Page 61 of Taming Ivy
In the end, he quite simply could not force himself to let her go.
Sebastian unrolled the coach blanket, roughly depositing Ivy onto his bed. Against the darkness of her hair and the dark blue coverlet, white roses glowed with the brilliance of snowflakes, clinging with determination to the silky strands of her coiffure. One red rose lay entangled in a gleaming lock of hair. It coiled low over her heart, bright as an accusing splotch of blood.
What the hell was he doing?
Sebastian tossed his evening coat away before disposing of his shirt and silk cravat. He poured a stiff tumbler of brandy.
Too late for second thoughts. Now. What to do about her.
CHAPTER 16
Ivy braced the upper half of her body upright on stiff arms. Her hair was a disaster, crushed roses and curls streaming in a waterfall over her shoulders. A lamp on a table beside the bed, along with a low fire in the massive fireplace, provided barely enough light to illuminate the room.
The heavy masculinity of the space was confusing, although the silver and midnight blue colors of the bed clothing and drapes seemed familiar in their pairing.Where am I?
Her gaze landed on him. Sucking in a breath of absolute horror, a dazed consciousness slammed through the fuzziness enveloping Ivy. Sebastian stood by the fireplace, half-undressed. His chest was bare, the broad expanse of muscles stacked like molten iron.
“What have you done?”Sloppy with panic and champagne, her words slurred together. “Have you gone mad?”
“Most certainly.” The corners of his mouth lifted in a slight smile as he sipped from the glass he held.
The slabs of his abdomen rippled with his movements, gleaming gold in the light of the fire. Although she shouldn’t, Ivy stared as if hypnotized.
She forced herself to stand then just as quickly sank back down. The room actually tilted side to side, a rudderless schooner in a hurricane. At its far end Sebastian was a lost cork in an endless ocean, bobbing with relentless energy. Watching him was both fascinating and nausea inducing.
A bedpost would provide a sturdy anchor. Moving carefully, Ivy scooted to the end of the bed to wrap her arms around one of the massive supports.
“You monster. I d-demand you return me to the Faringdon’s ball at once. You’ve no right to bring me here…no right!” To her ears, the words jumbled together in an incoherent mess. Leaning her forehead against the cool wood of the post, she squeezed her eyes tight, determined to regain control by sheer willpower alone.
When she dared to reopen them, everything seemed to have changed course. The room now spun in slow, ever narrowing circles and in the middle of these spinning circles, she sat. A target.
Sebastian did not move. Leaning a shoulder against the corner of the mantle, the glow from the flames illuminated only half his face. Shadows danced across his cheekbones and lips and he…he...Ivy swallowed hard, nearly moaning aloud. God help her, he was as dangerously dark and exquisitely handsome as ever.
Seeing him was more devastating than she imagined it would be, her heart shattering into a million tiny pieces, the splinters painful and stabbing every raw nerve. Bloody hell, she could not tear her eyes away from him. Because he looked thinner, his features a tiny bit haggard. Was it just the dark stubble of a beard making it seem so? Grazing his chin, shadowing his cheeks, giving him the air of a pirate. She hated that his dusky eyes gave no inkling as to his thoughts.
“Do you know what those bastards planned for you tonight, sweetness?” His brow arched high. “Do you? You would not have enjoyed it. And were you fortunate, you would not have remembered it. I’ve seen the damage done to their playthings before. They do not play nice at all. They would have torn you apart. Although with Lady Wesley to rein them in, they might have shown restraint, just to have their fun again in the future.” Jealousy colored his words, turning them ugly and hurtful.
Ivy’s tongue was thick in her mouth. “I’ve no idea what you are talking about.” Licking her lips, she wished for something, anything to drink.
When he stalked toward her, she shrank back, but he only handed her a tumbler then resumed his stance by the fireplace. The distance appeared necessary as his hands clenched into fists.
“My dear, they could hardly resist your charms.” The words slapped her - a cold, hard drawl. “You were making it so damnably easy for them. Hell, each one of those jackals would have cocked up between your lovely legs tonight.” His gaze was contemplative and cruel. “Or, maybe you hoped Landon would claim you. He wanted to. He tried to. He had you in his hands for a moment. Did you like him touching you? Have you a taste for dukes now? He’s soon to come into his title. God knows he suffered no qualms in the past when stealing what is mine. Tell me, Ivy. Would you have let him fuck you?”
Befuddled by his calm demeanor, Ivy swallowed every drop in the glass he gave her.
The brandy scorched its way down her throat until her eyes watered. Then she choked and sputtered, the horrible ugliness of his words sinking in. Sebastian believed she wanted another man? After what he had done? Disgust washed through her, thick, hot, heavy. Without thinking of the consequences Ivy hurled the tumbler at him.
Ducking the hopeless aim, his brutal laughter rang out as the crystal crashed behind his head. Shards of glass tinkled musically to the floor in a harmless waterfall.
Fueled by something so black and searing it was unrecognizable, Ivy lurched from the bed. In a clumsy attack, she swung fists at his cruel grin, but Sebastian captured her wrists with one large hand, holding them with appalling ease in the small of her back.
“You bastard,” she gasped. “You’ve no right to question me. You do not own me and you never will. I will bed every single one of them if I wish! Every single one! It’s what’s expected of me, isn’t it?A woman like me?”
Sebastian’s eyes turned darker than the night around them as she flung his words at him. His gaze pinned her, drinking her in. Like early moonlight frost, the gown swirled, illuminating Ivy’s features. “Shut up, damn you.” He gave her a rough shake. “You think my hunger for you is satisfied? That my desire is quenched? Far from it, little hellion and I’ll be damned if another tries to take what is mine.”
“I’m not yours!” Ivy cried out. “I’m not! I don’t belong to anyone! I-I hate you.” Her struggles were already fading as brandy coursed through sluggish veins to blend with champagne. Waves of dizziness rose and fell. She could not allow him to be stronger than her now. Please, not now.“I hate you!”
“No, you only wish you did. And it wouldn't matter anyway. I can't keep myself from you and you can't keep yourself from me,” he snarled. His hand tangled in her hair, pulling until Ivy had no choice but to look into his eyes. A white rose crumpled in his fist, crushed petals falling to the floor. “How many of them have you slept with, Ivy? And who? Tell me. Now.”
