The Devil Rogue (26 page)

“I daresay, the image of you on your knees before me holds a definite appeal,” she goaded
.
“What say you try it and find out?”

She was enjoying this, the minx
!
He
will
kneel before her, oh yes
–
but not to spout another proposal destined to die an early death
.
He was going to woo her, tempt her,
pleasure
her every way he knew how, and then when he was sure no one else existed in her world except for him, he would ask her again
.
Ian
just hoped she would forgive him for his past transgressions against her
.

It is most comforting to know I have a friend I can rely on
.

Her words haunted him, and
Ian
vowed to become that friend she so desperately needed
.
He would not give Wardley the chance to fulfill his promise.

He
closed
the door, locking it
with a flick of his wrist
.
“And now for the kneeling part.”

She
watched
him as
he sank to his knees directly in front of her
, and Ian could swear she’d stopped breathing
.
From this position, h
is head
was
level with her waist
. H
is attention
turned to
the hem of her gown
.
“The first rule of seduction is to create a
state of anticipation,
which increases
in intensity by slow increments.
”

The deep
, sensual
timber of his voice sent shivers up
Angela’s
spine
.
H
is hand slipped
beneath
the hem, over her shoe, to gently caress her ankle
.
She could feel the warmth of his fingers through her stocking as his hand rose higher, sliding up her calf to the back of her knee
.
With the pads of his fingers, he
drew light, teasing circles
, while his other hand slid up her other leg in the same manner, th
ose
fingers also drawing circles.

“The trick is to move slowly, to tantalize with pleasurable sensations
,” he said
.
“
Do you find this pleasurable, Angela?”
Her name rolled o
f
f his tongue like a physical caress, as tangible as what his hands were doing to her at the moment.

“Yes,” she breathed.

His hands began to rise again, in tandem, until they reached her garters and the edge of her stockings
.
They glided up the front of her thighs, and then around to the backs ever so slowly
.
Her dress was bunched over his forearms
now. S
he instinctively caught the material in her hands, eager for him to continue his upward trek.

“Very good, my princess
,” he praised her in a smoky voice
.
“You’re an apt pupil
.
Already you see the merits of teamwork.”

His heated lips made contact with the soft skin of one inner thigh.

Angela’s every nerve ending screamed with delight when his tongue came out to lick a random pattern on her sensitized skin
.
It was odd that she should feel sensations in her breasts,
her
nipples, her belly
,
and farther down, in her woman’s center
from that small contact
.

He cupped her buttocks with both hands, a
nd then he was kissing and licking a
wet
trail all the way up to her opening, stopp
ing
just before reaching the prize
.
He began again on the other side, his wicked mouth burning
yet another
hot trail up her thigh
.
Her legs w
ere weak
and trembling. S
he could barely hold herself up any longer
. I
f it
weren’t
for his strong hands holding her in place, she would
have
crumble
d
in
to
a boneless pile
on the floor
.

He paused
long enough
to say,
“And once the threshold
of pleasure
is attained, the receiver will allow the seducer to do anything he
– or she
–
wishes.
”

“Anything?” she asked
on a gasp
.

“Absolutely,”
he murmured, for a moment gazing at her exposed flesh with admiration,
his eyes hot and golden. T
hen he placed his mouth directly on
the slick folds of
her opening.

She gasped with pure
,
carnal pleasure
, her head dropping back as he sucked and kissed and licked the sweet dew released from her arousal
.
Her breaths came hard and fast, her mind focused only on him
– what he was doing –
the sensations he created with his skilled mouth
.
Her spirit felt lifted, filled with joy, her body trembl
ing
with a mounting pressure
building in her core
.
H
er heart thundered in her chest, echo
ing in her ears, the moment of her release drawing near.

Then she
was on her back, covered by the warmth and weight of Ian’s body
.
S
he hadn’t even noticed when he’d laid her down on the floor.
It was as though she
’
d
somehow
jumped forward in time.
She had no opportunity to contemplate her position any further as he slid into her, impaling her with his maleness, his strength, his heat
.
He groaned low, from the back of his throat, and kissed her
deeply, hotly,
sharing the
taste of her own essence.

Ian’s intention
had been
to give her the utmost pleasure, but when he
’d
tasted her honey,
had
felt her body trembling beneath his hands, he
’d been
lost
.
He’d maneuvered her onto her back on the floor, released the fastenings on the front of his breeches, and entered her with the
same
wild eagerness
a stallion must feel when covering his mare
.

And now
,
he held nothing back, h
is passion unrestrained as
h
e moved within her
,
gradually increas
ing
the power of
his
thrusts
. W
hen she cried out
, her inner muscles
milking him
w
ith
tight little
spasms
,
he exploded
deep inside
her,
nearly
going deaf, dumb
,
and blind from the shear force of his
own
climax.

It took him a moment to remember where he was, and when he did, he was astounded by
his utter lack of awareness of his surroundings while with her
.
He also realized that three months would not be enough to get his fill of her
.
It would surely take a lifetime to explore her allure, divine her secrets, to know her as no one else ever w
ould
.
As her husband, she would be bound to him for that lifetime, and it would be his right
–
his obligation
as her husband to discover her deepest thoughts and desires, and strive to make her happy.

He felt her shift beneath him, so he eased his weight off her
. R
aisi
ng onto his elbows
he
looked down at her.

“Ian?”

“
Yes, princess?
” he replied softly, his gaze taking in her kiss-swollen lips, the flush in her cheeks, and the questioning look in her eyes
.
He was still embedded within her, but as his member softened from his spent passion, it slipped out slowly
, leaving him f
eeling strangely bereft by the
severed
connection
.

“I was wondering
. . .
”

Ian brushed a stray wisp of hair from her forehead
.
“What were you wondering?”
It didn’t matter to him that they were laying on the floor of his study in such a scandalous position
. H
e could stay here forever.

“
These encounters
. . .
well, I do enjoy them
–
immensely, in fact
–
but what about
. . .
what if you get me with child
?
Is there some way to
continue
and prevent that from happening?”

“
You are aware you could already be
with child
, as you so delicately put it?”
The idea had definitely occurred to him, and he wasn’t necessarily concerned
.
Indeed, if she were to become pregnant, he thought with a twisted sense of logic, it may be
just the thing that would convince her to marry him.

“Yes, I’m aware of that possibility,
” she said, and then stammered, “B
ut I suggest we
–
you
–
or I, rather, take the necessary precautions
in the future,” Angela stammered.

“I
could
get
you
some sponges
– I’ve been told they’re effective in preventing pregnancy.”

“Knowledge gained from your vast experience
,
I take it?”

Ian chuckled.
“
You are well aware of my r
eputation, princess.
Consider yourself the lucky beneficiary of said reputation.”

Of course she knew his reputation, yet it bothered
Angela
all the same
.
T
he benefits,
however,
as he
’d
pointed out, were definitely worth overlooking exactly
how
he came by his experience
.
She
laughed
softly in response, smiling up into his handsome face
.
“Indeed, my lord, it has been quite
. . .
beneficial
.”

He
kissed her,
his mouth plundering hers with a renewed energy that surprised
her
.
He moved on to kiss her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids, working his way back down to her throat
.
She tilted her head back, moaning on a sigh, allowing him full access to the soft flesh there.

With nimble fingers, he pulled on the front of her gown, releasing her breasts
.
Her chest rose and fell
with each breath,
in anticipation of where his lips would travel next
.
He suckled one nipple, lightly biting the raised bud, and then swirl
ed
his tongue to soothe it.

Angela
knew
s
he shouldn’t
let him continue
, especially after she’d
just
voiced her concerns about pregnancy, but
the
pleasure
she felt from his touch
made h
er
mindless to the consequences
.
He
thrust into her already
slippery
opening
, and s
he welcomed him eagerly, wrapping he
r arms and legs tightly around him, and matched his rhythm
with wild abandon.