Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“It is just a drink,” Deborah told herself as she drew the belt of her robe over her nightgown, “Just a drink and some relaxation with another adult.”
Even as she said the words aloud, though, Deborah felt a tremor of excitement move through her.
A few weeks ago, she would have berated Cedric for asking her to come to his rooms, but now, she was looking forward to it.
Even as she had tried to keep her mind on Adeline as she helped her get ready for bed, her thoughts kept wandering back to the possibility of a peaceful- perhaps even a pleasurable evening with Cedric.
Deborah felt a stir in her core at the possibility, and finished pulling the pins out of her hair and letting her locks down quickly.
As she went to the door that adjoined her rooms, she hoped that it was all right with Cedric that she’d changed into something more comfortable.
After wearing the binding a few nights ago, she could barely stand corsets anymore.
He answered the door on her first knock, and she was relieved to see that not only had he changed into more comfortable attire, but that his dark eyes had swept instantly down her body in appreciation.
“I see we had the same thought,” he mused with a charming grin as he waved her inside.
“We did indeed,” she agreed, biting back her own grin as she let him lead her inside.
“Oh,” she said, her attention immediately drawn to the furnishings of his room.
“You do not like it?” Cedric asked, leading her to a forest green settee by the fireplace.
“Oh, quite the contrary,” Deborah replied, taking in the various shades of green in the room, as well as the dark wood furnishings, “I just presumed it would be much different.”
“Oh?” Cedric asked, pouring their wine, “How so?”
Deborah grinned as she accepted her glass.
“I thought it would be darker, much broodier. Or sensual.”
Cedric chuckled softly as he took a seat beside her and leaned into the back of the settee.
“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but my favorite color is green,” he replied.
Deborah’s brows rose in surprise. Given how he always dressed in black, she had assumed it was his favorite color. It was then she realized just how little she knew about him, and how little he knew about her, save for her want for revenge.
“Something the matter?” Cedric asked.
Deborah blinked, only then realizing that she had gone quiet, and gave him a small smile.
“Not at all,” she assured him, then took a sip of her wine. She hummed in contentment when she discovered it had a sweet taste and took another long sip before setting the glass down on the nearby table.
Sweet but strong, she noted as a delightful wave of dizziness tickled her mind.
“So, dear Deborah,” Cedric began in a theatrical tone that made her giggle and relax into the settee.
“Yes, dear Cedric?” She teasingly replied.
“What are your plans for after?” He asked, resting his hand on her knee.
Deborah’s brows furrowed.
“After what?” She asked.
Cedric was silent for a moment as he slowly traced his fingers up and down the length of her leg, immediately making her flesh tingle underneath her nightgown.
“After your revenge is extracted,” he explained. “After you have restored your sister and served justice to Sylvester.”
Deborah tensed. She had never thought about an ‘after’ before.
Getting to Sylvester had been her only goal for so long.
A goal that, for the last few days, she had allowed herself to let go of and simply just ‘be.’ Guilt tunneled through her as she realized this.
She’d let herself get distracted. After everything she had done to get where she was in her plan, she’d let herself stop.
“Hey, now,” Cedric’s deep voice soothed as his hands came up to cup her cheeks, “Where are you going in that beautiful mind of yours?”
Deborah glanced up at him and found a look of concern, and the need to comfort had taken over his handsome face.
Does he…actually care about me?
“I never…I never thought of such things before,” she confessed.
Cedric was quiet for a moment, then nodded.
“That is perfectly alright. Sometimes our goals consume us,” he replied, his fingers gently stroking over her cheeks and throat. “You do not have to answer in this moment. In fact, stow it away to think about later. We can talk- or not talk- about whatever you wish.”
“I do not wish to talk,” Deborah answered, letting herself lean into his touch. “I just want to feel.”
The truth of her own words startled her, as did her ability to speak them so easily to him, but the flicker of desire in Cedric’s eyes was all she needed to know that her request was more than alright, and as he dipped his head toward hers, she pushed up from the settee and met his lips.
What was so foreign to her at one time was now familiar.
She knew how to brush her lips against his to stoke their pleasure.
When to press harder by the subtle lead he gave her.
She knew when to let her tongue slide between her lips to taste his tongue- and when to part her lips wider to accept his tongue so he could taste her.
A soft moan escaped her throat as the latter happened, and in turn, Cedric’s answering groan rumbled against her mouth as she began to suckle lightly at his tongue.
Cedric murmured something unintelligible between their kisses as he slid his hands down her arms, over her waist, and finally to behind her back; each little stroke sparking fire beneath her flesh.
She broke the kiss with a gasp as he lifted her, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Where are we going?” She asked, looking up into his hooded eyes.
Cedric smirked handsomely as he carried her in his arms.
“I thought you could use something more comfortable than a sofa or a carriage this time,” he explained. Then his smirk turned wicked. “Not that I mind catching you when you fall off such narrow spaces.”
Deborah could not help it. She smiled. She smiled at his wicked grin, at the way he made everything so familiar and comfortable, no matter where they were. For a rake, he was quite the romantic.
As Cedric lay her down upon the soft green pillows of the bed, Deborah smoothed her hands down to the part in his loose, white shirt and gripped the edges, urging him to lie down with her.
He complied, but as he moved his body over hers, she noticed that he was holding himself up by his forearms, creating a space between them.
“All the way,” she urged, tugging at his shirt.
Cedric’s reply was to kiss her again; his lips and tongue so skilled that in a matter of seconds, he had her breathless and yearning for more.
“Please,” she whispered.
Cedric’s head dipped to her throat, where his hypnotic kisses continued.
“You are so very small compared to me,” he murmured through his kisses, “I do not want to risk hurting you.”
“You will not,” she gasped, her desperation to feel him fully against her growing higher, “Please, Cedric. I need to feel all of you.”
As she said so, she realized that it was true. She needed every single one of his seductive tricks to chase away the burdensome thoughts that waited at the edge of her mind to flood back in and fill her with worry.
Cedric’s groan was deep and full of yearning.
He finally complied, letting his hips sink first and nestle between her parted legs.
Deborah’s breath hitched as she immediately felt his already erect manhood straining through the fabric of their clothes to get to her sex.
Then he lowered his chest, his muscled forearms slowly bringing him down one careful inch at a time until he was pressed so tightly to her that not a whisper of air could even snake between them.
Deborah’s lashes fluttered shut, and her senses grew frenzied as she finally felt the full, warm weight of him atop her. She smoothed her hands up to his neck and captured his lips in another deep kiss as her arms wrapped tightly around him, pressing his muscled figure even tighter to her.
“Deborah,” Cedric huskily murmured between kisses as he moved his hands to her hair, “What you do to me. You make me want to come completely undone.”
Deborah moaned softly and arched into his body as his fingertips smoothed over her scalp, sending shivers of need from the top of her head to the very tips of her toes.
“Come undone then,” she coaxed, pulling the hem of his loose shirt up his back.
She let her nails drag over the warm, firm flesh of his muscular back, starting from his shoulders and ending at his hips.
She reveled in the way Cedric trembled under her touch, and his hips bucked into her as another tortured groan left his throat.
Leaning up, she drew her lips back and sank her teeth against the spot where she felt his groan rumble from, and was rewarded with another.
His sounds of desire echoed deep into her body, making her core clench and heat pool between her inner thighs.
There was no denying that she enjoyed what Cedric made her feel.
However, she could not deny the pleasure she felt in bringing him pleasure.
She suddenly realized that she wanted to know every spot on his body that made him weak with need, and she boldly smoothed her hand from his back, over his hip, and then between their bodies so she could cup his manhood.
Cedric shot up to his knees as he hissed out a breath, and Deborah felt positively wicked as she watched him tear his shirt off with a smile on her face.
Then she gasped as with a quickness, Cedric wound his fingers in the back of her hair and pulled her up and captured her bottom lip between his teeth.
He nibbled and suckled the plump, sensitive flesh as his grip on her hair remained tight. Every time she tried to lean in and kiss him back, he leaned away, just out of her reach, then would claim her lips again just as she began to whimper.