Page 96 of A Devil in Silk
Her stomach fluttered like a bird mid-flight. She glanced at Olivia, whose soft sighs filled the room. Reason urged caution, yet Clara’s heart was already halfway down the corridor. She slipped from the chamber and stole down the dark hallway, anticipation rising with every step.
She did not need to study the plaques or trace the letters carved into the wood. A door to her left eased open. Bentley stood there in his shirtsleeves, one muscular arm braced on the jamb, the open neck revealing the hard plane of his chest. Aswift glance into the corridor, and his fingers closed possessively around her wrist, drawing her into his domain.
All thoughts of murder and betrayal vanished.
Love filled her heart.
Lust burned everywhere else.
“You came,” he said, his nearness heady as wine.
“Of course I came.” Why did he doubt her? She lived to spend these precious moments with him. “I pray Rothley is asleep or too drunk to notice you left.”
“Rothley rarely drinks enough to dull his wits. He’s like a hawk; one sound, one shift in the dark, and his hand goes for the knife beneath his pillow.” He drew her wrist to his mouth, the air alive as he kissed the sensitive skin. “He knows we’re here. He knows about us. Only a fool would attempt to conceal anything from him.”
The panic she expected never came. Nothing would prevent her from having the only man she wanted, the man she craved.
“I don’t care,” she admitted, noting the furrows on his brow, the tension in his powerful shoulders. “I’d rather die than forgo the chance to spend one night with you.”
“One night?”
“Every night.”
To silence his doubts, she rose on her toes, filling her lungs with his woody scent as she pressed her mouth to his. Oh, this was everything she needed. The taste of brandy, the warmth of his lips, the greedy sweep of his tongue. He pushed the cloak from her shoulders, hands sliding over her back, fisting the cotton nightgown, pulling it taut over her heavy breasts.
Heat pooled hot and heavy between her thighs, her blood surging like fire in her veins.
But Bentley tore his mouth away, the uncertainty in his eyes cutting through desire’s haze. “Clara, we need to talk.”
“Talk?” How could she string two words together when all she wanted was him? “Surely you didn’t invite me here to discuss the case.”
“Not the case.” Frustration marred his tone. “Us.”
“Can we talk later? We have all the time in the world for conversation, so very little for this.” She smoothed her hands over his chest, feeling the flex of muscle beneath his loose shirt. “Let me touch you. You’ll have my full attention then.”
“Clara—”
“Please, Bentley.” She nuzzled against his throat until he shivered. “It’s been a long day. I promise to listen after we’ve made love. Right now, I need you inside me.”
His resistance lasted no more than a heartbeat. With a groan, he crushed her to him, surrendering to the inevitable. The kiss was hot, bruising, the urgent stroke of his tongue sending pulses deep into her core. He cupped her cheek, fingers splayed possessively, drinking from her like a man starved.
Nothing on earth compared to this. She wanted to drown in him, to be consumed by him. It should have frightened her, yet her heart soared with the certainty that he was hers, as she was his.
She dragged her mouth from his. “I need more of you.”
“Then take it,” he growled.
They fell onto each other again, breaths mingling in a fevered clash. She tore his shirt over his head, breaking from him briefly before his lips seized hers. He slid her nightgown higher until cool air licked her bare thighs, her bottom, her belly. Fabric fell away.
His gaze trailed a path over her curves, hunger blazing. He hissed a breath, tongue sliding over his lower lip. “God help me, Clara. You’re so damn beautiful.” Snaking an arm around her waist, he lowered his head to her breast and closed his mouth over one taut peak.
Heat seared through her as he sucked, his tongue teasing until she cried out. She threaded her fingers into his hair, gripping hard, anchoring him to her, needing the exquisite torment to go on forever.
“Only you could make me feel like this, free and possessed in equal measure.” Her heart hammered as his tongue circled her aching nipple. “Oh, I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I want you.”
He drew back, fixing her with his heated gaze. “I’ll die if I’m not inside you soon.” Yet he unbuttoned his trousers slowly, pushing them down over his lean hips, a hum of masculine satisfaction escaping when his shaft sprang free.
He was so thick, so hard.
