Page 59 of Lady Gambit
“They look like whip marks.” A vision of him crying in pain burst into her mind and she fought the need to sob aloud.
“I was forced to defend myself at school. It was the punishment for disobeying the rules.” His tone carried the same air of detachment she heard whenever Aaron spoke of the past. “The aristocratic fathers of entitled brats couldn’t permit a bastard to beat their sons.”
“Does your father know what happened?”
“I have no idea. One of my tutors bandaged the wounds. He took pity on me and kept me company whenever I was left alone at school. Mr Brown was my saviour. The man who taught me the importance of making my own way in the world.”
She didn’t think Mr Brown should take all the credit. Dorian Flynn was a remarkable man in his own right. His back told a story of healing, of the resilience he’d needed to survive. But itwas the tale of the vulnerable boy that brought a lump to her throat.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Giving him the opportunity to air his grievances was the least she could do. “Or we can continue undressing if you prefer.”
“Nothing will prevent me from having you, Delphine. Certainly not a distant memory from the past.”
“Then I shall continue. Tell me if you want me to stop.”
He laughed. “Who is being ravished here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m seducing you.” She smoothed her hands over his back and pressed a series of slow, shivery kisses down his spine. “Men like to think they’re in control, but I’ve been seducing you since I laid eyes on you in Miss Darrow’s yard.”
“Then it’s time to switch roles.” He faced her, claiming her mouth in fierce possession, his tongue diving in long, deep strokes until she was damp between her thighs.
There was no sign of the vulnerable man, just a powerful specimen of masculinity who could arouse her to the point of madness in seconds.
Before she knew what was happening, he’d stripped off his boots and trousers and carried her to bed.
“Do you know what I mean to do now, Delphine?”
Tingles danced over her skin when he whispered her name. She watched as he kissed his way up her thigh, his dark eyes almost predatory. “You look like you’re going to eat me.”
“That’s exactly what I mean to do.” He buried his head between her legs. “Eat you, lick you, wring every last whimper from your lips.”
She was so drunk with desire, she let him kiss her most intimate place. She let him suck her, let him ease his long fingers into her and pump slowly until her world shattered, and she cried out.
“Dorian!”
He rose above her, his toned body swamping hers. “We don’t need to continue. It’s not too late to stop.”
She wasn’t sure if he was joking. She was certainly in no mind to dress and go about her day. Taking this man into her body was the only thought on her mind. “Why would I want to stop? I need you.” She ran her hands over the corded muscles in his arms. “Don’t wait.”
He bent his head and kissed her, his tongue penetrating her mouth with consummate skill. Then he was nudging her legs wider, pressing her down into the mattress, whispering how he was going to make her come hard again.
“Soon, you’ll be hugging every inch of me, love.”
She did not know what to expect. No one had told her how it would feel to make love to a man. But when Dorian eased into her body, the sudden wave of emotion took her by surprise.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him, sucking in a breath as he stretched her, claimed her, owned her. Indeed, she couldn’t shake the thought that she belonged to him now. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt.”
Why would it hurt?
He chased all her pain away.
Perhaps that’s why she rolled her hips, clung to him, encouraged him to fill the emptiness again and again and again. Why they were sweat-soaked and panting yet still couldn’t stop.
Even when they lay drowsy and sated in the warmth of his bed, her hand on his chest, his on her hip, one thought brought clarity.
She didn’t care if her past remained a blur. She wanted to remember nothing other than how glorious it felt to make love to Dorian Flynn.
