Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (35 page)

“You know, my dress was the color of your eyes,” she informed him.

“Mikala has ways of doing that type of thing.”

“Oh.
 
Shouldn’t we shut the window?”

“We are on the second floor.
 
No one is going to see us.
 
Besides, the light it provides is giving me a beautiful view of your body beneath that little piece of sheer cloth.”

“It’s new, as well.
 
Mikala brought it all.
 
She thought I deserved to have beautiful things on my wedding day.
 
It was sweet of her, even though it doesn’t change the fact that I’m plain.”

“I’ve heard enough of that.
 
Now come here,” Mack dragged her to the cheval mirror.
 
It put her directly in the sunlight.
 
Tell me the woman standing there is not beautiful.”

“I’m not beautiful.
 
How do you think I have gone to all those gatherings and remain undetected?”

“Because those men are blind.
 
Because you hide yourself in clothing most servants would not wear.
 
You camouflage yourself so that you can’t be recognized.
 
When you were in that red dress last night, none of the men could keep their eyes off of you.
 
Prinny does not make advances at every woman, regardless of what many believe.
 
He has rather excellent taste in women.”

“He was doing no such thing.”

“He was.
 
Why do you think I was so angry?
 
Because you’re C.E. Jones?
 
That is easily remedied.
 
I was angry because of all the men vying for your attention, dancing with you, lusting after you.
 
This is what they saw.
 
A beautiful woman dressed in finery, and what made you so much more intriguing was the fact that you did not flaunt your beauty.
 
It was natural and radiated from you.”
 
He dropped more kisses along her shoulders and nape, pulling the straps of the chemise aside.

“Shut the window and drapes, please,” she pleaded.

“Afraid someone might hear us?” His grin made him look sexy and wicked all at the same time, causing her knees to go weak.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

“The window is closed, but the drapes stay.
 
I want to see you and I want you to see me.
 
I want you to know who it is that warms your bed and lies between your luscious thighs.”

Cassie lifted her eyes and met his gaze reflected in the mirror.
 
The power of his gaze, even through the mirror, caused her to take a step back.
 
She found herself planted firmly against his chest.
 
She was a tall woman and they fit together very nicely.
 
Cassie felt what earlier prodded her lower tummy through his pantaloons to now be nestled in the crevice of her buttocks.
 
She instinctually wiggled, but stopped when a large, firm hand spread across her stomach, holding her still.

“I would suggest you stop that, or this will be over before it’s begun.”
 
His voice was raspy to her ears, his brogue thick.
 
His head looked as if it hovered next to hers, over her shoulder.
 
She watched him pull the tie of her chemise, the ribbon easily slipping free of its mooring.
 
He pulled it loose and worked one sleeve off her shoulder and down her arm, exposing her breast to his gaze.
 
“We’ve been this far, remember?” he asked upon seeing her fisting her stiffened arms at her side.

“Vividly,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“I’m not.”

“Good.
 
Do you know I dreamt all night about this beautiful mound?” he asked, cupping his hand and hefting her breast out of the light stays she wore.
 

“You did not.”

“I did.”
 

She felt herself relaxing against him, her head resting against his shoulder.
 
Her heavy-lidded eyes watched as he massaged and caressed first one breast, then the other.
 
Cassie’s breath became fast and uneven.
 
At some point he removed his hand from her stomach, because it joined the other one.
 
Both hands were massaging and caressing her honeyed globes.
 
When she felt him pull on her nipples and twist them, elongating the already aching tips, she raised her hands and threaded them through his short hair, needing to be grounded somehow.

“You are wearing an extraordinary amount of clothes,” Cassie told her husband.

“Am I? Why don’t you do something to right the situation?”

Her deep blue eyes were heavy with desire when they met his silver gaze.
 
“I…I…”

He placed kisses along her neck, and she bent her head to allow him better access.
 
Never in her life had she felt like this.
 
Her heart raced with every touch of his lips and hands.
 
One of his hands left her bosom and worked its way up to her hair.
 
She could not contain the soft moan at the loss of his touch.
 
Cassie felt him free the pins and her hair tumbled to her waist.
 

“I’ve wanted to curl my fingers in this glorious mass of hair for I don’t know how long.
 
Bloody hell, but you smell delicious.”

“How do I smell delicious?”

“Because I find I want to nibble every last inch of your body.
 
Now, I believe you said something about me wearing too many clothes.”
 
He spun her around and tunneled his fingers in her hair.
 
“Do your worst,” he challenged.

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“You were raised in a scientific home.”

“Yes.”

“Have you seen the male form before?”

“In scientific tomes.”

“Then there’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
 

She raised her arms between them and began undoing the buttons on his black superfine before pushing it back and off his shoulders and down his arms.
 
It dropped to the floor, joining her dress.
 
Then she did the same thing to the weskit that lay beneath.
 
Finally she began working on his shirt.
 
She slowly undid the buttons as if she were opening a Christmas package.
 
What she uncovered made her breath hitch.
 

Mack’s chest and abdomen were heavily muscled.
 
Black whorls of hair lightly covered his chest and trailed down his abdomen.
 
She pulled his shirt free of his pantaloons and saw the trail of hair disappear beneath the waistband.
 
Along with the muscle and hair, there were scars.
 
There were old scars and new scars.
 
The newest wound lay on his lower right side, over his ribs and still looked puckered and slightly raw.
 
Cassie lightly touched each scar.

“Someday I expect you to tell me the story behind each scar.”

“Aye, but not today.”

“No,” she agreed breathlessly.
 
She watched as he manipulated the buttons at his wrists and then unknotted and unwound the cravat from around his neck.
 
Never once did she quit touching him.
 
Cassie found herself so fascinated in the differences of their skin texture that she could not let him go.
 
Then she looked down and saw that the fall of his pants looked slightly tented.
 
“What is causing this?” she asked curiously.
 
Cassie used her knuckles and gently rubbed along the ridge.
 
Her head jerked up at his gasp.
 
“Did that hurt?”

“Not in the way that you think,” he muttered between his teeth.
 
He now stood before her, in only his pantaloons and boots.

Cassie pulled the cord on her stays and slipped them down her hips and legs.
 
Then she took a deep breath, bent over and reached for the hem of her chemise.
 
She worked it slowly up her body and pulled it over her head.
 
She met Mack’s gaze as she opened her fingers and let the scrap of silk flutter to the floor.
 
“It seems we are matched now,” Cassie said standing before him in her silk pantalets, stockings and slippers.
 
“Who shall go next?”

“You,” he said huskily.
 
“Slippers.”

She kicked her slippers off and wiggled her toes.
 
“Now you.”

“Bartlett usually helps me with my boots.”

“Oh.
 
Well, then, can I fill the position?”

“I believe so.”
 
He walked to a chair in the corner and sat in it.
 
“Now, turn around…”

“I know what to do.
 
I used to help my father with his boots.”
 
She turned around and straddled his leg.
 
She tugged, but the boot barely moved.
 
“Perhaps you will have to help a little.”

“Yes,” he said, and placed the sole of his booted foot against her buttocks and gave her a shove.
 
His boot slipped free.

“Now the other.”
 
This time she felt his stockinged foot against her cloth-covered buttocks.
 
His toes wiggled and she could feel his foot flex against one firm globe.
 
“Ahem,” she shot him a glance over her shoulder.
 
He gave her the shove she needed and he now sat in his stocking feet.
 
“What now?”

“Now, I think we take this to the bed,” he said, standing.
 

He lifted her into his arms, their bodies flush against one another, and was once again kissing her passionately.
 
Cassie felt her breasts crushed against his chest, his coarse chest hair tickling her.
 
She threw her arms about his shoulders and welcomed the sensation as he walked her backwards across the room.
 
Cassie felt the bed against the back of her knees and sat down heavily.

***

Mack looked at the beautiful woman that sat before him and wondered how she could ever think of herself as plain.
 
He must be the luckiest man alive to have this woman warming his bed.
 
He also liked the exuberance she showed to this point in enjoying connubial bliss.
 
Mack grabbed her hands as they reached for the buttons of his pantaloons.

“What are you doing?”

“Unwrapping the rest of my package.”

“By all means, please continue.”
 
He stood still in front of her.
 
Her nimble, ink covered fingers began to slowly unbutton the buttons of the fall.
 
Mack stared up at the ceiling, breathing deeply, his hands fisted at his sides.

“Oh, my!” Cassie exclaimed.
 
“You are rather…umm…larger than the scientific drawings that I have seen.”

“What of paintings and sculptures?”

“Perhaps,” she said, a mischievous grin turning up the corners of her lips.

He looked down at her, and his breath caught in his chest at how radiant she looked when she smiled.
 
“I believe I’m done playing,” he said roughly.

“Yes,” she agreed.
 

He almost groaned when her tongue darted out to dampen her lips.
 

***

Cassie crawled backward on the large bed, and Mack followed her.
 
He looked like a ravenous wolf, stalking his prey.
 
She, however, refused to be a timid, frightened rabbit.
 
No, she was ready for this wolf, this ruthless rogue, who had forced her into an unwanted marriage.
 
One time she had thought she would die a virgin, never knowing the pleasure of the flesh, but through a twist of fate, she would.

“I’m ready,” she whispered hoarsely.
 
If he was done playing, so was she.

“Not quite yet.”
 

She met him halfway when he moved to kiss her again.
 
If he was a wolf, then so was she, for she was as ravenous as he was all of a sudden.
 
He made her feel beautiful and wanted and that amplified the sensations coursing through her body.
 
She felt Mack shift, spreading her thighs, as he lay between them.
 
The cloth of his pants felt course against her legs through the sheerness of her hosiery and pantaloons.
 
She had to admit, she found it just as exciting as she found everything else about this foray into marriage thus far.
 
Her short nails raked up and down his back, finally settling on his hips.

“Don’t rush it,” he breathed against her lips.

“You have created this monster in me,” she retorted and pulled him down once more for a long, lingering kiss.
 
She found that it was the one thing she did well, so far, for every time she kissed him, that part of him she had only seen in art or science grew just a little harder and bigger.
 
It was also having an affect on her.
 
Cassie could feel herself growing moist at the apex of her thighs, where he was lying against her.
 
She found herself wiggling, trying to pull him to her, closer.