“Oh God, please.” How could she have forgotten what this felt like?
The ache, the agonizing, delicious ache, seemed to go on and on until Jemma thought it would never burst, and then suddenly it did, making her cry out.
“Shush, love.” He pressed his mouth over hers as he slowed, moving in time with the trembling that rocked her body. “Again.” He twisted his hips.
Jemma tried to catch her breath. “Stop,” she panted. “It's too much.” She felt her body clench and tighten around him once more.
“You love me,” the dark voice murmured in her ear. “Say it.”
A tear ran down her cheek, even as she mouthed the words, and her body shattered, yet again, into a million pieces.
Nick buried his head in her neck, saying her name over and over as he climaxed, spilling himself into her as her body throbbed around him.
The room grew quiet except for the sound of she and Nick panting, trying to catch their breath. Their joining, so primal and violent, left them both shaken. Her legs dangled wantonly on either side of him and she closed her eyes, unable to look at him.
“Is it that unbearable to love me?” he said softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“Yes.” The sadness she felt threatened to overwhelm her. Loving Nick betrayed her father. “I wish I did not care for you.” She thought of Bermuda, of Sea Cliff, forever lost to her. Her father dead because of Nick, and she still didn’t knowwhy.
“Again? Still you wish to deny us both.”
“I want you to go away, leave me and my family in peace. My father is dead, my life gone because of you.”
“Shut up,” Nick said quietly. “Shut up. Were your life in Bermuda the idyll you profess it to be, you would not be here, but on that cursed island.”
Jemma's temper flared at the truth of his words. The illusion of her life in Bermuda hung over her until she felt she would collapse with the weight of it. He was right, and well she knew it, but her damnable pride made her speak before thinking.
“You wish to marry me, then so be it. I understand that most marriages of thetonare simply conveniences. I shall flirt and dance and flit about. I willcuckoldyou at the first opportunity. Thanks to you,” she sneered, anger making her reckless. “I enjoy thoroughly the pleasures of the bedroom. You've taught me to be a most competent whore.”
Nick released her so abruptly she toppled to the floor. He righted his clothing, his fingers flying angrily over the buttons, nearly tearing them loose.
“If you wish to continue to lament your life in Bermuda and blame me, so be it. I am an expert in holding on to the past and have paid a dear price for it. You wish to hear the truth? Your father committedtreason, he was atraitor, to his family and the Crown. That’s why I was in Bermuda, to find the man who allowed the suspicion of his deceitful act,” he spat out the words, “to fall onmyfamily. Your precious Sea Cliff was bought with blood money. Because of the,” his voice caught, “affectionI hold you in, I did not take him to hang.”
Jemma slid her back against the wall, shaking her head. She clutched at her skirt, pulling the cotton up against her as if the gown would protect her from Nick's words. “Liar. My father would never do such a thing.” Her throat went dry as she tried to swallow.
“Yes, your father would never beduplicitousin any way, would he? Why else would an honest man change his name and allow his family to think him dead? Are you really so naïve, Jem?” Nick smiled unpleasantly. "Why else be in league with a man like Corbett?”
“You are one to talk about duplicity, aren't you?” Jemma snarled back at him, her mind refusing to believe his words even though she sensed the truth in them. “Though given your true identity, I would wish to pretend to be someone else as well.”
Nick’s entire body moved as if she'd slapped him. He staggered back at her words.
Jemma pressed her advantage. “I’m told the Countess of Durry made the sign of the cross as she met you.” She took deep gulps of air, no longer mindful of her words or the damage they would inflict. “That grown men flee your company at White's. Petra lived in terror that she would have to marry you, comparing herself to asacrificial lamb. I think it must have been your eyes. After all, what woman wants to be reminded every morning,” she pointed to his face, her hand shaking, “that she's married to the Devil?” She said the last bit triumphantly.
Nick shuddered once then went very still. Wincing as if in pain, he closed his eyes against her for several moments. When at last his eyes opened it was to regard her blandly, without a flicker of emotion.
The brief spurt of satisfaction she felt shriveled into nothingness.
“I am the Duke of Dunbar,” he said in an icy, clipped tone, “and my cursed line stretches back to Henry Tudor. I am more wealthy and powerful than you can possibly imagine. No one in London, or in all of England would dare cross me. That your miserable father did and stayed hidden for so long is a testament to your family's true nature. Rats do tend to go to ground when being hunted.”
Jemma clasped her knees tightly. She opened her mouth to speak, perhaps defend herself, but closed her mouth at seeing the cold fury on Nick's face. For the first time, Jemma saw the man others feared.
“Youwillmarry me and bear my children. You will not behave as a whore unless it is in our bedroom. Should you defy me or seek to play me false, I will destroy you and your family. The entire nest of rats.”
She glanced up, barely recognizing Nick or the words he spoke. What had she been thinking to say such awful things to him? She wished to wound him and she had, brutally, so much so that he would likely never forgive her.
“If any other man isstupidenough to try to claim you, I will snap his neck with my own hands. Do you understand, Jane Emily?”
Jane Emily. The use of her given name proved to her the depth of the pain she caused him.
