, you make me so hard.” He withdrew slowly, then eased into her body in one long searing thrust, branding her, claiming a right she could never give to another man.
“Tell me what you want, Noah.” She wanted to hear his deepest desires. “Trust me. Tell me what you want to do.”
“I want you. I want to ride you hard, love, until we’re sweating and panting.”