And at the tender age of sixteen, her sister would have been condemned to the marriage Juliana herself had ultimately entered into. There had been no choice but to do her father’s bidding and lie about the state of her marriage to Landon. To allow the annulment to go through and let him hate her.
At least she’d had her memories to keep her company in the intervening years. Memories of the way he once loved her.
But he didn’t anymore.
And now she was even beginning to doubt if he would take her, claim her as she so ached for. He had watched her please herself, pleasured her with his wicked tongue… but he hadn’t taken her yet. Was this her punishment, pleasure without claiming? Always bringing her to the brink, but never allowing her the one thing she wanted more than anything? His arms around her. His mouth on hers. His cock buried deep within her. She wanted to be joined with him as one body, yet he denied her at every turn.
Folding her arms, she slunk down in the chair and pouted for a moment. It was rare she allowed herself the time to feel sorry for herself, but she did now.
The door banged open behind her and she got to her feet in a rush. Turning, she saw Landon framed in the light from the hallway. He kicked the door shut behind him and stalked toward her.
“Lan--”
She didn’t get out another word. He had her in his arms before she could speak, crushing her against his chest, pinning her to his body.
“I have denied myself too long,” he growled. He no longer sounded like himself. Now his voice was low, longing.
“What are you doing?” she squealed, her heart leaping double time as he carried her to the bed and flopped her down. She pushed to stand, but he grasped her hips and turned her over.
With one hand, he shoved at her skirts, lifting them above her backside even as his other hand jerked at the buttons on his waist. She heard his trousers hit the floor in a heap and her treacherous body went warm and wet.
He leaned forward, his hard cock brushing the tops of her thighs with teasing softness.
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” he asked, bending over her to lick the exposed skin on the back of her neck.
She arched, helpless as he pinned her arms down.
“Tell me, Juliana. I won’t take you if I don’t know you want this,” he repeated and there was an edge of desperation that belied the wicked intent of his tone.
“Yes,” she sobbed against the pillow. “Yes, Landon, I want this. I want you more than anything. Now!”
He groaned as he cupped her backside, spreading her sex with hot palms. Then he thrust.
Juliana screamed as he entered her, stretching her long-empty channel, filling her to the brink and then further. Finally, after so many years, she felt whole again. He pulled back and thrust a second time, harder this time. He slipped easily back inside and she was sure his cock was now coated with her juices.
“Juliana,” he whispered as he leaned forward, cradling her body with his larger one, reaching his hands around to cup her breasts through her wrinkled gown.
Slow and short, he took her. The room was silent except for the occasional slap of skin against skin, the hushed moans as they reacquainted themselves with this taking, with the enjoyment of each other.
Juliana tensed as pleasure coursed through her, tingling in her belly, lower in her burning loins. She was going to explode. It was not something she could control or hold back. And from the way her body quivered, she knew it would be the most fulfilling release she had ever experienced. She wanted to hold it off, almost feared the intensity of this joining, but she couldn’t.
“Landon,” she cried as the tremors of release began. “Landon!”
Her screams only urged him further. Landon panted as he thrust harder. She milked him with her orgasm, squeezing so tightly against his cock that she feared she might injure him. His fingers dug into her breasts, pulled her back against his chest as he let out a cry.
And then he was gone, pulling away to spend himself against her skin rather than within her. She peeked over her shoulder as he stroked his cock a few final times. His eyes were screwed shut, his face red and taut with his pleasure.
Pleasure he hadn’t taken within her.
Her heart sank. The message was clear. He had withdrawn to prevent creating a child. He had no intentions of being bound to her ever again.
Landon released his cock with a moan. He felt dizzy, utterly spent and satisfied… well, except that he didn’t get to take his pleasure within her clenching body. He glanced over to her. Juliana was resting her forehead against the bed, her backside still raised in tempting offering, bare, her sex pink and slick from her pleasure.
His cock twitched, but Landon knew it would be a little while before he was ready to have her again. But he knew he would be ready. He couldn’t get enough of Juliana. He had pretended otherwise over the years, but this encounter, with its animal claiming and the quickness of his release, told him he was a fool.
Juliana was in his blood.
This dangerous woman, one who had already made her choice…a choice that wasn’t him…had utter control over Landon. His body. And he feared his soul, as well.
She reached back and slid her gown back over her bare skin before she started to stand. When she turned, her eyes were wide and filled with questions. He could see she wanted to know what he would do now.
He wished to hell he knew.
Prudence said to send her home. To regroup before he got in over his head. But looking at her, hair down around her shoulders, cheeks pink from pleasure and exertion, all he wanted to do was hold her. Keep her here.
And that foolish desire led him as he stepped forward and placed one hand on each shoulder. Her eyes widened as he gently pushed down, forcing her to sit on the mattress before he laid her back against his pillows. Without explanation, he crawled up next to her and took her in his arms.
Tonight. He would only surrender tonight. Tomorrow, he would make himself recall that these moments with Juliana were only a fantasy. A trade she was making to find her sister.
But for tonight, he let himself sink into the fantasy.
* * *
Juliana straightened her gown, though she knew there was little to do to repair the wrinkled fabric. Making love in her gown twice, then sleeping in it was not something she could hide. Even if she had awoken in the night to find Landon removing it with his teeth. It wasn’t as if he’d hung it up after he tossed it in a pile on the floor.
And she’d been too busy being thoroughly ravished to suggest it.
So she had a wrinkled gown and wrinkled it would stay. In a way it fit her mood. Out of sorts, messy. And utterly nervous as she stared at the dining room door. Landon’s butler had told her that his lordship was having his breakfast through that door. She had no choice but to enter. Yet her hands shook behind her back.
What would happen now that they’d spent a night together?
Granted, she’d woken alone.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered before she pushed the door open and entered with a false smile.
It fell almost immediately. Landon sat at the end of a long, intimidating table, polished to a high shine. He held a copy of the paper in one hand, a biscuit in the other and a pile of correspondence was at his side. He did not look up. He did not greet her. He most definitely didn’t invite her to join him in breaking his fast.
“Good morning,” she said, hating the little crack to her voice.
He didn’t look up. “Good morning.”
A silence hung between them for a moment before Landon’s eyes darted up. He looked at her from head to toe and promptly returned his attention to the paper.
She shifted uncomfortably. “None of those letters are about my sister, are they?”
His eyes lifted a second time and were softer somehow. More gentle. At least that was something. “No.”
“Oh.”
“Will you be at the Cresterton ball tonight?” he asked, arching an eyebrow before h
e took a sip of tea.
She wrinkled her brow. “Er, I-I hadn’t planned on attending. Not with Evelyn missing.”
He turned a page in his paper. “You will attend.”
Irritation sluiced through her. She may have made a bargain with the man, may have spent a passionate night in his bed, but he was hardly being civil with her now. And his demands grated.
“I-” she began, but he cut her off with a sharp look.
“You will attend,” he repeated. “And after the ball is over, you will return here with me. I’ll report any new information about your sister at that time.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You are saying I am to leave the ball with you? Don’t you think people will notice that?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “That is not my concern, my lady.”
She stepped forward, her awkward shyness replaced by fresh frustration and anger. “Not your concern! You said you would keep this matter private.”
He suddenly came off his chair. It screeched across the floor as he shoved it aside and moved in her direction. “I said I would keep your sister’s predicament private, not our affair. And you said anything I want, anywhere I want, any time I want it.”
She drew breath to retort, but could find nothing satisfactory to say. He was right. She had made that vow to him the first night they came together. Little had she guessed that he would want her ruination along with her body.
“I see,” she finally managed with a cold nod. “Is that all then?”
He cocked his head. “All?”
“Am I dismissed, my lord?”
He flinched at her tone, but nodded just the same. “Yes. I believe that is all. I have arranged for a carriage for you if you are returning home. And I shall see you tonight.”
“Good day,” she said, turning her back and stomping away. Her whole body shook she was so livid.
As she got into the waiting carriage outside and felt it move away from Landon’s home, she folded her arms. Somehow she’d convinced herself she knew what she was getting into when she made her bargain with Landon, but clearly she’d been wrong.
For so many years she had been at the mercy of the men in her life. A slave to her father’s failures, she had thrown aside love and happiness to protect her sister. She had survived a mockery of a marriage to a man who treated her like so much dirt beneath his heel.
And it had been for nothing, for her sister had still been sold to God knew who. Juliana had turned to the one man she believed would help her only to find that he, too, demanded she come to heel under his orders.
And somehow Landon’s disregard for her wants and needs hurt her most of all. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t.
With a little smile, she settled back more comfortably. She might find ultimate pleasure at Landon’s hands. She might have agreed to do whatever he asked. But if she wanted to maintain her sanity, she would just have to bend him to her every whim, even as she surrendered to his.
Chapter Five
“Do you know very much about Rafael Sinclair?” Landon asked Hawk as he sipped a tumbler of sherry.
“Sin?” his brother asked, his eyes widening in surprise. “Why?”
Landon shrugged. He really didn’t want to get into this with Hawk right before they all departed for the Cresterton soiree.
“You once ran in the same circles, didn’t you?” Landon asked, hoping his tone was cool and only vaguely interested.
Hawk barked out a laugh. “Yes. The very same. We even shared a-” He shot a side glance toward Bianca, who was standing in the doorway, arms folded and one eyebrow arched. “Well, it was an interesting night a very long time ago.”
Bianca stepped into the room with a shake of her head. “It sounds very interesting. Perhaps you’ll tell me the whole wicked story later.”
Hawk grinned and Landon turned his face. If he’d thought the unspoken bond between his brother and sister-in-law was difficult before, now it pained him even more. It only served as deeper contrast to the relationship he shared with Juliana.
“So why do you want to know?” Hawk asked as he motioned to the foyer. “I somehow doubt Sin is active in your political circles. He has always been far more interested in women than anything else.”
Landon shot a glance at Bianca. It wasn’t in his nature to have conversations about well-known debauchers with a lady present. But then again, Bianca wasn’t an ordinary lady. In the past, she had played as close to the fire as Hawk ever did.
He cleared his throat. “What kind of man is he?” he asked, ignoring Hawk’s question.
“Everything rumor says is true,” Hawk said as they climbed into his carriage.
Landon’s driver had already been instructed to meet them at the ball so Landon could leave with Juliana later. His body tightened at the thought of her, a combination of erotic pleasure at what he wanted to do when they were alone… and regret at the news he would have to share with her.
That Rafael Sinclair… a man called Sin, had her sister, but that he didn’t know where they were.
Bianca settled into the carriage and smoothed her skirts. “I remember Sin well from my own days in the hells.” She shrugged. “A decent card player. An occasional drunk. He never left with the same woman twice and the ones who had been with him had tales to tell of his prowess.” She gave a little grin.
Landon let out a breath. Somehow he had hoped the tales of Sinclair’s sexual appetites were exaggerated. But it didn’t seem those hopes would be realized.
“Would he take an innocent?” he asked softly.
Hawk drew back at the question, exchanging a brief glance with his wife. “What the hell has Sin done?”
“I don’t know…yet,” Landon said, rubbing his temples. “Will you answer the question?”
Hawk nodded slowly. “Sin would take an innocent if it suited his purposes. But he would never force himself on anyone. He would never take what wasn’t freely offered.”
Somehow that didn’t make Landon feel any better. “I hope you’ll keep this to yourself,” he said on a sigh. “My questions about Sinclair.”
Bianca nodded. “Of course, Landon. Your brother and I would never betray your confidence.”
“Not that we’ve had it,” Hawk murmured. He caught Landon’s eye with a frown. “But I see that you aren’t able to tell us more. And I suppose I will have to accept that.”
“Thank you.”
The carriage came to a slow halt as they reached the Cresterton estate. Hawk and Bianca got out of the rig first and Landon followed behind them. His mind spun.
Evelyn was ruined. That much was clear. Of course, he’d expected that was the case, but now that he knew the kind of man who had taken her, any doubt he had was gone. And what a man…Rafe Sinclair’s nickname… Sin…had been earned through years of sexual exploits. He had broken up marriages, had wildly public affairs with women who did not fit with a man of title. He’d even brought a light-skirt to the Duke of Valworth’s annual ball two years before. There had been rumors the two had been caught doing some rather interesting things in the Duchess’s favorite parlor that night.
How would he ever tell Juliana that her sister was in the hands of such a man?
The entered the ballroom together. Hawk and Bianca were talking up ahead of him, no doubt telling each other every wicked secret of the so-called proper people in the room. It was a game they delighted in playing.
Landon scanned the room, looking for Juliana. He had almost decided that she was not yet in attendance when his gaze settled on a small group of men across the room. They were surrounding a young woman, practically drooling over her.
Juliana.
Landon stepped back in surprise and narrowly missed having a tray of drinks splashed all over him.
What the hell was she wearing? That wasn’t a gown it was… it was a scrap of blue material that matched her eyes perfectly. But it wasn’t cut so a man would admire her eyes. It dipped low, even lower than the day’s current scandalous fashio
ns dictated. Her cleavage was pushed up, offered like a feast. And the men around her were clearly hungry.
“Is that the Duchess of Breckinhill?” Bianca asked Hawk, motioning to the corner Landon couldn’t stop starting toward. “You know, I always liked her. Her husband was a bounder, but she seemed better than he was. It’s nice to see her out in society again.”
Hawk eyed Juliana with a little smile. “She certainly is ‘out’ in that gown.”
Landon stepped forward and poked his brother in the chest with one finger. “Shut. Your. Mouth.”
Hawk stared at him, mouth gaping as Landon turned and headed through the crowd toward Juliana.
Turning to his wife, Hawk’s shocked expression turned to a grin. “You know, I think my brother is in love.”
Bianca slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and leaned closer. “You owe me five pounds, love.”
“So I do.” His eyes gleamed as they moved into the buzzing crowd. “Do you mind if I work off my debt later tonight?”
* * *
Juliana never looked directly at him, but she was well aware that Landon was making his way through the crowd toward her and the gaggle of ogling men who were staring at her. She had to admit, she felt some relief that she was about to be saved. She’d worn this gown to agitate Landon, but she hadn’t fully comprehended the kind of attention it would garner from others.
Landon elbowed his way through the crowd of her admirers. His face was impassive, unaffected for the view of the men, but she saw the fire in his gray eyes. Dark and dangerous.
Nervousness lit in her stomach. Perhaps aggravating him hadn’t been the best course of action, after all.
“There you are, my lady,” he said, all manners and propriety even as his stare raked across her like a harsh caress. “I have been looking for you. You promised me the next. I am here to collect.”
She opened her mouth to speak when one of the gentlemen around her straightened up. “See here, Hawkins, I wanted the next with her ladyship. You only just arrived, so I don’t see how you could claim it!”
The Sweetest Sin Page 6
