Wicked Proposition (22 page)

His hands caressed and stroked her breasts until
they swelled beneath his hands. He buried his face between them and
lavished them with unhurried attention. She gritted her teeth as he
bit gently at her nipples, the slight pleasure-pain making stabs of
longing unfurl within her.

Her hands slid into his long, curling tresses,
urging him closer as he worshipped each breast with such
thoroughness she was on fire and writhing under his demanding
mouth. If she thought he would be quick, she was to be
disappointed. His mouth moved like molten lava and dipped to her
ribcage, his teeth grazing the satiny flesh there, making her arch
against him wantonly.

His big hands drew hers away from where they
were bunched into the bedding at her sides. He held them tenderly,
linking their fingers as his head dipped lower still. Catherine
watched as his dark head slid downward, his mouth leaving a
blistering trail of heat to her belly. She gasped as his tongue
snaked out and thrust into her navel, making her clench her teeth
in response and bite back a cry of delight.

Nicholas’s lips slid along her slender hip to
the inside of her quivering thighs, his tongue following making her
stiffen as expectant shivers of desire raced down her spine. The
erotic feel of his long hair and harsh stubbly chin against her
inner thighs made her thrash upon the pillows. Catherine whimpered
in need as his mouth made the slow lazy journey to her hot, moist
center.

The first hot flick of his tongue against her
femininity nearly undid her. She went rigid and gasped, arching
under his probing tongue. He was in no hurry, his mouth moving
against her there with such maddening slowness she reached down to
grip handfuls of his ebony hair, arching under his sensual
mouth.

Nicholas took her quivering nub between his
teeth and heard her begin to swear profusely as she moved under
him. He smiled at such unladylike epithets and laved at her
voraciously, her taste like the sweetest nectar upon his lips.

Catherine wept and moved under his mouth in
abandon. Her legs wound feverishly about his neck, unwilling to
deny the hot insistent urges of her body anymore. She undulated
under his questing lips urgently.

She was moaning raggedly as he brought her to a
shuddering climax within minutes, his long, calloused fingers
digging into her hips, holding her still as he unleashed her
desire. Before she finished her full crisis, his body rose over
hers. She stared up at him with wide, dilated eyes as his lean hips
moved between her slender thighs.

His maleness was huge and threatening. Catherine
felt it pressing against her and went rigid. She had avoided
looking at it when he disrobed. Now, her gaze lowered to take in
the sight of his engorged shaft and widened. She began to struggle
against his chest, fearing he would hurt her.

He drew her small hand down to him, making her
wrap it around his throbbing maleness, his blue eyes dark with
need. “Put me inside you, love. I swear I will not hurt you.”

Catherine knew he meant what he said. She
brought him to her opening, her eyes holding his captive. She
placed him inside her and slowly pulled him deeper, waiting for the
pain to come. No pain was felt, only pleasure as she pushed him
farther inside her. She gasped as she finally took all of him,
mindful of how good he felt within her now, stretching her
gloriously around him.

His eyes were closed in ecstasy as he lay still
within her, allowing her to control his entrance into her body. The
way she wiggled and squirmed under him made him close his eyes in
agonized restraint. Catherine bit her lip as he lay still within
her, waiting for her to give him permission to continue. She moved
under him, bringing him all the rest of the way inside of her.

Her nails dug into his shoulders fretfully as
shards of pleasure made her gasp aloud. She bit down on his
shoulder, her eyes squeezing shut. He sank within her even deeper
then. She moaned in anguished pleasure at the friction, trembling
around him. He held himself above her on his elbows as he probed
her liquid heat, eyes closed in ecstasy. His hips moved in slow,
hungry circles.

“Oh God, this feels so good. Oh Nicholas, don’t
stop, please,” she whispered, bucking hungrily under him.

Nicholas smiled at her impassioned words as he
poised over her, his blue eyes seeing the pleasure light her face
as he began to move faster and then slowed. Each slow, deliberate
thrust made her sob aloud as if in pain, his hardness pushing at
something within her that made her hot all over. The pleasurable
twinges were unbearably teasing her now. Her nails dug frenziedly
into his shoulders, his back, and then his hard, taut buttocks as
he moved with aching pressure.

She bit her lips to keep from sobbing aloud in
heated frustration as he continued in his slow, unhurried pace.
Each movement sent shockwaves of pleasure through her that grew
with each rise and fall of his body.

Nicholas had held back as long as he could.
Being within her tight sheath was making him aware of his own
desperate desire for her. The dreams and fantasies were nothing
compared to the satisfaction he felt to make love to her now.

His thrusts became more hurried, more insistent,
and deeper. Catherine met each thrust eagerly, her long legs
wrapping around him, crying out and urging him to her. Catherine
wept aloud now, her body unable to control the fierce, insidious
waves of passion as they washed over her, her body gripping his
tightly.

Her head lolled on the pillow, her eyes wide
with incoherent pleasure. Her body moved under his with a wild,
fierce abandon that left him breathless. Nicholas could not hold
back anymore. His body bore hers down into the soft mattress with
urgent need. His mouth covered hers as loud cries slid past her
lips, his hands gripped hers as he stroked hungrily within her,
feeling her shaking around him and glorying in pleasing her.

Catherine thought of nothing but ending the
unbearable torment within her, rocking upward to meet the demands
of his hard, pounding body. They moved in unison, their bodies
growing slick with sweat. She was mindless as she tightened around
him, her breathless cries urging him on.

He moaned her name aloud as he rocked her
urgently into the bed. Her sighs and cries mingled with his as he
began to move faster now, his hands twisting in her hair, bringing
her mouth to his as he shuddered and stiffened within her. His body
shook and went rigid. His head went back, eyes half-closed as he
burrowed inside her.

Catherine’s eyes widened as the hot, tight
sensations within her began to implode. He grasped her hands in
his, kissing her as he brought them to climax, his hips moving so
fast she felt like he would split her asunder.

She felt the hot rush of his male juices explode
within her and clung to him blindly. Catherine cried out in
abandonment against his mouth as a thousand burning suns exploded
within her, joining him in the fiery aftermath of their
passion.

Nicholas allowed her to doze for a time, but
soon he was nuzzling her neck, urging her to wakefulness. Each time
he came to her was more intense than the last. The hours spent in
his bed were nothing less than wondrous. He urged her to explore
him, his eyes glowing as she complied, her hands sliding over him,
marveling at the strength and power in his limbs. Nicholas sighed
as she pleasured him with every naughty trick she knew. He was
pleased to teach her a few more.

She gave herself up to the primitive needs
Nicholas unleashed within her, no longer reserved in her hunger for
him. They rolled upon the coverlet urgently, sending bedding and
pillows flying as they sought to quell their needs.

He held her tightly now as she moved upon him,
his hands stroking her breasts, arching hungrily upward as she slid
upon him, each slow aching upward thrust making her shake from the
force of their passion. Her incoherent cries were cut off as he
brought her lips to his, holding her as she shuddered and took her
pleasure of him.

Her cries soon turned to outright weeping as she
lay against his sweaty chest, hot tears sliding down her cheeks in
warm rivulets. Catherine’s body trembled violently from their
lovemaking. Her nails still dug into the backs of his hands. Her
body still moved upon his, still clenched around him. He raised his
head and stared into her tortured green gaze as her shaking
subsided. He released her hands and she covered her face, crying in
earnest now, easing off of him and turning away from.

“Catherine, did I hurt you, love?” he asked as
his hand touched her cheek.

“Get away from me! Just leave me alone!” she
sobbed in earnest and pushed away from his chest.

Nicholas knew he had taken her to the brink of
her sensuality. The highly carnal experiences had greatly disturbed
her and left her shaken. He was dazed as well, his body completely
sated.

Nicholas was grim as he saw the raw
self-loathing ravaging her face now. She hated herself for this,
the look said. He sat back reluctantly and let her be. She rolled
to her side, sobbing piteously into a pillow with her back to
him.

He sat up in dismay, not expecting such a
devastated response after such an unbelievable experience. Nicholas
wanted to console her, but knew the last thing she wanted was his
comfort right now. He rose in disgust and found a dressing
robe.

Catherine continued to cry as he left her. He
was fuming as he went to another room down the hall to find his
crate of brandy. He snatched up a bottle and returned to his
room.

She lay huddled upon her side in the destroyed
bed, her lovely body bare to his gaze as she cried. He knew she no
doubt blamed him for all her misery. He felt the guilt of it. He
had used his discovery to bring her to this. There was little
satisfaction in it now, seeing how it had obviously destroyed
her.

He poured two glasses and went to her side. He
sat upon the edge of the bed and yanked the pillow away from her
tear-streaked face in disgust where she buried it. His eyes
narrowed in annoyance to see her cowering away from him after all
they shared.

“Drink this,” he commanded sharply, and she did,
sitting up and guzzling down the amber liquid. She began choking
violently as it burned her throat.

He winced, wishing he had warned her of
that.

She eyed him balefully, her murky green eyes
accusing.

He sighed softly, reasoning no matter what he
did to be kind she would hate him. He looked down at her and
noticed the tears had not stopped.

“Why do you cry, Catherine?” he asked in
annoyance. Her distress made his guilt increase. It shadowed his
feelings of contentment now.

“You have made me what I only pretended to be
before,” she whispered hollowly and hiccoughed and refused to meet
his gaze, shrinking away from him. “I am the whore you thought me,
well and truly now.”

“You complained of it rather loudly too. I felt
your discontent all down my back,” he replied sarcastically.

She stiffened from his mean comments and
regarded him hatefully. “Ridicule me all you want, Nicholas, but I
only agreed to play the whore for one man! It is you who has
brought me so low now!”

“So you admit your arrangement with Gabriel was
all an act at last,” Nicholas said dryly as his hand stroked her
hair away from her damp cheek. “It appears you got caught up in the
masquerade, love.”

“It might have started out that way,” she began
defensively and she broke off as fresh tears began anew. “It is
different now. You would not understand how I feel.”

Nicholas saw the tears and cursed under his
breath, pouring her another draught of brandy. He could see the
devastation in her eyes. She believed she loved Gabriel. The
realization made him angry, in the wake of what they had just
experienced in his bed. It was a cold, hard slap to his face.

“You imagined a great deal happening with
Gabriel, didn’t you Catherine?” he mused tightly as he handed her
the glass and watched as she sipped it now. “He found you in a
brothel, love. Do you think he will ever forget that? He will tire
of you and move on to the next. If you thought it to be more, you
will be hurt.”

Catherine heard his honest words and felt her
heart plummet. She stared at the coverlet and seethed in silence.
Sipping her drink, she was thankful for the warmth that spread
within her. He couldn’t have known how his words cut her heart in
two.

He did, and knew she needed to hear them
still.

“Your pretty lies have covered up all the
ugliness, but it is still there, isn’t it?” he persisted as he
stared into her wide, anguished eyes. “You tell yourself you care
for him to make it acceptable in your mind that he paid for all you
give him.”

“Stop it! Just stop!” she cried and tears
flooded her eyes.

“No, I think you need to hear it, love,” he went
on savagely, unmindful of her pain. “You deceived the man from the
start, Catherine! You have done all you can to keep him married to
a woman he despises. Do you think he would thank you for it? And
what does that make you? You sold whatever innocence you had to
him! Where do you think to take this arrangement now? He is
married. Even if he were free, he would not offer you more. Leave
him. Come to me. He will not stand in your way.”

She flung him a dark look and moved away from
him. She scooted to the far side of his bed to escape his words,
denials springing to her lips.

“You do not have to pretend to be something you
are not with me. You know it is what you want,” Nicholas
persisted.

“You do not know everything about me, Nicholas!
I have to go home,” she cried hoarsely and looked down at her
nakedness with that sad realization. Even Nicholas would condemn
her if he knew who she really was. There was no going anywhere but
home.