Chapter Ten
Clarice’s heart raced inside her chest as she settled into the carriage, which bore the Stanton ducal crest. She faced a dilemma.
Should she invite Samuel in for a nightcap or send him on his way with a polite thank you?
Part of her was excited and afraid of what might happen if she invited him in.
Another part worried that if she let him go, she might never have another chance to see him again.
Which was silly, of course, but ever since she had first seen him tonight, her insides and her mind had been all jumbled up.
“We have arrived,” Samuel said.
Before she lost her nerve, she asked, “Would you care to come in for a nightcap?”
He exhaled loudly and replied, “I would like that.” He knocked on the door, and the footman opened it, lowering the steps. Samuel exited first, leaned back in, and held his hand out to her. She took it and never let go as she led him up the stairs and through the door her butler opened.
“Welcome home, my lady,” the butler said with a bow.
“Thank you, Williamson.” She handed him her gloves and cloak, and Samuel took off his greatcoat and handed it over as well. “You may retire for the night.”
“Thank you, my lady,” he said as he handed her a candelabra to light their way.
Clarice led the way up the stairs to the drawing room where she received visitors. She sat on the settee, placing the candle on the oval table in front of the settee. “Do you mind pouring us brandy from the sideboard?”
“Not at all.” Her eyes never left Samuel as he strolled across the room, poured two drinks, turned around, and joined her on the settee.
“Do I have something on my face?” he asked, as he handed her a glass half-filled with amber liquid.
“You pour a healthy drink, and no, there’s nothing on your face. I just couldn’t stop myself from looking at you. I’m worried that if I look away, you’ll vanish, and tonight will have been just my imagination.”
He took a deep sip of his brandy. “I’m real, but I understand how you feel. It’s occurred to me that I might be dreaming.”
They both laughed, and she allowed herself to relax against the back of the settee instead of sitting on the edge with perfect posture. She didn’t need to impress Samuel with her manners or posture.
“I believe I mentioned that I have a horse on the racing circuit this year.”
“You did.”
“I leave for Newmarket soon.” He removed her glass from her hand and placed both their glasses on the table.
He turned toward her, so she pivoted toward him, causing their knees to touch.
He reached out and took both her hands in his.
“I’m hoping you will allow me to spend as much time as possible with you before I leave. ”
“Nothing would please me more.” She could hardly contain her excitement. And when his thumbs stroked the underside of her wrist, she gazed into his mesmerizing gray eyes full of desire and need, causing her entire body to tremble. Pulling her hands away, she stood and held one out. “Come with me.”
One of his brows arched in silent question, but he stood, took her hand in one of his and picked up the candle with the other, and followed her up another flight of stairs and down the corridor to the large chambers she moved into the day Chesterfield died.
Thank goodness she told Mrs. Shelley not to wait up for her.
Once the door was closed, she turned the lock.
Once again, Samuel looked at her with one brow raised. The difference was that this time he didn’t stay silent. “Clarice. Is this really what you want?” he asked as he placed the candle on the bedside table.
Maybe she should have thought this through.
But no. If she had, she would have found many reasons why this was a bad idea.
And all she wanted was to be with Samuel.
To feel his skin against hers. To feel his strong arms around her.
To feel the quick beat of his heart as he made love to her.
She wanted it all. Suddenly nervous, she walked to a window, pulled aside the curtain, and stared out into the darkness.
Samuel stepped up behind her, and his large arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He dipped his head and whispered into her ear, “You didn’t answer my question.”
One of her arms raised, and she placed her palm on his razor stubbled cheek.
“My answer is yes. I’ve had seven years to dream about this.
To want this. I thought you’d be married by now, and we would never have another chance to be together.
Since we’re both unmarried and free, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with than you. ”
Samuel groaned as he spun her around, cupped both her cheeks, and crashed his mouth to hers.
The kiss was raw in its intensity. Their teeth clashed, and their tongues tangled.
She grabbed his shoulders, not trusting her legs to support her.
Just as her head began to spin from lack of air, he broke the kiss, his lips traveling down her neck.
“I will never tire of kissing you. Turn around so I can unbutton your gown.”
She obliged. He fumbled with the buttons until he released enough to tug her dress down and over her hips, and it pooled at her feet.
He tugged off her petticoat and untied her corset strings, freeing her to inhale deeply for the first time since her maid tied them.
“How do you breathe with this thing on?”
She giggled. “You get used to it.” Once her corset was off, he stepped in front of her and unlaced the front of her chemise, his eyes, almost black with desire, never wavered from hers.
“These ties are easy,” he said with a wink.
He slipped the chemise off first one shoulder, then the next, tugging it down further until one breast peeked out and then the other, and still he gazed into her eyes.
She had trouble breathing even though her corset was gone.
When her chemise hit the floor, his head and eyes lowered and she heard him inhale.
“You are beautiful.” Without warning, he scooped her up into his arms, carried her to the bed, tossed the covers aside without dropping her, and gently laid her on the top of the snow-white sheets, dressed in absolutely nothing.
It was her turn to watch him as he undressed down to nothing but toned muscle. The bed dipped as he joined her and murmured, “Have you any idea how beautiful you are? I could spend the rest of my life just looking at you.”
As his eyes roamed over her body, heat caressed her skin.
She wanted to tell him he was beautiful, but she was too shy to say it.
“Samuel.” One of his knees slipped between her legs, and he leaned down and kissed her.
This time, the kiss was soft. He sipped from her mouth, his tongue gentle.
It was sensual and indulgent. He adored her mouth with his.
Kissing had never felt so amazing and exciting; she never wanted it to end.
Just as she thought that, he moved his mouth.
His sinful lips lightly kissed down her neck and chest. He took one nipple into his mouth and sucked it deep inside, causing her hips to rise off the bed.
His mouth moved to her other breast and did the same to that pebbled nipple, causing her hips to rise again.
He buried his head between her breasts and chuckled. “You like that, don’t you?”
“Mmmm,” was all that she was capable of saying because his lips were trailing down her stomach.
His tongue swirled around her belly button, causing sensitivity overload.
But he wasn’t done. He nudged her thighs open and kissed her there, and she was thrown back in time to when she’d experienced this once before.
The time she lost her innocence to Samuel.
“Samuel,” she moaned as his fingers opened her folds, followed right behind by his tongue.
He gently nudged her thighs wider, sucking her nub into his mouth, and she thought she would float right off the bed.
When he added a finger, the trembling in her legs started.
He stopped, lifted his head, met her eyes with a confident grin, placed her legs over his shoulders, and bent back down.
A loud moan escaped her as his mouth and fingers took her over the edge into a world vibrantly alive and pulsating with pleasure.
He crawled up her body, placing butterfly kisses here and there, keeping her skin tingling.
“You taste so good. I could do that for hours,” he said in a deep, guttural tone.
And then he was kissing her in that raw and desperate way he had earlier.
She felt the push of his manhood at the entrance to her channel, and she let her knees fall open.
One deep push and he was completely inside her, her body stretching to accommodate his length and size.
His hips began to move, and she joined him in perfect rhythm.
A rhythm as old as time. The closer they came to falling over the edge, the faster their bodies worked.
Clarice put her hands on his hips, pulling him as deep as she could into her body and holding him there as her entire being trembled, and she felt her inner muscles clamping around Samuel’s member.
A loud animalistic groan came from him, his body tensed, he groaned again louder than before, then collapsed down on her, nuzzling her neck.
Her arms and legs were splayed out on the bed, trembling, yet somehow lifeless.
Samuel rolled onto his side, taking her with him. “I’m sorry, I must’ve been heavy,” he murmured into her ear as his arms wrapped around her.
“A little. But it felt good,” she sighed as she wiggled back against the front of his body. His chest hairs tickled her back. Being held against the hard, strong, and broad expanse of his chest made her feel safe and cherished.