“Come back and open this door,” she called out. “Do you hear me? Let me out of here this instant.”
She pounded at the door in anger. Whoever had arranged for her entrapment might find it amusing, but she didn’t. Not one bit. Lord Seymour indeed. A sudden tingle on the back of her neck made her stiffen as she suddenly realized she wasn’t alone. Before she could turn and face them, a warm body pressed into her back and gently crushed her against the beveled panels of the walnut door.
The woodsy scent of sandalwood filled her nostrils as resentment spiraled its way into her muscles and she stiffened. Garrick. He’d tricked her. She tried to turn and face him, but he held her fast. His hands forced hers to lie flat against the walnut door, while he braced his body against hers in a manner that stirred her arousal despite her irritation with him. She tried to slide out from underneath him once again, incensed by her body’s reaction.
“Don’t fight me, my lady. We both know Stratfield is likely to be jealous if he knows you’ve been with another man.”
One cheek resting against the door, she could barely see him out of the corner of her eye, but the husky sound of his voice caressed her like an invisible piece of velvet. Furious at her inability to feel nothing at his touch, she angrily latched onto his ludicrous statement in an effort not to succumb to the desire threatening to take over her body.
To even suggest that he’d be jealous at the thought of her with another man was ridiculous. He’d been so busy flirting with Louise Campton, he’d paid no notice to her at all. The memory of his attention to the other woman fired her anger again.
“Another man—”
“I’ve been watching you all evening.”
“I find that highly unlikely,” she sniffed with umbrage. The bastard had been too preoccupied with someone else. Her teeth clenched at the thought.
“Unlikely?” A quiet laugh breezed across the back of her neck. “You barely ate your meal, you toyed with your necklace throughout the evening, and you had no idea that you are the most beautiful woman here tonight.”
She stiffened against the door. Had he truly been watching her after all? Impossible. She would have known. Perhaps the one thing the man hadn’t noticed was how she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him and his flirtation with Louise Campton. But she had eaten very little and had nervously played with her necklace. She drew in a breath as she realized she was giving way to him.
“Forgive me, Lord Str—” A warm hand covered her mouth to silence her effectively. The touch had a dangerous edge to it and a small shiver of excitement skated down her spine. She immediately berated herself for letting his touch make her feel anything.
“No names, my lady.” His voice was a rough whisper breathing fire across her back as his mouth grazed her shoulder. “Remember the rules. We’ve never met before.”
The game. Her heart skipped a beat. Sweet heavens, she’d been so angry with him, it had never occurred to her that this might be the game she’d suggested before they’d left the town house. And she’d expected a mild flirtation, not an intimate seduction in the house of their host, especially with the danger of someone noticing their absence. His hand left her mouth to caress the side of her neck. It was a slow, sensual touch that burned its way through her until her body grew warm with anticipation.
“You are presumptuous in your attentions, my lord.” She forced the words past her lips as his hand moved downward to cup her breast. The touch pulled a gasp from her, and his teeth lightly abraded the side of her neck.
“And I think your protest is a façade,” he whispered in a low, velvety tone that made her legs weaken beneath her.
“Even if what you say was true, this is hardly the place . . .” Her words died in her throat as his hands left hers to slowly draw her skirts up and bunch them at her waist, while his hard body held her in place against the door. She gasped the moment his hands gripped her thighs, the heat of his touch spreading its way into every part of her body.
“Don’t try to deny you’re enjoying yourself, my lady.”
His mouth seared the back of her neck, and she breathed in the rough male scent of him. Oh God, he smelled wonderful. He was right. She was enjoying this—far too much. His fingers kneaded her flesh as he pressed his legs into the back of her thighs.
Through his trousers and the thin material of the short drawers beneath her corset, she could feel him growing hard against her. Surely he wasn’t planning to seduce her completely. Someone might come looking for them. Her breathing grew erratic at the dangerous thought. She knew it was reckless to feel excitement, but she did. Still, she forced herself to try and make sanity prevail.
“I don’t think—”
“I once had someone tell me not to think, but to feel.”
Sinful. It was the only word she could think of to describe his voice. The sound of it was a dark caress that hinted at something decadent as he quoted her own words back to her. Her mouth went dry as she suddenly realized he was no longer a student. The way he’d planned this small tryst and the masterful way he was seducing her said he’d paid close attention to everything she’d taught him over the past month.
She inhaled sharply as his hand slid across her leg to reach the spot just above the apex of her thighs. A familiar liquid warmth dampened the fragile silk drawers. Merciful heaven was he planning to make her have an orgasm right here and now? Her heart slammed into her chest at the deliciously wicked idea. She shuddered. They couldn’t. There was enough scandalous talk about them as it was.
“Please. . .”
“Please what, my lady?”
The confidence in his voice was something she’d never heard before. It reinforced the fact that he’d graduated from inexperienced pupil to devastating seducer. A man capable of enticing her to submit to his bidding. His hand moved again to press into her stomach at a spot just below her corset.
A moment later, his hand tugged forcefully at her drawers, and she gasped out loud with shock. Seconds later, desire spiraled through her belly only to explode inside her as his fingers brushed across her sex. Dear God, she’d never experienced an erotic seduction like this before.
Her entire body tingled with need, and every touch of his hand intensified the sensation until her breathing was coming in short pants. Suddenly, his fingers parted her folds to lightly stroke the nub between them. The hedonistic caress pulled a low moan out of her.
“You like that, don’t you.” His satisfaction was clearly evident in his words as he moved his hand back to her thigh. She whimpered at his withdrawal.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“A teacher of mine once told me that some women like to hear a man whisper naughty words into their ears.” His teeth nibbled at her earlobe. Her knees gave way, and only his body kept her from sliding to the floor. “Are you one of those women, my lady?”
“Oh God,” she whispered hoarsely. She couldn’t remember any man ever arousing her to such a fevered pitch before.
“Answer me, my lady.” The low growl rumbled in her ear like a distant thunderstorm. A tempest that would most likely strip her of every sense or sensibility she possessed.
“Yes,” she whispered with a ragged breath.
His hips shifted against the back of her thighs, and she could feel the hard length of him leaving its imprint on her buttocks. His fingers threaded with hers against the door as his mouth left a trail of fire across her shoulder. She wanted to kiss him. Needed to feel his mouth on hers, on every inch of her body. She tried to turn toward him, but he easily held her in place.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” The words were harsh against her ear as his hand brought hers downward to touch his stiff erection. “From the first moment I saw you, I’ve wanted nothing more than to bury my cock inside you.”
She gasped at the images his words produced. Only two or three times had he spoken to her in such a manner. In both instances, he’d been uncomfortable, almost shy, using the words. Now, his voice was strong and demanding. He was in complete command of his words and his desire, and that was more shocking than his language.
It sent a frisson dancing down her back as she stroked him through his trousers. Touching him like this only intensified the need inside her. Her body ached for a completion she knew only he could give her. God, she wanted him now. At this moment in time, she didn’t care if someone discovered them here. She didn’t care what people might think. All that mattered was her need to have him inside her bringing her to a climax only he could give her.
“Please, I want—”
“Want?” he growled darkly and with a fervency that thrilled her. “You have yet to understand the meaning of the word, my lady. When I’m done with you tonight, you will be begging for my cock. You will plead with me to fuck you, and then you’ll sob for more.”
