Lord Bachelor

by Tammy L. Bailey

  Unable to hold the moment off any longer, he settled between her thighs and braced his elbows on each side of her head. “Look at me,” he said, his voice commanding, but gentle. She fluttered her eyelids, her clear blue orbs glinting in the soft light of the room. With his heart thundering, he eased in and out of her, stretching her, one centimeter at a time. He went deeper, his restraint tested with every thunderous pulse. Then he felt her tense, felt the resistance of her barrier.

  “Edmund?” She blinked, her hands wrapping around his upper arms, pushing at him, pushing him away. This was killing him. Now, he understood, if just a little, how she’d felt when he struggled on what to do between them.

  “Let me inside,” he begged, bending his head and kissing the throbbing pulse at her neck. He drew from her a series of sighs and moans that left him on the edge of release. When her palms loosened around his arms, he shoved past her virginity, shattering her innocence. Her cry echoed inside the tiny space of her apartment and into his soul. He kissed her, urgent and primal, his hand shifting to cradle her head as one arm wrapped around her back, bracing her against his full invasion.

  Then he stopped, waiting for what felt like an eternity for her body to adjust to his size and the intrusion. Pausing like this was something he’d never done, something he never thought he wanted to experience. Now, he lay with her, the tightness of her warmth squeezing him to the brink of madness. Slow and rhythmically, he started to move inside her again, shifting his mouth to kiss away the salty tears of pain trickling down the sides of her sweet face. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “I know.” She shuddered.

  “Are you all right?”

  ****

  Abby nodded, wanting nothing more than to feel the connection between them, to know every emotion and experience with Edmund. When the pain started to ease, she began to relax under Edmund’s careful and cadenced lovemaking. Like a skilled partner in an exotic slow dance, his hands shifted to her hips, guiding her with him. The glorious tide of sensations began to swell, on top of one another, the waves spreading, building, until she convulsed and threw her arms around his neck, his name on her lips.

  She clung to the pulsating surge, wanting to stroke and rock him at the same time. With each plunging force, she saw his face tighten; felt his body tense. She wanted to send him where he’d sent her, to kiss him like he’d kissed her. With shy hands, she wrapped them around his nape and lifted her mouth to his, drawing him down. A deep growl sounded in his throat before his palm cupped her behind, and in one fluid, dizzying movement, flipped her so she lay on top of him, somehow, still joined. She braced her hands on the hardness of his chest, his heart beating ferocious against her palm. She shook her head, unsure of what to do until his passion-filled gaze locked with hers, and his hands began guiding her hips again, slow and controlled.

  Then she found a rhythm all her own, sliding back and forth, up and down, trying to strike a balance between the tenderness and the pleasure building at her core. He shifted against her, and her breath pitched, her head falling back until Edmund’s hands grasped her around the waist, his voice a harsh and breathless plea. “Abby, stop!”

  She jerked her head forward to find his eyes squeezed shut. She froze. “What’s the matter?” Did you get a—”

  He let out a rough growl, flipping her on her back, his hands cradling her head. She felt the wetness of the separation before he joined them again, sliding full length inside her. His mouth lowered to her ear, his hot breath making her shiver.

  “You are my wondrous torture,” he whispered, “not a bloody splinter.”

  She arched her back to accept more of him. He hitched upward; shifting against her sensitive flesh until she gasped, the sensations coming faster, stronger.

  “Edmund.” She called his name, her words husky and breathy. Like going over a waterfall, she clung to him through the convulsions, through the spiraling vibrations of pleasure.

  ****

  “Bloody…hell,” Edmund rasped, his arms reaching to clutch the cheap wooden headboard of her futon. At this moment, nothing mattered except her and him, their breaths entangling, her slick walls pulsating around him. In his entire adult life, he had never known such blissful indulgence. Wrapped in maddening torment, he bent to kiss her, her sweet tongue sweeping inside his mouth. The taste of her proved to be his undoing as he lost all control. He folded her in his arms, thrusting into her one last time. Wild and shattering, his body convulsed with explosive release. Their two worlds collided as spasm after enraptured spasm rocked him to his core. Exhausted, he fell atop of her, afraid to move and break the moment.

  When she began to stir underneath him, he lifted his hands and brushed back the damp wisps of hair from her flushed, tea rose-tinged face. He kissed her temples before easing off her and reached for something to clean the blood and intimacy from them.

  When he came back to gather her into his arms, he forced from his mind any responsibility to his name. He only wanted to hold her and imagine she was his and nothing or no one would ever separate them. He held her until the inevitable question sprung from his lips.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Edmund felt Abby’s exhaled breath glaze across his chest. She reached over him to click on a soft bedside lamp before presenting a question of her own. “How long have you known?”

  “I had my suspicions. You confirmed it when you locked yourself in the bathroom for an ungodly amount of time.”

  He felt her body stiffen next to him. “I didn’t lock myself in the bathroom.”

  “Then what the bloody hell…what the hell were you doing in there?” He smiled.

  Her black lashes blinked once. “Rehearsing.”

  He wanted to chuckle, but swallowed the urge, admiring the peach tint of her cheeks as she stared at him.

  “Rehearsing what?”

  “How I was going to tell you.”

  “Reflections are damnable things, aren’t they?”

  Not understanding his meaning, she shoved away from him, offended. However, he was much faster and pinned her down, bringing her hands above her head. With both of them still naked, he wished he’d thought more on maneuvering her in this position.

  She bucked at him, and he smiled down at her. “Careful, love. I’m quite ready, but it is too soon for you to have another go.”

  She huffed at him. “Where? To hell for mocking me?”

  He feigned surprise. “I’m doing no such thing. It’s simply that I’m entirely amused by you.”

  “Well, that’s a different way of putting it,” she said with a sarcastic tone.

  He let go of her wrists, and eased off her. “Come,” he said, offering her his hand. “We can talk after we’ve cleaned up a bit.”

  Besides making love to Abby, he’d never known any greater enjoyment than using a loofah sponge to clean every silken part of her. She possessed the most perfectly curved hips, her body a haven of promised pleasures he couldn’t wait to spend a lifetime discovering.

  For now, he had questions. He’d managed to get half-dressed when another inquiry left his mouth. Now that he realized her sleeping with men had nothing to do with her having sex with them, he had his own questions for her.

  “I want you tell me who you’ve slept with, Abby?”

  She had been in the middle of pulling on a pair of silk panties when his words made her stumble forward. She lifted up and blinked at him. He stalked toward her, slow and cautious. “I have a right to know.”

  She tilted her chin to an intimidating level. “Will you tell me who you’ve slept with, all twenty-something of them?” she said, her chin lifted to intimate him.

  A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “No.”

  She pressed her lips together and exhaled loud through her nose. When her eyes shifted toward the stairs, he lunged forward and grasped her wrist, hauling her back onto the bed. She bucked in protest and he grunted from both pain and pleasure. “Carefu
l,” he warned.

  She settled down, but his body was tensing, the blood rushing into places, surging in others.

  “Did anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions?” she fired up at him.

  He bent to kiss her nose before pulling away. “No.”

  She sighed and relaxed. “Fine, but you will let me finish what I have to say before drawing any sort of conclusions.”

  He quirked an eyebrow at her. It should not be any of his business, but he wanted to know everything about her, every aspect of her life now that he’d managed to tangle his world in hers.

  “Well,” she began, “going backward, there was you.”

  “Me?”

  She shrugged. “When I was sick, and you stayed after I’d fallen asleep.”

  “How extraordinary,” he said, before sobering to ask her another question. “Who’s the other?”

  “Hush,” she warned. Then she bent her head, her gaze avoiding his, until the answer hit him square in the face.

  “Will?”

  Her hands flew to her hips. “You were supposed to let me finish. It’s really not what you think.”

  At this point, Edmund didn’t know what to think. A cold wave of fury washed over him. “Did…did he…touch you?” he murmured as he closed his eyes, unable to watch her tussle with her answers.

  “He tried. We were working on the paper one night,” she rushed to say, her voice drawing closer. “It was late, and we just fell asleep. When we woke up, he…sort of took advantage of the situation.”

  Edmund’s eyelids flew open. “I’m going to kill him,” he said, fury replacing the blood rushing through his veins. He started to stalk toward the stairs, fully intent on hauling Will back to her apartment so Abby could witness him punching the son of a bitch in the mouth.

  That was until Abby rushed at him, still half-naked. “Edmund, please just listen.” She begged with her eyes, their glistening pools reflective of the moment. “I couldn’t believe his asinine attempt either, so I grabbed my alarm clock and smacked him across the eye with it.”

  Edmund’s rigid body suddenly relaxed, remembering the scar Will had sported since they’d known each other. He’d imagined the man had been in a bar fight, not cold-cocked by a woman half his size. Impressed, he reached out to smooth the lines of worry that had gathered over Abby’s eyebrows. “You assaulted him?”

  She smiled. “Yes, and then I rushed him to the emergency room where he needed about five stitches.”

  “Five,” Edmund repeated.

  She shrugged. “I tried to talk the doctor into giving him ten.” She smiled, seeming to enjoy the memory. However, her rapturous mouth turned downward upon taking one glance at him. He had no doubt his features exposed his confounded thoughts.

  “You’re angry.”

  “No. I’m just not used to feeling so possessive over someone. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

  She grinned, shifting close enough to lay a kiss on his bare chest. However, questions remained. He tried asking one as her mouth trailed around to a sensitive part of his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth, and not the exaggerated one?”

  She stopped, her voice quiet and thoughtful. “Because you said you had no use for virgins, we were…too high maintenance. I think those were the words you used.”

  He laughed and then cleared his throat. “I was joking…somewhat. I wanted to rile you, and I must admit you are one of the easiest people to incite.”

  She opened her mouth to refute his claim. He hushed her with an index finger to her lips. “I had my suspicions at that moment, Abby. However, knowing if you were or weren’t didn’t change the fact that I was already so captivated by you.” He paused. “I am curious, though, how you stayed a virgin so long.”

  She sighed deep. “Are you asking if I was saving myself for ‘the one’?”

  He smiled at her ridiculous question. “Something like that.”

  She shrugged. “No, it was nothing that romantic. I was so occupied with getting decent grades, helping my dad, and trying to keep Kendra from becoming my stepmother that I didn’t notice anyone until Derek swept me off my feet. You know, the charming and rich type?”

  She sent him a nervous smile. His hands remained fisted, hating the idea of her with anyone but him. Then she snuggled closer, her hand coming up to rest on his chest. “I became obsessed with him. I fell hard and I fell fast. I didn’t even realize we weren’t exclusive until…well, you know the rest. I guess you could say I was cured of ever wanting to go through that again.”

  Edmund placed his index finger under Abby’s chin. “You never have to,” he said before he realized the implications of his words. She then became very quiet.

  “What is it, Abby?”

  “Tuesday, when Holly hands you the name of the woman the audience thinks you should marry…”

  He nodded, trying to get her to finish her question. “Yes?”

  “What…what if that person is not me, Edmund?”

  As the consequence of his monstrous decision began to sink deep into his gut, he lifted his hands to her face, and she shifted upward to make the caress more intimate. He realized he was about to offer her his life, though he hoped it was still worth a title and a few scatterings of property. The damn Duke of Dangleon had to exist somewhere in time.

  “I do have the last say, Abby. Besides, do you think you would like being bound to me? Do you think if something was to happen, and I had nothing to give you, that you’d be happy with me?”

  Abby drew back, her eyes narrowing in nervous suspicion. “What are you trying to say?”

  This was it. This is where he offered himself and what was left of his life. He waited for his heart to squeeze in his chest or his mind to scream him back into reason. When his heart gave a blissful beat and his mind thought of a few dozen different ways to make love to her again, he smiled. “I am not the most romantic of men, nor the most cooperative. But, I assure you, I will try and give you everything I have, whatever that may be.”

  “Does everything include you, Edmund?”

  He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes.”

  ****

  The warm sun from a side window kissed Abby’s face and neck. She shifted awake on her futon bed, her body wondrously sore from spending an exhaustive night with Edmund.

  Then her eyes opened, remembering what Blaire and Delphine had warned her about. She turned slowly, finding Edmund propped upon his elbow, his jaw resting in his hands. The imperial blue sheet draped over his hip, exposing the contours of his chest. She smiled and lifted her gaze, finding his intensely on her. He was so silent, she started to squirm.

  “What?” she asked.

  He reached out his hand and smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “You’re even more beautiful now than you were yesterday. I didn’t think that was possible.”

  Heat rose in her cheeks. She thought, perhaps now, after sharing such an intimate time with him, the sensation would not come so easily to her. Still, she stretched a timid hand toward his bare chest, pressing her palm against his warm skin. Before she could think of something to say, he shifted so he lay half on top of her, his deft fingers gliding over her waist and sliding at a slow pace under her panties. She caught her breath, and her eyes closed anticipating his caressing touch. With the pad of his thumb, he separated her folds, stroking, teasing and tormenting her at the same time.

  When she turned her head, he lowered his mouth to her ear. “Turn back to me and open your eyes. I want to see you.”

  She did as he wished, her eyes fluttering open, her hips lifting and twisting under his gentle prowess. Her breath hitched, every nerve flooding with glorious sensations, her body reaching, grasping for the shattering release.

  So close, she arched her back into Edmund’s touch, the shift causing a sob to tear from her throat and her world to spin.

  “Look at me,” she heard Edmund say, his voice throaty and commanding, and his breath hot and ragged. She blinked at him, his stormy ocea
n green and blue eyes ablaze with fiery passion. As she tumbled over the edge into a wave of shuddering pleasure, he crushed his mouth to hers, silencing her sobs, drinking in her breathless whimpers. He gathered her into his arms, both their hearts pounding.

  “You thought I’d left you?” he said, his voice so deep, she shivered.

  She was amazed by his ability to read her so well. She puffed out her cheeks and admitted the truth. “Your reputation for escaping spans over two continents.”

  “Ah, escaping, good word.” He paused to move her into a more fitting position, grunting when her legs opened readily for him. “But, I assure you, fleeing…is the last thing on my mind at the moment.”

  He drew her against him, his kisses drugging her, his touch branding her. She remained in a state of euphoric bliss with him until she asked the inevitable question. “How do you think today will play out?”

  He didn’t smile to indicate there was a simple and painless answer. Instead, his features grew unreadable and rigid. A shadow of apprehension descended upon her, leaving her vulnerable to his reply.

  “Do you mean, do I present you a ring and ask you to be my wife?”

  The fact that he’d answered a question with a question meant he didn’t have a clue what to tell her. What happened to the beautiful man who declared he’d give her everything, whatever that was, and made love to her until they both lay unable to move? Perhaps, he did find a way to escape after all.

  “Abby, there’s something I must—”

  His sentence was cut short as a car’s squealing brakes startled them apart.

  “Will,” they said at the same time.

  A few seconds later, the man’s frantic voice popped through the intercom. “I know you’re up there, so let me in.”

  “God, he sort of sounds like the big bad wolf, doesn’t he?” Edmund joked.