Chapter Four #2
She nodded. “Again, perhaps. Do you think you’re that sort of man? The marrying kind? The forever kind? Would you be happy with just one woman in your bed for the rest of your life?”
“Honestly? I have no idea.” Confusion reflected in his green eyes. “It would largely depend on the woman. However, if such a woman exists to hold my attention past a bedding, I would consider myself beyond intrigued.”
Was that a challenge? Regardless, amusement pushed through her chest. “Perhaps you should find out, hmm?”
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. “Meaning?”
“Start with a kiss and see where the afternoon goes.” Diana shrugged. Did such a suggestion brand her a tart, then? This was new territory for her, and crossing verbal swords with her brother’s best friend brought a lovely bit of scandal to the conversation.
Surprise flickered over his face. “You are assuming… what?”
“Nothing, of course, for there is free will involved from both parties. I merely want a bit of fun, perhaps a tryst, this afternoon.” Was it too bold to come right out and admit it?
“Oh.” Nathaniel looked at her with speculation for the space of a few heartbeats, then finally, he nodded. “Well, let’s see what sort of mettle you have, Lady Atterbury.”
“Ha. It’s Diana and you know it.”
“Very well… Diana.” With desire darkening his eyes, he grabbed one of her hands and drew her into a standing position. “I haven’t had a woman challenge me like this in a very long while, and I rather enjoy it.”
“Good.” She didn’t have time to revel in the sound of her name in his deep tenor, for he crushed his mouth on hers in his opening overture.
And it was everything she’d experienced the night before.
There was some comfort in the fact that he was exactly as he claimed.
With a soft sound of encouragement at the back of her throat, Diana slid her hands up his chest that was indeed surprisingly hard for his age and loosely looped her arms about the breadth of his shoulders. Then she set out to kiss him back.
Why should he have all the fun? After all, she was the one who hinted at this way to spend the time.
Except, the viscount wasn’t a rake for nothing.
Absolutely, he refused to let her boss him during that kiss.
Instead, he settled her more comfortably into his embrace, and then he set out to apparently separate her from her senses.
He moved over her lips with slow leisure that would drive her mad before too long, but then, that was exactly what she wanted.
When she applied pressure at his nape in a bid to hurry him along, he ignored her and took his time.
Cheeky indeed.
Over and over, he nipped and nibbled her lips in a bid to introduce himself.
Soft but firm, those two pieces of flesh both cradled hers and provided enough stimulation and heat that her body felt as if it were vibrating, shifting, preparing for whatever else he had planned. Oh, and she couldn’t wait to find out.
How was it that two men’s kisses could prove so different and evoke such different reactions in her?
When he drew the tip of his tongue along her lower lip, erotic sensations trailed after, and she gasped from the unexpected delight of it.
Not once had she felt the same when Atterbury had attempted an embrace.
Holdcraft took advantage of her distraction to slide that organ into her mouth and flirt with her tongue.
A game as old as eternity commenced, as they both thrust and parried while the kiss deepened, and time seemed to stand still.
This is what I’ve been missing my entire life, this intensity, this thrill, this feeling that a man is engulfed with need for… me.
Heady stuff, that. Desire clouded her brain as the heady embrace continued.
Good heavens, she craved the heat of him, the feel of him, the sensation of being held by him, and in fact tugged him closer until their bodies were layered scandalously against each other.
The scent of him accelerated her heartbeat, and oh she couldn’t have enough him.
Eventually, Nathaniel pulled away merely to drag his lips down the side of her neck while her fingers went into his hair.
How wonderfully soft and thick it was! Atterbury was nearly bald by the time he popped off this mortal coil.
Then he guided those talented lips to the tops of her breasts, and flutters erupted in her lower belly as the glide of his mouth heightened her awareness of him.
“Damnation, you are most intoxicating,” he whispered against her skin, but his hands were at her breasts, cupping them, teasing her nipples through the fabric, and sending shivery sensations through her veins. “You are certain you want this?”
“I am, as long as you don’t talk to William about it.”
Oh, for the love of the gods, put your mouth on me!
The dratted man must have read her mind, for he curled his fingers into the low bodice of her day dress.
In a thrice, he pulled the fabric down, taking the chemise with it, and didn’t stop until her modest breasts were bared to his inspection.
“I knew you would be perfection after seeing you last night in the gown you wore,” he murmured seconds before he took one of those aching tips into the warm cavern of his mouth.
“Mmm!” The hiss of approval seemed to hover in the room.
Diana arched her back, which put her more firmly into his hold.
How long had it been since a man had pleasured her so thoroughly without even putting a hand between her thighs?
She stifled the urge to snort. Or rather, in her husband’s case, climb on top of her, rut, and then leave?
“Goodness, but I feel much like an innocent again.”
Was it silly of her to admit?
“Just wait,” he whispered around her nipple before moving to the other tip and starting the seduction all over again.
Suckling, soothing with his tongue, and then he withdrew only to blow upon the moisture he’d introduced onto her flesh. It was a heady combination, and already she shook with anticipation for what else was to come.
I’ve been cheated out of so much!
When he rolled those sensitive peaks, starting at the root and moving upward with varying degrees of pressure, Diana cried out with approval and more than a little need. A chuckle was his only answer, and it got her dander up a bit.
If he wants tit for tat, he’ll have it.
Shoving a hand between their bodies while he continued his carnal torture, Diana cupped his impressive erection through the fabric. A groan left his throat, both haunting and arousing, and she smiled. “Did you think you would leave this morning room unbothered, Nathaniel?”
“I don’t know what I expected, to be honest, especially from an older woman.”
“Age has nothing to do with pleasure.” She stroked him as best she could through his breeches. Oh, he was so impossibly hard that she couldn’t wait to see him, touch him, taste him. Where this man was concerned, she had apparently gone temporarily mad.
Perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing, for she’d been deprived of such for far too long.
“Fuck.” His guttural utterance sent gooseflesh over her skin. Leaving off with his own teasing, the viscount yanked her hand from his person. “Shall we move on to other explorations, then?”
Was she really doing this? The insane flutter of her heartbeat said she was, so she nodded.
“Before we do anything more than kissing, I need to know you are not carrying any sort of disease.” It ran against arousal, but she refused to put her health at risk, and from his own admission, he wasn’t exactly chaste.
His chuckle loosed butterflies in her belly. “I’m pleased you are so shrewd.” But he nodded. “I have, in fact, seen my personal physician just last month. I am quite healthy. In the event you wondered, I am selective with the women I take into my bed.”
“Surprising, but good to know.” However, even upper-class courtesans could carry disease.
He lowered his voice. “Dying of syphilis is not a life goal. Neither is contracting lice or any other sort of crawly thing. I have standards, after all.”
For whatever reason, that struck her as funny. A giggle left her throat. “I suppose we can resume.”
With a half growl, half curse, he put a hand to the small of her back. “No more Holdcraft nonsense. I’m Nathaniel. Or you can refer to me as a god, once I’m finished with you,” he said, with a wink.
What an ego this one had! Yet heated tingles raced down her spine. “You are quite full of yourself.”
“And so you will be too, if things progress. Should we lock the door or any other connecting ones?”
“We shouldn’t be interrupted.” She frowned. Why must he talk about that right now? Why couldn’t they return to erotic banter?
“You’re certain? I will not wish to be denied once I have your skirts rucked up.”
Merciful heavens. She shivered as cool ambient air wafted over her breasts, which still hung out of her gown.
It was both scandalous and arousing. “My staff knows how to follow orders.” As long as her brother and her son didn’t both decide to come calling, they would be fine.
Then Nathaniel caught her in a loose embrace, walked her ahead of him until a brocade wingback chair hit the backs of her knees.
She tumbled into that piece of furniture with a squeak of surprise.
“There is nothing more seductive than a woman in any form of undress with passion flushing her cheeks.” Appreciation glittered in his eyes as his gaze roved over her form.
“Ha! Don’t try to charm me, for I have already given you permission.
” Diana was nearly drunk on the desire flooding her veins and filling her head.
A tryst with him was exactly what she needed, and wanting to further tease him, she slowly pulled up her skirting, hooked a knee on the chair arm, and met his gaze.
One of her eyebrows quirked upward. “Why is it I am still waiting to find out if you are as good as the gossips say?”