Sylvia Day - Pride and Pleasure

Laughing, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Sweetheart, that was far from ‘work.’”

“I should have done something!” she protested, looking less shy and more animated. She set her chin in her hand, which elevated her torso just enough to bare the upper curve of her breasts. “I feel sorely inadequate.”

Jasper was somewhat startled by the ferocity with which he was stirring again, simply from the sight of her and the thought of her deliberately arousing him. “Rubbish. If you had been any more adequate, the business would have been done before I was inside you. That’s why I made a point of facing you away from me.”

“You made certain I could not participate?” Eliza frowned. “I find that very unsporting.”

“Unsporting?” He grinned, enjoying her immensely as always. In all of his days, he’d yet to bed a woman who wanted to put more effort into pleasing him. Leastwise, not any he hadn’t paid for their services.

He gestured at his cock, which was half-hard. The semi-erection should not have been possible, not after the galvanic orgasm he’d been devastated by only a short time ago. “Men are easily enticed into the necessary physical state for sexual congress. It takes considerably more effort to arouse a woman. That’s why so many are left disappointed-in the race to climax, men always run the distance faster.”

“Disappointed? How can-”

“You asked me for more,” he reminded. “Imagine if I had given you less, or worse, said I was finished and it was a shame you couldn’t keep pace.”

“Oh…But you would never do that.”

“I would never do that,” he agreed. Even if it meant nearly killing himself every time he had her.

She pushed up, stealing his wits with the unexpected view of her perfect breasts. They were neither large-as he’d erroneously thought he preferred-nor small. When she sat back on her heels with her hands on her knees, he found himself speechless.

Then, her eyes widened and she bit her lower lip. Red-faced, she made a move as if to leave the bed.

He caught her wrist. “What is it?”

“I need a towel,” she whispered.

Sitting up, he grabbed one he’d thrown on the bed earlier. With his other hand, he gestured for her to widen her kneeling stance.

“Jasper…” Eliza was clearly mortified.

“It’s mine,” he said, tapping his shoulder in a silent order for her to put her hand there for balance. “Let me.”

His cock hardened at the visible evidence of how explosively he’d climaxed. She was soaked with his semen. Thick trickles of it coursed down either thigh. He could hardly believe he was ready for her again. By all rights, he should be drained dry.

He cleaned her as gently as possible.

“You knew to have towels ready,” she noted breathlessly, as he parted her delicately and dried the dark red curls between her legs. “I should have suggested sheep-gut condoms. I…I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“It was my responsibility to do that.”

“It’s my body.”

“Only in public and when you are dressed. When you’re naked, your body belongs to me.”

Her chin lifted. “Does your body belong to me when it’s bared?”

“Clothed and unclothed, for as long as you’ll have me.” If he had his way, even longer than that…

Jasper looked her in the eye. “I always use French letters, Eliza. I haven’t gone without one since I was young and too ignorant to know better. I assure you, that was many years ago.”

“Did you forget tonight? Or find you lacked-”

“I never forget.” He paused in his ministrations. “Tomorrow, when you’re repaired and rested and feeling entirely in control of your mental faculties, we’ll discuss everything that transpired tonight.”

Her fingertips dug into his shoulder. “You deliberately spilled your seed inside me? Did you not think of the consequences I might face? Have you no care for me?”

Dropping the towel, Jasper caught her around the waist and tugged her against him. “I would do anything for you. Break any law, violate every rule, circumvent any competition-”

“Montague,” she interjected, comprehension leaving her jaw slack. “You know he visited with Melville, and why.”

“To hell with Montague,” he said fiercely. “I want you. That’s all there is to it.”

“I gave myself to you freely.” Eliza tried to wriggle away. “You didn’t have to…mark me, as if you were marking your territory.”

“I did.” He gripped her with as much tenderness as her resistance allowed. “The moment you saw me, you knew what I was. My nature is no surprise to you.”

“I hired you to protect me!”

Jasper inhaled sharply, cut to the quick by the truth of what she said. “Christ, Eliza.”

He released her, but she didn’t pull away. Instead she stared at him, breathing roughly. With her face and pale shoulders framed by gloriously hued tousled locks, she was the loveliest creature he’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

“Not for what you did,” she surmised. “But because I’m unhappy about it.”

There was nothing he could say to that. Lying to her was not an option.

The silence stretched out. They were only inches apart, both kneeling. He sat on his heels; she was upright, bringing them nearly eye to eye. He waited on tenterhooks, wondering if she would want to leave and what he could do to convince her to stay. Seducing a woman in a temper often led to hot sex, but the fury afterward was hotter still. He couldn’t risk pushing her any further away.

Damnation, he would give anything to know what she was thinking…

“I can almost hear your brain working,” Eliza said, studying him. “Care to tell me what thoughts occupy you so completely?”

“My brain isn’t as refined as yours, so I am at a loss for what to do. Tell me how to sweeten you toward me again.”

“I’m mystified by the ferocity of your possessiveness. You could have anyone.” She swallowed hard. “The only thing distinguishing me is my fortune. Is that what you covet so strongly?”

“You don’t believe that,” he scoffed. “And I will point out that you, too, could have anyone.”

She gave his shoulder a little push. “Lie down.”

Jasper fell to his back without reservation, willing to do whatever she required to redeem himself. However, there was nothing repentant about his cockstand, which eagerly extended almost to his navel. He’d progressed from nearly erect to flagrantly so the moment she became aggressive.

“Since your body is now mine, by your own admission,” she murmured, “I should like to examine it.”

He lay unmoving, submitting…for now.

Eliza gestured at his penis. “I should like to see it at rest sometime.”

“Little chance of that happening. Merely thinking of you makes me hard.” He should, perhaps, couch his sentiments more delicately, but since his lust for Eliza was raw, it was more honest to word it thusly.

She reached out and caressed his biceps. When the muscle twitched beneath her touch, she pulled back with a squeak.

Jasper caught her hand and put it back. “Don’t be frightened or shy. Whatever you do, I promise to enjoy it.”

“I do not want you to simply enjoy it,” she argued, meeting his gaze. “I want to be exceptionally good at pleasing you. I want to be memorable.”

Jasper exhaled in a rush, the allusion to temporariness goading every proprietary instinct he possessed.

Eliza’s fingers moved featherlight over the flesh of his upper arm. Then, she grew bolder and squeezed.

“You are so hard,” she whispered. Her gaze moved over his chest and abdomen, followed by her hands. She lingered over his stomach, tracing every ridge of muscle. “And large. You are like a great, sleek beast. A virile animal.”

A visible shiver moved through her, which set off an answering response in him. “You like that about me.”

“I shouldn’t. You are too wild and undisciplined. I’m not woman enough to tame you.”

“You wouldn’t want me tamed.” He caught her hand again and urged it to his cock, prodding her fingers to wrap around him. Her tentative touch was like lightning, causing the hair on his legs to prickle. “Part of you may be appalled at my primitive approach to certain matters, but part of you wouldn’t have me any other way.”

“You are very arrogant.”

“I take no credit for your attraction. My parents are responsible for my appearance, and my ruthlessness is equally inherent. I am, however, grateful they win your regard. Contrary to your opinion, you are the perfect female for me.”

Her other hand joined the first, cupping him. Her hands were so slender; she could not circle him in her grip.

“What wins your regard?” she asked, tracing a thick vein with her fingertip.

“Your honesty and good s-sense,” he hissed, shuddering as she clasped the head of his cock in her palm. “Your agile mind and independent thought. And the way you respond to me physically. By God, I cannot get enough of that. You melt for me, softening all those hard edges you use to keep others at bay.”

Eliza’s tongue followed the curve of her lower lip. Her eyes had grown heavy-lidded, betraying how well she enjoyed touching him so intimately. Or perhaps it was what he’d said. Jasper reached up and cupped her breast, his thumb and forefinger surrounding the delicate peak and tugging. She made a soft noise of pleasure.

“Lie atop me,” he said hoarsely.

She hesitated, looking unsure. He showed her the way, steadying her with his hands on her waist as she draped her slim body over him. Cupping her nape, he pulled her lips down to his. He kissed her with open-mouthed hunger, drinking her in with deep draws on her tongue. She kissed him back with equal fervency, her lips slanting across his, her hands clutching the counterpane on either side of him.

He groaned, feeling ravenous but wanting no more than this for now. It wasn’t enough and yet it was too much, the act of kissing both erotic and sweet. The feel of her slight weight stretched across him was one he adored, and the sudden smattering of tiny kisses she pressed all over his lips made him laugh with delight.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, knowing he could never give up this intimacy. He was willing to grovel to keep it. “I will make mistakes. I don’t know how to do this, how to be what you deserve.”

Eliza kissed him quiet. “We’ll show one another how to be what the other needs,” she breathed. “I want to be the one who gets inside you. The one you cannot forget…”

Jasper thrust his fingers into her hair and took her mouth in a long, deep kiss. He had no notion of what time it was, and he didn’t care. He just knew he didn’t want it to end.

Eliza had never fully appreciated the restorative properties of salt baths. However, Jasper insisted she take one before leaving his home the evening before and suggested she might avail herself of one in the morning as well. Having taken his advice, she felt much better, although there was still lingering soreness in unmentionable places.

She was also starving, as she often was after strenuous activity. She ate far more at breakfast than was usual and remained at the table for some time after Melville excused himself. With the late morning sunshine slanting through the window at her back, Eliza read the paper and chose not to think about all the many things she should be thinking about. Instead she chose to dissect the waltz in her mind, remembering the way it was taught to her and improving upon that teaching method.

Jasper would be calling later for his first dance lesson. She was eager for him to become proficient so she could share a dance with him in public. A thrill moved through her at the thought of being in his arms in full view of everyone. It would be a delicious challenge to be decorous at a time when she would be so physically stimulated.

Eliza turned the page and tapped her foot to a tune playing in her head. After returning home at ten o’clock the night before, she’d stayed in. She was perfectly content to read the various renditions of last night’s events in the gazettes, having previously come to the conclusion that the printed tales were often more entertaining than the reality.

“Eliza.”

Glancing up, she smiled as her uncle reentered the room. “Yes, my lord?”

He rounded the long wooden table with a frown. Today was one of the few days when every piece of his attire was the way it should be, signaling a hard-won victory for his lordship’s valet.

“The Earl of Westfield is here,” he said, pausing beside her.

“Oh?”

“He has expressed an interest in paying his addresses to you.”

Eliza blinked up at him. “Beg your pardon?”

“He wants to wed you. And speak with you. He awaits you in the parlor.”