“Robert?” she said a bit breathlessly.
“Hmm?”
That soft hum was one of pleasure and anticipation.
Sarah smiled. “Do your worst.”Shatter me…
His laugh tickled against the hairs of her sex, and she swallowed a startled gasp. His large hands were wedged beneath her and gripping her hips as he pulled her onto his mouth.
She moaned. His mouth kissed her deeply, his tongue licking against her nub, striking it with pleasure. Sarah writhed beneath him, lifting her hips, pushing against his mouth as he sucked her clitoris. Despite the coolness of the night air, sweat beaded between her breasts and on her forehead. Sarah felt frightened at how deep the pleasure went. Her entire body felt sensitive and desperate. His teeth settled over her pleasure spot, and he gently nipped, then sucked, intensifying the excruciating sensations. Something surged up inside of her, hot and tight, contracting into a ball of need low in her belly. His tongue flicked once over her clitoris, and her back bowed as pleasure seared her and she unraveled.
He rose above her, bracing his weight on his elbow.
“That was…I…” Sarah had no words. Her body still shook from the pleasure, yet she felt empty and needed more.
“If you have never been kissed…you have never been touched here.”
“Yes,” she said. She felt his hesitation. “Don’t you dare stop.”
With a groan, he caught her mouth with his in a deep kiss, letting her taste herself on his mouth. At the same time, his fingers stroked over her aching sex, preparing her. A long finger entered her, and she clenched against the invasion. That finger moved and the sensation stunned her. Sarah whimpered when a second finger joined the first, stretching her, yet underneath the pinch there was a building ache for more. Pulling her mouth from his, she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, holding on for dear life as he devastated her with pleasure.
Robert’s fingers disappeared and the back of his hand brushed against her mons as he undid the flap of his breeches. He fitted himself against her and began to push his cock inside her sex with shallow thrusts that opened her, stretching her to accept his steady penetration.
“There will be some pain,” he murmured, “but then it will pass.”
Clutching his shoulders, she held on to him as he forged deeper inside her body. Despite her wetness, Sarah felt overwhelmingly stretched. Short whimpers came from her, but he did not stop until he was deep inside her.
Sarah did not like it. Not anymore. She was about to say so when he reached between them and glided his fingers over her nub. All her senses centered to that spot as he strummed her clitoris with his fingers, rubbing, pinching, over and over until she was a trembling mess. She forgot about the pain and discomfort. Sarah lost her breath as pleasure once again seized her. And it was then he started to move through her tightly clenching muscles as the release devastated her.
He rode her with long, deep strokes, stroking her pleasure once again and taking away the bleak emptiness that had lingered inside her heart for so long. He gripped one of her hips and held tight and used his other hand to hug her to him, caging them in sensual intimacy, and not once had he stopped moving.
He plunged over and over until she trembled. A desperate ache coiled low in her stomach, drawing tighter as the piercing sensations intensified. She cried out as the coil burst and pleasure swept through her in a hot, unrelenting rush. With a ragged groan, he thrust deep once before emptying inside her. The stark sensation went on and on; and when Sarah came down from the shattering pleasure, she realized her face was wet with tears.
He gently pulled from her, and she blushed when he used a silken handkerchief to clean her. He tugged down her dress and retied her laces with expertise. She presumed he fixed himself for there was several rustles in the dark, and then he leaned over her. A large hand cupped her cheek with surprising tenderness and pulled her lips to his.
They did not speak, but lay there on the grass, watching the stars and listening to the faint din of laughter and music in the distance.
Chapter 5
Robert strolled down the streets of Mayfair feeling like a different man. His townhouse was only a few minutes away, and feeling like walking, he had sent his carriage home. His coachman had given him a confused look, but Robert had only chuckled. He found himself smiling when he recalled his conversation with Sarah for the night. There was nothing in his life he could draw upon to explain his experience tonight with Sarah. The time he had spent with her covered about four hours, yet it had felt like a lifetime. They had stared up at the stars and spoke of their childhood, their favorite plays and authors, and oddly enough, gossip he had missed while he rusticated in Kent.
She had delighted in telling him everything she observed when in a room, for she was so plain and uninteresting that no one usually noticed her. She had said it casually and without any feeling, as if it were simply a fact. How could anyone not see someone like Sarah? Her wit had been lovely, and the smiles he had felt against his mouth every time he kissed her felt precious.
His steps faltered, and he turned around, staring at Lady Scarsdale’s home in the distance. He had met someone tonight he connected with on a deep level. He had kissed that woman, made love with her, and his world had spun on its axis, had danced with her after when she teased him about his clumsiness after he tripped upon hearing a particular raunchy anecdote about a viscount that was his cousin.
He really liked Sarah. She could be a viable candidate to be his next duchess. Of course, he would have to find out her family background and her connections. And she could be added to the damn list his sister Esther kept adding names to, certain he would find a new wife there.
Robert stood in the empty street, waiting for the guilt to fill him. But there was none. He blew out a harsh breath. Julianna had been dead for five years, and it seemed he had accepted that he must continue on. Theirs hadn’t been a love match, but he had liked, respected, and cherished her until the day he had lost her to an unexpected malady of the heart.
Now there was another lady who captivated his senses in a way he had never felt with anyone else in his life. And he had left her after only a parting kiss, without getting her full name. “I am a damn fool,” he muttered, breaking into an easy run.
He did not stop until he was back at the countess’s gardens. She was no longer there or by the fountains where they had stayed for a bit, chatting about the constellations. His heart pounding a driving beat, he went inside the house, wading through the thick of the crowd, searching for a particular gown and mask.
She was nowhere to be found.
4 weeks later,Kent.
Sarah saton a comfortable sofa in the most elegant drawing room she had ever graced. She'd arrived at the Duke of Bainbridge’s country manor in Kent only a few hours ago. The manor had taken her breath away when she descended from the carriage the estate had sent for her at the coaching inn. It had a sweeping arched entrance, and it was situated beside a most splendid lake. As she led Sarah to her room, the housekeeper had proudly informed her that the manor had over one hundred rooms, not including the servant’s quarters and its very own ghost story.