Part 6 (1/2)

His words ended in a harsh groan as she straddled him in a decisive motion, their loins separated only by the layers of his trousers and her gossamer-thin drawers. Flushed and determined, Caroline sat atop him in a completely wanton posture. She felt the protrusion of his s.e.x nestle into the cleft between her thighs. The lascivious pressure of him against that intimate part of her body caused a silken ripple of heat all through her. She s.h.i.+fted her weight until he nudged right against her most sensitive area, a little peak that throbbed frantically at his nearness.

”All right,” he said in a gasp, holding completely still. ”All right, I admit ita I love you, d.a.m.ned tormenting b.i.t.c.ha” now get offof me!”

”Marry me,” she insisted. ”Promise that you'll break off the betrothal to my cousin.”

”No.”

Caroline reached up to her hair, pulling the pins loose, letting the rippling brown locks cascade down to her waist. He had never seen her hair down before, and his imprisoned fingers twitched as if he ached to touch her.

”I love you,” she said, stroking the furry expanse of his chest, flattening her palm over the thundering rhythm of his heart. The textures of his bodya”rough silk, hard muscle, bone, and sinewa”fascinated her. She wanted to kiss and stroke him everywhere. ”We belong together. There should be no obstacles between us, Andrew.”

”Love doesn't make a d.a.m.n bit of difference,” he almost snarled. ”Idealistic little foola””

His breath snagged in his throat as she grasped the hem of her chemise, pulled it over her head, and tossed the whisper-thin garment aside. Her upper body was completely naked, the small, firm globes of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bouncing delicately, pink tips contracting in the cool air. He stared at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s without blinking, and his eyes gleamed with wolfish hunger before he turned his face away.

”Would you like to kiss them?” Caroline whispered, hardly daring to believe her own brazenness. ”I know that you've imagined this, Andrew, just as I have.” She leaned over him, brus.h.i.+ng her nipples against his chest, and he quivered at the shock of their flesh meeting. He kept his face turned away, his mouth taut, his breath coming in hard gusts. ”Kiss me,” she urged. ”Kiss me just once, Andrew. Please. I need youa need to taste youa kiss me the way I've dreamed about for so long.”

A deep groan vibrated within his chest. His mouth lifted, searching for hers. She pressed her lips over his, her tongue slipping daintily into his hot, sweet mouth. Ardently she molded her body against his, wrapped her arms around his head, kissed him again and again. She touched his shackled wrists, her fingertips brus.h.i.+ng his palms. He muttered frantically against her throat, ”Yesa yesa let me go, Carolinea the keya”

”No.” She moved higher on his chest, dragging her feverish mouth over the salt-flavored skin of his throat. ”Not yet.”

His mouth searched the tender place where her neck met the curve of her shoulder, and she wriggled against him, wanting more, her body filled with a craving that she could not seem to satisfy. She levered herself higher, higher, until almost by accident her nipple brushed the edge of his jaw. He seized it immediately, his mouth opening over the tender crest and drawing it deep inside. His tongue circled the delicate peak and feathered it with rapid, tiny strokes. For a long time he sucked and licked, until Caroline moaned imploringly. His mouth released the rosy nipple, his tongue caressing it with one last swipe.

”Give me the other one,” he said in a rasping whisper. ”Put it in my mouth.”

Trembling, she obeyed, guiding her breast to his lips. He feasted on her eagerly, and she gasped at the sensation of being captured by his mouth, held by its heat and urgency. Exquisite tension gathered between her wide-open thighs. She writhed, undulated, pressed as close to him as possible, but it was not close enough. She wanted to be filled by him, crushed and ravished and possessed. ”Andrew,” she said, her voice low and raw. ”I want youa I want you so badly I could die of it. Let mea let mea” She took her breast from his mouth and kissed him again, and reached frantically down to the huge, bulging shape beneath the front of his trousers.

”No,” she heard him say hoa.r.s.ely, but she unfastened his trousers with unsteady fingers. Andrew swore and stared at the ceiling, seeming to will his body not to responda but as her cool little hand slid inside his trousers, he groaned and flushed darkly.

Caroline brought out the hard, pulsing length of his s.e.x, and clasped the thick shaft with trembling fingers. She was fascinated by the satiny feel of his skin, the nest of coa.r.s.e curls at his groin, the heavy, surprisingly cool weight of his t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es down below. The thought of taking the entire potent length of him inside her own body was as shocking as it was exciting. Awkwardly she caressed him, and was startled by his immediate response, the instinctive upward surge of his hips, the stifled grunt of pleasure that came from his throat.

”Is this the right way?” she asked, her fingers sliding up to the large round head.

”Carolinea” His tormented gaze was riveted on her face. ”Caroline, listen to me. I don't want this. It won't be good for you. There are things I haven't done for youa things your body needsa for G.o.d's sakea””

”I don't care. I want to make love to you.”

She peeled off her drawers and garters and stockings, and returned to crouch over his groin, feeling clumsy and yet inflamed. ”Tell me what to do,” she begged, and pressed the head of his s.e.x directly against the soft cove of her body. She lowered her weight experimentally, and froze at the intense pressure and pain that threatened. It seemed impossible to make their bodies fit together. Baffled and frustrated, she tried again, but she could not manage to push the stiff length of him through the tightly closed opening. She stared at Andrew's taut face, her gaze pleading. ”Help me. Tell me what I'm doing wrong.”

Even in this moment of crucial intimacy, he would not relent. ”It's time to stop, Caroline.”

The finality of his refusal was impossible to ignore.

She was swamped with a feeling of utter defeat. She took a long, s.h.i.+vering breath, and another, but nothing would relieve the burning ache in her lungs. ”All right,” she managed to whisper. ”All right. I'm sorry.” Tears stung her eyes, and she reached beneath her spectacles to wipe at them furiously. She had lost him again, this time permanently. Any man who could resist a woman at such a moment, while she begged to make love to him, could not truly be in love with her. Groping for the key, she continued to cry silently.

For some reason the sight of her tears drove him into a sort of contained frenzy, his body stiffening with the effort not to flail at his chains. ”Caroline,” he said in a shaking whisper. ”Please open the d.a.m.ned lock. Please. G.o.da don't. Just get the key. Yes. Let me go. Let mea””

As soon as she turned the tiny key in the lock, the world seemed to explode with movement. Andrew moved with the speed of a leaping tiger, freeing his wrists and pouncing on her. Too stunned to react, Caroline found herself being flipped over and pressed flat on her back. The half-naked weight of his body crushed her deep into the mattress, the startling thrust of his erection hard against her quivering stomach. He moved against her once, twice, three times, the pouch of his ballocks dragging tightly through her dark curls, and then he went still, holding her until she could hardly breathe. A groan escaped him, and a liquid wash of heat seeped between their bodies, sliding over her stomach.

Dazed, Caroline lay still and silent, her gaze darting over his taut features. Andrew let out a ragged sigh and opened his eyes, which had turned a brilliant shade of molten blue. ”Don't move,” he said softly. ”Just lie still for a moment.”

She had no other choice. Her limbs were weak and tremblinga she burned as if from a fever. Miserably she watched as he left the bed, then glanced down at her stomach. She touched a fingertip to the glossy smear of liquid there, and she was puzzled and curious and woeful all at the same time. Andrew returned with a wet cloth, and joined her on the bed. Closing her eyes, Caroline flinched at the coldness of the cloth as he gently cleansed her body. She could not bear the sight of his impa.s.sive face, nor could she stand the thought of what he might say to her. No doubt he would berate her for her part in this humiliating escapade, and she certainly deserved it. She bit her lip and stiffened her limbs against the tremors that shook hera she was so hot everywhere, her hips lifting uncontrollably, a sob catching in her throat. ”Leave me alone,” she whispered, feeling as if she were going to fly into pieces.

The cloth was set aside, and Andrew's fingers carefully hooked under the sidepieces of her spectacles to lift them from her damp face. Her lashes lifted. He was leaning over her, so close that his features were only slightly blurred. His gaze traveled slowly down the length of her slender body. ”My G.o.d, how I love you,” he murmured, shocking her, while his hand cupped her breast and squeezed gently. His fingertips trailed downward in a lazy path, until they slipped into the plump cleft between her thighs.

Caroline arched wildly, completely helpless at his touch, while small, pleading cries came from her throat.

”Yes.” His voice was like dark velvet, his tongue flicking the lobe of her ear. ”I'll take care of you now. Just tell me what you want, sweetheart. Tell me, and I'll do it.”

”Andrewa” She gasped as he separated the tender lips and stroked right between them. ”Don't't-torture me, pleasea”

Amus.e.m.e.nt threaded through his tone. ”After what you've done to me, I think you deserve a few minutes of torturea don't you?” His fingertip glided in a small circle around the aching little tip of flesh where all sensation was gathering. ”Would you like me to kiss you here?” he asked softly. ”And touch it with my tongue?”

The questions jolted hera”she had never imagined such a thinga”and yet her entire body quivered in response.

”Tell me,” he prompted gently.

Her lips were dry, and she had to wet them with her tongue before she could speak. To her utter shame, once the first words were out, she could not stop herself from begging shamelessly. ”Yes, Andrewa kiss me there, use your tongue, I need you now, now pleasea””

Her voice dissolved into wild groans as he moved downward, his dark head dropping between her spread legs, his fingers smoothing the little dark curls and opening her pink lips even wider. His breath touched her first, a soft rush of steam, and then his tongue danced over her, gently prodding the burning little nub, flicking it with rapid strokes.

Caroline bit her lower lip sharply, struggling desperately to keep quiet despite the intense pleasure of his mouth on her. Andrew lifted his head as he heard the m.u.f.fled sounds she made, and his eyes gleamed devilishly. ”Scream all you like,” he murmured. ”There's no one to hear you.”

His mouth returned to her, and she cried out, her bottom lifting eagerly from the mattress as she pushed herself toward him. He grunted with satisfaction and cradled her taut b.u.t.tocks in his large, warm hands, while his mouth continued to feast on her. She felt the broad tip of his finger stroke against the tiny opening of her body, circling, teasinga entering with delicate skill.

”Feel how wet you are,” he murmured against her slick flesh. ”You're ready to be taken now. I could slide every inch of my c.o.c.k inside you.”

Then she understood why she had not been able to accommodate him before. ”Please,” she whispered, dying of need. ”Please, Andrew.”

His lips returned to her v.u.l.v.a, nuzzling the moist, sensitive folds. Gasping, Caroline went still as his finger slid deeply inside her, stroking in time to the sweet, rhythmic tug of his mouth. ”My G.o.d,” she said between frantic pants for breath, ”I can'ta oh, I can't bear it, please Andrew, my G.o.da””

The world vanished in an explosion of fiery bliss. She sobbed and s.h.i.+vered, riding the current of pure ecstasy until she finally drifted in a tide of lethargy unlike anything she had ever experienced. Only then did his mouth and fingers leave her. Andrew tugged at the covers and linens, half lifting Caroline's body against his own, until they were wrapped in a coc.o.o.n of warm bedclothes. She lay beside him, her leg draped over his, her head pillowed on his hard shoulder. Shaken, exhausted, she relaxed in his arms, sharing the utter peace of aftermath, like the calm after a violent storm.

Andrew's hand smoothed over the wild ripples of her hair, spreading them over his own chest. After a long moment of bittersweet contentment, he spoke quietly, his lips brus.h.i.+ng her temple.

”It was never a charade for me, Caroline. I fell in love with you from the moment we struck our infernal bargain. I loved your spirit, your strength, your beautya I realized at once how special you were. And I knew that I didn't deserve you. But I had the d.a.m.ned foolish idea that somehow I might be able to become worthy of you. I wanted to make a new beginning, with you by my side. I even stopped caring about my father's b.l.o.o.d.y fortune. But in my arrogance I didn't consider the fact that no one can escape his past. And I have a thousand things to atone fora things that will keep turning up to haunt me for the rest of my life. You don't want to be part of that ugliness, Caroline. No man who loves a woman would ask her to live with him, wondering every day when some wretched part of his past will reappear.”

”I don't understand.” She lifted herself onto his chest, staring into his grave, tender expression. ”Tell me what Julianne has done to change everything.”

He sighed and stroked back a lock of her hair. It was clear that he did not want to tell her, but he would no longer with-hold the truth. ”You know that Julianne and I once had an affair. For a while afterward, we remained friends of a sort. We are remarkably similar, Julianne and Ia”both of us selfish and manipulative and coldhearteda””

”No,” Caroline said swiftly, placing her fingers on his mouth. ”You're not like that, Andrew. At least not anymore.”

A bleak smile curved his lips, and he kissed her fingers before continuing. ”After the affair was over, Julianne and I amused ourselves by playing a game we had invented. We would each name a certain persona”always a virtuous and well-respected onea”whom the other had to seduce. The more difficult the target, the more irresistible the challenge. I named a high-ranking magistrate, the father of seven children, whom Julianne enticed into an affair.”