Chapter Nine #2
“Or rather, I arrived when I was supposed to in order to rescue you from the stubborn Mr. Littleton.”
“I would have been fine on my own.” Despite not wanting to give into him so soon, when he encouraged her arms to relax and tugged her into his embrace, she went willingly. “I will admit that I was glad you arrived when you did.”
“Good.” Dear heavens, his grin was devastating and full of wicked promise, and it sent awareness careening over her skin.
“Would you like me to serve your tea?”
“No, but you have something that can tame my appetite, I’ll wager.
” Then he snaked a hand to her nape and roughly drew her against him.
“As I said this morning, you are mine alone.” And he claimed her lips in a kiss so intense, need shot through her core to steal her breath.
Pulling slightly away, he said, “I meant it.” The growl moving through his voice carried enough command that gooseflesh popped on her skin.
Feeling slightly at sixes and sevens but wishing to provoke him, Hannah smiled. “Jealous?”
When she assumed he wouldn’t deign to answer, he nodded. “A bit. I wasn’t done with you ten years ago but had to leave when I got orders.”
Another shiver went down her spine, and this one had everything to do with unfulfilled dreams. Besides, she enjoyed seeing him thusly. “Show me that I didn’t make a mistake in agreeing to this bit of insanity with you.”
That was all it took
With a more definitive growl, Evan swept her into his arms. He trapped her against the hard wall of his chest and the scalloped wooden back of a low sofa. “Tell me you want me, Anna. I need to hear you say it. That I’m the only one you want in your bed.”
“I’m willing to give you a second chance, but I can’t promise you a lifetime.
” Her pulse rushed through her veins that she heard it in her ears.
Unable to deny herself from touching him, she stroked a hand along his jaw.
The faint prickle of stubble rasped against her skin.
A muscle twitched beneath her fingertips. “You know why.”
“Give me your promise you are done taking clients,” he asked in a low tone with his gaze on hers. “I won’t share you.”
That sort of possession, though high-handed, left her almost dizzy with need. Every beat of her heart demanded that she take control of this moment, but oddly, she wanted him to, for then she could concentrate solely on herself.
Just as he’d said when he’d put her into the manacles.
“I’m still waiting for you to show me why this was a good decision.
You talk far too much for a man bent on seduction.
” She wished to feel his lips and to have his body moving on hers.
Trying to puzzle out her future would benefit from a delay.
In this one fleeting moment, there was only her and him—the man who’d slipped through her fingers and took all her dreams with him.
“I’ll show you what you can do with that tart mouth.
” He crushed his lips to hers, claiming her with a strength she couldn’t deny.
All her senses were consumed by him as if the years apart had never happened.
The muscled length of him pressed into her softer body while the hard edge of the sofa cut into her hips.
His arms around her were like iron bands, his fingers fire as he played them up and down her spine.
The warmth of his tongue as he tangled it against hers sent matching warmth between her thighs.
How could he reduce her to such a wanton so quickly after he’d already sent her flying earlier this morning?
How did that make her look to him? In the end, it didn’t matter, for she moaned into his mouth and burrowed closer.
The scent of his shaving soap wafted into her nose and left his indelible stamp upon her brain.
Dear God, I’m in a bit of a pickle, I think.
This was Evan, the man she’d dreamed of in the dark of her bedroom when she felt most alone, the man whose memories set her free when she manipulated her button with her fingers after her clients couldn’t send her into bliss.
He’d been the one man she could never forget; the one man she’d always wished would come back into her life if for nothing else than to lay eyes on him one last time.
And be a father… or share the grief of that broken dream with her.
With a frantic edge to the kiss, Hannah threaded her fingers through the silky hair at his nape. She stood on her toes to have the full effect of his kiss. Her nipples hardened beneath her shift, and she moaned, for she desperately wanted his touch to help ease the ache.
The captain danced his fingertips down her back, tracing her spine as he went.
Bit by bit he drew the hem of her gown up.
Cool ambient air circulated around her exposed legs despite the silken stockings.
Then, the heat of his hands seeped into her arse as he gripped her there.
His fingers feathered over her skin, and she shifted her stance to better layer herself against his form.
“Evan…” How far gone was she to want him so soon after what they’d shared earlier today? When he seemed content enough to make her insane with mere caresses, she wrenched away to pepper his chin with kisses. “Perhaps we should retire upstairs to my suite—”
“No time.” He grasped her hips and ground his pelvis into hers. “No doubt you can feel how urgent things have become, and besides, a bit of daring with the door open will enhance the act. Don’t you think?”
“Perhaps.” Oh, this man would be her undoing in so many ways. Daring much, she drew a hand between their bodies and traced the impressive bulge of his engorged shaft where it pressed against his trousers. His breath hissed. She smiled and rubbed her hand along his length.
“I won’t last if you keep on.” Seconds later, he lifted her off her feet, unmindful of her squeal, and propelled her over the floor until her back connected with a wall. “Shall we give your neighbors a show at the window, or would you prefer the wall?”
Hannah glanced over his shoulder as excitement lit through her veins. “The wall.” Did he ever pleasure women in a typical bed?
“Agreed.” Buckthorne unbuttoned the front of his breeches to free his length. The engorged member bobbed between them, rigid, dark-veined and waiting.
If only they had time for her to tease him with her mouth. Still, she wrapped a hand around him. His hot girth filled her palm and jumped when she rubbed her thumb over its weeping tip. “This is pure insanity, this coming together so rapidly in only a few days.”
Amusement warred with need in his blue eyes. “Perhaps we are making up for lost time.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “This will go quickly. Apparently, I haven’t learned control around you.” He grabbed handfuls of her skirts and bunched them around her waist.
“I know the feeling quite well.” What is wrong with me?
Would she just toss everything that she was, and all her thoughts and resolves because the captain had come back to Town?
There was no answer that would reflect well on her, but she didn’t protest when he urged one of her legs up to rest on his hip.
The head of his shaft rubbed along her sensitive folds as her body opened to him.
A host of shivers fell down her spine and clashed with the ones invading her insides.
“Remember, though, that you are mine.” In the space of a breath, he shoved into her passage without warning.
Hannah’s world dissolved beneath a wave of pleasure.
“Damn, but you feel so good.” He pulled out only to thrust again.
Evan groaned and held his position, fully sheathed.
His breath stirred the loose hair at her temple.
“If Littleton comes ‘round again, I will do more than threaten to toss him out.”
“Thank you.” His fierce protection—and possession—of her left her at sixes and sevens.
In this moment, there were no words she wanted to waste on how he made her feel.
She grasped his shoulders and tilted her hips, wriggled them in order to take him in as far as she could.
His thick, hard, long length filled her, stretched her, reminded her that her body came alive while with him.
Each tiny movement on his part set off a flutter of sensation through her core.
Her insides tingled and tightened. She pulled him closer, wanting him to move yet hoping they could remain like this forever.
“Evan…” Unexpectedly, a tiny piece of her heart left to become his.
As if her heart had ever not been that.
“I know.” Buckthorne held her steady with his hands at her hips. His gaze softened and a mixture of awe and pleasure illuminated his expression. Then he closed his eyes and moved within her. Each penetration sent glorious sensations through her body.
With every slow, gentle thrust, Hannah gave herself up to the wonder that was coupling with him.
Why did anything need to change? When he slipped his hands to her arse, she clutched him closer with a leg around his hip.
“This is lovely.” When had her voice ever sounded so smokey or filled with longing?
Certainly, she never let her clients see this real, this true side of her when she serviced them.
“Fuck that.” He grunted, opened his eyes to hold her gaze.
“I don’t want our joining to be lovely.” As if something snapped within him, his rhythm increased.
Stronger. Harder. Faster. Each slide into her body sent them both crashing toward the edge.
“I don’t want you to be able to walk properly after I finish with you. ”
Tingles twisted down her spine. Frankly, she adored a man who knew what he was doing regarding carnal activities.
“Send me flying, then. I’m still waiting for you to show me I haven’t made a mistake by agreeing to be your mistress again.
” Desperation filled her voice, but Hannah didn’t care as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders.