Ruin Me Please (45 page)

Poppy looked at him
, her eyes dilated,
a dreamy smile.  “Isn’t this perfect?  I feel so r
e
laxed
.”

“You’
re
already
aroused,” he said roughly, so masculine.  Declan ra
ked his hand through his hair before he shrugged off his jacket and his waistcoat in a haphazard fashion, flinging them to the opposite end of the cushion
ed
seat.

Piper’s eyes widened
, a thrill ran down her spine
.

“There is nothing strange about your reaction
.  Nothing wrong with being a woman of stro
ng passions, in fact, a man longs
to find such a woman.
”

He swept her in his
arms,
lifting her to sit
in his lap.

She gasped.
 
He
lifted
her as if she were light as a feather,
leaning
her against his chest
,
wrapp
ing
his arms tightly around her.

Burrowing
into the heat of his
body,
she sighed deeply, every nerve in her body pulsing with sensation. 

Declan pulled her closer, tighter. 
H
is every intention was to be an hon
orable
man, but he
knew
when he asked her to join him that he was
playing with fire.
  “

“You are perfection
itself
,
”
h
e
said
, lowering his head
to kiss her nose.

She drew her fingertips along the line of his jaw.  “So are you.”

“There is not
h
ing quite
as
perfect as a beautiful woman snuggled in your lap on a rainy day.”

“I agree on all parts.”  She grinned holding up her finger for emphasis.  “Except, I believe there is nothing quite so perfect than being snuggled in the arms of a
handsome man
on a rainy day.” 
She sensuously stretched and
snuggled more closely against his chest
.

With a trace of humor in his voice,
“
It would seem w
e are perfectly matched then.”

“It would seem so,” she whispered, shaken by the penetrating look in his eyes.

Without taking his gaze from hers, he said
, “
Tell me more about you
.”  His green eyes crinkled at the corners.  “Tell me more about Poppy as a litt
le girl.  I bet you ran wild
, you have that look about you
.”

“
I fear I was a trial to my father.  He fretted that I would nev
er turn into a true lady,”
P
oppy said, amused.  “
I was going to be a pirate or possibly even a princess.  I could
n’
t decide.”  She grinned.
“Ahoy mat
ey,” s
he
softly
cried, giggling as she
play-acted
raising
a sword in the air
.

“That must have been a d
ifficult choice,
pirate or a princess
,
”
h
e softly
chuc
k
led.

“Oh,
it
most definitely
was
. 
To my father’s
chagrin,
I was more inclined to be a pirate.  More adventure to be had as a pirate.”  Looking up, “I
don’t
know if you have noticed, but I am not one to simper and preen as most princesses are
supposed to
act.”

“It is
true
;
you do seem to be more the adventurous type
and I cannot imagine you f
a
ther
would allow
you
to
associat
e with
unsavory characters
.”  His narrowed eyes roamed over her attire.
“
However
,
you also seem to take
great
pleasure in dressing
so you could definitely pass for a princess
.  You are definitely a lady of contradictions
.
”
H
is eyes smiled down at her.  “What about all of the times you and your father played at the ruin?”

“Oh, well that was adventurous
to say the least, especially when
one is being rescued from a fire-breathing dragon.”  She glanced
back
at him over the top of her head
with a grin
.

Seizing the moment, she
turned,
pull
ing
herself up
to
straddle his muscular thighs.

The air sizzled as she slid her arms around his neck and speared her fingers into the thick black
curl
s at his
nape.  Whispering enticingly,
she pressed her softly curved body fully against the hardness of his
chest
.
“Would you lik
e to know what else I find
to my li
k
ing
, Your G
race
?”
  Her warm breath wafted
o
ver his already heated flesh and she made no effort to fight the
d
e
sire
boiling up
as she ge
n
tly bit down on his earlobe.

He moaned as she swirled her tongue in the sensitive recesses of his ear. 
He deliberat
e
ly held himself still as he ground out his reply, “Indeed.” 
His voice
was
deep with the desire that raged through him.  “Please enlighten me at once
,
”
h
e
instructed
, placing his hands at her tiny waist
. 
His pulse raced as his arousal intensified, the
charge
of energy flowing around them.

“First, let me ask you a serious question.” 
She looked
inquisitively into his eyes
, sliding
her finger
s down his throat
.  His dark and potent look returned her gaze.
  “Why did you lock the door?”

“Oh, you noticed that,
did
you?”  He practically purred,
a wicked smile curv
ing
his lips.  “I am unable t
o resist your immense charms much
longer
.
  I have reached my threshold
,
”
h
e
growled devilishly in her ear, drawing
a deep breath. 

“When I am near you I am in a co
n
stant struggle with my sinful side…” 
He nipped l
ightly at her neck.

“That is only when you are near me?”

He chuckled. 
“
And
because I was hopeful that our interlude today would progress to this…”  Crushing his mouth to hers
,
plun
dering the depths of her mouth,
their t
ongues tangled in a frenzied tu
s
sle
, their breath mingled their need deeper than either had ever known
.  His arms locked around her pulling her more snugly against him
.

He lifted her
, his
long fingers
spann
ing
her tiny waist
,
positioning her
more firmly against his throbbing
penis,
e
licit
ing
a deep guttural groan from his
throat.

Wiggling, s
he worked
desperately to
eas
e
the a
che
that
started to settle between her legs. 
H
er li
lac striped
day dress ruched around her hips exposing her creamy white legs
for his perusal.  His avaricious stare took in her legs
still cov
ered with her
silk stockings and matc
h
ing lilac ga
r
ters.
  Dragging in a shuddering breath, h
is hands slid over each snowy inch of her firm silky thighs
, kneading their softness, fee
l
ing her tremble
beneath his strong grasp
.

“Be still little one
,
”
h
e rumbled
against her mouth.
“I have no control when I am with you.” 
Smoothing his palms up over her thighs, he gripped her hips ho
ld
ing
her tightly before m
old
ing
her shapely bo
t
tom with his large masculine hands.

She gasped but did not pull away.  Her fingers curled tightly into his lapel.  Not wanting to let go as
her skin heated as if on fire.

“I cannot
,
”
s
he moaned, rocking against his hardness.  “I neve
r imagined it would feel so heavenly
.”  Reaching between
them,
she ran her hands over
the soft material covering his heavily muscled chest w
orshipf
ully.  Next, she i
mpatiently loosen
ed
his cravat
so that the neck of
his fine lawn shirt
fe
ll open revealing the dark pelt of hair that covered his chest.  Leaning forward she burrowed her face against the textured hair
, rubbing
back and forth across the curly thatch
of hair
,
quivering
as she inhaled
his
spicy
scent
reverently
.  “Hmmm…you smell d
i
vine
.
”

A slow flush
spread across her
already heated
cheeks,
sigh
ing in
pure bliss at the sensual pleasure
sp
read
ing
thr
oughout her body.  “I had no idea
a man could smell so delicious
.
”
 
She tried to open her eyes, but her lids were too heavy with desire.

She knew wha
t she wanted, and it was
him
.  She was n
o longer concerned with her vi
r
tu
e, not bound by any inhibitions.
Poppy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was hers because
she
definitely belonged to
him
and no one else would su
f
fice.

Feeling the ridge of his desire throbbing hard between her legs
, p
leased to know that his de
sire rivals
her own,
she undulated against his
hardness
in
an effort to ease
the
carnal ache
. 

Passion shrouded them in
its
heated embrace.  Losing herself in his arms, her head fell back allowing him full access to her neck
, surrend
er
ing
to his exper
tise
.  Shivering as his wet mouth trailed h
ot fiery kisses along her jaw
, nuzzling her neck, his tongue swirling
lazy ci
r
cles as he loosened the
drawstring
,
lower
ing
the bodice of her gown
to
bar
e
her
to the waist. 
Hol
d
ing his breath and only releasing it when she was laid before him as an offering
from
the gods
.