Nicole Jordan (22 page)

“N-no…” she exclaimed shakily.

“Then I intend to take this opportunity to show you how.” He reached for the hem of her gown.

Panicking, Diana grasped his arm to forestall him. “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because…it would be scandalous.”

“As you said, your reputation gives you more license than the typical unmarried lady. And no one will know. We’ll hear any of your servants coming, and we can’t be seen over the chaise.”

It was true, Diana realized. The back of the chaise was to the door, giving them a measure of privacy, even if one of her servants should happen to enter without being summoned—which wasn’t likely, since they knew better than to disturb her when she was working in her studio.

“I know you are curious,” Thorne murmured while she debated. “So I will take the choice from you. I intend to arouse you, love, to show you what pleasure is. You don’t have to do a thing but remain still. Now, just relax.”

She couldn’t possibly obey, though. Every nerve in her body had come to tingling life, sharp as a razor’s edge. She felt the hem of her gown being raised, felt the warmth of the hearth fire against her naked skin. But it was Thorne’s hand trailing up her inner thigh that made shivers race across her skin.

Her heart began thudding as he bared her lower body completely to his gaze. He was looking at her sex, she realized.

“Lovely,” he said. His voice, male and sensual, washed over her. “I have fantasized about this for weeks.”

When his fingers tangled in the nest of dark curls between her thighs, Diana went rigid, her own fingers clutching at his arm.

“Close your eyes,” he commanded as he bent to kiss her again.

She wanted to resist, but Thorne’s mouth kept caressing hers, long drugging kisses that clouded her senses. Gently urging her thighs apart then, he cupped her sex. Her nerves leapt in response. Then he ran one fingertip through the curls there, pressing against her cleft. Diana sucked in a breath but held herself completely still as his touch played over her feminine softness.

All her awareness centered on his caressing hand, on his fingertips sliding over her heated flesh that was already swollen and slick with moisture. Her body tightened unbearably as he stroked, and when he parted her feminine folds, she froze, not daring to breathe.

She could feel him probing the entrance to her body. Then he boldly slid one long finger inside her, and her breath fled altogether.

He paused, letting her grow accustomed to his unexpected invasion. The flush of heat inside her spread like wildfire, making her quiver. Then his finger withdrew, only to glide back inside her and press even deeper.

Diana arched and gave a little moan.

“Easy,” he murmured, his voice soft, husky, stroking her as his hand was doing.

Easy?
How could she be easy when his first touch had triggered a tumult inside her? She felt dazed and utterly wanton.

“You’re extremely responsive,” Thorne breathed with satisfaction. “I knew you would be.”

Deliberately he slipped a second finger inside her to join the first, opening her further.

“You’re very tight but wet enough to accept more.”

His thumb found the small nub of her sex and rolled it back and forth, gliding languidly while his fingers fully penetrated her slickness.

Diana dragged in another breath and her thighs fell apart. Thorne seemed pleased with her response, for he gave a murmur of approval.

“Your nipples are hard, delicious points, aren’t they?” he whispered against her lips.

They were indeed, she thought, dazed; the peaks of her breasts throbbed. But the ache low in her body was now an exquisite agony. Thorne had ignited a fire inside her.

“I could make it even more enjoyable for you if I sucked your nipples,” he mused. “I could draw down your bodice and increase the pleasure for you. But for now, I want to arouse you with just my hand.”

His tone was so confident that it surprised Diana when he stopped caressing her.

Easing her away from him a little, he unfastened the buttons of his pantaloons and drawers, so that his erection sprang free. Then he grasped her hand and guided her fingers to his rigid length.

“Now it’s your turn to touch me.”

Diana drew a gasping breath at the feel of him. He was scalding hot and hard as granite, but the skin covering his arousal was soft as velvet, and the sacs beneath were firm as melons ready to burst.

While she was still holding him, he slid two fingers inside her again.

“Now imagine my cock inside you, like my fingers.”

At the same time he slid his tongue deep into her mouth, mimicking the teasing thrusts he was making with his fingers.

Diana could envision the image he’d described: Thorne’s thighs spreading hers wider…his huge, jutting arousal slowly penetrating inside her…. Each languid plunge of his fingers was in rhythm with his tongue and soon had her flushed and panting.

Helplessly, she arched against his hand, her hips moving, asking for something she couldn’t even identify. Yet he held her securely, his fingers probing still more insistently, his slick thumb caressing her ruthlessly.

Flames fanned out over her body. Desperate for something to anchor her, Diana reached up and twined her hands in Thorne’s tawny hair, clutching fiercely. Her body shuddered with wanting.

It frightened her, the fire Thorne had unleashed inside her. Her hips were writhing now, straining against his magical hand, seeking release from the terrible, exquisite tension, from the vibrant, burning heat.

“I am so hot…” she whimpered.

“Don’t fight it,” Thorne murmured in a hoarse, approving tone against her trembling mouth. “Just let it come.”

Her fingernails sank into his hair as he drove her higher. Soft cries came from her throat as a wild frenzy took possession of her body. She shook and shuddered as hot bursts of pleasure jerked through her repeatedly, jagged and intense. She was caught in a storm of fire, of sensations too keen to be borne. She was bursting with the inferno, shattering. Thorne kissed her again, his mouth capturing hers to mute her hoarse scream of pleasure….

A red-black haze still enveloped her when Diana finally regained her senses. Thorne was feathering soft kisses over her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. The tremors faded slowly, leaving a hot glow in her limp body.

She felt fractured. She had never known sensation like that existed; where everything else in the world fell away and nothing mattered but Thorne’s wonderful touch.

Dazed, Diana opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her. His soft smile was tender, satisfied.

She licked her dry lips. “I never knew….”

“Never knew what, love?”

“What it would feel like. It was like…an explosion. Like fireworks exploding inside me.”

“That is an apt description. But lovemaking can be even hotter.”

Her mouth curved ruefully. “I don’t think I could bear any hotter.”

“Oh, you can, I promise you.”

Withdrawing a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, Thorne gently rubbed her cheek, removing a smudge of paint. “It can be even better with a man’s flesh deep inside you…for both of us.”

At his statement, Thorne made a sound low in his throat and shut his eyes, pressing his forehead against hers, as if striving for control. “I would like nothing more than to bury myself between your sweet thighs, but I vowed to remain a gentleman. And I mean for you to remain a virgin. Next time I’ll use my mouth. For now, let me show you how you can bring yourself to climax.”

Reaching for her hand, he guided her fingers to her sex, making Diana touch herself.

It was the sudden realization of her wantonness that finally brought her to her senses. “No…this has gone far enough.”

Weakly pushing down her skirts, she swung her legs to the floor and levered herself off Thorne’s lap. Standing on shaken limbs, she retreated a few steps, putting a safer distance between them before finding the courage to meet his eyes. “I can’t let you distract me this way.”

His hot gaze raked her face, his expression intent, as if he was trying to judge her sincerity.

Diana was completely sincere, though. She scowled at Thorne, eyeing him with mistrust. “You tried to divert my attention by seducing me witless, didn’t you?”

“That isn’t entirely true. I couldn’t help myself. You have a damnably painful effect on me, vixen.”

“What do you mean, painful?”

“I’ve been in a constant state of arousal since I met you. It is extremely painful for a man to become aroused with no relief.”

At his statement, her attention shifted to Thorne’s loins. The front placket of his pantaloons was still open, with the thick, swollen length of his erection rising nearly to his abdomen. She stared, fascinated by his male anatomy.

“Yes, behold your effect,” he said dryly.

Diana’s gaze narrowed doubtfully. “I certainly didn’t mean to arouse you. I’m sorry.”

Thorne laughed, wincing at the same time. “You can’t help it, sweetheart. You’re beautiful and intriguing and incredibly stimulating to a man like me.”

“I don’t want you to be in pain, Thorne. Is there…something I should do?”

He shook his head. “I can satisfy myself if the pain gets too great. I’ve managed that way these past few weeks. I have taken to pleasuring myself so I can control the temptation to carry you off and ravish you.”

“Then you don’t want me to…caress you?”

His smile was pained but infinitely sensual as he fastened the buttons of his trousers. “You’re not experienced enough yet. If you knew the images going through my mind, they would shock you. Even so, I will be happy to show you how to pleasure yourself.”

“I think not,” Diana replied, trying to regain control of their conversation.

“If you change your mind, let me know. Now that you’ve felt the ecstasy of sexual release, you’ll want more. It can become a sweet craving—”

“Thorne, stop this! You won’t make me forget our argument. I want to paint Madam Venus.”

Every ounce of levity faded from his expression. He returned her gaze for a long moment. “You aren’t going to give up, are you?”

“No. And I know you don’t expect me to. You realize I am right. I can help you.”

“Perhaps, but I sure as hell don’t like it. I don’t want you near Venus.”

“I will be careful. You can instruct me on what to say to Venus, how to uncover her secrets.”

Thorne ran a hand raggedly through his fair hair, not replying.

“Please,” Diana pleaded, “you must allow me to paint her. It will work, I promise you.”

Setting his teeth, he gave her a measuring stare. “I don’t share your confidence in the least. But I would rather have you working under my direction than risk you going off on your own—devil take you.”

“I hoped you would see reason.”

Her relieved smile brought a scowl to Thorne’s face. “This is deadly serious, Diana. Nathaniel was killed, quite possibly by Venus. If you find yourself in difficulty with her, I may not be able to rescue you. You will have to use your wits and remain constantly on your guard.”

She was drawn in by the sheer intensity of Thorne’s eyes. “I understand,” she said solemnly.

“And I mean to put you through grueling rehearsals, covering every feasible topic that might come up before I let you go near her.”

“I will do everything exactly as you tell me to.”

He nodded reluctantly. “Very well, then. You may paint Venus. But I want to decide how best to approach her. There are several ways to gain her cooperation, as you said. Let me think about it, and I will let you know when I escort you to Almack’s this evening. Meanwhile, don’t you dare do a thing.”

“I won’t. And you won’t regret this, Thorne.”

“I hope to God I don’t.”

With that muttered utterance, he rose to his feet. As he smoothed out the front placket of his trousers, an ironic smile twisted the corner of his mouth.

Diana retreated another step, concerned that Thorne might try to kiss her farewell—or more. But to her surprise, he turned away and left the studio without another word, shutting the door firmly behind him.

He wasn’t happy with her, she knew. Not only had she defied him, but he was still in physical pain, if the bulge in his trousers was any indication. She wondered if Thorne had been telling the truth, that he now pleasured himself so he could control the urge to ravish her.

It amazed her that with all the beautiful women he could have, he considered her a temptation. But she felt the same way about him.

That
was why she hadn’t finished his portrait. She’d lied to Thorne about her reason. She hadn’t dared focus so much of her attention on his beautiful body. He already took up too much of her thoughts, day and night.

And now he had set her in turmoil again. He’d given her an irresistible taste of passion and left her hungering for more.

Shakily, Diana crossed the studio to the cheval glass that she kept for the benefit of her clients. Her limbs were still weak from the ecstasy he had shown her. And she was acutely conscious of the heat that lingered in the feminine core of her body, of the way her tight nipples rubbed against the fabric of her bodice. Thorne had said he wanted to suckle her nipples to increase her enjoyment….

Remembering, she felt her cheeks flood with fiery warmth, a mingling of shame and excitement. His brazen declarations weren’t the only thing she recalled, either. She remembered the way his rigid phallus felt to her touch, the way his stroking fingers had aroused her so expertly as he showed her the secret to sexual pleasure.

Diana muttered an oath beneath her breath. How had she let it happen when she’d been so determined to resist him? How could she be so eager to experience that incredible fire again?

Feeling outrageously wanton, she raised her skirts to bare her lower body, studying the downy curls between her thighs. She hadn’t dared take Thorne’s advice to pleasure herself when he’d suggested it on the ship several weeks ago, but now…

Watching in the glass, she cupped her mound tentatively, finding the delicate bud of her sex. It was only a short step from there to imagine Thorne standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her hips, his fingers caressing her feminine cleft, driving her to rapture.