Wicked Deception (48 page)

“
Ah God, Catherine, I have
thought of nothing but putting my cock in you all day,” he
whispered at her ear naughtily as he slowed. “Let me show you how
good it can be, my sweet.”

“
Don’t stop, Caspian, take
me now!” she demanded as she moved back against him.

“
I ached to be inside you,
sweet minx,” he whispered as he growled at her ear, pumping
tenderly into her, now slick and wet for him. “Tell me you feel the
same. Tell me that hand you pleasured yourself with in your bath
was with thoughts of me touching you.”

“
I was thinking of you,” she
admitted with a soft moan as he rocked against her. “I need you,
Caspian. Do not leave me tonight.” Catherine moaned throatily, hot
torrid waves of lust making her shake as he moved inside her
faster.

“
I’m going to love you like
this until you can’t sit properly without thinking of me inside you
on the morrow, sweet minx,” he promised her, his lean hips slapping
harder against hers.

Catherine gasped as his fingers stroked
her soft quivering nub as he began to move faster still. Hot,
dizzying sensations went through her as he gripped her
hips.

“
God, I have wanted you so,
Caspian,” she whispered boldly as her body slapped back against his
eagerly. “Do not stop. It feels wondrous.”

Caspian gritted his teeth as waves of
lust washed over him. Bending, he hovered over her back, stroking
deeply within her tight passage, moaning as if in pain. She took
all of him now, stretching to his size. He grazed the delectable
curve in her back with his teeth.

She let loose a hoarse cry at the last
as he went still, gripping her hair, forcing her head back to kiss
her, grinding and moaning into her, his long fingers digging into
her hips. The force of her orgasm left her shaken. He followed with
a soft cry, exploding within her, filling her with his hot seed. He
shook hard as he burrowed deep within her tightness, breathing
raggedly as he pinned her to the bed.

Afterwards she lay stunned and shaken
in his arms. His nuzzled at her lips and smoothed back her damp
hair. His pale green eyes met hers with admiration glowing in
them.

“
I wish I could stay with
you all night, sweets, but my work calls me away.” He smiled at her
disapproving look.

“
What evil are you up to
tonight?” she asked with an impish smile. “No, do not tell me. I
don’t want to know on second thought.”

Caspian chuckled and rolled to her
side, bringing her flush to his chest. “It is more like a favor to
a friend.”

She giggled and rolled her eyes.
“Please, say no more of it. I really would rather not
know.”

He sighed and regarded her with a
disappointed look. “You really don’t want to know?”

“
Oh for pity’s sake. If you
must tell of it; than do so!”

Caspian grinned. “A lady friend of mine
got involved with the wrong chap. He took her life savings and ran
off with another. My sources say he stays at an inn outside of
London. I mean to impress upon the man the importance of keeping
his promises.”

“
How do you mean to do
that?” she asked with a shiver of fear.

“
Nattie still loves the
bounder and would have him back or I’d cheerfully slit his throat,”
he said and made a sound of disgust. “She wishes to marry the man.
It appears I enforce matrimony.”

Catherine shook her head. “Where is the
punishment in that?”

“
Nattie weighs three hundred
pounds. My threats will keep the man at home; that’s the
punishment.”

Catherine chuckled and regarded her
lover with a raised eyebrow. “You do your portly friend no favor.
The man will no doubt run off on her again.”

“
Perhaps you’re a cynic,
sweets. The woman he ran with weighs four hundred
pounds.”

Catherine giggled against his chest.
“You’re lying!”

“
I swear it is all true,”
Caspian told her, holding her to him and smiling down into her
upturned face. “Nattie says he left her because she wasn’t big
enough for him.”

Catherine choked with laughter,
covering her mouth to keep from laughing loudly at the visual of
poor Nattie left for a more rotund lady. She gazed at him with
disbelief. He dropped a kiss upon her upturned nose, pinching her
backside.

She giggled uncontrollably despite her
best efforts. He began to tickle her then, his fingers finding her
most sensitive spots. She was shrieking with laughter by then. He
tumbled her to her back, smiling down into her flushed
face.

“
It is good to hear you
laugh again, Catherine,” he said softly, taking her lips in a slow,
seeking kiss. “You should always laugh like that,
sweets.”

“
I haven’t had a lot to
laugh about these last few years,” she replied solemnly and her
smile faded. “I think the last four years of my life have been
nothing short of miserable except for my time with
Nicholas.”

“
Aye, I miss him too,”
Caspian said sadly and his hand touched her cheek. “He wouldn’t
want you grieving like this, Catherine. Nicky loved you more than
his life. He would want you to be happy.”

“
I don’t know what that
means anymore.”

Caspian saw the vulnerability in her
face. He felt a wave of protectiveness for her, so strong he wished
to scoop her up and drag her away with him to keep her from ever
being hurt again. The feelings she aroused in him were
alien.

The women in his life were all jaded
harlots who all wanted something from him; usually satisfied with a
coin or two. A coin would not bring back her lovely smile. Ty
warned him he was getting caught up with Catherine Van Ryker. His
job was to protect her.

The way she made him feel made him long
for her in a way he never felt before. Their relationship was of
mutual passion and nothing more, yet he ached for more every time
he looked into her eyes.

Caspian never lost his heart. Even to
Elise; if he were honest. Had he loved her, she would not have left
him for the Norwegian hulk. This woman filled him with anguished
longing. The minute he was away from her, he longed to be at her
side.

She grieved her husband, he told
himself. Her heart was shattered by his death. He was here to
protect her and give her comfort. There was no place for him in her
life. Sadly, this was all they could have.

Thoughts of her with Lord Iverleigh
made him tense. The Earl had come to his senses after Nicky died.
He wanted Catherine back. He applauded her rejecting the Earl’s
proposal and wondered at it. He reasoned Lord Iverleigh asked too
soon after her husband’s death.

To think that left the option of
returning as his mistress made him tense. The hot wave of jealousy
that washed over him made him wonder at it. It wasn’t his place to
worry over what she would do. She saw his tight expression. Her
eyes grew murky.

“
What is it,
Caspian?”

Caspian decided she didn’t need to be
pressured by him too. “I was thinking I would rather stay here with
you, sweet minx.”

“
What of poor Nattie?” she
teased, kissing the corded muscle on his bicep, her fingers
stroking his rigid abdomen and sliding lower to stroke his long,
curved length.

Caspian smiled wickedly as he rolled
her beneath him, fitting himself between her ivory thighs, sighing
as he slid within her once more. “Nattie is on her own, sweets.
You’re right. She is better off.”

Catherine gasped as he moved boldly
within her, his handsome face filled with pleasure as he rocked her
into the mattress. She held him to her tightly, closing her eyes as
the surge of desire left her reeling. He became more passionate
then, holding her knees aloft. The climax that shook her was so
powerful she felt dazed when the shudders ceased.

Caspian lay on top of her, his body
shaking as hers did. She was grateful he was unable to utter one
teasing comment after the force of their passion. Catherine wept
against his chest then, holding him tightly as if she would never
let him go. He held her to him and let her, knowing she cried in
joy as well as sorrow. Caspian covered her mouth with his,
silencing her and kissing her hot tears away. His eyes were gentle
as they met hers.

“
Do not think I do not feel
this too, Catherine.” His hand touched her cheek, a stark look of
pain in his eyes. “Every moment with you makes me want
more.”

“
Why do I always want men I
cannot have?” she demanded and sniffled, her eyes wet and bruised
as they met his.

Caspian felt elation and sorrow to know
she referred to him, not her husband or Iverleigh. He didn’t know
what to say. Their worlds were very different. She could never
abide his. He would feel stifled by hers. Their passion allowed no
room for promises and she knew it. Still, it wounded her they could
have nothing more. A woman like her would always want more, he
reflected.

“
Enjoy what we have and ask
for no more, sweets,” he advised her as he held her to his chest.
“Moments are not measured in years, sweet minx. Some can only be
savored in minutes.”

“
I shall miss you when I
leave here, Caspian,” she whispered against his chest. “You have
given me back something I thought lost with Nicholas.”

Caspian was overwhelmed by her words;
alarmed to know she meant them.

“
I’m not Nicky, Catherine.
Even he was a better choice than I. You do not know what you’re
saying. You’re grieving still and confused.”

She appeared angry as she pulled away
from him. Green eyes snapped with outrage. “I know my own mind and
heart, Caspian! This is not grief that speaks. I know what I
feel.”

“
My life is no fit place for
you and those adorable brats of yours, sweet minx.” He eyed her
with a closed expression, ignoring the clamor of his own heart at
her words. “Say nothing of what you think you feel for me,
Catherine. We can have nothing more than this. I’m a bloody
criminal, a killer. Is that fit company for a woman like you? I
think not.”

Sadly, she knew he was right. She lie
back against his chest, her hand stroking his rigid muscles on his
stomach, her eyes soft with knowing he felt the same for her even
if he didn’t say it. Once in her life she let emotion like this
rule her heart. It nearly destroyed her.

With Caspian she felt every moment was
measured by an hourglass, the sands spiraling away each time they
were together. It devastated her to know she could not hold onto
this feeling, knowing he would not allow it. The sands would run
out.

~ ~ ~

Hours later, she lay on her belly as he
nibbled at the small of her back. She moaned softly in denial. “No
more, I cannot move, Caspian. If you touch me again; I shall hit
you!”

“
You said that last time,”
he scoffed, his finger tracing the smooth, perfect plane of her
buttock with a smile. “You change your mind as soon as I’m inside
you, my sweet minx. You cry and moan and scratch me
then.”

Catherine stretched and groaned as she
rolled to her side, regarding him reproachfully. “I’m spent. I have
nothing left.”

“
I will be the judge of
that,” he growled as he spooned his body to hers, nibbling at her
neck. “I want you again, Catherine.”

Catherine sighed as he turned her
thoughts once more to passion, leaving her breathless and dizzy
once more. She knew he would be leaving soon. The pale light
entering the sky heralded his departure. She turned in his arms
eagerly.

“
I cannot stop touching you,
my sweet Catherine,” he whispered as he eased her onto her back and
took her with slow insistent strokes. “I burn for you, my
muse.”

Catherine gasped as he nipped and
kissed her breasts. His fingers stroked her heated flesh, his
finger stroking the bud of her desire until she was thrashing
wildly. When he took her it was with gentleness, moving over her
slowly.

Each aching, slow downward plunge of
his body made her sob incoherently. Her legs wound around him,
drawing him down and holding him close. The force of her orgasm
made her sob aloud in anguish. Her body shook violently as he
spilled himself within her. Her dazed eyes fluttered open, met his
with languid delight. He collapsed against her, nuzzling her neck
in contentment.

Catherine had no desire to move at all.
She knew such complete satisfaction she slept, her body molded to
his chest. She sighed in her sleep. Seeing her look like an
adorable kitten against his chest made Caspian curse the
complication this affair caused them both.

She was dangerous to his state of mind.
He lost himself with her. He felt terror each time he felt these
delicious stirrings within his heart, knowing he was falling for
her. He stared up at the ceiling. She would leave here.

He could not see her staying and
becoming his mistress. Despite their passionate trysts, she was a
proper woman. He doubted she had ever been with anyone but
Iverleigh and Nicky. Her lack of experience alone made him doubt
what she would do in regard to her son. The thought of her with
Iverleigh disgusted him.