Suddenly You(51)

Jack tilted his head backward, eyes closed, his forehead drawn in a fierce frown. The feminine weight of her pressed on his thighs, while her body held his in a snug clasp. The pleasure of it was too great to bear. He couldn’t think or speak, couldn’t form her name. He could only sit there while sensation glided over him in relentless waves. He felt Amanda lean forward, her parted lips touching his exposed throat where the pulse throbbed beneath his jaw. Her tongue brushed his skin in dainty exploration, and he breathed harshly. His h*ps lifted against hers, his c**k nudging deeper inside her, and her sheath squeezed tightly in response. He heard his own full-throated cry as he drove in the final thrust of release, straining and shuddering in ecstasy. Finally able to move, he clutched her head in his hands, devouring her, aware that his kisses were probably bruising her tender mouth, but she didn’t seem to mind.

The sound of their labored breathing was slow to diminish. Jack held Amanda against his chest, resting his large hand over her rumpled hair while the other moved in circles over her na**d back. She shivered at the contrast between the cool air and his warm hand. He muttered a curse and fumbled with the back of her corset, realizing that the carriage was slowing.

“Dammit. Dammit. We’re there now.”

Amanda remained relaxed and pliant against him, not seeming to share his sudden urgency. Languidly she reached over and latched the door. When she spoke, her voice was thick and husky. “It’s all right, Jack.”

Scowling, he jerked the edges of her dress together and fastened it deftly. “I should have kept my head…should have made us both wait. That was no way to take a virgin. I intended to be gentle with you, I was going to—”

“It was exactly what I wanted.” She regarded him with a slight smile, her face still flushed, her gray eyes brilliant. “And I wasn’t your usual sort of virgin, so I fail to see why we should have done it the conventional way.”

Still frowning, Jack took hold of her waist and lifted her, and she gasped as he withdrew from her body. Understanding her intimate needs, Jack somehow managed to find the handkerchief in his coat pocket, and he gave it to Amanda silently. Clearly embarrassed, she used it to blot the abundant wetness between her thighs. “I hurt you,” Jack said in gruff remorse, and she shook her head immediately.

“The discomfort wasn’t as great as I had been led to expect,” she said. “One hears tales of agonizing wedding nights, but it wasn’t nearly as terrible as I thought it might be.”

“Amanda,” he muttered, amused despite himself by her chatter, and he hugged her tightly. He kissed her hair and the side of her face and the corner of her mouth.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop. They were at Amanda’s house. Muttering beneath his breath, Jack tugged and jerked at his clothes, settling them into place, while Amanda tried to restore her coiffure. She refastened a few hairpins, then found her burgundy shawl and draped it over her shoulders. “How do I look?” she asked.

Jack shook his head ruefully as he glanced at her. No one could mistake the remaining flush on her cheeks, or the soft sparkle of her eyes, or her lusciously swollen mouth, for anything other than the results of physical passion. “Like you’ve been ravished,” he said flatly.

She astonished him by smiling. “Hurry, please. I want to go inside my house and consult a looking glass. I’ve always wanted to know what a ravished woman looks like.”

“And then what?”

Her gray eyes regarded him steadily. “And then I want to remove all your clothes. I’ve never seen a completely na**d man before.”

A reluctant smile hovered at the corners of his lips. “I’m at your disposal.” He reached out to play with a tendril of fiery hair that curled near her ear.

She was silent for a moment, staring at him without blinking, and he wondered what thoughts occupied her mind. “That is something we should discuss,” she finally murmured. “I suppose we had better set terms.”

“Set terms?” His hand stilled in her hair.

“For our affair.” An uncertain frown marred the smoothness of her brow. “You do want an affair with me, don’t you?”

Chapter 10

“Hell, yes, I want an affair.” Jack stared at her with amused resignation as he added, “But I should have known you’d want to plan the damned thing out.”

“Is that wrong of me?” Amanda asked. “Why shouldn’t I try to arrange an affair in a sensible manner?”

“All right,” he murmured, his voice vibrant with laughter. “Let’s go inside and negotiate. I can hardly wait to hear your plans.”

The footman opened the carriage door, and Amanda allowed Jack to escort her inside the empty house. Her legs were shaky and the place between her thighs was wet and sore and stinging. Wryly she reflected that this was certainly a Christmas that she would never forget. A straggling curl of reddish-brown hair fell from her disheveled coiffure, dangling over her right eye. She pushed back the springy lock, tucking it behind her ear, and thought of Jack’s urgent fingers clasping her head, his mouth fitted securely to hers.

Surely she hadn’t just surrendered her virginity in such a manner…and yet the insistent soreness between her thighs, and the invisible but tangible imprints of his hands on her body, were proof that she had. She searched her soul for regrets, but she had none.