Chapter 4 #2
He flicked her clit without mercy, savagely driving his finger into her harder and harder, pushing her orgasm through the restraint of years of denial.
“Come for me,” he demanded, because he needed to feel her orgasm on his tongue like nothing he’d ever desired before in his life.
“Come for me, Phoebe.” He sucked on her clit and just as she began to shatter, he applied his teeth with just enough pressure to drive her over the edge.
“Joshua!” she screamed, his name a prayer on her lips as her hot core milked his fingers with her orgasm.
A harsh breath exploded from her lips and a laugh filled the skies as he slowly brought her back down to earth, languidly stroking the receding quakes of her core.
“I have never felt that before.”
Satisfaction flowed through his body, but he wasn’t done with her. She needed to be ready for the next item on her list. He pushed her legs up higher and placed her feet on his shoulders. Her hand returning to his head.
“I don’t think I could possibly…”
He shoved a second finger inside her and curled them, pushing on a place that drove her wild.
She bucked and pumped against his face, his teeth scraping her clit, and her core tightened once more as her body began to quiver.
Just when she was about to come, he removed his fingers and pulled his mouth away.
“No…no, no, no. Don’t stop.”
He ignored her plea, grabbed his gloves and stood up, taking her with him.
Phoebe’s cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes dilated and as dark as the distant forest. He smoothed down her skirts, turned her around and brushed the snow off her backside, nearly groaning as he was unable to resist plumping her tempting derriere with his palm.
“Do you know what you do to me?” he asked as he pulled her toward the sleigh.
“What?” she asked.
“You make me want to go for a sleigh ride.” He lifted her up into the sleigh, then grabbed the reins as he jumped into the red padded seat next to her.
With the flick of his wrists, they were gliding across the snow once more, their pace faster and more exhilarating.
Then Phoebe lifted her skirts to her waist, swung her leg over his thighs and she was straddling him.
Rubbing her quim back and forth against the placard of his falls and he thrust his hips toward her in a powerless surrender to desire.
Their eyes met, anticipation racing through his veins, their passion palpable between them.
Her need for him as great as his was for her.
“After we are married, I will purchase us a sleigh,” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck, her auburn hair draping them in a curtain of silken curls blowing in the wind.
She froze on top of him and pulled away from his kisses. “Married?”
She began to slide off his lap but he stilled her with one firm grip on her right thigh. “Damnation,” he cursed. “I had this all planned out, but then you went down on your knees and—”
“This is my fault?” she asked.
“No! No, that’s not what I’m saying at all.
This is my fault for losing control.” Years ago he had recognized Phoebe was his weakness.
She would always have more control over his body than he did.
If she wished, he would jump and it wasn’t because she was his employer.
He’d refused numerous seduction attempts by client’s wives and lonely widows.
He slowed the horse to a trot and took a deep breath before continuing. “You are different than any other woman I’ve known. From the moment I met you so many years ago you have owned my heart and body.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You haven’t been with another woman since we met?”
He shook his head. “I’m muddling this up. Yes, I’ve been with other women, but only because there was no hope for us. You were my employer and then you were with Nithesdale.”
“I was never with Nithesdale.”
“I know that now, but the way you two carried on, I thought… It doesn’t matter what I thought. I know it wasn’t true and I know why you pretended.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Nithesdale told me a few years ago. He said you were protecting him. Restoring his reputation as a man while helping with Iseabail.”
“I owed him.”
“We all owed him so very much,” he said quietly. The loss of the man they’d loved still stinging.
“Was he your father?”
It was his turn to be taken aback. “What would make you think that?”
“There are rumors he sired two bastards. I thought one of them might be you.”
“No,” he said, sadness tinging his voice. “He was the only father figure I’ve ever known, but Nithesdale only sired one bastard, and it was not me.”
“Who?” she asked, curiosity obviously getting the best of her.
“It’s not my story to tell. Only the child’s mother can answer that question.
” When she started to speak, he put one finger on her lips and she sucked it into her mouth.
It was one of the same fingers he had used to caress her inner walls and his cock twitched beneath her with the knowledge.
Phoebe then began rubbing the soft round globes of her arse over the top of him and he nearly threw her from his lap to keep their conversation on track.
Instead, he stilled her with one hand while still holding the reins in the other.
“Who’s being the demon now?” he asked.
“You bring out the worst in me.”
“I would say I bring out the best in you.” He thrust up into her and she bent over to kiss him. He steeled himself against her charms and pulled away. “I want you more than I can possibly articulate, however, I will not fulfill number four or five on your list without a betrothal in place.”
Her brow furrowed. “I thought we had agreed marriage was not necessary.”
“We never agreed. I said I understood your reservations. You were left in a horrible predicament after Richard died. Women are treated abominably by society and the world over, but that does not mean I will use you in the basest of manners and be done. I told you that I love you, and I meant it. Those were not mere words. While you were upstairs at Caerlaverock, I wrote up a marriage contract.”
Nothing could have frightened her more than him uttering the word marriage. He knew that and she began to fight to lift her right leg to the other side of the seat once more. He used his strength against her for the first time, holding her in place on his lap.
“I cannot—”
“It is within your purview to cut me out of your life, but I beg of you to read the contract. I know you care for me. I’ve seen it in your eyes, felt it in your caress, and absorbed it on my tongue.
You are not a woman who has casual relations.
I know this. You care. You may not love me, but you care deeply for me.
More than you ever did for Richard, or Nithesdale. ”
At her sharp intake of breath, he continued. “I love you. Take the contract from my pocket and read how much I love you and respect you. If you do not want to marry me after reading it, I will take you back to the castle and never mention it again.”
She searched his eyes, looking for the trap she was afraid he would spring, but he did not back down, nor did he show any weakness, just the love he’d felt for so many years.
She reached inside his pocket, and with his heart pounding, fear and arousal coursing through his body with equal measure, she pulled out the contract.
He briefly closed his eyes and said a prayer.
This was it. Everything he’d ever wanted would be decided in the next few moments and part of him wished he had ten more years to convince her to be his.