“So, shedidmake you an inappropriate offer,” she exclaimed, and the words came out more bluntly than she intended. She cringed at the words as they echoed in her ears, and she knew she sounded like a jealous fishwife.
Of course, he wouldn’t view the woman’s wanton proposition as an imposition. He was a rake, and he’d earned thetitle by bedding women just like Charity. She couldn’t feign nonchalance any longer.
“I was not going to accept her offer,” he explained calmly.
“Are you sure?” she snapped.
When she looked his way, Cassian’s shrewd gaze was waiting. Cecilia stifled the urge to flinch. His lips twitched while his head canted to the side, “You are jealous.”
“I am not.”
Tension crackled in the space between their bodies.
“Recklessness,” he echoed.
“Youare reckless,” she said staunchly.
“Cecilia, what do I have to do to prove to you that I hold fast to my word and that I will not invite anyone into my bed, or join anyone else’s?” Cassian said.
His words made her bravado wobble.
Cassian rolled his neck and, in a swift move, tugged the window shade down, and before Cecilia could blink twice, he hauled her onto his lap. His fingers plucked the pins from her hair before they speared into her thick locks.
Angling his head, he kissed her,hard. He thrust deep into her mouth, and his tongue brushed past hers. The slick twining made them both moan while his hands slipped under her bottom and squeezed.
She strained against her confinement, and yet she could not get away from the relentless kiss. Her head told her to pull away, but her heart had her hands gripping his shoulders as he held her in place.
Cecilia pulled off to suck in a breath over her burning lungs, and before she could draw in another, his lips were on hers again. Her mind grew blurry with his masterful, drugging kiss. The addictive heat of his mouth moving over hers had her rocking slightly on his lap.
Her passion flared in pure and stunning discovery. He tasted of corruption, of sin… and oddly enough, offreedom. All she could do was cling to the wicked touch that was anchoring her and turning her inside out all at the same time.
“I would hate for you to be jealous…” Cassian growled in her ear. “When you have me. Admit you were jealous.”
Cecilia swallowed. “No.”
His tongue slid against hers, and a molten wave washed over her. She moaned and once again had to pull away because her lungs burned for air. Just when she thought she might die with the pleasure of it, he left her lips to suckle her earlobe, to lick his way down her neck.
Arching to the left to give him access, she let out a soft moan. He kissed her harder, and something sizzled up her spine.
Her body felt on fire, and yet she wanted more heat. A whimper escaped her throat as he cupped her bottom tighter, fondling her through the three layers of skirts. Under her bodice, her nipples tightened, and need streamed through her veins.
“Admit it,” Cassian goaded her again. “You were jealous.”
She would never admit it. “No.”
His hands slid under her skirt and the passing of his rough palms over her skin had her shivering. Startled, she realized her quim was shockingly wet and aching.
Cassian’s mouth was on her neck again, the soft pull of his lips too much and just not enough. “Admit it.”
She’d die first. “No.”
“Devil and damn you are stubborn,” he muttered. His hands slid up her side to rest under the hollow beneath her arms while his thumbs skittered over her tender nipples.
Cecilia leaped away so fiercely, she nearly toppled over. Cassian’s reflexes grabbed her in that split second and hauled her back to him. “Stayput,” his voice dipped in authority with the command.
She felt trapped; there was no escaping, even if shewantedto, because something inside her responded to his authority.
Dimly, she felt the carriage slow to a halt and realized that they were at the manor, but he made no move to leave, so neither did she.
