“Henry has been kind,” she interrupted. “He has been cheerful and friendly, but he has not shown any intimate interest in me. If you were right—In the beginning, I mean—about me having to be the bolder one, I want to make sure I do it right.”
Another long moment of silence passed between them, but finally, Algernon raised his head and looked at her again. Heat and desire leapt from his forest green eyes, amplifying the need already growing inside of her. Another moment later, what little was left of his resistance in his gaze faded, and something dark shifted in his eyes.
He rose. Slowly. His powerful hands trembled as he let them fall to his sides, their veins seeming to dance in the firelight as he flexed his muscles. Beatrice’s eyes followed him, drinking in the sight of him deeply.
“Come to me.”
There was a sharpness within his deep voice. It was not harsh, but she knew that it was not an invitation but a command.Trembling, Beatrice rose to her feet and closed the small space between them. As she looked up into his eyes, Beatrice’s heart hammered as she forced herself to draw in a breath.
Slowly, he brought a hand up. She nearly gasped as his heated touch wrapped around the side of her neck, and shedidroll her eyes back as he smoothed his palm over her neck and slid his fingers into her hair at the back of her scalp. His grip on her was strong, tight, as he forced her head to tilt back so that her lips were tilted up to his like an offering.
“I prefer you like this,” he murmured, his other hand coming up to caress her collarbone then up to her shoulder. “Fresh from a bath. Barren of cosmetics and fancy dresses.”
Beatrice forced in another shuddering breath as his free hand roamed from her shoulder to her upper back. She let out a whimper as that hand then trailed down her spine to the small expanse just above her backside. Then with a movement so fast it made her gasp, she was brought to his body; her hips were flush against his, and she could clearly feel his arousal through the fabric of his trousers and her nightgown pulse between her legs.
He then leaned in. Not to kiss her lips, even though she offered them to him, but to dip his head toward her neck, and inhale her deeply. His nose barely touched the flesh of her neck as he did so, but even so, the barest brush made her whimper.
“I am not my brother,” Algernon rasped against my throat, making her lashes flutter again as they barely caressed againsther flesh. “And in this moment, I do not care what he would like. Nor do I care to teach you seduce him.”
Beatrice reached for him, her nails digging into his shoulders and holding him there, frightened that he might pull away.
“I do not care,” she breathed, feeling his powerful body tremble at her touch. “Just touch me.Please.”
A tortured sound erupted from Algernon’s throat as she said please, and before she could think of anything else to say, he gruffly pulled her back further and kissed her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
God forgive mewas the last thought Algernon had before he finally gave in to his wants and kissed Beatrice. He had told himself that that particular part of their lessons was over. That he had taken too many liberties with her body and needed to stop. He had vowed to never touch her like that again.
He had meant to scare her by being so rough in the moments leading up to their kiss, to show her that he was not the man she needed to teach her such things, but she did not react the way he had thought she would.
Instead, her eyes rolled back and her lashes fluttered when he pulled her hair and yanked her head back; she had quivered with need as he pushed her forcefully into his body. Her reactions had only served to torture him further, and yet he was still determined to let her go and send her to bed alone.
And then she said please. Said it in such a way that matched perfectly with his own need, and he was lost.
His kiss was possessive and feral as he slammed his lips down on hers. He drew her in fervently, drawing in her bottom lip and suckling it before urging her lips to part wider with his own. He was not tentative this time, did not glide his tongue gently across her lips to ask for entrance. He simply took it, claiming her mouth as he had done so many countless times in the erotic dreams that had filled his night.
At his shoulder blades, he felt her nails dig deeper into his flesh, and with a growl, he grabbed her backside and hoisted her up onto his hips. He relished the feel of her legs instantly wrapping around his waist and thrust forward, showing her just how much she was affecting him. Beatrice broke the kiss as she threw her head back, a sinfully erotic moan leaving her throat as she ground her sex into his aching erection, showing him she was not afraid but wanted more. The feeling of her willingness was so delicious, he hissed and fought the overwhelming urge he suddenly had to release.
It had been so long, sovery, verylong since a woman had affected him this way. He wasalwaysin control… but not now. Not with her. Whether Beatrice recognized it or not, she had him in the palm of her tiny hand, hers to do with as she pleased.
“More,” she moaned before her plump lips slammed back into his.
He met her kiss greedily, holding the back of her head tight as he walked to his bedroom door and kicked it open. He barely noticed the riotousslam!that echoed through the room as his door flew into the wall from the force of the kick, nor didhe notice that his drapes were still open, bathing his bed in moonlight until he opened his eyes and all but flung Beatrice away from him and onto his bed.
Her eyes widened with a brief terror as she sailed through the air for the briefest of moments then before her back could even hit the soft stretch of his bed, he was there, his body atop hers, his mouth sealed over hers so that he could swallow her gasp.
Then her hands dove into his hair, and this time, it was she that wrenched his head back, breaking their kiss. It startled him a moment, such a blatant shift of power as it was, but then he let out a throaty groan as her teeth sank into the pulsing vein at his throat, sending desire shooting from the possessive bite all the way down to his groin. Then suddenly her teeth released him, and in their place were her lips and tongue, soothing gentle laps and kisses over the bitemark and down his neck. He shifted up, letting her needy mouth explore a path from his throat down to his pectoral muscles, and as she sank her teeth into one, he captured the back of her head and held her there, silently urging her to bite as hard as she could.
He wanted her mark.
Then the need to kiss her became too great again, and he once more reclaimed the power by using the grip on her hair to force her mouth to let go, and he sank back down to viciously kiss her lips. He was rewarded with a deep moan and the hitch of her leg over his hip, the action causing her nightgown to travel above her knee and gather at her hips.
He let go of her hair then, only to reach down and smooth his hand up her shapely leg to her bare hip. His grip tightened there, and Beatrice broke away from the kiss with a sharp gasp as her back arched and her trembling grew greater.
Algernon rose up on his knees then, gathering the fabric of her nightgown that had pooled at her hips, and he dragged it up her body before flinging it to the floor. What he saw next made his breath catch in his throat and his heart thud hard against his chest.
He had teased her breasts, her sex. Had seen them bare individually and reveled in it, yet seeing her like this. Completely stripped of any clothing; her legs and arms spread wide, her panting breath making her pert breasts rise and fall—it was heaven.Shewas his heaven. And he was going to let another man take her from him.