His eyes darkened, and he cupped her posterior with one hand, squeezing enticingly. “I can accept that.” He returned his mouth to her neck while she unfastened the three buttons at the back of her dress. All he needed was to feel it give before he pulled it down her body very slowly, and his mouth descended with the fabric.
Natalie closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, her breath hitching and her body tightening with need. Her nights had been filled with torrid dreams of Jasper satiating her hunger, finishing what they had begun in the garden. Her hands clutched his hair when his mouth closed over one breast and suckled. Despite being familiar with the pleasure, it took her this time as if she had never felt it before, winding her nerves and creating sweet knots in her belly. Her sex, which had been throbbing all evening, grew more insistent, and she felt the warm moisture dribble to her thighs.
“Jasper,” she moaned, rolling her eyes in wanton craving, “I…I…need you.”
He raised his head and grinned at her, his hand replacing his mouth at her nipple and continuing the sensual punishment. “Je sais, ma cherié. You will have everything you desire soon.” He drew her dress the rest of the way and stood back, his eyes flaring as he regarded her. “You are divine.”
She wore nothing but a flimsy petticoat that she had made to cling to her legs. It had a slit too. His gaze washed her with more need, and she clenched her teeth. “Don’t torture me!”
Jasper laughed devilishly. “I would not dream of it.” He scooped her up and took her to a divan. As he lowered her into it, his hands roamed her body, pulling the petticoat down. He removed her black satin shoes when he reached her feet and tossed everything to the floor, then he lowered himself onto his knees and began to kiss her ankle, rolling her stockings down as his mouth moved up.
Her body trembled, and Natalie thought she would perish before he touched her where she yearned for him the most. Even as she grasped his hair and continued to mewl and writhe, he kissed her legs slowly, determined to protract the moment for as long as he was able.
“Jasper,” she gasped.
“Hmm?”
“I will…return this…punishment.” She arched her back when he kissed the soft skin on the inside of her thigh, parting her legs for him. “Mark…” Breathing was becoming laborious. “Mar… Oh, Jasper!”
She pushed against his shoulders when his mouth found her center, but it was not to push him away. He understood the encouragement and buried his face between her thighs, kissing her so deeply she quivered, feeling every sensation at once. The pleasure quickly rose, and the climax she had dreamed of since he touched her in the gardens at the ball returned. But before it could take her, he pulled away from her.
Natalie protested, the sound of a tiny sob from her lips. “Hold on, darling,” he rasped, urgently taking off his coat and waistcoat. His boots and shirt followed, revealing a body so spectacularly sculpted, he could be a marble god. His mouth curving into a teasing smirk, he pulled his breeches down his legs.
Her breath caught, and she sat up, marveling at his anatomy. Her body responded with more longing, and when he returned to her, he placed himself between her legs and took himself in hand, touching the tip of his member to her sex. She shivered and wrapped one leg around his waist, and he pressed against her bud, rolling and stealing every last thread of her senses that was left. Her head fell back as a hundred different sensations hit her like waves. She knew they could find pleasure without him entering her, but she was surprised at the measure.
He leaned forward and kissed her lips, and that sent her spiraling into sensual chaos. Tiny stars formed at the back of her eyes, and her whole body shook with the force of her gratification. One of his arms went around her waist to hold her against his chest while he moved his pelvis away from hers and continued stroking himself.
Jasper cooed in her ear and feathered kisses on her dewy temples. She took as much air as she could into her lungs, and when her body began to calm, she reached between them to curl her fingers around his member. His body jerked, and he groaned her name.
Jasper thrust his pelvis as she moved her hand up and down. His skin was incredibly smooth and velvety, and he seemed to enlarge in her hand. “Show me what to do,” she whispered.
He covered her hand with his and stroked faster, his lips parting, his eyes growing heavy, and a vein appearing on his neck. He was alluringly masculine, and Natalie raised her chin for another kiss.
The heated union of their lips was quickly rivaled by the hardening of his manhood. Every inch of him was rigid, and he moved her hand more fiercely until he attained the height of his pleasure. Groaning, he broke their kiss and rested his forehead in the crook of her shoulder.
Natalie felt triumphant, but more than that, she felt an inexplicable closeness to him. When he raised his head to look at her, she swallowed nervously, trying not to let her emotions be seen.
“My God, Natalie,” he murmured, stroking her cheek. “You are ruining me.” He seemed to have abandoned the Comtesse.
You have already ruined me for any other man,she wanted to say. No one could compare to him now. In fact, she could never allow anyone to. In response, she smiled and nipped his jaw with her teeth, causing him to laugh.
“Now, then, you were saying something about amark,” he reminded her, and she had to think to remember what it was.
“I was going to say,mark my words,” she completed. “You will feel every divine torture you subjected me to, Jasper.”
“I am counting upon it,” he chuckled, moving to the other end of the divan and pulling her with him such that they were seated and in each other’s arms.
“Does anyone know we are here?” she asked.
“Yes.” Jasper languidly stroked her arm while she rested her head against his shoulder.
“Do they know what we did?”
“It is no business of theirs.” He placed a finger beneath her chin and raised her face to his. “Natalie. May I ask you a favor?”
“What do you want?” Her eyes fluttered when he brought his lips close to hers.
“Do not make me bring you to such a place again. You can never know how difficult it was for me to see those men regard you as though you were a demimonde.”
