Page 49 of The Viscount's Code
“Anthony,” she said again, pleading in her voice this time, “Can you… I need… I want… you,” she finished, and he shook his head.
“You do not know what you’re asking.”
“I do,” she said, certainty filling her eyes as she stared down at him. “I want to feel all of you.”
She reached down then, finding him beneath her skirts, batting them out of the way endearingly before her hand wrapped around him, and he let out a groan as she slid it up and down.
“Inside,” she said again, and he wasn’t sure whether he should be grateful or damn those books she read that appeared to have taught her more than a woman like her should know about.
He reached down, gripped her hips, and lifted her then, until she was positioned just above his cock. He waited, giving her the power, and she slowly lowered herself down around him, gasping as she did so. She paused for a moment, rising slightly before lowering again, and Anthony gritted his teeth as he prevented himself from moving, even though all he wanted to do was lift and lower her, thrusting himself within.
“Are you all right?” he managed to ask, and she nodded, closing her eyes for a beat before opening them and staring at him.
“More than all right,” she said, before moving back and forth, up and down upon him, and he leaned in to kiss her again, partially to distract himself from her movements. She was easily sliding up and down him now, and he held her close as he kept himself from letting go. It might take every ounce of will within him, but he wouldn’t, not until she came.
His fingers played with her nipples, softly teasing them, and she leaned into him, moving faster now, as he began to thrust in time with her. She lifted her head, then, her blue eyes staring into his incredulously, her mouth slightly open in what he could only hope was pleasant surprise.
“Anthony,” she breathed.
“Yes,” he practically shouted, as he could no longer hold back and began pumping into her harder, realizing in the back of his mind that it had never been like this with another woman and likely never would again.
She began to squeeze him from inside, until she was pulsing around him as she threw her head back and cried out his name, urging his own release forward. With Herculean effort, he managed to hold off until she finished, and when she collapsed against him, he lifted her off him to the seat beside them and spent on the floor below.
When he turned to her, he was filled by the overwhelming need to take care of her, to ensure that she was all right, and he gently lifted an errant lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear before kissing her again, needing her to know but unable to tell her just how much he cared for her, that this was different from any experience had ever been for him before.
But he was unable to find the right words, so instead he leaned in and kissed her gently once more before he cleaned up the carriage with his handkerchief and helped restore their clothing to rights.
“Should I… should I go back to my seat?” she asked, gesturing across, as though uncertain of just where this left them.
“No,” he said fiercely. He didn’t know what the future would hold for them, but for now, the only thing he knew for certain was that he couldn’t let her go. “Stay right here with me.”
He reached out, wrapped her within her arms and held her close, never in his life being both so completely content and yet absolutely terrified.
CHAPTER19
As they pulled into the inn in Bures, Hope glanced over at Anthony, wondering just how they were to approach their stay here once more.
“Faith is supposed to arrive tomorrow at noon,” she said, toying with the edges of her skirts, which were now restored to rights. She knew that as a proper young lady she should be scandalized with both herself and Anthony for what they had just done, but she couldn’t seem to conjure any emotion except contentment. What type of woman that made her, she had no idea, but she refused to allow herself to feel shamed for it. “Should we pose as a married couple again?”
When she managed enough courage to lift her eyes to Anthony, she noticed the intensity of his stare upon her, and her heart started racing again at the thought of a repetition of their actions. She had never before felt anything so tremendously triumphant, and she had an urge to chase that feeling again.
“I suppose,” he murmured, “but if she arrives early…”
“She won’t,” Hope said assuredly. “Faith is nothing but punctual.”
“Someone is becoming rather rebellious, now, isn’t she?” he said with a grin unlike any expression she had ever seen upon him before, and when she let out a giggle, it was far too giddy for her own liking. Anthony, however, didn’t seem to take any notice.
It wasn’t long until they were in their room once more – the same one as they had previously resided — and Hope found herself as nervous as she had been the first time, although for entirely different reasons now.
Should they eat first? Would Anthony not want anything from her again, as she could imagine that their first time likely was not as pleasurable for him as it was for her, being that it had beenherfirst time and he had likely had far better? Would he think she would expect something, even when she knew that he had no interest in—
“Hope,” he said in his gravelly voice, stepping toward her and taking her chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting her head to look up at him, his grey eyes calm and searching. “I can practically hear you thinking. Just know that you need not be worried about whatever thoughts are running through your mind. I am happy if you are happy, and that is all you need to be concerned about.”
Warmth bloomed through her chest at his care, and she figured it was at that moment that she completely fell for him – even though she knew that she absolutely should not.
They dined in a private room downstairs, their conversation easy, as Anthony seemed to have shifted to be much more comfortable with her, although now and again she caught him looking at her with this stare as though he was in some disbelief.
“What did you tell Faith in your letter?” he asked her, tilting his head, and she hated the fact that they would soon be returning to their usual world, the one in which they were not alone together in a carriage or pretending to be husband and wife as they shared a room in the inn.
