Treacherous Temptations(29)

“Of course not! I—I would never be so impertinent.” She tried to pull away but his hands anchored her in place.

“To answer your unasked question, Mary, I am inordinately fond of the fair sex, and they seem to be equally fond of me.”

“I see. How fortunate for you.” Mary stiffened at the unbidden vision of Lord Hadley embracing another woman and speaking in that same velvety tone. “My stays, please.”

The rumble in his chest vibrated against her back. His voice still tickled her ear. “I am flattered by your pique. It’s charming.”

“I’m not jealous!” She realized to her chagrin that she had risen to his bait.

He chuckled again. “You really should be thankful, you know. For I acquired priceless knowledge and experience that I would be delighted to share with you.”

“I appreciate your generous offer, but no thank you.”

She jerked away, stripped off her stays, and flung them to the ground. Yes, she was irrationally jealous and furious that he toyed with her. She whirled around at a splashing sound and advanced to the pool, noting that his shirt had joined his other discarded garments on the grass. Thank God, she didn’t see his breeches.

Standing at the water’s edge, she tracked the shadow of his body gliding beneath, mesmerized by the graceful movements of his long, strong limbs. Everything about him seemed to be so elegant…so perfect. He suddenly broke the surface in front of her with a gasp and a smile full of brilliant white teeth. Chest deep in water, he approached the place where she stood.

“Come now, Mary,” he urged. “It’s so cool and refreshing.” He reached for her hand. When she hesitated, he hoisted himself upward and jerked her off balance and into the pool.

“You’re a beast!” She shrieked and thumped him with her fist.

He caught her against him with a laugh. “You were taking too long. I thought you might back out.”

“I’m not such a coward,” she protested.

“No? You were not about to change your mind?” He tilted her chin to meet his gaze. “Don’t lie,” he said. “I could see the retreat in your eyes.”

And she could see heaven in his.

Glorious infinite blue, framed by full thick lashes covered with drops of water. He held her, against him, ignoring the rivulets of water streaming down his face. His gaze dipped to her mouth and her breathing arrested. Would he kiss her again? His earlier remark about the strawberry tarts had teased her all day, filling her with anticipation. She glanced up at him through her lashes, her eyes replete with longing.

“Shall I, sweet Mary?” he murmured, low and seductive.

He had to know her answer for her lips involuntarily parted. Yes. She wanted this, had dreamt of it, but also knew how easily things could spiral out of control. She pressed her hands against his chest just as his mouth came down. Cool and slick, his lips slid smoothly over hers. He prodded only once with his tongue and she opened for him, losing herself in the sultry sensation and tantalizing taste of him.

His kiss became more possessive, his tongue swirling and gliding with hers in a dizzying advance and retreat. Was there anything on this earth more sublime than Hadley’s lips? His tongue? His arms about her? His kiss was everything she remembered, everything she wanted and so much more.

He worked down her neck with his glorious mouth, licking, sucking, lightly biting, and pulling her inexorably into a wondrous whirlpool of sensation. She arched into him with a soft moan. He paused at the hollow between her collarbones, glancing up with a wicked look.

“So pale and soft and delectable. I wish to devour them.”

To her mortification, Mary realized that he referred to her breasts, clearly and indecently visible through a shift gone completely transparent. The fabric, wet and billowing in the water, left nothing to the imagination.

He cupped her breasts, stroking her taut nipples with his thumbs. They tingled and grew instantly hard. “Shall I suckle you now? Would you like that, sweetling?” As his hot tongue traced the delicate contour of her ear, he looked down, adding archly, “I think you would.”

His suggestion stunned her. Mary knew it was wrong to allow this to progress any further, but couldn’t seem to break away, as she knew she ought. And he took unscrupulous advantage of her hesitation, dipping his head to her breasts, kissing, licking, and biting.

Her world went blinding white with bliss when he drew the hardened peak into his mouth and suckled. Dear Lord in heaven! How she loved the possessive feel of his mouth, of his hands on her body. Instead of resisting, she tangled her fingers in his wet hair urging for more. She never wanted this to end, never wanted to let go of him.

His hands smoothed down over her rounded hips and rested on her buttocks. He cupped and squeezed them, pulling her tightly against… Oh my! Her breath hitched on a gasp.

He drew her hand down between them. His voice rumbled, low, and husky. “Do you understand what that is, Mary? What it means?”

She bit her lip, confounded how to answer.

“No?” He cocked a brow over blue eyes gone nearly black. “Then I will tell you. It means I am deeply aroused. It means I want to touch you, Mary, and I want you to touch me. I want you to feel my desire for you pulsing in your hands, to imagine me inside you, filling that empty place that even now begins to ache with your need.”

His words made her tremble all over and sent a hot and tingling sensation to her most private place. She should have been shocked and repulsed, but instead felt lost in a tumult of emotions—equally exciting and frightening. “B-but we are in a pool! It’s daylight! And Jenny—”