“We will figure something out.No man should be above the law.”Matthew’s expression was harsh and forbidding.“I promised myself to mete out retribution to Mary Beth’s killer, and I mean to follow through.”
The power that he radiated, born from his anger, was very attractive.Still, she much preferred Matthew’s mischievous smile, or when his eyes were lit with desire, over this expression clouded with anger.Tonight, she would ask him to stay.They had been edging around their powerful attraction to each other for the past two weeks.The plain truth was that she wanted him.His lips on hers, his body warming her bed.
As she had rehashed the events of the past, she realized the truth in what she’d told him earlier.The pain from that time was a dull ache, like a bruise that would always remind her of her love for Robert.Even that love, which had seemed all-consuming during their courtship, now felt fuzzy, like the edges of a lovely dream.Matthew had awakened something in her, a need that she had been ignoring for a very long time.
Matthew stood.“I guess I will head out.”He grabbed his jacket off a nearby chair and shrugged into it.
“No.”She scrambled up.When he turned back to her, she placed her hands on his chest.Screwing up her courage, she raised her gaze.“Stay.”
He stiffened.“I don’t know if that is a good idea.”
“Oh.”Perhaps she had read too much into his previous flirtation.“Of course.You should go.”She smoothed her hands over his damp shirt.“I understand.”
He gripped one of her wrists.“No, I don’t think you do.It’s complicated.”
Embarrassment rose as a wave of heat crept up her chest and neck.“I do understand.I am complicated.With a young son and a business to run, there is no doubt that you can find less complicated bedmates.”She turned to head toward the door.“Let me show you out.”
Matthew’s arm snaked around her waist.He twisted her, roughly pulling her flush against his hard frame.“Lizzie, I have wanted to bury myself inside you since the moment I saw you stroll into my club.”He tipped his head back to look up at the ceiling.“I am trying to be a gentleman.”
“Why?What I want is the devil.”
“Fucking hell,” he muttered.His eyes burned dark and dangerous when he dropped his gaze to her mouth.
She shivered in anticipation.It didn’t have to be complicated.She was a mature woman who wanted to invite a man into her bed.She didn’t need permission to take a lover.Elizabeth indulged her urge to touch him, running her hands up his muscled chest.Then she curved them around his neck, lifting onto her toes to kiss him.
His response was immediate and fierce as his lips slid against hers, hot and demanding.She melted against him as both his arms banded around her.Yes, yes, she wished to meet all of his demands.Their tongues tangled as he licked into her mouth.He tasted like tobacco and sin.
She pulled her mouth from his.“Come with me upstairs.”
He froze for a moment but then nodded.Taking his hand, she led him out of the room.To the left, down the hallway, they climbed the stairs.“My bedroom is on the right.It looks out onto the garden.”
Matthew glanced at the room across the hall when they paused at her door.
“Don’t worry, it’s empty.Both Robert and Mrs.Todd sleep on the third floor.That used to be my father’s room.”
His shoulders relaxed.He wrapped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck as she opened her door.A sharp bite of pain startled her as his teeth scraped against her neck.“Did you just bite me?”she gasped.
“I want to eat you whole, Lizzie.I mean to nibble every inch of your delectable body.”His tongue laved at the spot he’d bitten, sending a shiver of pleasure through her.
They stumbled into her room, and Matthew locked the door behind them.She crossed to the mantle to light the candelabra with the taper she’d brought from downstairs.Shy suddenly, she sucked in a fortifying breath and then turned to find Matthew roaming her room, his fingers running over the washbasin and the vanity table.He walked past the bed and pushed open the window.The lace curtains fluttered around him.
He turned back to her.“Come here, Lizzie.Will you let me undress you?”
She bit down on her bottom lip, glad for the dim lighting.What would he think of her body with its round stomach and generous hips?She had never had the svelte figure that seemed perennially popular, but having a child had filled out all her curvy bits further.Courage, girl.You’ve never had any complaints before.Robert had been a big man, and he had worshipped her body during their lovemaking.She moved across the carpet to Matthew’s outstretched hand.
“What’s this for?”he brushed his finger over her lip, which she still had trapped between her teeth.“Having second thoughts?”
She shook her head.“It is just that it has been a long time since I’ve done this.Seven years, in fact.”
His eyes widened, but his thumb continued to soothe her abused lip.Then he bent and kissed her.Slow and sensuous, his kiss erased her worries.There was nothing but the feel of his lips, the soft brush of his beard, and the burn of her desire for him low in her belly.She gripped his wrist as he plunged his fingers into her hair, cupping her cheek.Lord, she could kiss him endlessly.
His lips never left hers as his hands lowered to sweep across her bare shoulder, tugging her dress to the side, exposing more skin.She reached behind her back and undid the three buttons that closed the bodice.The pink lawn fabric slid off her shoulders and exposed the top of her breasts and the lace trim of her chemise above her corset.
Matthew tore his lips from hers.With a hum of appreciation, his fingers skimmed light as a feather across the swells of her breasts.“So beautiful,” he murmured.
She let the dress slide down her arms and fall to the floor.Matthew spun her around and a low groan erupted from him as his hands slid underneath her shift to cup her bare bottom.“Christ, woman, this ass is a fucking feast.”He gave one cheek a squeeze before his fingers moved to make quick work of the ties to her corset.She let it fall to join her dress on the floor.The soft rasp of his beard on her shoulder was followed by hot open-mouthed kisses, leaving a wet trail up her neck.His hard erection pressed firmly against her bottom.She wiggled against it and was rewarded with another groan, which vibrated in her ear.
“Tease,” he whispered.
