God.He was going to spend, too fast. Too. Fast.
He reached around the slight curve of her belly, finding the swollen pearl of pleasure between her folds and forking his fingers over it, determined to have her with him.
Working his fingers there in time to his thrusts, Starling teased a sobbing cry of pleasure from Helen’s lips as she spread her legs wider, clutching the window frame as he pounded helplessly into her, unable to stop the animal lust careening through his veins.
It was impossible to hold back the surge of his seed, and with a ragged grunt, he dragged himself free of her clasping heat at the very last minute, grinding himself helplessly against the soft curve of her bottom as his release shot out and coated her creamy skin.
Even as he embarrassed himself like a green lad, his hips still humping against her in the throws of his climax, Starling curled his fingers into her channel, slicking his fingertips with her essence and dragging them up and down through her folds, rubbing and circling them over her swollen flesh until she arched her back and shuddered in his arms, her hips rocking into his hand as she followed him into her crisis.
After a few ragged breaths, Starling managed to drag himself off the woman.
“Well, that was embarrassing,” he muttered, pulling out a handkerchief and quickly wiping away the evidence of his lack of control.
She would think him a boor. A cad of the lowest order.
But when she turned to look at him, he saw only sated victory in those large green eyes. Not the disappointment he had expected.
Helen’s lips twitched with a hint of amusement, but she rose and pushed down her skirts and adjusted her bodice without a word, flashing him a long loaded look as she pulled back the curtain and stepped out into the hall, turning her back on him and making her way towards the lighted doorway at the far end where the sounds of the party could be heard vaguely in the distance.
“I demand a rematch,” called Starling, watching with bated breath as her steps slowed, her head turning towards him and then dipping into a small nod.
“Very well,” she smirked at him over her shoulder, her generous hips swaying seductively as she strolled on without sparing him another glance.
CHAPTER NINE
Starling burnedwith the need to hear the widow beg for him, and he intended to achieve his goal no matter what.
The fantasy of Helen gasping his name, pleading with him to take her hard and rough, had him aching and stiff with need all night long.
This was not the reason he was here, Starling reminded himself sternly, giving in as the first hint of dawn light appeared on the horizon, taking himself grudgingly in hand and stroking roughly with his palm until he spent in a hot rush all over his fist.
The slight release helped, but it did nothing to scrub the memory of her mouth sliding over his cock from his mind.
Goddamn. He was well and truly hooked.
At least he could honestly say that he didn’t think the woman was cheating at the card tables. He had observed her closely for most of the evening, despite the galling way she had refused to acknowledge him hardly at all.
It seemed she was merely an excellent strategist, who knew when to bet and when to hold. It was not her fault that others were not so careful in their play.
Good lord, everyone knew that just last month, Lord Harding had had to ask his father to pay his debts to the tune of ten thousand pounds or forfeit his standing in society.
Why should the widow not get her share of the coin being thrown around when such sums, even whole estates, were lost in a moment at gaming rooms on any given night?
Starling would just have to tell Lord Holsen that he would have to find the funds to pay his dues, or flee to the continent. After all, the widow was not the only one he was in debt to, and if word surfaced that Holsen was unable to honour his debts, all those who held his markers would start calling in their interests.
Perhaps she was merely the one who wrankled Lord Holsen the most, and as such had become the focus of his temper.
No, Starling found all his attention had been eclipsed by the need to make the widow admit that there was something simmering between them that made him want to steal her away somewhere so he could lock the door and return the favour with his mouth.
And his lips, and his tongue.
She might be the perfect woman for him.He felt it in his bones.
Perhaps she would enjoy joining him on some of his jobs? With her intelligence, intuition and sharp eyes beside him, the pair of them could have London, even the continent, at their feet.
Starling rolled from the rumpled sheets at the invigorating thought, stalking to the washbasin to scrub the evidence of his body’s weakness from his skin.
Yes, perhaps that was the way forward.
