Page 82 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
Once the carriage bolted forward, he crossed over to her, took her in his arms and claimed her mouth with his own. He would make her grateful he was there.
It took very little. An urging of her lips to part, a thrusting of his tongue, and with the sweetest of moans, she sank against him, into him, her slender arms coming around his neck, her hands clasping the back of his head, holding him in place as though she feared he’d only tease her, then withdraw.
But teasing her teased him as well, and he’d had enough of it for tonight. She was no doubt blissfully unaware of how tightly strung he was, how her hand below his waist, at the fall of his trousers, would have him embarrassing himself. He’d never before been so near the brink of release without being buried in a woman.
She unmanned him.
It took so little on her part to have him raging with need. A dozen times since he’d met her, he’d considered seeking surcease in the arms of another, and yet he wanted no other, understood wholeheartedly that no other would satisfy. Even taking himself in hand did little to assuage his desire, his need, his want for her. He couldn’t even claim the release to be temporary because it brought no satisfaction whatsoever, no dulling of his yearning for her.
But the yearning went beyond the tasting of her haven between her thighs, the ecstasy of her muscles closing around his cock, his thrust taking him deeper to the heart of her—the yearning encompassed what he’d always considered mundane: her smiles, her laughter, her fragrance, the lilt of her voice. Her mere presence.
Whether she sat across from him or was nestled against him, she satisfied something deep within him that had never before been touched. Now it was awakened and would not settle back into slumber.
He dragged his mouth over her chin, along her jaw to the sensitive area just below her ear and nibbled as if it were the finest delicacy. To him it was. “When can I see you again?”
“I have to settle things with Kipwick first,” she said distractedly, as though being awakened from a pleasant dream.
“Speaking with him might be difficult.”
She drew back. “Why do you say that?”
“He’s spending a good deal of his time at Aiden’s club. He’s taken a room there, to be honest.” Not a room exactly. A bed, a pallet, to catch a few winks before asking for another loan and returning to the tables. Not that he was going to tell her all of that.
“I must speak with him.”
“Not there.”
Shoving away from him, she gazed out the window. He wished he’d kept his tongue in her mouth instead of giving it freedom to speak. “I’ll get word to him that you need to see him.”
“He told me that winning was a thrill.”
“It is. The problem with thrills is that after a while they become mundane when they are the same one over and over, so one must look for ways to make them bigger. A larger wager, more at stake. To lose is a harder kick in the gut, but to win is an elation like no other. However, it, too, becomes the same. Habitual gamblers are always in want of a more intense thrill.”
“It’s an addiction of sorts, isn’t it?”
“For him, yes.”
She turned to him, a sadness in her eyes. “Can you help him? Can you have your brother close his doors to him?”
“Yes.”As soon as I’ve acquired what I want.But studying her, he wondered if it was worth it, if there was another way to gain the acknowledgment he wanted—needed—more than ever. Recognizing his bloodline—even if his blood wasn’t pure—would gain him admittance into Hedley Hall, would allow him to be seen with her in public.
He wanted her on his arm, proud to accompany him, into a fancy ballroom filled with those of noble birth.
“I’ll speak with him,” he added, as though Kipwick would listen to anything he had to say. Although when Mick presented him with all his markers and deeds, the man would pay a great deal of attention to his words.
As the carriage turned onto the drive, she smiled. “I have faith in you.”
Her words devastated him. He should confess everything, but in the confessing he’d lose her. However, if he plowed ahead, he would make things right. She would see that everything had been necessary to ensure they could step out of the shadows.
Chapter 18
The one place and time the duke and duchess could be counted upon to be together, without fail, was the gardens at two every afternoon, and so it was there that Aslyn sought them out.
Watching as they slowly strolled from one trellis of roses to another, smiling at each other, talking softly, the duchess reaching up to touch her husband’s jaw, he bending his head to kiss her brow, she realized that what they had, the love they shared, was what she had always longed for. She’d have not had it with Kip.
She’d have it with Mick. She had it with him now. His protectiveness, his gentleness, his yearning for her, his refusal to push her beyond what she was ready to give.
She loved him. It was that simple, that complex.
