Suddenly You(49)

“Jack.” His name rose softly in her throat as he sank to his haunches before her and took one of her hands.

The firelight skimmed unevenly over one side of his face, highlighting half his features in brilliant yellow, leaving the rest in shadow. “It’s time for you to go home now,” he said, staring at her, not with his usual jaunty confidence or any hint of a smile. Instead, his gaze was intent and arrested, as if he were trying to read her private thoughts. “Do you want to leave alone,” he continued gently, “or shall I accompany you?”

The tip of her gloved finger touched his cheek, where flame-glow touched the closely shaven bristles and turned them to brilliant flecks of gold. She had never seen a mouth as beautiful as his, the upper lip so perfectly shaped, the lower one softer, fuller, containing the promise of carnal delight. “Come with me,” she said.

The interior of the carriage was cold and dark. Amanda placed her slippered feet directly on the foot warmer. Devlin’s large body settled beside hers, his long legs taking up most of the available space below the seats. He laughed as he saw her greedily absorbing the heat of the coal-filled porcelain box after the footman closed the carriage door with a quiet click.

Devlin slid an arm around Amanda’s shoulders, lowering his head to whisper in her ear. “I can make you warm.” The carriage rolled away, jostling slightly as the springs over the wheels absorbed the uneven bumps of the road.

Amanda found herself being lifted effortlessly into her companion’s lap. “Jack!” she exclaimed breathlessly while he pulled away her burgundy shawl and drew one hand over the back of her gown. He seemed not to hear her, his gaze fastened on the pale gleam of her half-exposed br**sts as his other hand expertly found one ankle beneath her skirts.

“Jack!” she gasped again, pushing at his chest, but he exerted enough pressure on her back to cause her to collapse against him.

“Yes?” he murmured, his mouth brushing the soft skin of her throat.

“Not in a carriage, for heaven’s sake.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s…” The tip of his tongue touched her skin, tickling a sensitive nerve at the side of her throat, and she paused to suppress a little moan of excitement. “Vulgar. Common.”

“Exciting,” he whispered back. “Have you ever thought of making love in a carriage, Amanda?”

She jerked her head back to stare at him in amazement, barely able to see his shadowed face in the dark interior of the vehicle. “Of course not! I can’t even imagine how such a thing would be accomplished.” When she saw the white gleam of his teeth, she immediately regretted her words. “No, no, don’t tell me!”

“Instead, I’ll show you,” he said, murmuring intimate, mortifying things while his fingers worked stealthily at the back of her gown. She felt, from the series of little tugs and the loosening of her bodice, that he was making rapid headway with the garment.

When she had agreed to let him make love to her this evening, she had envisioned a romantic scenario in her own bedroom, not in his carriage. He stole kisses from her half-open lips and dragged his mouth along her throat. “Don’t,” she moaned. “We’re almost there…the footman will know…oh, do stop!”

Jack cuddled her on his lap, staring into her shadowed gray eyes, always so alive with intelligence and challenge. Now the silvery depths were vulnerable, molten, utterly alluring. Excitement caused his heart to pound riotously, the mad pulse concentrating in his loins, bringing his c**k to leaping arousal. He wanted to plunge into her, squeeze and bite and lick every tender inch of her.

He took her mouth in an ardent kiss, searching for her tongue, greedily absorbing the delicious taste of her. She responded willingly, letting him kiss her exactly as he wanted, her body arching as he spread the back of her gown open. His hand searched the length of her spine until he encountered the edge of her corset. Impatiently he tugged at the laces until they loosened and the stiff-boned garment relinquished its tight containment of her body. Amanda began to breathe in deep surges as her lungs were liberated from the prison of starch and stays.

Jack peeled the silk dress away from her front, and unhooked the front of the corset. The round shapes of her br**sts spilled forth, covered only in the crumpled tissue of her chemise. Blindly he lifted Amanda higher on his lap and searched for the shadow of a nipple, found it, captured and licked and softly bit it through the linen. The sweet crest hardened in his mouth, and each scalding touch of his tongue drew a gasp from Amanda’s throat. He pulled at the chemise, felt the delicate fabric tear beneath his fingers, then kept pulling until both her br**sts were naked. Groaning, he buried his mouth in the valley between them, cupped his hands beneath the plump weights.

“Jack…” She could barely speak through her shallow, unfinished breaths. “Oh, Jack.”

His avid mouth found her nipple again, his tongue circling the silken tip and lingering at the edge where the crest met the pale skin of her breast. The fragrance of her animated a response so primal that he lost all awareness of the world outside the dark, swaying carriage. Greedily intent on claiming his prey, he slid his hands beneath her skirts and settled her swaying body over his, spreading her thighs so that she straddled him fully.

As he might have expected, Amanda was no passive partner, her mouth entreating his with eager kisses, her hands wandering busily over his chest and midriff. The tightly fitted layers of his clothes and cravat defeated her, and she tugged at them with a moan. “Help me,” she said shakily, fumbling at the waist of his trousers. “I want to touch you.”