More or Less a Marchioness

by Anna Bradley

  “Yes.” No hesitation.

  He trailed a single finger down her cheek and across her bottom lip in a slow caress, then dipped lower to trace her neck before coming to rest at the pulse fluttering at the base of her throat. “You like my touch.” He stroked her soft skin, his breath catching at the wild throbbing under his fingertip. “I can feel how much, right here.”

  She was still dressed in the riding habit she’d been wearing this morning, but she’d removed the jacket and hat. Finn’s heated gaze traced the curves visible under her thin muslin shirt, pausing on the cravat at her neck, and the bow tied in a simple knot under her breasts.

  A faint gasp left her lips when he tugged on the end of first one bow, then the other, loosening them both. Finn hesitated, his gaze darting back to her face. She was watching him with dark, feverish blue eyes, her shallow breaths hard and quick between her parted lips.

  “Untie it,” she whispered.

  His hands shook as he loosened the knots, slid the cravat free, and then grasped the hem of her shirt and raised it over her head. She wore only a corset underneath, and his heart nearly leapt from his chest when her bare skin met his hungry gaze.

  “So pale and fine.” He dragged his fingertips across her delicate collarbones and down her chest, greedy for the feel of her silky skin. When he reached the edge of her corset he paused, but she didn’t stop him, and he moved lower and cupped her breasts in his palms. His cock surged against his falls at the breathy whimper that tore from her throat as he dragged his thumbs over the straining peaks of her nipples.

  “Unlace me.” She took his hands and brought his fingers to the top lace of her corset.

  Finn’s eyes dropped closed as he struggled to remind himself he was an honorable gentleman, but the pretty pink flush on her skin, her whimpers and sighs and the pleading note in her voice—it was all too much. He fumbled with the laces of her corset, his fingers desperate and clumsy, but she helped him, and within seconds the corset was hanging loose, and he caught a maddening glimpse of the smooth skin between her breasts, and before he could think at all or reason with his cock, he’d dragged the corset away and tossed it aside because he couldn’t wait another second to see her, and…

  Ah, God. She was perfect.

  Pale, flawless skin, her nipples the same blush pink as her lips, and they were hard for him, pouting for his touch. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. “Oh, Iris. You’re so beautiful, sweetheart.”

  She made a soft noise when he trailed a finger between her breasts, as if she’d waited forever for him to touch her, and the sound broke him. Any illusions he’d had that he could send her back to her bed alone vanished with that one breathless sigh.

  “Did you ache here when you read your books?” He circled his thumbs around her nipples, his gaze locked on her flushed face as he stroked her.

  “Yes.” She grabbed his shoulders to steady herself as his relentless caresses made her squirm in his lap.

  Dear God, he was going to come just from watching her. “Did these pretty peaks get hard, sweet?”

  “Yes.” She looked down at where he caressed her, staring at his fingers as they toyed with her nipples, which had turned a deep pink from his attentions.

  “Did you touch them? Did you stroke them, as I’m doing now?” Finn trailed soft, open-mouthed kisses over her throat, and felt it move in a nervous swallow under his lips. “Tell me.”

  “I—” she began, but her voice trailed off, and when Finn raised his head from her throat, her cheeks were scarlet.

  “It’s all right, Iris.” He nudged her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “It’s natural to touch yourself when you’re aroused, and nothing to be ashamed of. It felt good, didn’t it?”

  “Yes.” It was more a sigh than a word.

  God, he wanted to watch her fingers stroking her breasts and playing with her nipples, but she wasn’t ready for that, and his mouth was watering to taste that beautiful pink flesh. He lay one hand flat against her back and leaned forward to pull a hard peak into his mouth.

  She moaned when his tongue darted out to stroke her flesh. “Oh, that’s…it feels…”

  He sucked her nipple, then bit down gently on the tender nub. She cried out, and he went back to slow, tender strokes with the tip of his tongue. When he felt some of the tension ease from her body, he sucked and nipped at her again.

  “Oh.” Her head fell back and her spine arched, and she sank her fingers into his hair to hold his mouth to her breasts. “Finn, please…more.”

  So much more, and I want to give it all to you.

  He teased one nipple, then the other, alternating between light, caressing strokes of his tongue to gentle bites and rough sucking until she grew restless and her hips began an unconscious, rhythmic movement against his lap.

  God, she was so beautiful, innocently seeking her pleasure. Her sinuous glide against him was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen, and if he hadn’t wanted to touch her so badly, he could have watched her all night.

  But he did want to touch her, and he couldn’t wait another moment.

  “Where else did you feel pleasure, sweetheart?” He slid a hand under the hem of her skirt and traced his fingers over her thigh, then inched his hand higher to caress the bare skin above her garter. “Here?”

  Her legs stiffened on either side of his hips. “I—not there.”

  “Higher then, I think?” He teased the tip of one finger between her folds. He didn’t do anything more, but kept his finger still while he continued to kiss and lick her breasts.

  For a long moment she didn’t move, but at last she gave a tiny thrust of her hips, and an involuntary moan tore from her throat when his fingertip stroked over her clitoris with the movement.

  Finn groaned at the sound, and his mouth grew more frantic against her breasts. “Yes, sweetheart. It feels good when you move against my hand. Did you touch yourself here when you read your books? Did you stroke your pretty fingers between your legs?”

  “Yes,” she gasped, all embarrassment gone as she pressed down hard and jerked her hips, desperate for more friction against his hand.

  Finn’s head fell back against the sofa. Dear God, she was going to kill him. The thought of those long, white fingers caressing her damp, flushed skin was enough to make him spill into his breeches like some overheated schoolboy.

  He slid one finger into her narrow passage, a tortured groan leaving his lips when he felt how wet she was. “So hot and wet for me, Iris.” He thrust gently and made lazy circles with his thumb around the tender bud hidden between her folds. “You feel so good. God, I can’t wait to feel you come on my hand.”

  Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes unfocused as she met each of his gentle thrusts, her hips working faster now as she chased her pleasure. “Ah, I can’t…please…”

  “Do you need more, sweet?” He pressed his thumb more firmly against her clitoris and quickened his strokes, then carefully slid a second finger inside her. He was immediately rewarded when her back arched and her body stiffened against his.

  “Finn…” She writhed against him, panting his name as she came in a flood of wet heat, her head thrown back and her body shuddering with pleasure.

  When the spasms ceased and she went limp against him, Finn drew his hand out from under her skirts and urged her down onto his chest. She lay against him, breathing hard, a fistful of his silk waistcoat clenched in her hand.

  Christ, was he still dressed?

  He pulled what was left of the pins from her hair and watched the firelight play against the long golden strands as he sifted them through his fingers. He held her and couldn’t remember another time in his life when he’d felt more joy than he did right now.

  He thought she’d fallen asleep, but after a while she raised her head. “It’s not at all the same thing to read about it, is it?”

 
He let out a startled laugh. “Not at all, no. Most things aren’t, but perhaps this more than any other.”

  “Yes. A book can’t touch you, after all, and touch seems to be a rather important part of it, doesn’t it?”

  Finn dropped a kiss on her forehead, grinning at her as he played with a lock of her hair. “You could even say it’s the most important part.”

  She was quiet for a moment, then she braced her hands against his chest and sat up.

  Finn frowned as she pulled free from the circle of his arms. “What—”

  “Hush.” She rested her fingers against his lips for a moment, then she loosened the knot on his cravat, unwound it from around his neck, and dropped it to the floor next to her shirt. His waistcoat followed, then she sat back on her heels, studied him, and shook her head. “No.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “No?”

  “I’ve never seen a gentleman in only his shirtsleeves, and it’s quite…that is, you’re very…well, I like it.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to the expanse of skin left bare by his shirt, making his breath catch. “But I want you to take it off.”

  Finn hesitated. If he took his shirt off, he was one step closer to taking his breeches off, and once they were off, he’d take her. He was painfully aroused after watching her come, and every one of his masculine urges was demanding he make her his.

  But not here, in Lady Hadley’s sitting room. He wanted her safe behind his locked bedchamber door, naked on his bed, her hair spread across his pillow, both of them free to give voice to their pleasure without fear of being overheard. He wasn’t looking forward to staggering up the stairs with a raging erection, but there would be no hurrying, and no half measures in this.

  Not in anything. Not with her.

  “Not here, sweet.” He scooped his waistcoat and cravat off the floor, then fetched his coat from the end of the sofa. She’d struggled back into her shirt and was attempting to straighten her skirts, but there was no hiding her flushed skin, her swollen lips or the mass of tangled curls tumbling over her shoulders. She looked like just what she was—a woman who’d just come to a trembling, shattering release in the arms of her lover.

  My arms.

  He draped his coat over her shoulders, grinning as it engulfed her. “You could wear it as a gown.”

  She smiled up at him. “Does it suit me?”

  “Everything suits you.”

  He couldn’t resist cradling her face in his hands so he could kiss her again. He brushed his lips over her forehead—surely that was safe enough—and took just the briefest of moments to bury his face in her hair. He was a grown man, after all. He could control himself, and…dear God, she smelled good, especially the sensitive skin behind her ear. He could go mad from the warm silk of her skin under his lips, the flutter of her pulse against his tongue, her quiet moan when he bit down gently on her earlobe…

  “Finn.” Her arms stole around his neck, and then his mouth was crushed against hers, his tongue hot and demanding as he surged inside, and he was wild to be inside her everywhere, her damp heat enveloping him, pulling him deeper—

  But not here.

  He tore his mouth from hers with a pained groan. “Upstairs, sweet. My bedchamber.”

  He took her hand in his and led her to the door. He paused before leading her into the hallway, but it was late. The house was dark and silent. They stole up the stairs and slipped into his bedchamber without encountering a soul.

  Finn turned the lock and leaned back against the door, watching her. He could still take her back to her bedchamber, drop a chaste kiss on her cheek, and vow to himself he wouldn’t touch her again until they were wed. He was an honorable gentleman, after all.

  Most of the time.

  She slid his coat from her shoulders, dragged her shirt over her head, climbed onto his bed, and leaned back against the pillows. Her rosy nipples were hard, and a wicked half-smile curled her lips as she beckoned to him with her fingers.

  This isn’t one of those times.

  He tossed the clothes in his hand aside, kicked off his boots, and dragged his shirt over his head, a needy growl rising from his chest as he stalked toward the bed. The flickering light from the fire fell over her face, revealing her gaze as it moved over every inch of him—his shoulders, the bare skin of his chest and stomach, lingering on the trail of dark hair that started just under his belly button and vanished into the waistband of his breeches.

  She swallowed, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips as her gaze moved over the bulge of his stiff cock pressed against the front of his breeches.

  Finn groaned as his cock twitched. “I like it when you look at me.”

  “I, ah…I see that.”

  A faint grin crossed his lips, then he placed one knee in the middle of the bed and reached for her. “Give me your hand.”

  She scrambled across the bed and offered her hand. He drew it toward him, and pressed her palm flat against the front of his breeches.

  Both of them gasped when her fingers instinctively wrapped around his hard length.

  “Touch me, sweet. Like this.” Finn moved her hand in a slow, steady caress from his base to his tip.

  She was hesitant at first, careful, but after a moment her fingers tightened around him, her eyes widening when a helpless groan tore from his lips at her rougher strokes. “Is that…am I hurting you?”

  “God, no. You’re driving me mad.” Another low moan slipped past his lips as she continued to tease her hand over his aching cock. She seemed to know just what he wanted, her fingers lingering at his tip until his hips were jerking to increase the friction of her hand against him.

  She watched his face as if fascinated, her lips parted, a sigh escaping her when he reached out to cup her breasts and tease her nipples.

  “I want to see you.” She rose to her knees and tugged at the buttons of his falls. Once she’d loosened them she slid her warm hand past the crumpled fabric to draw him out, uttering a surprised, pleased sound when she held his throbbing cock in her hand. “Oh, my. You’re…oh, my.”

  Finn sucked in a deep breath and threw his head back when her warm palm met his bare flesh. If he let her continue, he was going to come like this, and he was dying to be inside her, to make her his.

  He gripped her wrist to still her hand, and she let out a surprised squeak of protest. “But…I want to touch you, and I’ve hardly begun.”

  He slid his fingers over her jaw, unable to prevent the smile that rose to his lips at her indignant expression. “But I’m about to finish, sweet, and neither of us wants that.”

  Her brows drew together. “Finish what?”

  Finn dragged his breeches off and kicked them aside, then joined her on the bed. “I’ll show you in a moment. Well, hopefully a bit more than a moment.”

  “But I wanted to—”

  He silenced her with a fierce kiss, his lips and tongue demanding a response until she fell back against the bed with a moan of surrender. Finn reached for the buttons on the side of her skirt, tore them open, and dragged it and her petticoat over her hips and down her legs until at last she was bare before him.

  “Beautiful.” He propped his head on his hand as he lay beside her, his gaze memorizing every inch of her body. “I’ve dreamed of you like this, spread out across my bed, but I never imagined…” His voice grew thick, and he trailed off and brought her hand to his mouth, pressing a warm kiss into her palm.

  She leaned over and brushed her lips over the center of his chest, over his wildly beating heart. “I didn’t, either.”

  He rolled her onto her back and came over her, lowering his head to suck at a nipple while he slid a hand up the inside of her thigh.

  She arched against his mouth as he kissed and licked and sucked at her breasts for long moments and teased his fingers through the curls between her thighs. He brushed his thumb aga
inst her sensitive knot of flesh until she grew hot and slick, and he felt it harden and rise for him, begging for his touch.

  “Are you wet for me still?” He dipped a finger inside her and had to clench his teeth to hold back his orgasm when his hand came away covered in her sweet honey. “Ah God, yes.” He slipped a second finger into her and thrust gently until her hips rose to meet his fingers, and she couldn’t hold back her desperate whimpers.

  “Is this what you want, Iris?” He cupped her cheek in his hand and held her until her hazy eyes focused on his. “Do you want me inside you?”

  She looked up into his face with those eyes that could break his heart, and she didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  He dropped a tender kiss on her lips. “And you’re going to be mine?”

  “Yes.” She urged his mouth back down to hers, and her kiss was a promise.

  Finn slid one knee between her legs to open her, then settled between her thighs, his eyes squeezing closed when he felt her wet warmth against the tip of his cock. He eased partway inside, stopping to kiss her lips and her breasts when he felt her tense beneath him.

  “It’s going to hurt a bit.” He brushed a few loose strands of her hair from her eyes. “But I’ll be as careful as I can with you.”

  “I know you will be.” She gazed up at him, and Finn’s heart burst in his chest at the trust he saw in the deep blue depths of her eyes.

  His gaze never left her face as he eased into her, as far as he could go before he felt the barrier of her innocence against his cock, then he drew back and surged forward again with a powerful thrust, not holding back, because it was best done quickly, so the worst of the pain was over with a single stroke.

  She gasped, and her body went rigid under his.

  Finn went motionless. He was seated deep inside her now, and God, she was so hot and tight and wet his body urged him to thrust into that seductive heat again and again, but he remained still and prayed for the control to stay that way until her pain faded.