Ever So Madly (10 page)

“Because I only have eyes for you, Mistress.”

“You call me that a lot. Why?” She leaned on the bar, bringing her face closer to mine.

“Because it’s how I see you. I want to be a good boy for you, Mistress.” I could see the change in her when I said it. It was like flipping a switch.

Her gaze pierced mine. “You must know what it does to me when you say it.”

I ran my tongue over my teeth. “Yes, it’s one of the best parts.”

“Evil. You’re so evil. You push all my buttons.” She dug her nails into my leg.

“I have to be able to combat your flirting somehow,” I retorted adding, “Mistress,” with a sly grin.

“Do you know what you do to me?”

I shook my head.

“You know I saw your eyes on me all night. You look at me like you own me, like you want to possess me, and it makes me flush.” She bit down on her lip. “So, I’m wet talking to a man I want nothing to do with.” She drew in a steadying breath. “That’s what you do to me.”

I instantly went hard. Knowing I made her feel those things was so arousing. “I know what I want,” I growled right into her ear.

“What?” She leaned forward to whisper, looking around to make sure the Emperor’s son wasn’t in earshot. I knew she couldn’t tell what I was talking about.

“The bet, I know what I want.” My chest expanded, and I wanted to mark her in the most primal way.

“Well, tell me.” She scooted closer to me looking right into my eyes.

The world around us vanished as we shared the moment. I pressed my lips right to her ear so only she would hear. “I want your panties.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jocelynn

I thought I’d heard him wrong, and I turned into him trying to read his face. “What?” My heart was pounding out of my chest. If not for the intense beat of the music, I knew someone would hear.

He flicked his tongue over my ear. “Take your panties off.”

I looked around, my heart pounding in my chest. “Here?”

He nodded, silver eyes boring into mine. “Right here.” His fingers skimmed up the inside of my thigh.

I knew we shouldn’t. I knew I was going to get us both in trouble, but I couldn’t stop my fingers from inching up my leg and pushing under the slit of my dress. I uncrossed my knees as I turned the stool I sat on toward the bar. The shadows allowed me to lay my other hand over my lap, disguising my movements. I looked over, and he was staring at where my fingers crawled up the gap in my legs.

I dropped my gaze to the bulge in his slacks. I shivered, instantly wet knowing what I was doing to him. I loved that I could do this to him. It was a power I had never experienced. I’d always been treated like I was beautiful. But he treated me like the elixir of life, and he’d die without a taste.

I hooked my finger in the black lace scrap that hardly covered anything. I wore them not because the dress required them, which it did, but because I knew there was a chance Madden would see them. I started to drag them down my ass, pressing my heels into the rung of the stool to lift ever so slightly. The fabric pulled as it skimmed over my skin. I sat back when they reached my thighs, slipping easily off. Now was the tricky part. They sat hidden by my dress, but would easily be seen as soon as I dared to push them the rest of the way down. I glanced over my shoulder, scanning the crowd for anyone paying too close of attention to us.

He stood to stand near my shoulder to brush his fingers down my spine. “Chicken out?”

I smoothed my hand over my dress before pulling over the slit enough to show him where they sat. “Not a chance. When I lose, I follow through.”

His eyes flashed with amusement as he leaned forward, placing his forearm on the bar top like he was going to order a drink, but it was clear it was an act when his fingers of his other hand drifted up to skim over the lace.

I turned into him, using his large frame to shield what I was about to do. Carefully I inched the material down over my knees. Leaning on the bar like he did, I rested my head in one hand, looking bored as I worked between us to pull my panties off one foot then the other. I tucked them in his pocket then brushed my knuckles over his bulge as I pulled back.

A low growl emanated from him, and his fingers took a walk up the inside of my thigh. My breath caught in my throat as he ventured closer to my soaked lips. Gently he brushed over my slit and his eyes pressed closed.

He turned his face into mine, lips on my ear, as he spoke. “You’re so wet.” He tried to move his hand under the cover of my dress, but the fabric was too restrictive. “Does being in public do this to you?”

“No, knowing I do this to you does.” I risked parting my knees a hair more to give him more access, and he flipped his hand around to brush his thumb over my clit. I dropped my face to his chest, trying to bite back a moan.

I felt the sting of his teeth on my ear. “I’m going to lose it. Can we go?”

I looked up at him. I couldn’t go. I had a speech to give. Phillip waited for me. My father would be looking for me any moment … but I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be with Madden.

“Let’s go,” I said.

His fingers lingered there, stroking over the tight knot of flesh, and pleasure ran up my spine. I grabbed his wrist, whimpering softly. If he didn’t stop, I was going to come right there. He met my eyes, and I could tell he knew. He slid his fingers out from my dress and brought them to his mouth, licking my taste from them. I clenched and rubbed my thighs together.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Madden

Once back in the room, she dropped her face, brushing her lips over my collarbone, lighting on fire the places she touched. I pressed into her, grazing my hips over hers. She groaned over my skin, and I pressed harder into her, showing her what her mouth was doing to me. There was hunger behind her eyes when she looked up.

Not wasting another second I grabbed her by the back of her thighs and picked her up, carrying her toward the single bed. Our mouths met again in a clash, and she grabbed onto my ears. I laid her back, settling between her hips, pushing her thighs wide open with my knees. It was clear what she wanted as she tilted her hips and rubbed herself over my length. All the air left my lungs, sucked out by her, but it didn’t stop me. Her back came off the mattress as I slowly slid the material down exposing her ribcage. I traced my fingers over the lines of her tiny bones, skimming the bare, milky white skin.

I broke our kiss, glancing down at her. She chased my lips, but I turned my head so her lips stroked over my stubbled jaw. I nipped at her neck before moving lower to inhale her scent. She smelled of paper and fresh strawberries. I dragged my tongue over the hollow in her throat.

I didn’t want to focus on anything but feeling her. I wanted her skin pressed into mine, and all thoughts of leaving for one more night vanished. I inched her shirt up, slipping down further between her legs to lick over the underside of her breast. Her shoulders lifted off the bed pressing her chest into me as she threaded her fingers into my hair. She squirmed when I rubbed my chin over the sensitive skin, making me grin.

“Damn that stubble of yours.”

I glanced up smugly. “I’m sure you’ll be singing a different tune when it’s between your thighs.”

She picked up her head, arching a brow. “So confident?”

“I’m an expert,” I said, then winced at how it sounded.

“Drag lots of Baronesses in waiting to your chambers to ravage, do you?” She half sat, yanking at my hair as I tried to slide lower to distract her with my tongue.

I licked over her hip bone, but she stopped me from going any further. “I…” I groaned inwardly. Did she really expect at twenty-two I hadn’t touched another woman?

She shook with laughter. “If you expect us both to be virgins like bad teen literature where we saved ourselves for each other, you’re a few years too late.”

My mouth fell open as my stomach tightened, filling me with a jealous feeling. “You’ve been with others?”

A half smile curled over her lips, and she yanked me back up over her by the hair. I crushed myself over her, growling.

“Did you really call yourself an expert whore, then try to get possessive in the same breath?” I could tell by her smile she wasn’t mad.

I dropped my head to her neck, grumbling as my cheeks heated up. “Yeah, maybe a little.”

Hooking a leg over my hips she rolled us over, coming up to sit on top of me. “Even if you are a professional pleaser, I shouldn’t stay.” She set her hands on my chest, rubbing lightly over my clothed skin.

I cupped her face with both hands, sticking out my lower lip. “You need to get back before they figure out you’ve gone?”

“You are so hard to say no to.”

“Then don’t say no,” I wasn’t above begging. Whatever it took. I had to get inside her again.

She took my lip between hers and groaned. “They will notice my absence eventually.”

I hitched her skirt up as she spoke. I already had her panties in my pocket. It would be so easy to take her right here. “Then let them notice.”

“And what will I tell them?” She grabbed a handful of my hair and rocked into me.

“Tell them you’re sick?” I found her bare thigh, under the layers of fabric and dug my fingers into it.

She whimpered, “Yes…”

“Yes what?” I released my hold on her thigh and worked open the catch on my pants.

“I need you.”

I stroked over myself. It took all my control to hold back. “I thought you had to go?” I had to feel her need. I wanted more than words. No, I needed more than words. My self-doubt ran to my core, and being who she was didn’t help.

“I don’t care. I need to be here with you.”

“How badly?” I brushed my tip over her opening as I pressed down into her, bringing my face next to hers.

She looked into my eyes. “Make me come. That’s an order.”

I did as I was told. Like a good boy.

We basked in the afterglow of our shared orgasm, and the doubt crept back in. The thought of losing her to the Emperor-to-be would slowly kill me. I didn’t know how to begin to deal with knowing we had an expiration date.

“It’s going to be him, isn’t it?”

“Who?” she asked.

“The Emperor’s son.”

“Yes, no, who can tell?”

I pressed my face into her shoulder, fighting off the tidal wave of emotion. “Okay.”

“Don’t, please. We’ve had a good night.”

I forced my head back up. “It would be easier to let me go now. You know that, right?”

She cut me off. “I don’t want easy. I want you. This can’t be it. I’ll figure out a way.”

“Jocelynn.” My brows fell.

Before I could finish there was a pounding at the door.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jocelynn

“Shit.” I pulled my shirt down and slid my hands in my hair, trying to smooth the lumps out as to not look like we had been rolling around in bed for the last hour.

Mad practically shoved me off of him getting to his feet as he thrust a hand into his pants, smoothing out the wrinkles. I tried not to laugh at his predicament.

“I’m sure it’s just my brother. No one else knows where to come looking for me.”

He growled as he stalked over to the door. “He could have given us a few more minutes.” He wrenched it open, and I gasped backing away when I saw who it was.

The Baroness stood there flanked by my brother, who looked apologetic, and two guards. Her cold blue eyes landed on me, and I swallowed. They swept down my body, and I knew I had been found unsatisfactory. Her blood red lips parted, but no words came. Jacob’s gaze flashed to me. I pleaded with my eyes for him to give me some hint as to what she wanted to hear from me. But I knew it wouldn’t come. He couldn’t say anything.

We stood in a silent standoff before I broke it. “I forgot the time.” I tried to smooth out the wrinkles in the front of my dress where Madden’s hands played a moment before. It was useless. The dress would have to be steamed for any hope of removing them.

“You mean you disregarded the time and blew off your father in the months leading up to your coronation?” The Baroness had never been motherly, but now she was icy. I was a disappointment.

“No, ma’am.” I lifted my chin, jutting it out, holding my ground. Even if it was true, such an admission would be equivalent to disrespecting my house and stomping on the title I was soon to receive.

Her eyes flickered from mine to Madden. “And why are you here with this tainted man?”

The room stiffened, and Madden’s lip curled at the insult. I lifted my arm like I could stop him from doing anything to worsen her opinion of him. He took a step forward to stand at my side, and I silently begged him not to say anything.

“He’s a friend in the advancement program.”

She looked him over again. I knew she would pick out the flaws in him, from the ink decorating his arms, to the facial scruff and unkempt hair, down to the silver-tinged ring around the outside of his iris. It could have been worse. Had he worked in the mines, his eyes would have turned pure silver from overexposure.

Something seemed to click in her mind, and she touched her tongue to the edge of her teeth. “How long has this been going on?”

I crossed my arms over my dress. “There is nothing going on. We should return to the party.”

She turned to Jacob. “How long?”

He shrugged one shoulder.

“The Baron will hear about this.” She turned on her stiletto heel. “Make sure she comes, and that the tainted blood doesn’t follow.”

I pried my teeth apart, taking a deep breath. “Wait, I won’t see him again. Don’t tell the Baron.” I looked at Madden, trying to convey with my eyes what I felt. If he got kicked out of advancement it would be my fault, and he deserved better. I couldn’t ruin his life because I was selfish. “It was nothing more than fulfilling a need, which I’m sure you can understand.”

Jacob cracked a smile because he knew.

She whipped back around, narrowing her dark shadowed brows. “I see…” She paused, pursing her lips. “I don’t want to hear a word of you within ten feet of him again.” She looked disdainfully at Madden again. “I have no illusion of you remaining pure in this day and age, but to risk tainting our bloodline with rumors of such things.” She let out a high pitched scoff. “Fix it.”

As she walked out, the guards stepped into the room. I turned to Madden knowing I didn’t have much time. How could I explain without them hearing? I searched his face, but there was only sadness there.

“Madden…” I took a step closer to him.

“Don’t.” He held up a hand. “Go.”

I couldn’t read him. His expression was blank. He had to know I was trying to save him.

I took another step toward him, and a heavy hand landed on my shoulder closing around it painfully.

“Please understand.”

He turned his back on me. “You should go.”

I sank to my knees. The guard hauled me to my feet. I tried to fight, but Jacob grabbed my other side and helped drag me from the room.