She tugged down the straps of her chemise and then pulled his shirt from his trouser waist. When she’d unbuttoned enough buttons he released her long enough to yank the shirt off his head. They stared at each other. She was naked from the waist up. He was only in his trousers and boots, his hard cock pressing against the straining buttons of his fall front.
She kept the fleeting eye contact the darkness allowed as she reached out and flicked those buttons open too. The fabric fell to reveal him briefly in the shadowy moonlight.
He tugged her back into his arms, naked flesh against naked flesh now. He was hot as a fire, his hands roving over her back and hips even as he drew her toward the settee across the room. He fell back into a slouched, seated position there and she tumbled across him, her mouth seeking his with increasing desperation and heat. She ached for this, for him, and nothing else mattered now.
He seemed to feel the same. He shifted her position roughly, pushing her skirt up around her hips and helping her straddle his lap. He rocked her against him as his kiss deepened. She felt the heat of him between her legs, nudging the slick entrance to her body as she ground down and felt the echo of the pleasure she knew would come if she let it.
There was no stopping it now. This was fated. She knew it as she shifted and reached between them to position him at her entrance. He grunted as she eased down, his cock sliding easily into her body. There was no discomfort this time, no confusion at the idea that he would claim her. There was only the thick, luscious stretch of his hard body into her softness.
“Oh my God,” she moaned, gripping his bare shoulders.
He tugged her down, his tongue meeting hers as she began to grind against his lap in desperation, seeking pleasure without thought, connection without words. He slipped his hands beneath her skirt and cupped her backside, slowing her movements, drawing out the building pleasure.
She savored it, grinding in circles against him, gripping him as she used him. He let her, lifting gently, never taking over even though he could have at any moment. After that had gone on for what felt like a blissful eternity, she broke her mouth from his with a gasp. She tilted her head back over her shoulders, her eyes squeezed shut as she focused on the ripples of pleasure that had already begun.
She felt his breath against her nipple and then his tongue, and it was enough to push her over the edge. As he sucked hard, she fell, groaning while her hips rocked out of control against him.
“Don’t stop,” he growled against her skin. “I want all of it, Marianne.”
She clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulders, her body clenching so tight that she feared she might hurt him. But when she managed to open her eyes, she didn’t see pain on his face. Oh no, it was pure pleasure as he watched her at the height of her release. Like he was studying some beautiful painting and trying to memorize each brush stroke.
But at last the pleasure began to soften, fade, and she collapsed against him, her breath short, her forehead pressed to his. He continued to lift beneath her, his hands digging into her backside as he took her.
“I want to come inside of you,” he whispered, the words somehow darker and more erotic when she couldn’t fully see his face. “I want you to feel me dripping down your thighs while you’re dancing with some other man later tonight.”
She rocked against him at that wicked thought.
“But I can’t,” he said softly, and he pushed her back, sliding her off his cock and back onto his thighs before he came between them.
Without thinking, she reached between them, running her fingers through the evidence of his pleasure and then slipped her hands to her thighs, rubbing the essence of him there, sticky and hot.
“Now we’ll both know,” she whispered.
“Christ,” he muttered, and then pulled her back hard to him and crushed his mouth to hers. “We’ll just stay here. I’ll fuck you all night. I’ll leave your legs shaking so you can’t ride for a fortnight.”
She nodded against him, arching as he rolled her onto her back and covered her, his mouth desperate against hers. “Yes. All night. All day tomorrow. All week.”
He moaned against her skin, his hands pressing to her flesh like he wanted to mark her in some way. She didn’t know what would happen next. Despite the pleasures they had both experienced, she felt no cooling of his ardor, nor of her own. Perhaps theywouldhave spent all night doing wicked things to each other, bringing pleasure until they were both wrung out from it.
But there was no chance to discover if that were true. Because the door to the chamber came open in that moment and Finn entered the room, with Bentley on his heels.
“No, I’m not certain where she went, she’s?—”
Her brother cut himself off as he looked across the room to see Sebastian hurling himself in front of Marianne’s half-naked body to block her from being seen so undone. She cowered behind him, turning her face into his back as she clawed to raise her chemise. She was shaking so hard, she could hardly keep the fabric in her hands.
Perhaps Finn wouldn’t know it was her, perhaps the dark would offer her some protection. Perhaps he’d just think Sebastian had been imprudent with some other lady in attendance and would excuse himself without further inquiry. That had happened before, hadn’t it? Neither of them was a monk and it seemed to never change their feelings toward each other.
But that wasn’t meant to be. For a moment the chamber was deathly quiet and then she heard her brother’s voice, shaking with rage, “Marianne?”
“Delacourt…” Sebastian began, his tone warning, pleading.
But Finn didn’t allow him to finish whatever he’d say to try to excuse the shocking scene before them. He simply came across the room, eyes blazing, and punched Sebastian in the mouth, sending him tumbling off the settee onto the floor below.
CHAPTER 20
Sebastian and Delacourt had sparred dozens of times over the years. He knew how hard his friend could punch. As he sat on the floor, jaw aching, Sebastian stared up at him.
“That was the best punch you’ve thrown in years.”
