Chapter 16
“Helena.”
Evander murmured her name like a prayer against her lips. He still could not believe that those lips he had longed to caress and taste for years were now finally pressed against his own.
Evander lost himself in that kiss, and as he felt Helena’s body melt into his embrace, he wagered she was losing herself too. Morals left his mind. Restraint left his body. There would be consequences later. For now, heaven had come to earth, and he was certain he would die if he pulled away.
Evander pulled back just enough to let a sigh escape Helena’s lips, then leaned in again, deepening the kiss with slow, sensual brushes of his lips against hers, guiding them into ecstasy.
He paused, allowing Helena’s gentle nips and hesitant strokes to grow bolder until he brushed his tongue across her lips.
Instantly, Helena parted them wider, and as he stroked his tongue over hers, his satisfaction turned into craving.
He skimmed his hands down the curves of her waist, over her buttocks, and then lifted her.
“Evander!” Helena gasped his name as he picked her up, but her kisses did not stop, and her arms only tightened around his neck as he carried her back to the chaise.
“You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment, Helena.”
Somewhere in the darkest depths of his mind, a voice shouted at him to stop.
To wait until they could speak to Jeremy.
To Evander, though, that voice was nothing more than the annoying buzzing of a bee that he quickly swiped away, too busy relishing the feel of having Helena on his lap, of their kiss growing deeper, his touch—and hers—growing bolder.
Where his hands stroked down her back and down her shoulders, hers moved from around his neck and down his chest. He hissed in a breath of pleasure and let his head fall back as he felt her nails through the fabric of his shirt.
Needing more, he let his hands drop down to her hips, and with a savage yank, he pulled her deeper into his lap, shoving her skirts out of the way until her sex pressed tightly against the aching erection in his breeches.
Helena gasped and paused as she felt his cock, and for a moment, he worried he had let himself go too far too fast.
“I want…” she rasped, awkwardly squirming against his cock as her blush deepened. “I want you so much, Evander. But I do not know how…”
Evander groaned, only further aroused by her sweet innocence, and he leaned up and kissed her lips sweetly once again.
“No need to rush,” he whispered against her lips, gently guiding her hips to first tilt back, then swoop forward.
Their heads bowed forward, foreheads pressing together as a sigh escaped both their lips at the pleasure the subtle move released.
“Evander,” Helena breathed. “I just… I need to feel you against my body.”
“Are you, too, very soaked for me?”
Helena nodded shyly.
“I want you to feel how hard you make me, Helena.”
He moved her hips again, as softly as before, and a wet warmth seeped into his trousers as pleasure once more erupted between them. Helena’s grip tightened on his shoulders, and the next time she moved, she did so of her own volition, grinding her pelvis slowly against his aching cock.
Frenzied need coursed through his veins as Helena moaned his name, but no matter how badly he wanted to take control and grind into her faster, he did not.
Instead, he let Helena take control of her own body, of his as well, and with each flick of their hips, their pleasure heightened until they were both gasping at every breath.
“What is happening to me?” Helena breathed, her hips moving faster and bolder as he neared his climax. “This feels so wonderful…”
She opened her eyes, and the look of her helpless innocence nearly drove him to his end right then and there. He held back, not wanting the pleasure to end until he knew she got hers first.
“It is just your pleasure mounting, sweetheart,” he rasped, undulating his hips beneath hers. “Let it. Nice and slow. Let your body guide you as you grind yourself against me.”
Helena whimpered.
“I feel as if I am coming apart,” she moaned.
“Then come apart on me, sweet Helena. I will catch every piece of you, I swear it,” Evander vowed, then captured her lips in another deep kiss.
Helena’s whimpers grew louder as their lips fused together, and her hips began to grind harder and faster.
He could feel her giving him that part of herself that she kept from everyone else as she finally found confidence in her movements, and as she suddenly went still, let out a strangled moan, and then he felt her wetness seep against the fabric of his strained trousers.
Evander took her hand in his and pulled her into another kiss.
“Your touch is my undoing, sweet Helena.”
Evander felt himself spill in his own breeches, unable to contain himself any longer.
He captured the nape of her neck, locking her in a deep kiss as they both trembled uncontrollably.
Long, silent moments passed until he could release her again, and when he did, they both began to pant and catch their breaths as their bodies calmed down.
“Oh, my God,” Helena panted, melting into his chest. “Oh my God.”
Evander could only nod in agreement, unable to speak as pleasure took over him in that moment while they both tried to recover from the intensity of their shared release.
Years ago, he had known his fair share of pleasure. Yet nothing had compared to what he had just shared with Helena—and they had not even removed a single scrap of clothing. He could not imagine what it would be like when they got the opportunity to touch skin to skin.
First, though, they would have to get such an opportunity. Reality came screaming back to him as the cloud of lust that had encompassed them lifted, and he realized what he had done.
“Helena,” he whispered, then captured her lips in another sweet kiss before he gently untangled her from his lap. “We should not have done this.”
Hurt and betrayal flooded Helena’s eyes with a quickness as she curled her arms around herself.
“Do you regret this?”
“God, no. You have no idea how much I want you. But I need to speak with Jeremy,” he told her, adjusting his clothing.
“He might have brushed you aside when you tried to speak with him, but I will not allow him to do the same to me. I will tell him about us, and whatever happens after that, we will deal with it together.”
Helena visibly relaxed and uncurled from her protective stance on the chaise.
“You will?” she asked, her soft voice full of hope.
“I cannot wait another moment,” he promised, helping her to her feet.
“What should I do?” Helena asked.
“Go back to your mother,” Evander told her. Unable to help himself, he ran his hands once again over her waist, down her arms, anywhere he could find purchase, he touched. “Tell her that this issue with Lord Ingram will soon be resolved, and that she need not worry any longer.”
Helena looked surprised, and Evander smirked.
“You think I just ignored that part of your confession?” he asked, shaking his head. “I heard everything. And I promise you, I will make it stop.”
Evander emerged from the darkened library, surprised to see that the late afternoon had turned into evening.
After stepping into his room to clean himself and change his clothes, he moved down the empty corridor with determination to find Jeremy and nearly collided with Adrian, Elara, and Damien as he rounded the corner.
“There you are, brother!” Elara said happily, throwing her arms around his neck. “We thought you retired early as well. Adrian was wondering what had become of parties nowadays.”
“Apparently, a man cannot even properly get drunk anymore without everyone vanishing by the second course,” Adrian said, shaking his head. “Whatever happened to commitment to a party?”
Evander’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he hugged his little sister back affectionately before he untangled himself from her arms and stepped back to look at each of their faces.
“Who else left the party?” he asked.
“Jeremy,” Damien answered, then chortled as he shook his head. “You should have seen Grandmama’s face when he told her he was leaving the party early. Helena disappeared as well, so I suppose they could have sneaked out together.”
Dismay and confusion filled Evander as he glanced around at the other guests, who seemed to still be enjoying the party despite their host’s early departure.
In fact, no one besides Patricia seemed bothered that the future bride and groom were missing.
He could see Patricia nearby pestering Mary-Anne about Helena, and he was close enough to hear Mary-Anne respond that Helena was kind enough to fetch her fan for her, and probably just needed a moment away from all the excitement.
He fought the urge to smile, thankful that his future mother-in-law was loyal enough to her daughter to make excuses for her extended absence.
“Have you caught your breath from the crowd, old boy?” Damien asked, drawing Evander back to their conversation.
“Well enough,” Evander replied, his eyes drawn to the grand staircase that would lead him to Jeremy’s room. “But I have a matter to discuss with Jeremy that is of great importance.”
“Oh, can it not wait?” Elara asked. “We have not yet talked, and I miss you. And so does Mama. We have been so worried since we came here. I cannot believe these two dolts sent you, of all people, to help Jeremy!”
“We sent him because he is the only one of us Jeremy still fears,” Damien said dryly. “Adrian only manages to frighten his own daughter.”
“She is very intimidating for someone so small,” Adrian protested.
Despite his need to hurry, Evander laughed softly and smiled at his sister as he cupped her cheek. Though it was Damien and Adrian who had first conducted the search for him years ago, it was Elara who had found him on that dreaded ship and brought him back to his family.