She looked down to see him regarding her, the green of his eyes contrasting sharply with the tuft of copper hair between her thighs. He took hold of her hip and rolled her to her stomach. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to her cheek as Hester struggled to regain her senses.
“Stay put.”
The sound of clothing being cast off and falling to the floor made its way to her still muddled thoughts. She craned her neck, enough so that she glimpsed a stretch of muscular thigh before he once more loomed over her on all fours, the bed dipping with his weight.
A line of open-mouthed kisses started at the base of her neck and lazily made their way down Hester’s spine. He moved over each of her buttocks, nipping at the skin while slowly pushing Hester up on her knees. Tongue dipping once more between her thighs, he teased at her flesh once more until she whimpered. The hard, heated length of him brushed along the back of her thigh a moment before he took hold of her waist.
A single, savage, thrust inside her took Hester’s breath away. Joshua hadn’t been nearly so large. Her head fell to the bed with a moan.
“Hester,” he breathed against her neck and wrapped his fingers in her hair, pulling her head back slightly. He held her so tight, that even had she wanted to get free, she couldn’t. His teeth nipped at her collarbone as he started to move, slowly at first, his hips rocking back and forth until she whimpered.
The bed protested as he thrust hard inside her, his hand dropping from her hair to wrap around her neck. He was not gentle, taking her so savagely Hester feared the bed might break. Sinclair took one of her poor worn hands in his, lacing their fingers together.
Every stroke claimed Hester, not just her body, but her very soul.
And she surrendered to it. To him.
His hand moved between her thighs once more, stroking along her slit until Hester’s body clasped his tightly.
Every stroke grew more forceful until a groan left him and he took her between his fingers, pinching gently. Teeth sunk into the skin of her shoulder, the sting forcing her to cry out. Their bodies rolled together in unison, Hester finding her release within seconds of his. It was blinding and so very beautiful.
“Drew,” she choked out.
*
Drew pressed akiss to Hester’s flushed skin, along the mark he’d left on the slope of her shoulder. Pressing his forehead to her back, he struggled to breathe, shocked at his lack of control. He’d never—losthimself in a woman before. Not like that. Like some bloody animal claiming its mate. The pleasure had been so intense, all of Drew’s senses had converged upon each other until all he could feel was his cock buried in Hester. He was still inside her.
She stretched beneath him, like a pampered housecat.
Drew gently rolled to the side, keeping their bodies clasped tightly together. He curled around her, hand idly caressing the slim, muscular thighs before reaching for her hand.
Hester stiffened and pulled her fingers away, sliding them beneath the pillow. But she didn’t move her body away, only wiggling closer.
“I’ve already seen them, Hester. Many times.”
A shaky breath came from her. “This is different,” she whispered.
Drew had done most of the touching, he belatedly realized. Hester had only deigned to thread her fingers through his hair. “I would rather have you touch me than not. I don’t care if your hands look like King George’s feet.”
A tiny laugh came from her. “They aren’t nearly so bad as that.”
He reached and gently pried her hands from beneath the pillow. She’d allowed him to kiss each palm earlier, probably from shock at his arrival in her room, that there had been no protest.
Pulling on one palm, he pressed a kiss, right over a healed blister.
She sighed into him. Such a peaceful sound. So unlike Hester Black.
Because of him.
When he’d arrived at Hester’s door, he’d expected to find Worth. Drew hadn’t decided what to do if he did, only that the thought of her bedding Worth was intolerable. Jealousy, so ferocious in nature it had taken him by surprise, and he’d marched to her room.
His arms tightened around her smaller form.
Hester felt likepurposeto Drew. A sense that no matter his aspirations of the partnership with Worth and his dislike of the countryside, he should be by her side. He knew it didn’t make sense. Tomorrow was bound to be awkward. For one thing, Drew’s friends needed to leave and return to London after only one night. It had been a stupid idea, anyway, hoping to scare Hester from Blackbird Heath with a house party. Nearly as bad as Hester assuming she could seduce Worth into swaying Drew one way or another on the fate of Blackbird Heath.
She sighed into him; sleek body melded against his own.
Drew pressed another kiss against her temple, unwilling to disturb the peace between them. He didn’t want to think about the estate or the choice he must eventually make. What he cared most about at the moment, was the sense of contentment at being here in this house and bed with Hester Black.
