Chapter Eight #2
On top of everything else, she didn’t deserve to be left with a babe in her belly, for he couldn’t marry her if such a thing happened.
Not wishing to think of that either, he framed her head with his hands and then claimed her lips.
Never had he been more tempted by a woman, only now he had the distinct feeling he would never be able to go back to the man he’d been before meeting her.
Beyond that, he might prove haunted by the memory of her long after he had to give her up out of duty.
Or guilt.
Over and over, he kissed her, tasted her lips, set out to chase away those lingering thoughts.
With a tiny bit of pressure at his nape, she held him closer, and the second she traced the seam of his mouth with the tip of her tongue, he was lost. His engorged length pressed painfully against the front of his evening breeches, and damn if he didn’t wish to claim her body as he was doing her lips.
Hell, he would, for that is what they’d been moving toward this whole week.
He tugged gently on her hair, which encouraged her head backward as he’d done in the carriage, and he took advantage by dragging his lips along the column of her slender throat.
The silky skin, the scent of lilies, the tiny sounds of pleasure she made all worked at his undoing, and when she shivered from need, he shoved whatever the future held to the back of his mind.
Right now, in this moment, he wanted this woman more.
She tugged at the placket of his lawn shirt, and when it opened, she pressed kisses to the skin she’d just uncovered, and a shudder of desire went down his spine.
“I could easily become drunk on you. What we did in the carriage was beyond anything I could dream of, and now I know Samuel didn’t give me nearly all that he should have. ”
“Yes, well, I imagine he had other worries on his mind.” There was no way of knowing if that was true, of course, and neither did he care.
Heated need moved through him, and he shifted to better accommodate his arousal.
In the process, her body brushed against his.
A half-stifled moan left her throat, and he grinned.
“I shouldn’t take the liberty. Even if you are my mistress, you haven’t told me in words that you want me to bed you,” he said even as he glided the fingertips of one hand along the bodice of her gown.
“Actually, I did, when we first struck our bargain. Isn’t that as good as a binding, written contract?” she responded with enough heat in her brown eyes to set fire to his blood.
“And here I thought I was the expert on legal matters.”
A tiny snort of amusement escaped her. “It will only make you work harder.” Then she leaned in, took his earlobe between her lips, and then lightly bit that flesh. Need streaked through him. “I won’t bid you nay. In fact, I want this, want you, can’t wait to feel you move inside me.”
Dear God, she would lead him down the devil’s own path and he’d go willingly, for he was well on his way to being captivated.
He followed the edge of her bodice with his lips as he worked the few buttons at the back of her dress.
Once the garment gaped, it was all too easy to tug it downward, and once the shift beneath it was dealt with and her breasts were exposed, he groaned at the utter perfection of those pale mounds.
“Never will I tire of seeing these. Works of art, I think.” As she giggled, he brushed the knuckles of one hand over one hardening nipple.
“Oh!” Constance shivered. She guided his other hand to her breast and held it there. “I require much more of this tonight, for our time in the carriage seems like a memory.”
“So it does.” If her eyes beckoned him in further, he would surely drown in those depths and be quite happy to do so.
With his pulse pounding, he gave one of the pink tips a light pinch.
A gasp from her was his reward, and she jolted upward, which thrust those lovely breasts front and center for his perusal.
“Have you never pleasured yourself in the years of your widowhood?”
“When the need grew overwhelming, yes. Sometimes, but I could never quite achieve release beyond once or twice.” The wicked gleam in her eyes didn’t bode well for him.
“Does knowing that arouse you, Mr. Hamilton?” Couched in a whisper, the words and the imagery sent an inferno into his blood.
“Do you wish for me to show you how I tame those urges at times when I’m alone in my bed at night?
Dear God. Who was this woman and where had the retiring widow who’d kept to herself gone?
And why the devil did she wish to hide that spirit?
Perhaps it was the threat of anxiety-ridden episodes that kept her true personality in check.
A pity, that. His shaft pulsed with urgency.
“Not right now, but I am going to devour you, as I told you before.”
She met his gaze without fear. Would it hold for the remainder of the night? “Since we both want the same thing in this moment, I can’t see anything stopping us.” Then she winked. “Will there be any more delays?”
“I can’t imagine so.”
Then he devoted himself to exploring those soft, perfumed breasts.
When he took a pebbled tip into his mouth and flicked his tongue over it, Constance’s soft gasps and moans urged him onward.
Several minutes passed while he explored and the woman in his lap gave herself over to his attention as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was all too heady, and she was all too willing.
When she surged into him, pressing her lips to his and taking control of the kiss, he couldn’t help but grin against her mouth.
The woman was naught but a powder keg, and he held the match.
So he kissed her, let her boss his tongue, and then he dominated the embrace, showed her without words that he would keep her under his protection and take care of her for as long as he was able.
And that only served to pour more fuel on the fire burning between them.
He delved a hand beneath her skirting, and damn but she was already thoroughly aroused as he stroked his fingers along her heated flesh. She lightly bit his bottom lip when he spread her open and found that swollen nubbin. A moan escaped her the second he rubbed it with varying degrees of friction.
Her fingers dug into his shoulder. “Oh, oh… Gregory!” Lost in the throes of apparent pleasure, Constance moved her hips, ground into his hand, which only made him work her over with more determination.
“I am so close…” Her breath came in soft pants.
“I… Oh!” A cry of surprise left her throat to echo in the silence of the room.
It was such a delight to watch her face as emotions played over it, for she truly enjoyed foreplay.
As much as he wished to send her through her paces as many times as she could stand, he wouldn’t last, for it had been at least six months since he’d bedded a woman and already his shaft was strained to the breaking point.
“How do you manage to set me off so quickly? And I suppose that makes me a desperate widow.” She glanced her lips along the side of his neck. “For the love of all that is holy, finish me. I need to feel you moving inside me else I’ll go mad.”
“I would say I’m quite skilled in carnal endeavors, but I rather think we are just fortunate.
Or randy. Desperate or not, I dwell in that pool with you.
” He fumbled with the buttons of his front falls.
Why wouldn’t they open as easily as he needed them to?
Finally, the fabric panel fell, and he took his impossibly hard member in hand.
“I should give you one last chance to beg off.”
Constance shook her head. “There is no need, so don’t ask again.
This is a large part of our arrangement.
” She rose onto her knees, and the moment he fit the head of his shaft to her opening, she moaned.
“We are two consenting adults. There is nothing wrong with engaging in intercourse for the mere excuse that we both enjoy it. That is the foundation of this relationship, is it not?”
“Yes, but… Ah, hell.” That was the only permission he needed.
Gripping her hips, Gregory thrust upward into the sweet heat of her and didn’t stop until he was fully impaled.
They both groaned, and he paused simply to savor the feeling of having her snug sheath around him, but she wasn’t content with that.
Oh, no. The widow took it upon herself to move the coupling along, for she dug her fingers into his shoulders then rocked back and forth.
Additional friction on his shaft nearly made his eyes cross and a release happen prematurely.
And it was beyond erotic.
He applied himself to hurtling her toward that edge of bliss.
Each time he stroked upward, she came crashing down, but eventually that wasn’t enough.
“I have to go deeper.” Hell, he wanted to claim every inch of her body, show her how wrong her husband had been to half-arse their physical times together.
As if he were a man possessed, Gregory kissed her in the hopes he would forever be imprinted upon her and as he did, he wrapped his arms around her and then stood.
With a grunt, he lifted her only to toss her onto the bed.
Seconds later, he followed her down. Immediately, she slipped her legs about his hips, and it was the come hither look in her eyes that fairly pulled the soul from his body.
That should have given him pause, for that sort of connection wasn’t usual for him, but he would process what it meant later.
Right now, he stroked into her honeyed passage while keeping the bulk of his weight on his forearms. Unfortunately, friction and too much stimulation after such a stretch of abstinence didn’t lend itself to drawing out the act.
His breathing labored. Sweat rolled down his spine.
His thrusts were short and deep. Urgency raced through his length.
His stones drew close to his body; was she ready?
He needn’t have worried. Their flirting from the week and his finger play had already seen her primed, for with a cry, Constance stiffened slightly then she went pliant as she tumbled over the edge and into bliss.
When her core fluttered around his shaft, pulled greedily at him, Gregory gave himself over to those sensations.
Before passion completely took over his brain, he withdrew from her body as completion washed over him in waves.
As the euphoria held him in the vortex, his shaft pumped, and he ground himself between her legs into the counterpane.
I’ll need to apologize for the mess later.
Then he collapsed into her, holding her close. Moments—days—later, when he came back to himself, he met Constance’s amused gaze, he flashed her a grin. “This has easily been one of the best nights I have ever passed.”
“I can’t help but agree.” Though her eyelids fluttered, she continued to peer up at him with a slight frown tugging at the corners of her kiss-swollen mouth. “Why did you not hit release inside me?”
“Honestly? It wouldn’t be fair to you if I left you with the additional scandal of being pregnant.
” After breaking their intimate connection, he gathered her into his arms. “You have much to look forward to in your future without being shunned by the very society you hope to reenter. However, I am glad we shared this.”
God, could he sound like more of a heel?
“As am I.”
“Good.”
“I want to do this again. Tonight. I rather think that wasn’t your best effort,” she said in a soft voice that rang with teasing.
“Minx.” He couldn’t help pinching one of her arse cheeks.
“It wasn’t, but then, I have been abstinent for a bit.
” Gregory pressed a kiss to her temple. He was becoming more fond of the lady than was good for him.
“But you have my word I’ll make a better showing.
Just give me a couple of hours to recover. ”
After a kiss to the side of his neck, she snuggled into his side.
“One of the guest rooms has been fitted up for you if you would like to make use of it. I… Well, I didn’t know what the protocol was or if you would wish to share my bed for sleeping.
In recent days, Isabella has taken to claiming the bed as her own, so you might have company. ”
His chest tightened. Unexpectedly, a ball of emotion lodged in his throat. “I will appreciate that boon of privacy later, after our second go ‘round. Besides, I’ve been told I snore, and I don’t wish to disturb your sleep or routine.”
Yet, he couldn’t help thinking that this was a cozy love nest indeed. He anticipated many pleasant months of this new relationship. Already, it had enhanced his enjoyment of life, and he had caught himself looking forward to seeing her each day.
If I’d known taking a mistress would have the same effect as indulging in hashish, I would have done it earlier.
Or perhaps it was merely the fact they got on well together. Really, it didn’t matter, for their time together was limited, but he refused to dwell on that.