Chapter 7
“Wherein safer waters are left far behind.”
His dark brows drew together, the eyes beneath full of challenge. “Is that so?” he said, the tone of his voice sending shivers running over her skin.
Georgiana cleared her throat, the nerves which had dispersed a little during their heated discourse suddenly returning tenfold.
Before she could open her mouth to consider a safer topic of conversation, he had moved.
He tugged at the ribbons of her bonnet and cast it aside before pushing her backwards and taking hold of her wrists.
He held them captive above her head, pressed against the rock they lay on.
His body half covered hers and she was overwhelmed once more by the sheer size of him.
Surely the nobility were supposed to be pale-skinned, bespectacled creatures, not this virile force of nature, all coiled power and heat.
In turn she thought any decent young lady ought to be screaming and hysterical by this point, whereas she was held spellbound, captivated by the sheer masculinity of the body pressed so intimately against hers.
She stared up at him, her eyes drawn to the curve of a generous mouth.
She knew now that mouth was soft and giving, quite at odds with the harsh contours of his face.
“Look at you,” he said, his eyes growing darker still as he did just that. “With your hair spilling out like molten fire. You look like a wild creature, something untamed and trembling, caught in a hunter’s trap.”
“I-I’m not trembling,” she objected, though she felt perhaps she ought to be, her heart was certainly hammering against the cage of her ribs like fury.
“No?” he murmured, lowering his head until she felt those soft lips trailing across her throat. “You will be.”
She sighed and never doubted the sincerity of his words as he kissed a heated trail up her neck and over her jaw until he found her mouth again and claimed it for his own.
Georgiana pulled against the restraint of his hands, wanting to sink her fingers into his hair and feel if it was as soft as it looked but he held her fast as he took her mouth.
She opened for him willingly, feeling wanton and just like the untamed creature he had described.
Her mind had been banished by the overriding sensations in her body as it came to life under his touch.
She felt strangely like she had been sleepwalking her whole life and now, suddenly, he had awakened her.
He kissed her like there was nothing else in life, like her mouth was a whole new landscape to be explored and he intended to map it with exquisite attention to detail.
She followed the path he laid out for her, a serious student as he taught her the moves of this new and sensuous game as their tongues parried and retreated before coming together again.
He released one wrist and his hand slid down over her arm and then lower.
With deft fingers he undid the buttons of her pelisse and slid his hand under the fabric until it grazed her breast. She gasped, shocked by the intimate touch and heard a low rumble of amusement through his chest. He spread his fingers and his thumb rubbed over the sensitive peak of her nipple.
“Oh!”
He looked down at her, his gaze heated and full of delight at the sound of her pleasure.
“Yes, you like that, don’t you, my sweet little vixen.
” He tweaked her nipple gently through the fine muslin of her dress and she found the sound was drawn from her again.
“I want to kiss you here,” he said, his voice rough as he lowered his mouth and pressed it against the thin fabric covering her breast.
“N-no,” she said, torn between desperately wanting to know how his mouth would feel against her skin if she allowed it and wondering just how far she would let this man go towards ruining her.
Good God, he was dangerous. She’d been in his company only three times and here she was, spread out for him like some cheap petticoat who earned her living on her back.
She moaned as the moist heat of his mouth penetrated the muslin, heating her body all over as the sensation spiralled out.
“No,” she said again, her voice breathy and quite unlike her own. “Y-you mustn’t.”
“Oh, but I must,” he insisted, releasing her other wrist and pushing her pelisse aside, tugging at the shoulders of her dress, easing the fitted material down until one pink tipped breast peeked enticingly free.
“Oh, my God,” she murmured, quite lost as he grinned at her.
He held her eyes as he lowered his mouth, watching as she turned crimson before giving his full attention to her uncovered flesh.
He drew her nipple into the damp heat of his mouth as she hauled in a breath, arching beneath him and groaning.
Desperate now she sank her hands into his hair as she’d wanted to from the beginning and far from pushing him away, held him in place as he suckled and tormented her.
Hot and writhing now, her body seemed to be crying out, making demands of her which she was not totally sure she understood.
Further than that she knew he could ease the ache that was growing beneath her skin and driving her to distraction.
He gave her breast one last lingering kiss before raising his head again and staring down at her. A frown appeared over his eyes as she smiled up at him, flushed and breathing hard, she didn’t know what he saw but he drew back suddenly, tugging her dress back into place.
“Come,” he said, a little gruff now. “It’s time you went home before you catch another chill.”
Unsure whether she was relieved or disappointed she got to her feet, picking up her bonnet and arranging her pelisse.
Georgiana watched as he shrugged into his fitted jacket, easing the beautifully tailored fabric over the muscular arms he’d put around her only moments ago.
Wondering what came next, she called to Conrad for something to keep her occupied, watching as he bounded back across the meadow after a happy afternoon chasing rabbits.
She turned and found Beau was watching her and didn’t hesitate to put her hands in his as he reached out.
He raised each one in turn, kissing the fingers lightly.
“Tell me you’ll be here again tomorrow,” he said, stepping closer to her as he placed her hands against his chest. She looked up at him and nodded before she could even consider the answer.
Georgiana ought to run. She could throw away her whole life if anyone discovered her here with him, and she would be ruined beyond saving.
He smiled, obviously pleased that she would come, and why shouldn’t he be.
Beau was risking nothing, just enjoying a dalliance with a sweet country girl before he left and went back to London and the glamorous life he lived there.
He ducked his head and pressed one last sweet kiss against her mouth and then whispered to her.
“Maid of Athens, ere we part, give, oh give me back my heart. Or, since that has left my breast, keep it now, and take the rest.”
She threw back her head, laughing and he gave her an offended look. “Well I see there is no pleasing you! You accuse me of having no heart and an unromantic soul and when I spout poetry as every fair maiden would desire, you laugh in my face!”
She covered her mouth with her hand, by now quite unable to stop herself as he looked increasingly torn between amusement and vexation.
“Oh, do forgive me,” she managed, wiping her eyes. “That was unforgivable, and after you said it so prettily too.”
“Well, now you’re just patronising me!” he said with a huff. He gave a dispirited shake of his head, though she could still see the laughter in his eyes. “I shall never declare myself again.”
“No,” she said, still smiling, though for her at least the humour of the situation had vanished as she had no such illusions about the validity of his words.
He frowned, sensing the change in her demeanour.
“What is it? You think I play you false I suppose?”
She shook her head and then reached up and kissed his cheek. “I think there is much you would give me, my lord,” she said, her voice quiet. “But I am not fool enough to believe your heart is among them.” She cast him one last smile before turning her back and walking away.
“I will see you tomorrow,” he called out to her, though she offered him no reply, just walked back the way she had come with her own heart full of apprehension and turmoil.
***
Sebastian watched her walk away from him and wondered what in the name of God he was playing at.
He had never taken his own position lightly or used it to abuse others.
Seducing a well-bred young lady who was clearly intent on landing herself a duke was not beyond him but taking the innocence of a sweet girl who knew well he had no intentions of ever offering her marriage, that was quite another.
He should have never begun this dangerous game.
Yes, she had more to lose than he did, of course, but he couldn’t pretend that he was in no danger.
He had never been so captivated by a woman before and he couldn’t precisely say what it was about her that appealed so strongly to him.
Perhaps the way she laughed and teased him and refused to be flattered.
Maybe it was her forthright way of putting him in his place and showing she was unimpressed with his romantic declarations, believing them to be nothing more than part of the scenery set for her own seduction.
He wondered what she would say if she knew he had meant those words?
***