TemptedByHisKiss (23 page)

Her eyes slid closed at the enervating pleasure, a low moan keening in her throat. She tried to raise her hands, wanting to cradle his head and sift her fingers through his dark, silky hair, but her sleeves imprisoned her arms at her sides. As if he sensed her dilemma and secretly delighted in it, he tightened his hold. Angling her just so, he raked her with his teeth, then soothed her with his tongue, pausing on occasion to blow a cool stream of air across her nipples that made her tense and twist in his grasp.

An insistent yearning ached between her thighs, begging to be appeased. Yet she refused to be held completely at his mercy. Acting on blind instinct, she moved her hand in search of whatever flesh she could find. The
hard width of his muscular thigh came to her first, flexing beneath her wandering fingers as he moaned against her breast. But she wasn’t done. Roaming sideways, she located his shaft, pausing to explore its shape and size as the rampant flesh strained hot and hard against the fabric of his pantaloons. He jerked against her hand as she cupped him, his mouth drawing harder against her breast.

Then suddenly she was being danced backward; one foot, two feet, three, until she was tumbled down onto a waiting chaise. She bounced against the goose down cushions, the short fall driving a bit of the air from her lungs. Cade drove out the rest seconds later, leaving her gasping as he tossed up her skirts and spread her legs wide.

She expected him to take her. Instead he lowered himself to his knees, apparently unhindered by his wounded thigh, and buried his face between her legs. She squirmed as he kissed her where she had never thought a person could be kissed, bucking her hips to be free as his marauding tongue licked and stroked. Reaching up, he caged her hips inside his hands and held her still, compelling her to accept this most intimate of caresses.

With a gliding lick he swirled his tongue around a bit of flesh so sensitive she feared she wouldn’t be able to endure the sensations. The fight went out of her, the pleasure exquisitely, painfully, intense. Helpless, she could only do as Cade and her body commanded, each demanding more in their turn. Angling forward, she pressed herself toward him rather than away, a move in which he seemed to delight as he increased his ministrations. What should have been an embarrassing flood of moisture poured from her womanly core. But again he
seemed to approve, lapping at her with an appreciative enjoyment that reminded her of the time she’d watched him eat a sweet, fancy ice at a party. Apparently, she was the dessert this time.

Rolling her head, she buried her face against a throw pillow and let him build her pleasure even higher. Then suddenly, just when she thought she couldn’t stand another moment, he did something with his teeth and tongue that made her scream. She shook, the sound gratefully muffled against the mass of feathers and silk.

Before she had any chance to recover, he lifted his head and dragged her ruthlessly forward so her bottom was balanced on the edge of the chaise. Only dimly aware of his movements, she watched in a daze as he unfastened his falls with impatient hands, shoving the cloth aside to free his eager shaft. Then he was plunging into her, seating himself to the hilt with a pair of solid, forceful thrusts.

This time there was no pain, only a wonderful sense of fullness, a tantalizing stretching that made her want more. Sliding his palms under her legs and bottom, he held her wide for his penetration, pumping into her with long, steady strokes, punctuated by shallower ones that turned her wild. Leaning up, she curled a hand behind his head and bent him down for a rapacious kiss whose fierceness surprised even her. Taking her mouth with an almost savage hunger, he thrust harder, pushing even deeper inside her.

She came on a stunning, shuddering peak, ecstasy filling her in a glorious surge that was shining and shimmering and bright. She rode the wave while Cade claimed his own release, his fists clenched into the cushions on both sides of her head as he shook.

They lay there panting and replete in the aftermath, their flesh still joined as he dropped gentle, lingering kisses on her mouth, cheeks, and temples. Skimming back her tousled hair, Cade buried his lips against her neck and breathed in the honeyed fragrance of her skin. He smiled and nuzzled her, not ready yet for them to part.

In fact, he was already half hard again just thinking about how much she had pleased him. With very little effort, he knew he could easily take her again. Sliding his palms over her thighs, he was toying with the idea of encouraging her to hook her ankles over his shoulders this time when he heard a faint sound. Voices in the hallway. Familiar, feminine voices that were moving slowly his way.

“Christ!” he cursed, springing to his feet in a move that caused a jolt of pain to spear through his leg. Ignoring the discomfort, he yanked his pantaloons into place and fastened a pair of buttons, then pulled Meg up and after him. Her eyes were wide as she clutched her loosened dress and stays to her chest in a desperate attempt to keep herself at least partly clothed. Hurrying her forward, he pulled her across to the far wall.

“Cade, what are you doing?” she whispered.

“Saving us both a great deal of embarrassment.”

Tapping a fist hard against a spot just above the gleaming blue chair rail that ran the length of the room, he hoped he was in time. A hidden panel in the wall creaked open and he dragged Meg through. He sealed it behind them only seconds before the main door to the drawing room was pushed wide, the voices of his mother and sister becoming audible as they entered the room.

“…and that’s when Daphne Throckly told me not to eat the oysters,” said Mallory, her voice muffled as it passed through the wall.

Swathed in an almost stygian darkness, Cade held Meg inside his arms, his back braced against the unfinished wood that lined the passageway. With one small fist curled into the fabric of her sagging bodice, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Well, I am only relieved neither of us consumed any of the shellfish,” the dowager remarked from the other side of the panel. “Poor Lucinda Pettigrew will have a dreadful time living this down. I’m sure the dear woman had no idea her oysters had gone off. In all my years, I cannot recall ever seeing quite so many people become ill at the same time.”

“It was a remarkable sight,” Mallory agreed with a tinge of horrified amazement. “I was going to tell Meg how glad she should be that she stayed home, but she isn’t here. Obviously Croft was mistaken in thinking she was still in the drawing room. Mayhap she has retired to her room to rest because of her headache. Should I check on her, do you think?”

Meg stiffened in his hold and made a small sound. Stroking a reassuring palm over her back, he pressed a kiss to her temple to urge her silence. She settled her forehead against his cravat and quieted.

“If she took to her bed, she must be sleeping,” Ava said. “If she’s anything like your grandmother when she had one of her megrims, I expect you would do well not to wake her for a while yet.”

Mallory paused. “Yes, you’re right, of course. Truth be told, I could do with a nap myself.”

“And I wouldn’t mind a warm bath.”

Moments later the room grew quiet as the pair departed. Cade stood with Meg, neither speaking as they waited to make certain they were alone again.

“What shall I do if Mallory changes her mind and decides to check on me, after all?” she whispered.

“Tell her you went outside to read and didn’t hear her and Mama arrive home.”

She paused for a moment in consideration. “That might work, I guess. I suppose you have a lot of experience at this sort of thing.”

“At what?” he inquired, humor in his voice. “Hiding in the passageways after a bout of passionate lovemaking?”

“Yes.”

“No. At least never here at home.” Before she had a chance to question him further, he bent to claim her mouth, locating her sweet lips with unerring precision despite the darkness. Long, long moments later he raised his head and traced his hands over the lithe curve of her back, caressing a length of bare skin with his fingertips. “I suppose I ought to help you dress.”

“I suppose you ought,” she agreed. “Do you think it’s safe for us to go back into the drawing room?”

“I wouldn’t, not until we’re both more suitably attired. I believe I can manage by touch alone.”

Meg stood quiescent as he adjusted her stays and tightened the laces, feeling the gentle shiver that ran through her as he fastened her back into her clothes. Once finished, he released her to retuck his shirt and check to make sure his falls were buttoned the right way.

“Could we go out through the passageway? Where does this one lead?” she inquired.

“To a guest bedroom, so I don’t think that’s such a good idea, not with the two of us together. Stay here. I’ll go first.”

Listening again, he waited a moment more before popping open the false doorway. Stepping through, he glanced around before signaling for Meg. “It’s clear.”

She emerged, blinking against the afternoon light. “How do I look?” she asked as she walked forward.

Thoroughly ravished, he thought, her eyes extremely blue in her flushed face, her lips swollen and rouged with color. “Beautiful,” he said with complete sincerity. Reaching out, he smoothed a few escaped tendrils of pale hair. “Hurry on to your room and no one will ever know you weren’t there this entire time.”

“All right.”

But instead of leaving, she hesitated, looking a little lost of a sudden. A glance at the doorway showed it was empty. Stepping close, he gathered her to him for a quick, hard kiss. “Go on,” he commanded. “I’ll see you later.”

Eyes shining an even brighter blue, she nodded. Whirling, she raced from the room. A long minute passed before he followed.

“I
f there’s naught else, miss, I’ll be off to bed now.”

“Oh, yes, do go on. Good night and sleep well,” Meg told her maid. Having received permission to retire, the young woman dipped her knees in a respectful curtsey and departed.

Meg crossed to her bed, took off the ecru silk robe that matched her nightgown, then climbed in. With a sigh, she relaxed against the soft sheets and plump feather pillows, then let her mind drift.

After leaving Cade that afternoon, she’d gone straight to her bedchamber, grateful not to encounter Mallory or the dowager along the way. Once inside the room, she’d taken the pins from her hair, stripped off her gown, and lay down on the bed in her stays and chemise, her body still aglow from the intense pleasure of Cade’s lovemaking. She’d closed her eyes with thoughts and emotions ebbing through her like an unrelenting tide.

To her great surprise, she’d awakened more than two hours later to a soft tapping at the door. Mallory slipped inside a moment later to check on her and share news of the garden party, the details of which Meg was compelled to pretend she knew nothing about. Her friend also wanted to know if she felt well enough to attend the musical evening for which they were promised.

Briefly she had considered the idea of saying no and remaining home, but decided she needed company more than solitude. She also wanted to see Cade and make certain she could be in the same room with him and not turn the color of a boiled beet, as memories of their torrid afternoon together flickered through her mind. He’d made love to her once before, but not like today.

Somehow she’d muddled through—no one appearing to notice anything untoward, despite the looks that must surely have passed between her and Cade when he arrived to escort all of them out for the evening. Then again, to his family and the rest of the world, they were an engaged couple, so a few warm, lingering looks were only to be expected.

The evening had passed at a slow drip, her earlier malady giving her the perfect excuse for a few moments of inattentiveness here and there. Then finally it was time to come home, Cade large and silent where he sat across from her in the coach. He bid her a pleasant good-night at the top of the stairs, much as he always did, then strode away in the direction of his rooms.

Now, as she lay in bed, her brows drew together at the remembrance. But this time she refused to dwell on all the permutations and possibilities of Cade’s enig
matic behavior. Her heart, she decided, couldn’t take the speculation. Leaning over, she blew out her bedside candle, then settled back to sleep.

She was drifting off when a creaking sound in the far wall brought her eyelids open. Light from a candle created a gentle amber glow as Cade came through the open panel. He shut it behind him, then approached the bed.

For a long moment he said nothing, shadows flickering over the hard planes of his face as he met her eyes, his tall body garbed in a heavy, black dressing gown, thin leather slippers on his feet. “I shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly.

“Probably not,” she murmured in a velvety whisper.

“I’ll go.”

“If that’s what you want.” She lay there, refusing to invite him this time, but equally incapable of turning him away. As she watched, his gaze roved over her recumbent form, pausing to study her face before tracing the long sweep of her hair where it trailed across her pillow. Her pulse beat a thick rhythm in her throat, yet she stayed still and silent.

Seconds flowed past before he moved, taking three steps forward to set the candlestick he held on the night table. His fingers went to the tie at his waist, freeing the cloth from his body. Laying the garment aside, he revealed his lean-muscled frame, naked and unquestionably aroused.

Tossing back the covers, he joined her between the sheets, heat and hunger radiating from him like a fever. Her lips parted as he leaned over to plunder her mouth, his tongue moving inside for a moist, sultry kiss that made her toes curl and her body weep with desire. Let
ting her eyelids slide closed, she gave herself over to the magic of his embrace.

But he soon broke their kiss, as though he were compelled to speak, easing his fingers into her hair to cradle her head. “Meg, no matter what happens, I want you to know you’re not to worry.”

Worry?

“You are safe with me.”

Safe?
A fist squeezed inside her chest.

“I’ll take care of you. I’ll do what’s—”

She laid her fingers over his lips to stop the last word.

Right.

He’d been about to say right. He was talking about duty. The thought made her go cold.

“Don’t,” she said.

“But—”

“No. I don’t want any promises, not now. Not tonight.”
Not ever, if they’re made without love.
“Just kiss me.”

“But Meg—”

“Kiss me or I’ll have to make you get out of this bed. And I don’t want to do that.”

His fingers tensed against her cheek. “All right, but it changes nothing.”

It changes everything, she thought, knowing that as long as he didn’t say he did not love her, she could still go on believing there was hope. Even if it was a fool’s dream, she would think what she must, since anything else was intolerable.

He stared into her eyes, clearly warring with the need to say more. But then his expression gentled, his fingers caressing her skin as his thumb moved to graze the full
curve of her lower lip in a way that made the breath catch in her lungs.

Without thinking, she slid her tongue forward and licked around the tip of his thumb, sucking against the fleshy digit for a moment before catching it between her teeth in a painless bite.

Hunger flared hot in his eyes, which glittered like a pair of emeralds, while the skin along his jaw grew taut with undisguised need. Yanking his thumb free, he cupped her face between his hands and crushed her mouth to his. She whimpered as he ravished her mouth, meeting the insistent pressure with fervid, frenzied kisses of her own. His tongue thrust and swirled, tangling against hers in languorous strokes that made her quake with longing. Her senses spun in a dizzying maelstrom, intoxicated by his every touch and temptation as he drew her deeper beneath his spell.

His hands soon left her face to glide lower, wandering over her neck and shoulders and breasts. Scattering kisses in their wake, he made her arch with pleasure, her core aching in tandem to the pulls from his lips as he paused to suckle the tips of her breasts through the silken bodice of her nightgown.

After a time he reached for the hem of her gown. “You won’t be needing this,” he declared on a growl before he dragged the silk up and over her head. Casting it aside, he buried his face between her bare breasts, pushing her flesh together with his hands so he could feast some more.

She reached for him as well, running her palms over what seemed like yards of hard muscle and warm skin, learning his shape and texture and which touches pleased him the most. She caressed his chest, eliciting
an appreciative murmur when she paused to flick her nails over the tiny male nipples she found hidden in the whorls of hair growing there. She earned a groan as she skimmed her fingertips over the flat plane of his stomach and again as she caressed his thighs and the lean curve of his firm buttocks.

But she drew the keenest response when she grew daring enough to take his erection in her palm, a long moan of bliss pouring from his throat as she stroked the satiny hot length of his rigid shaft. She sensed his restraint as he let her explore, her caresses causing him to grow so thick and stiff inside her small fist that she could barely hold him.

Finally, when he could obviously stand no more, he snatched her hand away. But instead of parting her legs to push himself inside her, he rolled onto his back and pulled her over him.

“My leg is sore,” he told her, clasping her thighs to settle her astride his hips. “I thought you could ride me tonight.”

Her eyes widened, her lips parting on a stunned breath as his wide palms raised her up, then angled her so he could thrust himself inside.

“That’s right,” he urged, showing her how to accept him in this new position. “Take me in. Take me deep.”

And she did, obeying him implicitly, following his every demand and direction as he taught her each delicious, sinuous move. Her hair fell forward in a pale circle, framing her face and his as he leaned up to take her lips in a series of wild, rapacious kisses.

Surrendering completely, she clung as he surged up
into her, driving himself impossibly deep. She moaned, her body burning like white hot ash, need enslaving her as she fell into a dazed, relentless rhythm.

When she tired, he took command, pushing her farther and faster than she imagined she could go until finally she broke on a long, tormented cry. Bliss roared through her, everything she was, given over to the ecstasy of the man and the moment. Collapsing over him, she lay drained and dreamy as he thrust into her with relentless intensity. He took his own release seconds later, his rough shout captured against a pillow.

Then they were still, lungs heaving for air, bodies relaxed and replete. Words of love rose to her lips, but she held silent, forcing herself to let the comfort of his embrace be enough. She waited in silence, wanting him to say he felt more for her than simple desire, but he stroked her hair instead, soothing her until she fell into an exhausted slumber upon him.

Cade took her again just before dawn, kissing and caressing her so she awakened fully aroused, her body slick and ready for his possession. Her eyes opened, throaty little whimpers coming from her mouth as he lodged himself inside her with one solid thrust. Her arms and legs wrapped tight as he pumped within her, pacing himself to make sure she reached her peak before he claimed his own.

After they both climaxed, he buried his face against her neck and waited for the world to right itself. Kissing her gently, he smiled when he realized she was already asleep.

Easing himself away, he lay an arm over his face and thought about the past twenty-four hours. Making love to her again had been a mistake, a temptation to which he should never have succumbed. But he had, and despite all the reasons why it was wrong, he could not make himself regret it. He’d wanted her and so he’d claimed her, craving her with a hunger he could no longer control.

As he’d tried to tell her, he planned to do what was right. He
would
marry her, if need be. And considering the number of times he’d taken her now—and selfishly planned to take her again—there very definitely might be a need. Even now she could be carrying his child, and if she was, they would wed whether she wished it or not. He would never stand aside and allow another man to raise his child. He would never let someone else claim what was his. But if their time together ended and she wasn’t pregnant, well, he would leave the choice up to Meg. She’d turned down McCabe, but perhaps there was still someone else she preferred.

Then again, he wasn’t sure any longer that he could watch her walk away. Just the idea of her with another man made him want to set his fist through the nearest wall. For so many reasons, she would be better off with someone else, but he wasn’t certain anymore that such considerations mattered.

Still, a few last weeks of the Season remained. While they were in London, he would make no firm decisions. She’d told him tonight that a declaration on his part wasn’t necessary and that she wanted no promises. For now he would make none, and expect none from her as well.

Pressing another kiss to her sleep-warmed lips, he sat up and reached for his robe. Letting the servants find them together would do her reputation no good and only serve to bind her irrevocably to him. Locating a flint, he lit what remained of the last night’s candle and then, with a last look at Meg, went to the hidden panel and stepped inside.