Page 62 of Taming Ivy
“I cannot count the number.” Let him decipher the meaning of that, if he could. If he dared.
“Who was it?”The question was a roar. “If one of those bastards hurt you…”
“Not a single one took me by force,” Ivy sneered. “That distinction is yours alone. The only man to go so far. The only one who had to.”
Pinpoints of unholy fire flared in Sebastian’s eyes as he realized she twisted what had happened between them and molded it the situation now.
“Goddamn it,” he breathed. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Countess.”
Were it not for the tight grip he held on her hair, Ivy would have tossed her head, beyond caring for her safety. “A game I am winning. Shall we place it on the books? We will lay our wagers and I’ll have you mucking a hundred stalls when it’s all over…”
Sebastian gave a strangled curse, a muscle ticking in his jaw as her taunt hit home. Lust and anger drove him now, all traces of civility melting away.
Hooking his fingers into the top tier of the diamond necklace, Sebastian used it to jerk her closer until their faces were mere inches apart, the scent of crushed roses swirling between them. Where his knuckles rested flush with the hollow of her throat, Ivy’s pulse beat with frantic thumps. He controlled her as a master would an unruly pet. “Careful, love. I am a very poor loser.”
“You told me once you rarelyloseanything,” she retorted just before her teeth sank into his bare shoulder.
He flung her off with a grunt of surprised pain. Ivy staggered away. With the newfound freedom, she slipped off her shoes, using them as weapons to hurl at his head. While not quick enough to outpace him in such an inebriated state, she nevertheless turned toward the bedroom door.
Dodging the missiles, Sebastian caught her about the waist. He flung her with unceremonious disregard onto the bed, pinning her to the mattress before she could bounce up. One of his hands anchored hers high above her head while she bucked like a wild mare to dislodge the crushing weight of his body.
“Bloodthirsty little bitch.” His eyes blazed with silver fire. “Holy hell, Iwilltame you…I will get my fill of you. If it kills me, if it is thelastgoddamn thing I do…”
A stream of colorful oaths poured from Ivy in response. When Sebastian abruptly rolled half off her, she stared in open-mouth surprise, silenced by the success of her efforts.
The relief was short-lived. His hand snaked between them to disengage the concealed hooks in the bodice of her gown. Ivy flailed and cursed but the bodice parted into two halves. In a matter of seconds only the grace of the corset covered her.
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed in appreciation. Her breasts swelled to the top of the undergarment; the exquisite lace and ivy trimmings quivering with her anger and gulps for air, the diamond necklace glittering like drops of ice on her warm skin. With an impatient movement and a quick twisting of her arms, the entire gown was swept away. Ivy cried out in horrified distress, left only in stockings and roses, diamonds and that damned corset which would have given a monk plenty of reasons to question celibacy.
Ivy was far from vain but hoping her appearance would not inflame a man’s passions was foolish. Red-hot rage flowed like a river, over and through her. Sebastian had no right to see her like this…no right!But there was no stopping his gaze from devouring her, burning her, from memorizing every detail of her body. She could only tremble and endure it.
Sebastian seemed almost dazed when his eyes finally rose to clash with hers. “Goddamnit, Ivy. You would tempt a saint.”
“You are hurting me,” was her hissed response.
“Am I?” Sebastian blinked, his words softly chilling. And gentle. “Maybe I want to hurt you. Maybe this is the only way to handle you and what lies between us. Or perhaps this is some horrible form of self-torture, something I deserve…”
A flash of pain stabbed Ivy. Memories of teasing one another during a game of whist, laughing over bumblebees, and soft, hot, soul-searching kisses by a babbling stream bombarded her. Waltzes by moonlight, playing piano for him. The sweet gifts he gave her, the thoughtful gestures no one else probably noticed. She recalled every instance he held her hand tight. The occasions he steadied her on the steps into Kinley House because a sheet of ice lay over them. She remembered when he tugged her to him, her head resting against his shoulder in sleepy contentment coming back from seeing a play. The quirk in his lips whenever he called her “little butterfly.” And she relived each and every kiss they’d shared, starting with the first disastrous one in her music room.
A hysterical sob caught in Ivy’s throat. She tried turning her head but he would not allow it, would not let her escape so easily.
“You are driving me to goddamn madness. Do you realize that?” Sebastian's voice lowered, became softer. “I’ve said things that I should never…done terrible things. Dear God, what are you doing to me? What have I done to you?”
Frustrated regret shaded his words, regret Ivy did not have time to dwell on as his mouth closed over hers in familiar, searing possessiveness. Panicked, she kicked at him, but he simply threw one muscled leg across both of hers. For a long time, with exquisite, beautiful roughness, he simply kissed her.
Only when she stilled beneath him, limbs quivering, did his approach become gentle. Nibbling at her lips, sucking her mouth into the heated vortex of his own, his tongue delved in and out, stroking persuasively. The grip on her wrists loosened, not enough to release her, but enough so he would not bruise her.
Ivy struggled to hold herself from him, to hold tight to her anger, her fury. She tried, oh how she tried, to ignore the shivers vibrating through her, to ignore the awful trembling in the pit of her stomach, the thrill when his tongue coaxed hers to mate with his. Each time Sebastian lifted his mouth from hers, she turned her head, determined he would not kiss her again. But he was stubborn and relentless and she was drunk and tired, heartbroken. He wore her defenses down, and she had missed him too much to remain frozen forever in his embrace.
Nuzzling behind her ear, his teeth raked a sensitive spot where the line of her neck met the curve of her collarbone. She inhaled sharply, hating him when her pulse jumped in instant response. When his mouth drifted to her breasts, her low moan could not be contained. The last bit of flimsy protection the corset provided drifted away, magically disposed of. How he accomplished it she did not know, but with the exception of stockings, the last of the roses tangled in her hair and the diamond necklace, she was bare.
“Shhh…” Sebastian’s lips burned everywhere they pressed, his words a litany of desperate hunger sucking her in. “Quiet now. Easy…easy. Sweetness, my beautiful little butterfly. Let me touch you, Ivy, yes, yes, that’s it. Let me have you…let me love you. This is madness, what is between us...a fire that cannot be extinguished. A thirst I can't seem to quench. Somehow, you’ve destroyed me and I cannot bear it. God, I’ve missed you so terribly.”
One hand roamed her body, gliding, touching wherever he desired. Easing the weight of his leg away, he traced an intricate pattern on the soft skin of her knees, trailing his fingers up between her thighs and Ivy helplessly, hopelessly, opened to him.
It was a losing battle to the warmth of the room, the heat of his kisses, the beguiling scent of lush blooms. A sly lassitude stole her will to fight him, easing Sebastian’s path. She floated, weightless and dizzy. She was supposed to be angry. She must attempt to free herself, but she found it difficult to muster the required fury when sapped of all her strength.
As his mouth closed over the peach perfection of one breast, Ivy twisted against his grip in one last act born of desperation, moaning in despair at her own weakness.
