Page 57 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
She felt a peak nearing, yet it was somehow greater than what he had shown her before. Her toes began to curl, her head flung back on the blanket, and her hands gripped so tightly on his shoulders that she was in danger of marking him with her nails, not that he seemed to mind.
Plainly sensing how near she was, he drove harder, moving so fast, the movement athletic, that she could no longer even moan words or his name. She could only moan sounds when, abruptly, she saw stars. Her whole body convulsed with pleasure, her back arching off the blanket as he rode her through the waves.
She was still riding out that pleasure, still enjoying the way the ache she had felt for him for so long was finally satisfied when he pulled out of her. She whimpered, wanting the feeling of him again when she looked up and saw that he too had reached his end, but he had finished outside of her, spilling himself in the blanket.
“Oh …” she moaned, her amazement filling her once more. Edward had not just made love to her, but he was also protecting her, making sure they were not risking her being with child. “Edward?” She reached out towards him, needing his touch again.
He fell over her, their bodies entwined completely as they kissed with passion, lips locked, hands exploring one another’s bodies, their beings both still scintillating in pleasure.
I do not want this moment to end.
***
Edward didn’t want to let go. With Juliet now above him, her head resting in the crook of his neck and his arm wrapped around her, he was still catching his breath. His heart thumped hard in his chest, and he could feel it racing, thundering, all because of Juliet.
Never has it been like that. Never!
It was the passion that had consumed them both, and not just because being together in this way was so forbidden, but because it was Juliet.
Edward raised his hands. He moved his fingers through Juliet’s hair, shifting her a little so he could see her face. She raised herself a little, her hips brushing in such a way that he gasped, in danger of his length being stirred again for she had such an effect on him.
“Juliet,” he whispered breathily, “I’m in danger of wanting to take you again if you keep doing that.” He chuckled softly as she smiled, too. She shifted completely, sitting up so that she was straddling him. He growled, feeling her wet centre against his length once more. How easy would it be to lay her down and pleasure her once again? What passion would enthrall him this time?
It is not just passion.
Staring up at Juliet, he realized that this was not the only time he wanted them to be together. In fact, any sort of short affair would not be enough, not with Juliet. He wanted to keep her. Something possessive rose in his chest, and he found himself despising the idea that any other would have her at all, that any other man could try to claim her as he had done, make love to her as he had done.
He raised a hand and trailed it through her auburn locks, playing with the tendrils, admiring the way she leaned into his touch. When she rocked her hips against him, he growled once more, trying to hold himself back.
“Juliet, there is something I must say to you.” He had to tell her. He had to tell her now that he did not wish this to be their only time together, nor did he wish this stay at the Duke of Darby’s house to be their only time together.
I want you forever.
“What is it?” she asked. Her eyes that had been half-lidded in her pleasure now opened wide. Her palms trailed down his bare chest, with that touch igniting his excitement even further. His length stirred against her, and her lips fell apart; clearly, she could feel it between them. He reached for her hips, gripping her through the chemise and holding her still.
“There’s something we must talk about. Something … serious.”
The happy smile fell from her face.
There was a sound in the woods, and they both jerked their heads towards it. Edward sat up so suddenly that she practically fell off him, and he had to wrap his arm around her to steady her.
“Don’t make a sound,” he mouthed to her, his eyes flitting between the trees.
Someone moved in the distance. At the shadowy figure, her hands curled tighter around his shoulders. Edward wasn’t sure if it was the reminder of what they had just shared that affected him more or the feeling that she was clinging to him in this moment of fear. He wanted that feeling, and he certainly didn’t want to let it go.
All hopes of asking her to consider taking him for life, to take his hand in marriage, were now too difficult to utter in words. That figure was moving through the trees, and if they scented the fire, they chose not to investigate it. They walked away, disappearing fast.
“What is the time?” Juliet moved off him so fast that Edward swayed where he sat. He reached down to his trousers, putting himself away and buttoning them fast as she reset the chemise on her shoulders and found his pocket watch in his waistcoat that they had slung to the side. “Oh!” She gasped, dropping the watch and getting to her feet.
“It is late. We have been here for hours. The party will be back soon for their dinner. I must get back to the house, or my mother will see I am not in bed.” She was flinging the maid’s outfit back over her body now, pulling the coif over her auburn curls with some difficulty.
“Wait,” Edward pleaded, struggling to stand. He had to speak to her, had to say what he longed to say. “Juliet, there is something we must speak of.”
He thought he saw fear flash in her eyes momentarily, then it was gone.
“Another time. I must get back, and you must put out this fire.” She nodded down at the fire he had made earlier. Her clothes were now an approximation of what they had been before as she tugged on the boots beneath her gown. She was already flinging her body away from him, running through the trees.
“Juliet!” he hissed in a panicked whisper. How he had wanted another kiss, some sense of a more intimate goodbye, but she was gone, leaving him there alone on the blanket, still half undressed beside the roaring fire as she ran through the trees.
