“Yes…” he grated. “That’s right. Suckle. Suck me. Show me what you can do with your tongue.”
Confused, she did as she was bid, wishing she could remove her arms so she could touch him in return. Or perhaps even herself, but she knew with that woman’s instinct—one she hardly knew she possessed, yet was certain of, anyway—that he would want no one else’s hands on her, not even her own.
That was the nature of man’s possessiveness, or at leastthisman’s possessiveness.
As she licked, drawing her tongue along the salty skin of his index finger, drawing it still deeper into her mouth, his other hand fumbled at his breeches, opening his falls. She could not see fully what he removed, but she knew enough about men to know that it was his manhood, fingers wrapped around it. He released a harsh breath as his hand began to move.
“If this were not a punishment, I would taste you until you screamed from the pleasure of it,” he said, his voice harsh. “If I had my way, you would be trembling and exhausted by the time I was done with you. If I could, I would be entirely too greedy with you.”
Eleanor squirmed in her place, pressing her thighs together to release the ache. “Then why don’t you?”
As though he could not help himself, he reached out to touch her again. “Your punishment is denial,” he told her. “You are mine to haveasandwhenI choose, but today… you will go home wanting.”
It didn’t feel as though he wanted her to go home wanting. All of a sudden, the heat and pleasure came rushing back, all the more potent for the break.
“Why?” she gasped.
“Because you need to be reminded that you are my wife.Mine. And as such, I may do as I please.”
“If you were doing as you pleased, you would not be leaving me wanting.”
He let out a small groan, but he slid a finger inside her even so. “I will not allow impertinence. I will not allow you to seem as though you prefer the company of other men. These are my rules and you will obey them.” His hand at his manhood moved faster, and she understood then that he was doing to himself what he was doing to her. The thought made her prickle all over, pleasure building, and she let out another moan.
If he just kept going, she might discover what happened when the pleasure could build no further.
He wrenched his hand from her. “Damn you,” he said, almost viciously.
“Sebastian,” she begged, bringing her legs together, thighs rubbing slick against one another as she desperately sought to chase the pleasure he had so almost given her.
He bent over himself, letting out a sound that almost might have been pain. He shuddered, and although she did not see what happened, his breath was loud and ragged, battling against the rattling carriage. Horses’ hooves thudded against the ground, and Eleanor’s heart thudded against her chest.
What had just happened? His pleasure had sounded beyond anything she could have imagined, and the thought made the tender flesh between her legs ache still further, desperate for the release of her own.
Release he had made it clear she would not receive. Not because he did not want her pleasure, but because he had told himself he would not allow himself to give it.
Denial for them both, in a way. The control, the expectation that she would follow his commands—and the exacting way they had been given—made something in her burn again. Oh yes, she liked it when he took control of her and demanded that she obey.
He sat up, tucking himself away again, and his hand coasted up her leg. For a moment, she thought he might finish what he had started with her, but his fingers tensed on her thigh and he drew back once more.
“That,” he exhaled, “was long overdue. You may release the strap now, Eleanor.”
She let go, rotating her wrists to encourage the blood flow. He tucked her skirts back down around her legs, and she sat as shehad been doing when she entered the carriage, facing forward. She longed to feel his hands on her again.
“Will you come to my bedchamber tonight?” she whispered.
He swallowed audibly, then cleared his throat. “No.” The word was harsh, but if he intended to offend her, or perhaps even scare her, it had not worked. She peered at him, wishing she could see more in the darkness—wishing, in fact, shehadseen more of everything he had experienced. The moment had passed, its intimacy gone, and yet she felt as though she had somehow missed out on the best bit of all. She had heard his pleasure, yes, but she had not seen it. She had notknown.
“Do not act out again,” he warned, not looking at her.
But if she did not do that, she would not get to experience this pleasure at his hands again. And although it was not precisely satisfying, she felt as though a new door had been opened in her soul. And other, distinctly lower, places.
“Yes, sir,” she whispered, and had the delight of hearing a growl of frustration at the blatant lie in her voice. “I would neverdreamof it.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sebastian knew he had made a mistake the moment he walked into the dining room the next morning and found his wife hard at work directing the servants to remove the curtains he had forbidden her from interfering with.
His servants.Hiscurtains.
