He pushed aside the chess set and tugged her into his arms. Sebastian cupped her cheeks, lifting her face to his. He kissed her, slowly and deeply. When had he become so obsessed with her taste, and those soft murmurs of pleasure she made?
He broke his mouth from hers. “You’re delicious.”
“It’s the sherry.” She touched his mouth. “Whenever you kiss me, it feels as if my stomach lifts and then falls away. Then an ache settles in…low in my belly. I never knew a kiss could wreak such wonderful sensations. I wonder if this is true for all kisses.”
“Are you by chance daring to wonder what it would be like to kiss another?”
She giggled against his lips. If Sebastian were not careful, he could find himself steadily craving her.
“Are such curiosities not normal amongst theton?” she asked with laughter lurking in her tone.
A fierce surge of possessiveness shook him. “You are forbidden.”
She turned her face into his throat to take a deep breath of him. “Are you forbidden as well?”
There was an indecipherable emotion in her voice, and he turned it over in his mind. He recalled the many scandal sheets which had been happy to mention Viscount Winfern leaving his new bride in the country to take his mistress to Dover. The sheets had ridiculed the young viscountess for failing to secure her husband’s attention, placing the blame for his weakness, disrespect, and inconstancy at her feet. They had taken pleasure in mocking and cutting her for this perceived flaw in character. Sebastian only recalled it, for his mother had mentioned it often and had deliberately omitted to invite the young viscountess to her annual and most sought-after ball.
Sebastian placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Not all men are led by their cocks.”
“A most unusual turn of phrase.”
“But you perceive my meaning.”
“Yes,” she said softly. “Not all gentlemen are cads and libertines.”
His fingers tightened on her chin. “Anything I ask of you, I would also give in return.” He stroked the small of her back, warm and firm and soothing. “As long as we are lovers, you will have my fidelity.”
She slipped her hands around his neck, tugged his mouth to her. “And you’ll have mine, Sebastian,” she whispered achingly, then kissed him with passionate urgency.
A rough laugh jerked from him when she hooked one of her legs around his hip and climbed his body. He slipped his hand beneath her buttocks and hoisted her legs to his waist. He stumbled with her to the wall by the fire, pressing her back against the cool surface. Sebastian couldn’t explain the hunger tearing through his body. It was as if he wanted to consume her. Without releasing her mouth from his desperate kisses, he reached between them, opened his flap, and released his aching cock to press his hardened length against her already wet entrance. He thrust, and a wild cry of pleasure sounded from her lips at his deep penetration. Theodosia wrapped herself around him, arms and legs, kissing him deeply, then whispering for him to move faster…deeper. Her hands roamed over his back, twisting his shirt as her pleasure rose.
He drove inside her harder, deeper, one hand on her hip holding her still, while he used the other to stroke her pebbled nipples. Theodosia bit into his shoulder to muffle her cries as she rose higher and higher. Her wetness bathed his cock in a fiery rush, and he groaned at the exquisite feel.
“I’ll never get enough of you,” he muttered harshly against her lips. “You are like a drug.”
Only when Sebastian felt another ripple of tightness and heat around his shaft did he allow himself his own gratifying release.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Bloody hell!”
She muffled her giggle into the front of his shirt. He pulled from her and tucked himself into his trousers. He found his handkerchief and handed it to her. Anyone with sense would see that she had just been thoroughly ravished.
“Come back another time,” he commanded.
“It’s the duchess, Your Grace.”
He froze. “I believe it to be news from my mother.” Sebastian padded to the door and opened it slightly. The housekeeper seemed flustered. “Your Grace, the duchess has arrived with guests. It seems they were passing nearby and lost a carriage wheel due to the inclement weather.”
“I will be there shortly.”
She bobbed a quick curtsy. “Yes, Your Grace, I’ve put them up in the drawing-room and have called for blankets and refreshment.”
The housekeeper withdrew, and he turned to face Theodosia, who had moved from the floor and now sat curled into the chaise longue.
“My mother is here, along with unexpected visitors. They lost a carriage wheel. The blacksmith in the village should be of help, but they might need to be put up for the night.”
She glanced toward the window, which showed the rain still sleeted outside. “Do you think the duchess has news of Perdie?”