* * *
“Jameson, I can undressh myshelf,” Sebastian slurred loud enough for everyone on Curzon Street to hear.
Colleen opened her eyes, her husband’s voice bringing her out of a sound sleep. She sat up, testing her body. No more dizziness and just a few aches. She grabbed her spectacles off her nightstand and donned them and her wrapper. She rose out of bed and crept to the door she assumed connected her chamber to her husband’s room.
“I’ll tell you when I want some help from you, Jameson. This ish not one of those times.”
Jameson’s “Yes, my lord” was barely audible.
The door opened then closed, telling Colleen that her husband must be alone. She waited, wondering if she should interrupt him to make sure he could make it to bed.
“Bloody hell!” he yelled, which was followed by the sound of a large body falling to the floor. Colleen threw the door open and rushed into the room to find her husband in much the same condition as she had found him that very first time. Laid out flat on the floor. Only this time he was fully awake, a sloppy drunken grin on his face.
Impatience and resentment sped through her. Not twenty-four hours in London, and the idiot was drunk as a sailor.
“Ahhh, wife. I see that you have rushed to my rescue again. I can’t seem to get the other sleeve off.”
It was then that she realized Sebastian was bare-chested, one arm still tangled in the sleeve. She hadn’t seen him like this since she had nursed him back to health, and he had been incoherent at the time. But as he struggled with his sleeve, she couldn’t take her eyes off the great expanse of golden skin before her.
He should look ridiculous, fighting with his linen shirt for freedom. But for some reason, Colleen found herself a bit more entranced by the sight. She didn’t know if it was the boyish frown on his sensuous lips or the tingle of warmth chasing down her spine as she gazed at his chest. Either way, she couldn’t prevent the laugh that bubbled up.
He stopped his struggles and stared at her with such an intensity all the breath tangled in her throat, and her laughter died.
“You should do that more often.” His lips curved and his eyes darkened. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you laugh before, not like that.” Then he shook his head. “No, once. Once I heard you laugh like that.”
She shifted from foot to foot. Uncomfortable with the warmth spreading into her belly at the sound of his deepened voice and frank appraisal, she lashed out, “I don’t have much to laugh about, do I, my lord?”
Instead of pulling back from her as she had intended, his eyes warmed. “You’ve had a hard life, haven’t you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Her voice was stiff as was her spine. Standing next to the bed, with Sebastian sitting on the floor half-naked, was not good for her composure. She was trying not to stare at him, especially the way his copper nipples had puckered against the chill in the room.
“You’re an orphan, and your sister died last year. You’re alone in the world.”
“I’m not an orphan.” She bit off each word. Mortification that he pitied her caused her tone to sharpen. “I was practically an adult by the time my mother passed on. And I’m married to you, so I am not alone in the world.”
Why she added that last bit of information she did not know, but regretted it the moment his lips curved and a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
“Of course, you have me.” He placed his free hand on the bed and hoisted himself off the floor.
Suddenly, he was no longer the drunken rogue but something much more dangerous. He’d moved so close, the very heat of him warmed her. She took a step back.
His shirt still dangled from one arm, his smile turned completely seductive and his eyes darkened to cobalt. He took a step forward. His bay-rum scent, mixed with the scent of brandy, surrounded her, seduced her.
“You know, Colleen, you look rather fetching in that gown.”
Her stomach clenched at the sloppy compliment. A whisper of need crawled into her heart and she pushed it away. She wouldn’t fall for a charmer. In the end, she would be left lonely by a man who found solace with other women. But even as she hardened her heart against him, she couldn’t fight a smile as she watched him try to remove his shirt with the cufflink still fastened.
“Sebastian, you need to sit down and I’ll help you. Why didn’t you let Jameson help you?”
His whole body stilled. Colleen sensed that his every muscle was tensed and ready to pounce.
“Say that again.”
“Why didn’t you let—?”
“No, say my name. Say Sebastian.”
The air between them thickened. She swallowed as she tried to calm her heart. The intensity in his eyes took her breath away. “Sebastian.”
“I like it when you say my name.” His voice had deepened, causing her blood to rush through her. It danced along her nerve endings and the tingling warmth in her belly now slid between her thighs.
“Sebastian,” she said sharply.
He chuckled, and the sound of it vibrated across her senses. “Even when you sound like a prude you make me hard.”
His blunt words should have embarrassed her or enraged her. Instead, a tiny zing of happiness shot through her blood. She tried her best to squelch her rising desire, but it was hard when a man like her husband admitted to his attraction to her.
“I can’t seem to get this off.” He was swinging his arm back and forth, still attempting to get his arm free of his shirt.
“Here. Sit on the bed, and I’ll help.”
Obediently he sat, his lips still curved into a smile so enticing she had to count backwards from ten trying to ignore it. Then count again.
“I never thought I’d hear you say those words, Colleen.” The dip in his voice could only be termed flirtatious.
“Oh, shut up, you drunken sod,” she said, attempting to disregard the flare of desire his words had caused.
She worked the gold cufflink free of its hole and yanked the shirt off him. Even in the dim candlelight, she could see his muscles flex beneath his golden skin each time he moved. She fought the urge to run her fingers over his muscled chest, to glide them over his warm skin.
“I’m going back to my room.” She had to. He was entirely too attractive with his lips quirked in invitation and his chest bare for her hands to explore.
“But I need help with my pants.”
She heard the amusement in his voice and suppressed a smile. She shouldn’t be amused at his clumsy attempts at seduction, should she?
“Call Jameson.” She turned to leave when his next statement stopped her.
“But I want you to help me, Colleen.” His voice was such a mixture of petulant boy and seductive man that her traitorous heart softened.
She turned and found him sitting in the same spot, and although he still seemed amused, she sensed a deeper vibration between them. Something so strong it wiped every thought from her brain as she watched him raise his hand to her.
For a moment, she hesitated. She didn’t know what he expected from her if she accepted that hand. Even as she yearned to lose herself in his warmth, she still had some concept she could convince him they needed to seek an annulment. For so many—too many—reasons she knew it was for the best. But freeing herself from his influence, and this attraction she had for him, would be the most important.
Never in her life had a man’s smile twisted her insides and made her want something…more. The ache in her heart had started the day she found him, and it was growing every day. If she allowed him to ease the pain of loneliness she had fought for so many years, she didn’t know if she would survive when he left.
“I don’t bite unless asked.” His teasing tone was almost her undoing. How long had it been since she’d had someone to share a jest with? She craved that as much as she craved his kisses. “I just need some help and then I’ll leave you be. My fingers just don’t seem to want to work.”
It was a lie, she was
sure of it. But the more she tried to keep her composure rigid, the more she found herself softening. He would hurt her in the end. She knew it and he knew it. But in the dark, Colleen allowed the need she’d ignored most of her life to push her forward. She stepped closer and took his hand.
His breath escaped in a sigh, as if he had been worried she’d deny his request. His large, warm fingers wrapped around her hand.
“You’re as cold as ice,” he said, his voice now a whisper that stirred longings and desires she’d never known dwelled within her.
He pulled her closer, his hand still firmly gripping hers. He urged her into the vee of his legs. Her breasts, now level with his eyes, swelled and grew heavy, and her nipples tightened almost painfully.
“You need to stand so I can get your pants off you.”
He chuckled again. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, love. You don’t have to be standing to do that.”
The next instant, he tugged her onto the bed and rolled on top of her. His hardened body covered her from head to toe. His arousal pressed against her most private parts.
“Now, let’s talk about your helping me with my pants.”
Chapter Eleven
Sebastian closed his eyes. Every soft, wonderful curve Colleen possessed was plastered against him. Nothing in his life had felt quite so wonderful. He opened his eyes, reveling in the dark fire of her hair spread across the pristine white sheets.
So much hair. So many ideas.
He braced himself on his elbows on the bed, relieving her of his weight. Colleen was not a small woman, but she definitely was a woman. His hardened arousal was a testament. It took every bit of his willpower not to press his groin against her. From her wide-eyed expression, he would upset Colleen if he did that.
She swallowed and then licked her lips. The thought of kissing her lips, of tasting her there, of tasting her everywhere, sent most of his blood to his loins. He groaned, and her eyes grew larger, as if she were afraid of being ravished. Because, of course, she should be afraid. At the moment, his brain had stopped functioning. The only thing he could think about was sinking into her warmth and being lost.
“Sebastian?” A tremor of fear threaded her voice.
“Colleen, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Even in the dim light, he could see the disbelief in her eyes. Her distrust, her wariness of men, was something he would have to overcome. Patience.
“All I want is a kiss, love.”
Her lips parted, and he watched, fascinated by the pulse in her throat as her neck and face flushed. Ah, not that immune to him, was she?
His control threatened to crumble as the moist heat of her sex warmed him through their clothing. Good God, he hadn’t even started, and she was responding. What did she hide under those prim clothes and pinched looks?
Unable to wait, to hold back any longer, he bent his head and took her lips. Not completely. Instead, he placed small kisses, just missing her mouth, a whisper of a caress guaranteed to drive them both mad.
He did not close his eyes. Rather, he left them open, staring into hers, which were luminous behind her spectacles, as he teased her mouth with his half kisses. Her breathing deepened, and a moment later her eyes slid closed.
Triumph pumped through him. He skimmed his hands up to cup her face. Her skin was so soft, so delicate. No longer able to restrain himself, he took complete possession of her mouth. She opened instantly to his questing tongue, and the taste of her exploded across his senses. Warm power flooded his body and he was lost to the moment.
Never in his life had a kiss been quite so erotic. Colleen’s hands no longer lay limply by her side but tangled in his hair, her fingers digging into his scalp. He was fully on top of her, breast to chest, belly to belly, his hard member pressing against her soft core. He locked his jaw, trying to reign in his control and not embarrass himself for the first time since the age of sixteen.
He moved his hips, closing his eyes, reveling in the feel of her against him. She stilled and tried to pull her head away from him. But Sebastian held tight and kissed her while he continued moving. A second or two later, she softened and returned his kisses again.
The musky scent of her arousal filled the room, furthering his own. Nothing else mattered. The way they met and married, not to mention his distrust of women, all faded into the background. The need to make this woman his—his lover, his mate, his wife—surged within him, pounded in his heart and soul.
He shifted his weight and palmed her breast through the thin fabric of her wrapper and nightclothes. A few light touches and her nipple pebbled. He groaned. How had this woman hidden all this passion beneath her fussy exterior? He desired her now, wanted to take her as was his due as her husband, but knew he needed to proceed slowly. He pulled away, closed his eyes and took a ragged breath.
“Sebastian?” she asked, her voice breathless and worried.
He looked down at her. His heart stopped for a beat then slammed hard against his rib cage. Her glorious hair lay in disarray, her glasses fogged and her lips full and rosy from his kisses.
She shifted her lower body, unintentionally he was sure, causing her sex to press harder against him. The woman was going to kill him. He closed his eyes and shuddered.
“Sebastian?” Now her voice held a note of hurt. Every muscle in her body stiffened. “Don’t worry. I understand. If you would just get up.” The primness was back in her tone, and a hint of resignation colored it. Almost every ounce of his seductress had disappeared.
Before answering, he moved to cover her fully again. “Colleen, what is it you understand?”
The silvery depths of her eyes darkened. “I understand that our marriage is to be one of convenience.”
“Convenience?” he muttered.
Through his irritation, her underlying tone reached him. He held his usually sharp tongue as he analyzed what lay behind the comment. Did he detect a note of disappointment? Was she regretting their marriage or her misassumption that it would be sexless? And with her response, she did desire him.
“Colleen, I have told you before, and I will tell you again, there is nothing convenient about our marriage.”
Her eyes, already huge behind her spectacles, widened. Fire ignited in them, but not the kind he wanted.
Before she could open her mouth to argue, he swooped in for another kiss, moving against her. His blood shot to molten lava as she returned the kiss, shyly tangling her tongue with his.
He pulled back, both of them breathless. “I told you I never wanted another marriage, but I plan on claiming you as my wife, my true wife.”
“But you don’t—”
He flexed his hips again, stopping her protest. Her eyes fluttered closed. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and hummed. The sound licked across his senses, bolstering his already runaway arousal.
“I don’t what?” Even he heard the huskiness, the desire, in his voice. “Don’t want you? Good God, woman, are you that naïve?”
Then the truth of it struck him. Of course she was. She was a virgin and a country-bred one at that. If he rushed things, she would never forgive him. Being a gentleman in his aroused state was going to kill him. He groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder. He would surely earn sainthood for this.
He raised his head and looked down at her. Her eyes were still closed as if waiting for her execution. For the first time in his life, Sebastian had to deal with a total innocent. For a sheltered woman like Colleen, sex probably frightened her and even though she might desire him, there was a good chance his passion would disgust her. He was harder than a steel saber, and the woman wanted nothing to do with him. That thought was enough to sober him.
“Colleen, I apologize for taking liberties. I…I had a bit too much to drink tonight, and I…” He what? Wanted to take her like a conquering Viking who thought it his right to rape and pillage? He was sure that would go over well with his bride.
He raised himself to his hands. Before he could move compl
etely away from her, she twined her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her eyes were now open. The desire lighting them nearly had him losing control right then and there.
“Please, Sebastian.”
With that quiet plea, full of timid arousal, all of his control broke. He groaned and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Anything to please my wife.”
She protested as he lifted away from her. “Love, I have to get these clothes off you before I go insane.”
Her breathing hitched. “You…you want to see me naked?”
There it was, that damned doubt. True, she wasn’t a diamond of the first water. No, her features were too prominent for that. And red hair and grey eyes weren’t all the rage, he knew. But in his mind blonde hair and blue eyes were overrated. Especially now that he had seen Colleen’s hair unbound and her eyes darkened with passion.
“Oh, yes, I want to see every glorious inch of your body naked.”
She swallowed but didn’t say a word, just watched him warily. He took that as her consent, and within moments, her wrapper lay on the floor. He untied the ribbons and pulled open the bodice of her modest gown as anticipation surged through him.
Every thought vanished when he revealed her breasts, bathed in candlelight. Pale ivory, smooth as silk, tipped with rosebud nipples. He brushed the back of his fingers against them, reveling in the hardened points. Her indrawn breath filled the silent room.
Without hesitation, he bent his head and took one turgid nipple into his mouth. The taste of her sent another wave of heat through him. So sweet…so delicious. He moved from one breast to the other, emboldened by her moans. Her fingers slid in his hair, urged him closer. That one little gesture sent a shock of conquest roaring through his blood. His control vanished as he gripped her nightgown, yanking it up over her head and throwing it on the floor behind him. The sight of her naked flesh momentarily stunned him.
Never in his life had a woman’s body been so much of a surprise. Beneath the layers of prim and proper clothing lay a wonderland of soft, smooth skin. His gaze moved from her breasts, to her tiny waist and full hips, to the thatch of bright red hair between her legs. She shifted restlessly, but nothing deterred his study of her body, especially her legs.
The Accidental Countess Page 11
