Page 108 of Taming Ivy
"I apologize for tonight.” A frown darkened his features. "I was not in my right mind.”
"Well, fortunately for the both of us, I'm in my right mind. I won't allow you to continue to use me.” Ivy flicked him an icy glare. "You may take your apology, shove it up your arse and go straight to the devil.”
"Ivy, I'm warning you.”
She laughed at him. "Really? Or you'll do what? Make me mind my tongue?Forceme to your bed? You are my husband. You may claim your rights any time you bloody well please, but this does not mean I must be agreeable in my heart and mind. My body may allow it, but I vow I will not be willing.”
Sebastian appeared both distressed and furious at her words. Ivy hoped they struck at his heart, but she despised the truth hidden deep within her. While she hated him for his unexpected cruelty, and even if she submitted for the sake of duty, her body loved what he aroused in her.
Lashing out to grip her arm, Sebastian dragged her from the bed. Ivy did not resist.
"I can change your mind. You know I can,” he said in a hoarse whisper, nibbling at her lower lip with a soft persuasiveness. “And I don’t want to hurt you. Because we both know I can do that too.”
Ivy shrugged. She had already decided to slip away from herself. “Do as you wish, my lord.”
A confection of a nightgown, the fabric soft and billowy, flowed around her form. It was new, one of many Sebastian special ordered for her before leaving Beaumont. The extravagant parcel arrived at Ravenswood Court only the day before, and her squeal of delight at the unexpected gift pleased him. Simple ribbons held the pale, blush-hued garment together along the sides; should they come loose, the entire thing would fall to her feet. Damn her haste in grabbing the first one in the wardrobe. It would be the easiest to remove.
Sebastian’s fingers did not move to those bits of silk. Instead, he kissed her with growing insistence, and Ivy hated him when her eyes became wet with tears.
"I should have considered how my actions would affect you,” he murmured, hands cradling her face, his thumbs gently swiping away the dampness on her cheeks. “I did not think…”
"Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly and leave me be.”
Grim determination settled over his features and Ivy shuddered, abruptly realizing what she just gave him permission to do. He would not allow her to detach herself, would not allow her to deny her own pleasure. Resignation froze her in place as he gently unplaited the braid of her hair until the shiny chestnut strands flowed over her shoulders. A wounded doe, she had placed herself at the feet of the wolf and dared him not to devour her.
His thumb brushed the curve of her jaw. "Shall I show you how sincere I am in my apology?”
Ivy arched to avoid contact, but it only made it easier for him to touch her. He cupped her breasts through the cloud of fabric, filling his hands with her flesh and like heated sugar, her insides melted. “You and your apologies be damned.” A moan, tiny and helpless, drowning in the back of her throat, revealed everything.
Sebastian smiled at the sound of it.
He abruptly spun her around, pulling her against him until his hips cradled her bottom and she was anchored in place. Keeping one arm locked around her waist, he swept the mass of hair off her neck while his other hand moved to her breast. Teasing her through the delicate cloth, he applied slight pressure to her nipple, pinching harder before those wicked fingers moved to torment the other.
Ivy lurched away, but Sebastian’s arm tightened, forcing her to feel every part of his muscled form and the rigid proof of his desire. Rocking against her, his hand drifted to the junction of her thighs, and then he was cupping her there. When he nuzzled her ear, Ivy quivered. Shecouldresist him. She must resist him! But that seemed impossible when he ignited every nerve ending in her body.
Sebastian’s fingers moved away from her center, wandering up along her flanks. She gulped in relief that his hand was no longer between her legs until there was a slight tug on the ribbons. A flutter of fabric and the gown fell away as if commanded by unseen forces. Ivy braced herself, knowing what was to come, the sweet and savage wildness of it all as his hand slid over the silky skin of her stomach to nestle again at the apex of her thighs. His fingers delved into her heat, his other hand stroking her breast.
Between kisses to the slender column of her throat, Sebastian’s laugh contained a rueful softness. "Look down, Ivy. See my hands upon you? How you tremble...so violently…your little pants of breath, the heat of your skin. The way your pupils dilate when I touch you here…like this.” He pressed two fingers against the throbbing button of flesh and Ivy gasped. “Knowing how I affect you drives me crazy.” Running his tongue in a swirling pattern on the sensitive skin at the back of her neck elicited another whimper from her. “I am sorry for tonight, my love. How shall I prove it to you?”
"Be quick then leave me alone.” Ivy sagged against him. Blood rushed through her veins so hard and fast she felt faint. His mouth on her skin was an awful reminder of his power over her and the delight she found in it.
Glancing down, she immediately wished she had not. Against the creamy hue of her flesh, the darkness of his hands was hypnotic. "Please.” Her ability to resist was near a breaking point, the whisper a desperate plea. "Just do what you must…" She felt his smile as he nuzzled her.
"Oh, Ivy. My very heartbeat. It's not that simple. Not between us. Don't you realize this by now?" Spearing his fingers through the soft curls between her thighs, his mouth fastened on the nape of her neck. With just enough pressure to trigger pain, he bit her.
A thrill flashed straight to the center of Ivy’s soul.
Keeping a steady tempo with his fingers, his teeth repeatedly sank into her flesh in different places along the line of her shoulder and neck. The pain was almost too sharp, the pattern of nibbles and full mouth tastes of her skin always followed by a sweep of his tongue to soothe the sting.
The overload of stimulation was too much. Ivy came apart, intense pleasure leaving her on the point of collapse. Sebastian held her tight to prevent her from sinking to the floor in a puddle of satisfaction. The sensations coursing through her were too dangerous, too powerful, too much of everything to fully comprehend or absorb.
She was barely aware when he scooped her up. Carrying her to his room, he laid her diagonally across the huge bed, and he appeared to hover on the edge of indecision. Then slowly, Sebastian turned her on her stomach, gathering her hair off the nape of her neck. Weakened, confused, Ivy remained as he placed her, listening as he divested himself of his trousers. When his warm hands smoothed over her buttocks, a nervous jolt of awareness streaked through her. She tried to roll from the bed, but he quickly prevented any hope of escape.
"Shhh, little butterfly. Do not flutter about so. I swear there will be only pleasure. Trust me, sweet Ivy. God knows you’ve reason enough not to, but trust me in this. I won’t harm you…"
The words were dark whispers, his large hands roaming the twin mounds of her bottom. With exacting pressure, he pushed her shoulders until she was once again flat on her stomach then seizing her by the hips, he tugged her to the edge of the bed to stand between her legs. Ivy pressed her cheek against the coverlet, her arms tucked beneath her body until Sebastian gently dragged them high over her head.
“Stay,” he murmured, and Ivy did as he ordered, trembling, waiting, hating herself for the anticipation strumming through her veins.
