Her breath was short, her pupils dilated as she reached between them and pushed the folds of his robe aside. She found his cock and took him in hand, sliding her fingers down the length gently.
“Damn it, Elise,” he murmured as he pressed his mouth against her neck. He sucked there as she stroked, precariously perched on the edge of losing all control.
But he didn’t. Slowly, she rolled until she was on top of him, straddling his lap, lowering her mouth to his. He sucked at her tongue, desperate to be joined with her, and she shuddered in pleasure. Her hand reached between them, she guided him into position and suddenly he was sliding into wet, tight heat. She rippled around him, pulsing and massaging as she let out a broken, heated moan of pleasure.
She shifted her hips, lifting against him, rubbing him, and he was utterly lost in sensation. She moved with purpose, driving toward her pleasure and dragging him along for the ride. It didn’t take long for her to find it. She let out a soft cry that she muffled by kissing him, and her hips pumped hard against him. He knew he was going to come, he couldn’t stop it, and he pulsed up hard into her, finding his pleasure without withdrawing from her heat.
She pulled away, her breath short, and they stared at each other, recognizing what they’d just done. What could come out of it.
She rolled away and sat up. “I didn’t manipulate that,” she said.
He stared at her. She felt she had to defend herself, and why wouldn’t she? He’d been accusing her of much worse behavior and manipulations for weeks now. But looking at her, thinking about what they’d just done, he realized he felt no such accusation toward her now.
“No, I don’t think you did. I could have moved you.”
She pushed to her feet and her nightgown fell around her hips and legs. She paced toward the window, the light framing her like an angel. “I wouldnevertrap you.”
He got up too, watching the emotions play on her face. Was she upset because he might have ruined her plans to find a lover to protect her? Or was it really that she didn’t want to be judged by him, hated by him?
In the end, he supposed it didn’t matter.
“I’ll ring for your maid,” he said softly. “Get dressed and join me for breakfast. There is a great deal for us to discuss.”
She turned on him, and now her look went from concern to abject terror. Slowly she nodded. “Yes. I have so much to tell you, Lucien. So much to say.”
He backed up a step, uncertain how to proceed when she had such an expression. In the end, he just nodded. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
He moved to the door, ringing the bell for her servant as he walked out. But in the hallway, he leaned against the wall, catching his breath. He’d spent his life looking backward and identifying moments when everything had changed. When his father died and he became earl, when Elise left him and destroyed everything and now…thismoment. In his heart he knew everything was about to change.
He just didn’t know how. And that terrified him.
Chapter Fourteen
Lucien stood in the breakfast room nearly an hour later, dressed and pressed and looking every inch the Earl of Stenfax. But he felt less than impeccable as he poured himself a cup of tea and looked idly toward the door. In a few moments Elise would walk through and then…
Well, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was about to change.
“Good morning, my lord,” Xavier said as he came to the entry of the breakfast room.
Lucien let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and nodded. “Xavier. Thank you again for your help last night. Her Grace will be joining me for breakfast shortly, and if you are wondering about future arrangements, I honestly have none to share with you until I speak to her.”
“I understand, sir. The truth is, I came to tell you that your family is here.”
Lucien slowly set his cup back on the saucer. “My family?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Danford and Lady Barbridge,” the butler clarified. “Your mother does not seem to be in attendance.”
Lucien sighed deeply, for he almost wished his motherwerehere. Lady Stenfax would still Felicity’s and Gray’s tongue in a way Rosalinde could not.
Especially since there would be no hiding that Elise was here. Nor that her eye was blackened. Nor anything else.
“Any chance they might be persuaded that I’m not in residence?” he asked, knowing the answer even before Xavier shifted in discomfort.
“Mr. Danford said if you asked me that I was to tell you, ‘we’re not leaving so you might as well stop hiding’. I do apologize, my lord, I’m just the messenger.”
“Of course you are, I don’t blame you. Just send them in.” Lucien straightened his waistcoat and remained standing. Within a moment, Gray, Rosalinde and Felicity all came through the door.
“Good morning,” Lucien forced through a tight jaw. “I don’t recall you sending word you would be calling. I’m afraid it’s a bit inconvenient to receive you this morning.”
