Season For Surrender (A Danby Family Novella Book 2) (10 page)

Many months later, Lillian studied her
husband’s sensual profile as he dressed for the theatre. Dark tendrils of hair
curled around his forehead and his full lips curved in a smile while he tried
to tie his cravat. He growled in frustration. “I can feel you watching me.”

She leaned up on her elbow, the silken
sheets of their bed gliding across the bare skin of her arm. “Let me help you.”

“All right.” He swung towards her, his
eyes glittering with a dangerous desire she adored.

She scrambled to her knees and picked up
the pillow beside her. “No, you don’t. We’ve no time for another romp. Your
grandfather will be livid if we miss meeting him at the theatre again.”

Nick slid off the cravat he’d been
tying, and whipped his shirt over his head. His taut belly made her stomach flutter
as it did every time she saw his flesh. He came to the bed and knelt before her
to run a finger over her breast. He swirled his finger around her nipple until
she couldn’t hold back her moan.

“Nick.” She wasn’t sure if she was going
to tell him to stop or beg him to continue.

“Hmm?” Leaning over her, he nuzzled her
neck with his lips and then moved lower to lick one breast and then the other.
Unable to hold back her desire, she tossed the pillow aside and threw her head
back as he sucked on her nipple. A hot ache grew inside her, and decision made,
she raked her nails up his back and delved her hands into his hair to press him
closer. She no longer gave a fig that the duke would be mad, or that as the
owner of the theatre she really should be at the opening night of the most
talked about play in Town.

“Don’t stop. Miss Lloyd can handle the
opening and your grandfather.”

When Nick stopped, exactly as she’d just
instructed him not to, she glared at him. He grinned. “Have I told you how
brilliant I think you are for hiring her as your theatre manager?”

Lillian wiggled onto her back and
crooked a finger. In a flash, Nick loomed over her, the heat of his body
caressing her. “You’ve told me how brilliant I am for hiring her every time we
miss an opening.” Lillian giggled. She couldn’t help it. Irresponsible or not,
she was too happy to care, and Miss Lloyd really could handle everything.

Nick bent and lavished kisses on her
from her neck all the way to her belly. When he was between her legs, he gently
spread her thighs and slowly stroked her core. She writhed underneath him,
arching to press closer towards his mouth.

His tongue moved faster, causing blood
to surge from her center to the tips of her toes and her fingertips. Inside, a
familiar pulsing need built. His strokes slowed to a sensual pace that made her
cry out. “Faster. Dear God, faster.”

He chuckled, sliding his tongue over her
sensitive flesh and then blowing on it to cool it. The teasing excited her to
the point she thought she may burst from wanting release. “Nicholas.” Her
ragged word was a warning and a plea. He rose over her, gripped her bottom and
lifted her towards him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed her
hands against his solid thighs.

Their gazes locked, as their breathing
came in unison. He squeezed her buttocks. “How is it possible I want you more
every time I take you? I don’t think my need will ever lessen.”

She pulled on his neck until his mouth
found hers. His tongue tickled her lips, and then he crushed his mouth against
hers in a demanding kiss that left her panting. When he retreated, she shivered
with delight. “Prove to me your need hasn’t lessened. Show me how desirable I
am.”

He yanked her legs higher and plunged
into her with one long, delicious stroke. He slid in and out in a rhythm that
left her dizzy with yearning. As if he could read what she didn’t say, he moved
faster, his movements coming harder, until her teeth clenched and she raked at
his backside while struggling to hold off a bit longer.

The slide of his flesh against hers was
too much to bear. The pressure built and her body coiled inward with need.
Small waves of pleasure rolled from her core outward until the pleasure was
deliciously painful. She shuddered again and again, her heart hammering, her
senses reeling.

A ragged grunt came from him, and he
curled his fingers harder into her flesh, holding her in place as his body
tensed and his warm seed spilled inside her. His sweat-slicked body came down
over her, their hearts pounding together in the silence. After a time, he
rolled to his side and brought her with him into the cocoon of his arm. Her
limbs felt too heavy to move, but she had a confession to make. She cleared her
throat, moved towards his chest and toyed with the springy hair there.

He settled a large hand over hers. “What
is it, my love?”

“I hope we made a child tonight. I know
you need an heir, and I don’t want to ever disappoint you.” She’d not voiced
her fear out loud yet. Three months of lovemaking and nary a child. “What if
I’m barren?”

“I wouldn’t care.” He caressed her head.
“You’re all I want. All I need. Anything more is a boon to a life I’d given up
on.”

Happiness burst within her. “I love
you.”

“And I you.” His voice was drowsy.

A warm glow flowed through her. She had
a life she’d never thought possible and the man beside her was the reason. She
snuggled against Nick. He loved her, cherished her and valued her. At last, she
had a true family.

OTHER TITLES AVAILABLE
BY JULIE JOHNSTONE

BARGAINING WITH
A RAKE
(A Whisper of Scandal Novel Book 1)

CONSPIRING WITH
A ROGUE
(A Whisper of Scandal Novel Book 2)

DANCING WITH A
DEVIL
(A Whisper of Scandal Novel Book 3)

AFTER FOREVER
(A Whisper of Scandal Novel)

A WHISPER OF
SCANDAL TRILOGY
(Books 1-3)

MY FAIR DUCHESS
(A
Once Upon A Rogue Novel, Book 1)

WHAT A ROGUE
WANTS
(Lords of Deception Book 1)

THE REDEMPTION
OF A DISSOLUTE EARL
(A Danby Family Novella 1)

ECHOES IN THE
SILENCE
(THE SIREN SAGA)
BOOK 1

ANTHOLOGIES

A Summons From
Yorkshire
(Regency Christmas Summons Collection 1)

A Gentlemen’s
Pact
(Regency Christmas Pact)

All books are
available as e-books and print books at all major e-book retailers.

Julie Johnstone is a USA Today
best-selling author of Regency Romance and the author of a new urban
fantasy/paranormal romance book. She’s been a voracious reader of books since
she was a young girl. Her mother would tell you that as a child Julie had a
rich fantasy life made up of many different make believe friends. As an adult,
Julie is one of the lucky few who can say she is living the dream by working
with her passion of creating worlds from her imagination. When Julie is not
writing she is chasing her two precocious children around, cooking, reading or
exercising. Julie loves to hear from her readers. You can send her an email at
[email protected]
or find her at
www.juliejohnstoneauthor.com
, or on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/authorjuliejohnstone
or at twitter
@juliejohnstone.

Now Available!

My Fair Duchess,
A Once Upon A Rogue Novel, Book

After years of playing the rake to hide a dark family secret,
the Duke of Aversley feels tainted beyond redemption and cynical beyond repair.
Never does he imagine hope will come in the form of a quirky, quick-witted lady
determined to win the heart of another gentleman.

Thanks to a painfully awkward past, Lady Amelia De Vere long ago
relinquished the notion she was a flower that had yet to blossom. But when her
family faces financial ruin and the man she has always loved is on the verge of
marrying another, she’ll try anything to transform herself to capture her
childhood love and save her family―including agreeing to participate in a
bet between her brother and the notorious, dangerously handsome Duke Of Aversley.

Bound by the bet, Amelia and Aversley discover unexpected
understanding and passion beyond their wildest dreams, if only they can let go
of their pride, put trust in each other and chance losing their hearts.

Also Available Now!

After Forever, A Whisper of Scandal
Novel

A
year after her husband’s tragic death, all Lady Julianna Barrows wants is to be
left alone and forget that most of her heart went with him when he passed.
Instead, she finds herself the subject of many a matchmaking scheme and lurid
offer to ease her widowhood, as well as save her fading fortune. Desperate to
avoid having to remarry, she takes on a position as a tutor, only to discover
that the man she’s helping unexpectedly stirs her heart and passion.

Nash
Wolverton boxed his way out of the London slums and into immense wealth, but he
couldn’t care less about Society’s approval. Except he has his by-blow
daughter’s future to consider. To ensure her acceptance into Society, he’ll
endure anything―including procuring a tutor to transform him into a
gentleman so he can secure a suitable, boring wife.

Yet
what he wants changes the moment he hires Julianna. She may be a lady, but
she’s far from tedious. Bold and compassionate, she is nothing like the women
of the
ton
. Suddenly, she’s elicited a simmering desire in him, and even
a longing to love and be loved that he always thought out of his reach. Knowing
what he planned to settle for can now never be enough, he vows to win her love.
But as the walls she’s built begin to crumble, Julianna’s fears threaten to
tear them apart and she alone must decide if protecting her heart trumps
breaking Nash’s.