Matthew swallowed. She’d sent for him, she’d kissed him, and now she lay before him, her elegant fingers working at the large,fussy black ribbon at her neck, untying it with a pronounced deliberateness.
It was exhilarating.
His heart thrummed; he felt every inch of his strength, his potential. Because of her. Because she wanted him, still. He could forsake gambling forever, if only she would fuck him like this. If she would always welcome him between her legs.
The ribbon fell apart, and the collar of her gown opened, exposing the smooth skin of her throat. He fell upon her, and she gasped.
Matthew kissed her, bit her, tasted her, relishing every moan, every quickened breath. She writhed underneath him, the silk of her skirts rucking up as her legs rubbed against him. Lady Caplin, the highly esteemed and ruthless viscountess, dug her fingers into his back. Begged for him in that breathy, velvety voice.
“Matthew,” she whispered, “I wanted to send for you on Tuesday.”
“Why didn’t you?” he growled, his lips against her clavicle, tracing along it as one hand ran up and down her side, gliding easily over the silk of her gown.
“You know why,” she hissed, trying to shift her hips to find him, to press herself into his hardness.
“Patience,” Matthew murmured as he reached down and cupped her between her legs, the silk bunching up in his hand.
“I don’t wish to speak of this just now,” she warned, even as she bucked up from the ground, pressing herself into his palm.
“Do you not?” he challenged.
Everything had gone to shit, everything was a complete and utter mess, but she wanted him still. Would she, though, when she knew the extent of his failure? Matthew did not know. But he had to. Perhaps that was why he pressed her even now, as she opened herself to him, inviting him to feel her, to taste her.
He sat up, feeling around the tiled floor for the end of the silk pooled around her knees. When he found it, he gripped the slippery hem of her garment with both hands and smiled wickedly.
She stared back, one eyebrow raised.
“You’ve never met me here, in your home,” he said, pushing the skirts of the gown higher, ever so slowly, appreciating the cool silk of her stockings, the fine linen of her drawers. Thousands of filthy thoughts flooded his mind, of what he’d like to do to her… what he’d like her to do to him.
If only she would still have him.
She didn’t respond, but instead placed her head back upon his bunched-up jacket, her eyes closed in anticipation. He undid her drawers and pulled them down. Wordlessly she aided him, lifting her bottom off the floor, pointing her feet elegantly as he slid them off.
As she submitted to him, Matthew pushed his advantage.
“Cressida,” he murmured. “You’re gorgeous, so gorgeous… truly magnificent.”
He just caught a glimpse of her raising her head as he buried his between her legs, tasting her lips with the lightest flicking of his tongue.
He was rewarded with a gasp as she jerked upwards. Emboldened, Matthew took hold of her bottom, digging his fingers into the firm, soft flesh. His cock throbbed at the sensation.
Matthew took his time, adrift in the heady tension of their pairing here, on the conservatory floor, the same place where she’d chased that drop of perspiration with his handkerchief, down her chest to the alluring space between her breasts. Now it was Matthew’s turn, as he traced around her clitoris with long, teasing strokes while she moaned impatiently beneath him.
“Why did you not send for me on Tuesday, Cressida?” he murmured against her. It felt sacred, to breathe her name as he paid her court in such a torrid fashion.
She sighed prettily. For a brief moment Matthew’s determination wavered. She might send him away. She might push him off and refuse him.
Very well, he thought, and set to a steady rhythm.So be it.
He would give Lady Caplin her pleasure until she said otherwise.
“Cressida,” he repeated, begging this time.
“Because… someoneknows,” she gasped, her words stilted.
He must be on a good tack. Matthew continued working his tongue, ignoring the racing of his heart, the shaking of his arms, the throbbing of his cock.
“And… and that person… seems to knowyou, you foolish—” Her hands clutched at his shoulders, gathering his shirt up into her fists. “Matthew!” she cried out, her body tensing below him.
