Page 34 of A Promising Little Scandal (Sensual Scandals)

Instantly, the desire that had been simmering in the lower pit of her stomach flared back to renewed life. “Is that so?” she returned in a light challenge. She lifted on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck. “Then don’t keep me waiting.”

It was all Sebastian could do not to spill himself on the ground at Calliope’s feet when she pressed her breasts against his chest with nothing to separate them. He had never felt this all-consuming passion with anyone else, even the woman he had nearly made the foolish mistake of marrying. He had been naïve enough to believe that what he’d been feeling at the time had been something more than lust. He realized now how wrong he’d been.

While it was too soon to call what he felt for Calliope anything else but the same, something had flared to life in his chest when she kissed him just now—something… different. It was a sensation unlike anything he’d ever known before.

He slid his hand into those glorious, fiery red locks and kissed her back without abandon. He was baring the deepest parts of his soul to her.

When he slid his hand down between them again, teasing her to the brink of orgasm once more, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his self-control in check. She was already wet and ready, but he wanted her crying out his name, begging for him.

When he was sure he couldn’t take any more, she sobbed in a breathy pant, “Sebastian… please…”

He turned to sit on the ground, but adjusted her where she was straddling his lap, one leg on either side of him. He was poised at her gleaming entrance, his cock urging him to thrust into her, but he paused. He lifted a hand and cupped the side of her cheek. Even in the waning light of the moon, he could tell that her smooth skin was flushed, her lips parted slightly, her mesmerizing emerald eyes glimmering with vigor.

He had to swallow before he could speak properly. “My lady, this is your last chance to change your…”

She slowly slid down onto his length.

After that, he took over.

His brain was spinning, conscious thought abruptly fleeing at the feel of her tight sheath moving over the tip of his cock. With a torturous rise of his hips, he began to impale her inch by inch, until with one final thrust upward, he broke through the barrier of her virginity. Her eyes widened momentarily, and then while he waited for her to become accustomed to the intrusion, he started to move.

At first, he kept the pace easy and gentle, but when she started to urge him on, he increased his movements. He grabbed her hips and let her set the pace, and while she rode him, he reached out and grasped her breasts. The mounds of flesh had been teasing him for far too long and he sucked first one nipple, and then the other, giving her a light nip when he moved upward to her neck. Her hair fell in front of her face, enveloping them in a brilliant, copper wave.

Surely this was as close to heaven on earth as one could get.

Her movements were starting to become more frenzied, and when he could tell she was near her peak, he took over, slamming her against his cock until she was crying out her release on a rush of moisture.

It was enough to send Sebastian over the edge and with a hoarse cry, he lifted her off him just as the white-hot jets of his orgasm took over.

Afterward, they both collapsed onto his greatcoat. Sebastian kept his arm around her as a makeshift pillow. He caught the edge of his shirt and dragged it over and placed it beneath his head.

It didn’t take long before the sweat coating his body started to cool from the sea breeze. With a glance at Calliope, he could see that her teeth were starting to chatter. He reluctantly sat up. “I suppose we should get dressed. I don’t want to be responsible for you catching a chill.”

She lifted a brow. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t have been worth it,” she teased. “But I suppose you’re right.”

He laughed and then gathered up her gown and undergarments. She donned her stockings, slippers, gown, and pelisse, but decided to carry the rest. She hadn’t worn petticoats to their tryst, and he applauded her quick thinking.

He donned his trousers and shirt and threw his coat around his shoulders. He noticed that she hadn’t yet put on her bonnet, so he retrieved it and gently set it on her head, and then reached out and tied a perfect bow. He hesitated once he’d finished, keeping his hand in place beneath her chin. “I hope you don’t regret tonight when you wake in the morning.”

She swallowed. “I’m not sure I’ll get any sleep at all. My body feels… odd.”

“I imagine it does, but I have confidence that you will rest well.” He smiled. “I know I will for a change. I won’t have to dream about taking you to bed anymore. I’ll just content myself with dreaming about you.”

In that moment, Calliope almost did something foolish. She almost told Sebastian that she’d had the best night of her life, that it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t sleep a wink.

But then she remembered that he was a rake, a known libertine about London and this was likely just another pleasure-filled evening for him. It wasn’t as if he had been the virgin and his body was still humming delightfully. She was feeling twinges in places she had no idea she could feel twinges.

One thing was for certain, as much as she might have enjoyed tonight, it could not be repeated. Not only would she be taking a chance of damaging her reputation, but the risk that she might become with child was too great, because Sebastian had already told her that he would never marry. This was good, of course, for she had decided the same thing as well. Granted, if she changed her mind she could have her selection of gentlemen in London. From the moment she’d arrived the suitors had been falling at her feet. But if she were to take a husband, that would leave poor Isadora alone. Although she generally preferred her solitude, Calliope didn’t want her to feel as if the burden to be an independent woman fell solely on her shoulders.

She started to head back toward the village, when Sebastian stopped her. He appeared almost hesitant when he asked, “Will I see you tomorrow?”

She rolled her eyes. “In a village as modest as Lyme Regis, it will be difficult to miss me.” With a sly wink, she continued on her way.

When she reached The Red Lion, she cautiously glanced about her before she slipped through the back entrance and headed up the stairs. She held her breath the entire way, praying that she wasn’t noticed. By some miracle, she didn’t encounter a single soul as she let herself into her rooms.

Her maid was asleep in a chair by the dying fire, but when she heard the slight commotion, she bolted upright, wide awake. “My lady!” She put a hand to her heart. “Praise be. You’re back.”

Calliope snorted as she removed her pelisse. When she untied the ribbons of her bonnet, a flutter passed through her chest, for only moments before, Sebastian had tied it with such care. “You act as though I’d been kidnapped.”

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