“How can I help it?” he whispered, moving his lips to kiss up and down her neck. “You have a power over me.”
She trembled, that thrill passing up her spine again.
All at once, she knew he could not be feigning any of it. It was no act of attraction, no put-upon flirtation because he thought her wealthy. He desired her as she did him, so much so that he couldn’t even control his body’s response to her.
He kissed her beneath her ear, right at the top of her neck, in such a sweet spot that she felt a flooding sensation between her legs. Something stirred in the back of her mind. It was about when Caroline had asked her if she was ever curious to know what having a lover would be like.
I long to know what it would be like now.
She brushed her hips against Marcus’ experimentally, listening to him growl into the side of her neck in an animalistic and passionate way. It made her tremble once again.
“Don’t do such things,” he pleaded in her ear. “I cannot control myself when you do.”
“Then don’t stay in control,” she begged. She looked down the corridor, but they were nestled in such a remote part of the house, far away from the staff quarters, that she felt confident they were completely alone and would not be disturbed. “Please, Marcus.”
He shifted the two of them, moving to look her in the eye, that mischief on his face now moulded to a perfect look of desire.
Her heartbeat was so hard that it rattled against her ribcage.
He held that look for another few seconds, then kissed her again. Their movements were just as animated as before but now somehow fiercer and even more desperate. She pulled at his tailcoat, needing to get nearer to him, as he began to pull her skirt. He revealed her stocking-clad legs, bundling the skirt around her hips.
She was still kissing him, feeling his fingers teasing her, moving along her hip and to the top of her leg, when he suddenly shifted the two of them again. He pulled away from the kiss, holding her gaze, then with one foot placed on the inner side of hers, he pushed her legs apart. She could not look away from the intensity of that gaze as he moved her ever so slowly. When her legs parted, he bent down, moving to his knees.
Breathless, she placed her hands on his shoulders, stabilizing herself, for she suddenly felt so weak at the knees that she might fall over.
“Trust me?” he whispered breathily. She nodded, uncertain that her voice would remain level. He trailed his hand down the inside of her right thigh, then lifted it over his shoulder, moving forward so his hot breath was on her exposed centre.
What is he doing?
She’d not heard of this, not once. She knew of the ultimate act – of what it was to be made love to by a man. She and Caroline had been told when they were very young by Caroline’s mother once, but this? This was all so new!
He held her gaze as he moved towards her, then set a kiss on the most intimate part of her.
Alaina threw her head back against the door, shocked at the sudden pleasure erupting in the pit of her stomach. She inhaled sharply, then raised a hand over her mouth, clamping it shut in an effort not to make too much noise.
He was skilled at what he was doing, moving his tongue in such a way that he seemed to hit every pleasure point. Soon, he moved so fast that she started trembling against the door. Alaina didn’t know where to put her hands. Sometimes, she covered her mouth to quieten the breathy moans. Other times, she clutched his shoulders, anchoring the two of them together. Lastly, she held onto the panelled door behind her out of fear of falling over.
Yet he had a firm hold of her body. One of his hands had reached up and was now cupping her rear, keeping her to him as he continued to explore this part of her body. Knowing he was doing this, that he wanted to do it, was as incredible as the sensation itself. Ripples of pleasure washed over her body until she could no longer control it. Alaina grew aware of the growing sensation, of how the pleasure built and built. Unable to describe it, without even knowing how to warn Marcus of it, she just moved her hands to hold even tighter onto his shoulders.
Then he slipped one of his hands from her rear. He moved his fingers to her very core and reached inside her. That pleasure hit a new spot, somewhere so deep that she hadn’t even known this part of her existed.
That thrilling feeling now erupted. She saw stars, throwing her head back against the panelled door, moans now falling from her lips that she could not control. He didn’t stop moving but kissed her throughout her climax, his fingers rocking into her, driving her on and on in her pleasure.
Then everything became sensitive. Alaina gasped breathlessly against the door as his lips released her. He stood straight before her, his hands still on her bare legs. She released shuddery breaths, staring up at him in amazement.
“Marcus,” she whispered. “That was …” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I pray the end of that sentence is good,” he teased her and stepped towards her again. With their bodies flush against the door, he kissed her. Their lips moulded together, his fingers moving across the most sensitive part of her body. “One taste of the illicit,” he whispered as he pulled back, resting their heads together. “See now the power you have over me?”
She giggled, scarcely able to believe what she had just done. It was scandalous, but she didn’t care. She was tempted to ask him to come into her bedchamber with her, to stay the night and sleep beside him, but he was now removing his hands from her. He grasped her hand and lifted it between them, turning it over so he could kiss the palm. It was a very sweet and gentle kiss compared to what they had just shared.
“Goodnight, Callie,” he whispered.
Call me Allie.
She longed to hear her true name on his lips, but she could not tell him, not after what they had just shared.
“I’ll be having pleasant dreams now,” she murmured back.
