The Devil Rogue (13 page)

Ian slid a hand into her hair, his fingers dislodging the pins. Long, curling strands tumbled loose, fanning over his chest and trailing into the water. When her mouth found his nipple, he inhaled sharply. She kissed the hard point, her tongue laving around it.

His
heart was beating so strongly,
Ian
expected it to burst any second
.
God, did she have no idea what she was doing to him?
Was she that innocent?

His chest rose and fell as he struggled to draw air into his lungs
.
He was so aroused that his cock, thick and hard and throbbing, rose stiffly upward toward the surface of the water
.
Who was this woman
?
She was a natural born
seductress
, despite her
claim of
innocence
.

While he held her mouth to hi
s chest
with one hand at the back of her head, his other hand reached for her wrist
.
He guided her
hand
into the water, wrapping her fingers around his shaft, covering them with his own
.
Groaning deep in his throat, he began to slide her hand up and down the slick length.

Things were progressing too quickly, but
Ian
couldn’t help himself
.
Grasping a handful of her hair,
he
dragged her away from his nipple to capture her mouth with his
.
The kiss was deep and
hot
as he forced her lips open to accept his thrusting tongue
.
She moaned softly as h
e twined his tongue with hers
, and a
t the same time continu
ed
tutoring her hand on his shaft.

Ian
released his grip on her hand
in the water
in order
to work on the bu
ttons down the back of her gown
.
He made a low, guttural sound in the back of his throat when he realized she continued the sliding motion on her own
.
Their mouths
remained
connected while
,
w
ith skillful fingers, he
quickly had her gown gaping open.

She was leaning over the side of the tub, her chest pressed against his
.
Breaking the kiss, he maneuvered her backward, her hand slipp
ing
from its grip on his shaft
.
He pulled down the front
her gown and
chemise, exposing her beautiful breasts
.
Giving her no time to protest, he fastened his mouth on one, laving it with his tongue and lightly biting at the hardened nub
of her nipple
.

“Ohhh
,
my God
,
”
she said
on a
breath
y sigh
.

“Do you like it?”
Ian whispered against her skin, causing goose
pimple
s to rise where his breath caressed it.

“Yes,” she answered, tilting her
head
back as he moved to her other breast
.
“
I-I never imagined…”

His hands around her ribcage supported her, preventing her from falling
as he rose from the water
. He felt
like
Poseidon
emerging from the sea
to ravish the sacrificial virgin
.

Dragging her fully against his dripping body, he kissed her mouth, soaking the front of her gown
.
He
stepped out of the tub, the
muscles in his thighs accepting the strain of the m
aneuver
.
H
e
moved her backward
, toward the bed
.

Angela panicked as
the reality of what was about to happen hit
her
full force
.
She was not ready
–
her scars!
S
he began to struggle, wrenching her mouth from his
.
They were both breathing hard and when she looked into his eyes, her heart
leapt into her throat at the intensity
she saw there
.
He was
l
ike
a
wild
panther,
no longer a man –
his
hair
sleek
and
black
–
his eyes flaring with golden fire.

“What is it?” he rasped
.
“What’s the matter?”

“I-I can’t do this
. N
ot yet.”

“You were enjoying it as much as
I
.
D
on’t deny it.
”

“I’m afraid.”
He was still holding her close against him, his rigid manhood pressing boldly
at the juncture
between her legs.

“There’s nothing to fear, angel
.
There will be a little pain the first time, but not after that
.
I
’ll go slowly
.
I don’t want to
hurt you.”

“
It’s not the pain I fear
.
Please, let me go.
”

“
Look
at
what you do to me,” he
said, holding her away from him so she could see his entire body
.

Angela was
spellbound by the sight of his naked body
.
Her mouth
actually
dropped open
, her eyes
widening
as her gaze
traveled down his torso
, fixing on
his jutting sex.
“You’re beautiful
,” she whispered.
Her gaze lifted to his face.
“S
o
very
beautiful.
”
He was
as perfect as she’d imagined.
Even with those scars.
The thought that someone
or some
thing
had hurt him,
had torn through his supple flesh and caused him pain made her want to
cry.

“As are you,
angel,
”
Ian
said low, stunned by her words.

“No,
” she
said
, shaking her head
.
“No,
I’m not
. Y
ou don’t know
—
”

She pulled free from his hold and
he allowed it
.
She t
ugg
ed
her dress up, cover
ing
herself
.
“I
must
bid you goodnight, my lord,” she
said
hoarsely, and then rushed out the door.

It’s not the pain I fear
.

What had she meant by that
?
Ian stood
rooted to the floor
, naked, staring at the closed door
.
She thought
he
was beautiful
.
Could a man be beautiful
?
He’d seen some rather effeminate looking men that could be considered pretty, but he knew he did not fall into that category
.

And what
had
she
been
about to say after that –
you don’t know
. . .
what
?
She didn’t believe she was beautiful
.
It was hardly conceivable
.
All she had to do was look into a mirror.

Expelling a long
, regretful
sigh,
Ian
dressed, the memory of her fingers, lips
,
and tongue on
his bare skin lingering like
mist on the moors
.
She was every man’s fantasy in the flesh
. Firm breasts, plump and full. G
olden hair draping seductively over her shoulders
. L
uminous blue eyes
. L
ips ripened from his kisses.

Just thinking about it
raised
his cock to
full staff
once again, making it difficult to fasten his breeches
.
Swearing an oath, he subdued his wayward erection and then made for his study
.
There he would wait until the hour was late enough to ensure
Miss
Hopkins was asleep
.
He fully intended to search her room
, certain she had lied about her gowns.

After the death of his friend, John Winston, Ian had
sworn
, if only to himself,
to find
the
killer
.
What he
’d
found was overwhelming evidence that
Miss
Hopkins and her father were
the ones
behind it
.

The son
of a wealthy merchant who had aspirations to a higher position in society
, John had been i
ntelligent, amiable,
and
quick to smile
.
He’d also been
an honorable man
–
a loyal friend
who
hadn’t cared
as
much for the idea
of social standing
as his father did.
Ian had considered himself lucky to have such a friend, a man who exhibited more noble qualities of a gentleman than most titled aristocrats
.

Then
John had met
Miss
Hopkins
.
Ian
discovered through his sources that John had become interested in
Miss
Hopkins, going so far as to request an audience with her father
.
But
John had
suddenly
disappeared
.
Shortly after
ward
, he’d turned up dead.

T
he girl’s father had accused John of ungentlemanly behavior,
which was absurd
.
The
b
aron called off the
engagement
,
and a short time later
,
had
demanded a large sum of money to keep quiet about the whole thing
.
He knew John’s family would not wish for a scandal
.
Knowing John,
though,
he would never have given in to the
b
aron’s demands, which is why Ian believed the
b
aron had decided to get rid of
him
.

John’s body
had been
found floating in the river near the docks
, t
he face
badly decayed and
unrecognizable
.
I
f hadn’t been for the unique design of his ring, they would never have been able to identify him
.
It was the ring his father had given him for his eighteenth birthday
.
John had joked about how his father was building his own dynasty, commissioning an artist to create a family crest
.
The ring bore that crest
.
There was no other like it and so
,
indisputably, the man found in the
Thames
that night had to have been John Winston.

Ian angrily clenched his fists, digging his
finger
nails into his palms
.
Why hadn’t John confided in him
?
If only he had, then maybe
–
maybe
Ian
could have helped his friend
. H
e would still be alive.

But there was more.