Chapter 9 #2
This was her last chance to experience pleasure and she wanted to revel in it, so she knew she could remember it forever, no matter what the future brought.
His fingers stroked her, enflaming her need, sending her spiraling higher and higher. She was slick and ready, her body crying out for more.
He slid two fingers inside her and she whimpered, head falling back. It was almost as good as his cock, not quite filling her—but the way he could curl those fingers within her, stroking her from the inside, was a pleasure all its own.
Her body was on fire, every nerve ending sparking heat to the next.
She could feel the tension building, the coil of desire in her core tightening with each stroke of his expert fingers.
His thumb found her clit, circling it with just the right amount of pressure and she clung to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Yes.
Her orgasm was close, so close. She could feel it building, like a storm on the horizon.
She rocked against his hand, pressing into his palm, chasing the sensation, desperate for the release.
His fingers curled in again, stroking that spot, that perfect spot that made her see stars, as his other hand found her nipple again.
Helpless to do anything else, she rocked and ground against his touch.
“Kenneth,” she gasped, her body trembling, desperate for it. “I’m... I’m close.”
In the darkness she couldn’t see his expression, but he moved his lips to her ear. “I know, love,” he murmured. “I can feel ye tightening around my fingers. Let go, Barbara. Let me feel ye come.”
His words, his voice, his command…it was all too much.
With a cry she came undone, her orgasm exploding over her like a wave crashing against the shore.
She convulsed around his fingers, moisture surging onto his hand, her body shaking with the force of her release.
He held her through it, his hand steadying her as he drew out every last shiver of pleasure.
“Good lass,” he murmured in her ear, even as he stroked her. “My good lass.”
Yes.
Barbara shuddered, wrapped around Kenneth, as her orgasm slowly faded. Had she thought herself wide awake earlier? It certainly would be easy to close her eyes and fall asleep now, her body and mind sated by him. With a little smile, she rested her cheek on his shoulder, her lips brushing his neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered with a sigh. “That was…magnificent.”
Now she thought about it, with her straddling his lap like this, it would be a simple matter for him to unbutton his breeches and pull out his cock. She could shift forward just slightly to make clever use of such an angle…
But before she had the chance to suggest it, Kenneth delicately withdrew his fingers. She felt a twinge of disappointment, especially when he sighed and reached for his handkerchief.
As he did so, however, he twisted his face to one side and bent to brush a kiss across her cheek. “I love ye,” came his whisper.
I love ye.
How often had she dreamed of him saying those words? But he was a rake, and she was smart enough—and well-read enough—to know vows spoken in the heat of love-making didn’t count. Still, she was sated and relaxed, and his words sent a gentle sigh through her.
Barbara smiled contentedly against his skin. “You have not even climaxed, you silly man.”
He froze. “What?”
Goodness, he was beginning to sound as he had earlier in the day when she’d told him of her ingenious plan to set a trap. Pushing herself upright, Barbara grinned down at him. “You do not need to be spouting vows of love until after you obtain orgasm. Is that not a rake’s rule?”
To her surprise Kenneth’s expression went hard, and he wrapped his hands around her waist to lift her from his lap. “I didnae say the words because I’m sexually sated, Barbara.”
Desperate to hold onto some lightness, Barbara teased, “Clearly.”
“I’m telling ye I love ye.” With abrupt movements, Kenneth jammed his handkerchief back in his pocket and straightened his clothing.
“I thought I’ve been in love afore, but I only just figured out how wrong I’ve been.
That wasnae love, wasnae what I feel for ye.
” The deep breath he took was long, shuddering.
“I’ve never told another woman I love her. ”
Belatedly, it dawned on Barbara that this moment was really quite serious and special, and she’d made a hash of it.
Oh dear.
She’d convinced herself to go along with Kenneth’s seduction because she wanted the experience, wanted to understand pleasure.
She’d understood—at least, thought she’d understood—that he knew that was all this was.
She’d forced herself to forget she was falling in love with the man, and instead focused on the temporary liaison she thought he wanted.
But to hear him declare his love? Was it possible he felt for her the way she felt for him?
In the darkness, it was difficult to see his expression, but she could feel his anger. So she cleared her throat. “You…you are…certain?”
“That I never told another woman I loved her?” he bit out. “I would damned well remember that!”
“Oh. Well.” She swallowed. “Um. Right. Thank you?” Her voice was little more than a squeak.
Perhaps you should confess your feelings for him. He might become less agitated.
Sure enough, Kenneth pushed himself to his feet and began to pace. Pacing was never good. “Barbara, I didnae expect ye to say the words back to me, but I needed to tell ye that afore I tell ye this.”
His tone was so serious that, even though Barbara couldn’t see him clearly, she suddenly knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant.
The languid joy which had filled the room along with her bliss was gone—fading away in the cold of whatever this was.
Straightening on the chaise, she gripped her fingers together in her lap, desperately trying to keep her heart from thumping so loudly.
“Tell me what?”
She heard his deep breath, then: “There’s nae criminals coming to yer library tonight, Barbara. The counterfeit ring has not targeted ye. Ye have no’ been the victim of a planned misfortune, like the other collectors.”
No, that didn’t make any sense. “But my canopic jars—”
“Are lovely, but no’ in danger.”
She was already shaking her head. “The Rake Review said—”
“It’s all true. What the Belle wrote—love, it’s all true.”
No, no, no, no…
Her pulse thundering in desperation, Barbara thrust herself to her feet.
“Do not be foolish, Kenneth. Did you even read the ridiculous claims of that scandal sheet? Why, it was outrageous.” Her voice was getting higher pitched as panic mounted and she stepped toward him, reaching for him, frantic for him to agree.
“I would not be surprised to learn the entire scandal sheet was invented and written by an old man in Seven Dials!”
But Kenneth didn’t agree. Didn’t even take her in his arms to comfort her. “I didnae have to read it to ken what it said. I was there.”
Because it’s true.
Oh God.
Oh God.
Barbara’s knees gave out and she stumbled back, her bad foot twisting beneath her.
Only then did Kenneth reach for her to support her. Always caring for her!
But in that moment, not knowing what to believe, or how to feel, she shook him off. “A wager, Kenneth?” Her voice raised in volume and pitch. “The best rake in London?”
“Hush, love—”
“I will not hush!” Barbara was frantic. “Who cares if the whole household hears me?”
Oh God, the counterfeiting ring wasn’t coming tonight?
Really? All this had been for nothing? Her outrageous leap to conclusions hadn’t landed properly at all…
she wasn’t nearly so clever as she thought.
As he had told her. If the article wasn’t a lie, wasn’t an attempt to ruin her reputation by false means and distract her, then the criminals they’d been trying to catch for the last three weeks hadn’t chosen her as their next mark, and weren’t coming tonight to rob her!
She had been wrong. Kenneth had told her she was brilliant, clever, to trust her gut, and so she had…and she was wrong.
Wrong about the counterfeiters. Wrong about her canopic jars.
Wrong about him.
All these thoughts swirled in her head, overwhelming her mind and her heart. Oh God. Her chest hurt, and she couldn’t draw a full breath.
If the Rake Review had been right, then she should be panicking about more than just her incorrect hypothesis; everything she and Kenneth had shared over the last three weeks was built on a lie! He’d had no interest in her—her as a person—at all! He’d just been trying to win some stupid wager.
Oh dear Lord, she was actually ruined.
“Oh God,” she whispered out loud.
And then Kenneth was there, his arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him. “Hush, Barbara.”
Again, she shook him off. “I will not hush! So what if my family hears! Let them know you are here, ruining my reputation! That has been the point all along, was it not? To ruin me!”
“Never!” He’d uttered the vow so quickly, so sincerely, she could almost believe him.
An hour ago, she would have. An hour ago, she didn’t know everything he’d told her had been a lie.
“Yes, it was!” She’d whirled on him, and now jabbed a finger toward the writing desk where she’d stashed the ridiculous—and now, she realized, damning—scandal sheet.
“That was the point of your wager! To ruin me, and to be declared the best rake in London! As if that is something to be proud of,” she finished in a derisive tone, hoping he might feel a modicum of the pain she was feeling.
“I will not hush, just to make this easier for—”
Her words cut off with a yelp as Kenneth stepped up beside her, wrapped his arms around her, and slammed his palm over her mouth. For a moment, she froze in affront—the nerve of the man!—then began to struggle.
Kenneth didn’t seem to notice, which only angered her all the more, and she tried to kick him as he bodily lifted her and dragged her across the room.
What in the world?
For a moment, she wondered if she should kick him in the bollocks, as he’d taught her.
But even after his betrayal she found herself believing he wouldn’t hurt her, and forced herself to go limp. Which was good, because he deposited them both behind the large desk where she studied her antiquities, leaving them crouched on the floor in the darkness.
“Barbara,” he breathed in her ear, “hush wasnae working, so now I’ll say: for the love of fook, cease making noise. Do ye understand?”
She didn’t—not until she heard the scrape at the window.