Rogue Countess (37 page)

He slid his hands beneath the weight of her thighs and gently parted her legs farther, opening her to him. She arched off the bed, anticipating his intrusion and full possession.

Instead, he stepped away from her. But before she could register surprise at his sudden absence or protest his retreat, he pressed back between her legs and in the next instant a lick of the most delicious liquid fire flared against the heated folds of her sex.

Her gasp of shock and amazement was replaced by a deep moan as the velvet flame returned again and again to tease and sooth her pulsing flesh. When Jude closed his lips over the swollen bud nestled within her thatch of black curls, drawing the sensitive flesh into his mouth, Anna nearly jolted off the bed.

Jude pressed his palms heavily up the length of her body, smoothing over her shaking belly. His large fingers closed over the mounds of her breasts and he kneaded their softness, then pinched their peaks delicately as he continued to lavish her sex with the skilled attention of his mouth. Pleasure speared through her body in bright reaching arcs and a humming invaded her blood, spreading ever outwards.

She reached down and threaded her fingers through his damp curls as she unashamedly held him to her. In the next instant, her climax burst from her core in a flash of pulsing white-hot pleasure that stopped her breath and overtook her entire body. The release was so strong and encompassing that her awareness was barely able to reach out far enough to notice Jude rising up over her.

But when he plunged his erection into the still-quivering cavern of her sex, she reacted to the unbelievable satisfaction of finally being filled by him with a deep arch of her back that lifted her breasts up in an invitation he couldn’t resist. As he accepted her offering and suckled the fullness of her breast, he pushed deep into her body. Fully embedded, fully possessing. He held himself there for a moment as he lavished her breasts with deep sucking kisses and wide sweeps of his tongue.

Anna never before felt so completely cherished and powerful at the same time.

Her flesh still hummed with the aftermath of her first climax when it all began building again. Jude braced his hands on either side of her head, lifting his upper body away from her. She felt no shyness when his heated gaze took in the wanton appearance of her nude body sprawled beneath him and the appreciation in his eyes intensified her pleasure.

He moved within her, committing to a slow and deliberate rhythm. Each retreat and advance of his thrusting hips felt like the mingled expression of physical mastery and selfless generosity. Anna grasped his hips in her hands, grounding herself to him. The muscles of his buttocks tensed with every movement of his body that brought her closer to the delirious peak.

Finally, when she was near to being taken away on another wave of immense pleasure, she threw her head back to meet his darkened blue eyes. As she looked into Jude’s fierce expression of passion and restraint as he brought her to a second release, the feeling of communion was too strong to fight. She uttered the words that had been flying through her soul and beating against her tongue for far too long.

“I love you,” she whispered on a gasp of pleasure as the tethers were loosened and the climax overtook her.

Jude responded with a deep guttural groan and he lowered his body to cover her. The weight of his chest pressed her into the mattress and he reached down to slide his hands beneath her buttocks to hold her up to him. His head rested alongside hers and his lips pressed in a hot open-mouthed kiss to the side of her throat.

His thrusts became fast and intense as he sought out his own climax.

Anna’s body was languid and heavy with the receding waves of pleasure when the swift pulse of Jude’s release echoed deep against her womb.

Chapter Thirty-One

“Now we will talk.”

Anna’s mind was totally unfocused, her thoughts in complete disarray, when Jude made the declaration with a disturbing clarity of purpose.

The groan of dismay escaped before she could call it back.

Jude lifted himself from her satiated body and she rolled away from him in defiance, curling onto her side in a pose of slumber.

She couldn’t talk now. Not after all of that.

She could barely remember her own name let alone the very important issues that needed to be discussed. Physically, she had never felt so wonderful in her life. Emotionally, however, she couldn’t ignore the sharp stab of trepidation as she recalled her revealing little slip of the tongue.

Not that she wished to take back the declaration of her feelings. She had just expected to say that string of three very important words in a manner a bit more planned out, when she felt more secure in his response.

Jude chuckled softly behind her.

“No playing coward now, Anna. After witnessing your actions this afternoon, I’ll never believe it.”

Anna stiffened, preparing to defend herself even though she couldn’t pinpoint what it was about his statement that had offended her. Before she could draw breath to argue, a quiet knock sounded at the door.

“But first,” Jude said, “let’s eat. I requested dinner be sent up after my bath. A day like today tends to work up an appetite.”

Anna shifted on the bed and turned to watch as Jude swept up a towel that had been left near the tub and wrapped it around his hips. When he went to the door, he was sure to only open it wide enough to take the tray of food.

She sat and looked around for something to throw on. A quiet smile flittered across her lips when she saw the clothes he had been wearing the day before tossed haphazardly onto a chair. She would have to make sure they interviewed for a valet, and soon. Her husband desperately needed a personal attendant to keep his things from being ruined.

She was jumping ahead of herself. She knew it, but couldn’t seem to rein in the fantasy.

It surprised her how easily the idea of caring for his needs came to mind. Such a mundane and domestic act, yet the hiring of a servant had a sense of permanency about it.

The physical exhilaration from the lovemaking began to recede and was quickly being replaced by a renewed nervousness that made her insides tremble.

She slid from the bed to retrieve Jude’s discarded shirt. His scent rose up from the garment as she lifted it from the chair, causing her heart to knock against her ribs in a double beat. She pulled the white lawn shirt around her shoulders and slipped her arms into the sleeves. The hem fell to mid-thigh. Not ideal, but certainly more modest than sitting in full nudity.

The door closed behind her and the smell of the dinner being brought into the room caused her stomach to groan. She turned around as she finished fastening the last of the buttons and her mouth went suddenly dry as Jude approached the bed with the tray. His blue eyes were intent and direct as his covetous gaze swept over her. And her hunger suddenly had very little to do with the food.

He smiled with a devilish curve to his lips, as if he knew what she was feeling, as if he were intentionally taunting her ability to control the passion that still burned in spite of the deep sexual satisfaction he had just given her.

God, she hoped it would always be like this. The lovely ache between her thighs, the deep warmth of love in her chest.

Of course, she could happily do without the subtle awkwardness in their newly established physical intimacy and the emotional uncertainty that held fast to her psyche. If all went well, those two issues would be resolved—one over time with repeat familiarity, and the other through the course of the conversation that inevitably must take place. And soon.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said as he sat on the bed and set the tray before him. She looked to him in surprise. He intended for them to eat right here, in the middle of the bed, practically naked? His smile indicated that he did as he lifted the lid on the food. Anna’s stomach clenched in reaction to the release of light and savory aromas.

“Starving,” she murmured in deep appreciation as she forgot her hesitation and came forward to crawl back onto the mattress.

Set beautifully on a large platter was a whole trout, smoked and seasoned to perfection, surrounded by small garlic potatoes and various roasted vegetables in a light buttery sauce. There was even a small dish on the side filled with a rich creamy pudding that smelled of chestnuts and cherries.

“You requested all of that just for you?”

“Not exactly,” Jude answered as he stretched out on his side, propping himself on an elbow. “I was hoping I would have some company to share it with.”

Anna had been trying to find a modest position in which to sit for the strange and wholly welcome meal, but she paused in her movements when she heard his response.

“You were that confident I would come to you?” she asked in curiosity, not certain how she felt about the idea of him being so sure of her.

“No,” Jude answered. His expression, as he met her questioning gaze, made the butterflies dance again in her low belly. There was an odd vulnerability in his sapphire eyes that she had never seen before. “I planned to request that you join me,” he added.

“I might have refused,” she said, thinking of how he had behaved toward her during the final events at her father’s house.

“I know,” he replied.

Anna watched him in silence for a few moments as he looked away from her and turned his attention toward sampling some of the food. She couldn’t get a good grasp of his mood. He seemed relaxed but anticipatory, at turns amused, then thoughtful and distracted.

His throaty moan of satisfaction drew her from her thoughts and she blinked in fascination as his eyes drifted closed at the taste of the fish.

“I don’t know if the cook decided to outdo himself out of appreciation for the ordeal we endured today, or if it is just because I am so hungry that this simple dish tastes like heaven. Whatever it is, you have to try some.”

He didn’t even wait for her to respond before he took another bite.

Worried he might eat it all before she had a chance to get her share, Anna grabbed a fork and stabbed a potato. As soon as the food hit her tongue, she understood what Jude was saying. The next thirty minutes or so were spent in relative silence and they both ensured they got their fill of the delectable feast.

When the platter was nearly cleaned off, with only the fish bones remaining, Jude slid the tray to the side and reached over the edge of the bed to set it on the floor. Then he turned to face Anna, now with nothing between them.

“Anna,” he started in a hesitant tone that caught her attention, “I have a confession to make, and I suspect you aren’t going to like it. Which is why before I tell you what I’ve done, or rather, what I haven’t done, I first need to explain something.”

He was nervous. It was obvious in the way he glanced to the side as he spoke and in the low halting timbre of his speech. The realization made her ill at ease. This was not how she foresaw this conversation proceeding. The reason she was here in his room was so she could finally bare her soul to him and reveal the secrets she had kept from him for far too long.

What on earth did he have to be nervous about? And what in god’s name did he have to confess?

“Jude, I think you may be confused—” she began, but was swiftly interrupted.

“No, Anna,” Jude said. “Finally, I am thinking clearly on this whole regrettable mess.”

Anna eyed him warily as he shifted on the bed, rising to a seated position. She narrowed her gaze on his face and was surprised at the furrowed lines of distress that bracketed his mouth and pulled down between his brows.

“Anna, I owe you a sincere apology.”

“What?” She was confused and unnerved by his earnest expression. “I am sure I don’t understand.”

“Earlier today, in your father’s house, it took me a while to release the ropes that bound my hands.” He spoke slowly, keeping her gaze locked with his. “I was conscious for much of the conversation between you and Olivia.”

Understanding dawned and a frisson of apprehension danced coldly down her spine.

“You heard what she said about…” She had to pause, unsure of the best way to refer to the events of the past.

“The circumstances that resulted in our marriage,” Jude provided with a growl of anger.

He raised his hands to push them back through the tousled locks of his hair, grimacing as he passed over the tender wounds. His brows were so low his eyes were nearly in shadow, and she had never seen his jaw clenched so tightly, even during the recent times when he had been yelling at her. He looked so distressed that Anna felt an urge to reach out to him, to reassure him in some way.

But she didn’t.

He rose from the bed, his agitation pushing him into a pacing stride alongside the bed.

“I was the perfect fool, believing so readily in the lies Olivia and your father fed me. If I had stopped to consider all of the details from that morning, I might have known…” He stopped and looked at her. “Do you remember very much about when you woke up that day?”

Anna had been watching him with wide eyes, unsure and wary. She could understand his frustration. For him, it was like being betrayed all over again. All she could do was answer his question truthfully.

“Not really. I remember a lot of yelling, a horrendous headache and the expression of revulsion on your face.”