Page 21 of The Baroness of Sin
“So, you think of me as a proper lady?” she asked coyly. “You don’t think I would ever do anything scandalous?” She was leaning closer now, but this time James held his ground, when he could take advantage of their solitude.
James could only shake his head, baffled at this turn of events.
She reached out, grabbed his hand in both of hers, and brought it to her chest, just below the neck. She pushed his large hand to the soft skin just below her collar bone. James could feel her heart race beneath her chest and suddenly became aware that his own beat just as quickly.
“Are you sure I am as well behaved as you think I am?” Her voice was nothing but a heated whisper in the cool quiet night.
At the touch of the hot, eager flesh beneath his fingertips, James felt almost all of his hesitation and inhibition dissipate. Only the barest thread held him back now. “I don’t know what you are playing at, My Lady, but it is a dangerous game,” he told her, and he swore he felt her heart skip a beat.
Though her breath hitched ever so gently, eventually it became a series of quiet giggles. The giggles threatened to grow louder as she curled against him. James was too confused about the shift to enjoy the feeling of her. “My Lord, the gentleman you saw was my brother.”
James gasped, “You jest at my expense, My Lady?!”
“I do, since you jumped to such an outrageous conclusion,” she asserted.
James gaped down at her then closed his mouth and nodded. “That... is fair, My Lady. Should I apologize?” James asked, unsure if he had offended or where exactly in this fairly complicated situation he had trespassed.
“I suppose you should, but I don’t want you to. Instead, there is something else I want you to do, to make it up to me,” Lady Carrington said while looking up at him.
“What's that?” James asked, breath hitched. She had been taunting him this night, tempting him to the point of agony. Each of her previous requests had been more tantalizing than the last, and now he waited eagerly to hear what she wanted of him.
“Would you call me by my name?” she said, resisting the urge to turn her face away, but she could tell by how he looked at her that she was beet red. “Just in private of course,” she added quickly as if it wasn’t a given.
“I will,” he said with a gentle smile, “if you are willing to accept a condition of my own,”
“Hm, and I thought this was supposed to be an apologetic gesture,” she teased, though it lacked some of its teeth due to her clearly embarrassed expression. “But I want to know all the same, what is your condition?”
“I want you to return the gesture. Would you be willing to do that for me, Martha?” James asked her, and he swore he could feel her heart beating rapidly just from her back being pressed against his hand.
“I think I can do that, James. In fact, I think I would enjoy doing that,” she said with a gentle sleepy smile.
When his hands gently, but firmly, grasped on her shoulders, he turned her to face him, and she suddenly felt very awake.
“Martha, I want to kiss you,” James said, a statement and a question all in one.
Martha didn’t hesitate to respond, “I would not deny you, James.”
He pulled her close and kissed her. It wasn’t graceful, per se, but that wasn’t what Martha wanted from it. It was strong and full of desire and passion. Martha could feel his want in his kiss, and that is what she wanted most of all. She wanted to know she was wanted, and, in that kiss, she had never felt more wanted in her life.
The thing that was, and this was so strong that it almost frightened Martha, she wanted him just as much.
James’ hands sought out more and more of her, wanting to pull her as close as possible, to feel her quivering, her warmth, to feel one with her as they shared this kiss. He needed her, wanted her, felt himself grow drunk off her closeness, and only wanted to drift away in that feeling.
That first kiss would not be the best kiss they ever shared. It would be memorable in that it was the first they shared, but it could be easily outdone if they were tempted to try again. And they were very tempted, the both of them. So tempted that they tried again as soon as the first kiss ended, and then again for a third attempt. Both attempts were also extremely enjoyable, but they felt pressed to continue to outdo themselves.
James left her lips and traced down the side of her neck, tasting her skin for the first time and wanting more of her.
Martha gasped as she felt his lips have their way with the sensitive skin of her neck. She fought the urge to twist in his grasp and double fought the urge to vocalize her desire. She bit her tongue quite hard to keep herself quiet, but she wasn’t as successful as she wished.
James kept eliciting more and more eager responses from her. Every time she thought she knew what he was going to do next, he would surprise her with a light bite or a soft kiss, moving slowly downward.
His lips traced the dangerous edges of her nightdress, his strong hands plucking at the thin fabric to caress the flesh beneath. Martha wanted so much more, but she knew, if she let this go on, she would let him undress her right here in the garden. There was little stopping him in both fabric and willpower.
“I don’t want to stop,” she assured him breathlessly, “but out here, who knows who could catch us. Even at this hour…” She trailed off, clearly reluctant.
“And that gives you pause?” he teased, his lips and his teeth still dallying on her neck before he gently pulled away.
“We will have time again.” He smiled boldly, more boldly than Martha had seen yet, and she liked it.
