Their lips broke apart, and he held her gaze while he eased her up slightly and pushed the head of his cock against her quim. Her eyes grew heavy lidded with desire and her cheeks blushed delightfully. Never breaking their connection, Nicholas slowly, so damn slowly he almost stopped breathing, urged her down on his throbbing thickness.
Cressida gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Her kissed-swollen lips parted on a wordless cry when he pressed down hard on her nub.
“Nicholas!” she whispered.
He licked against the corner of her mouth. “You’ll not be able to make a sound, my sweet.”
“You beast,” she said with aching sweetness, daringly follow his motion and carnally licking the corner of his mouth.
Nicholas groaned, kissing her deeply, and he dragged her fully onto his cock. She took him, rolling her hips against him and dragging a guttural sound from his chest. Gripping her hips, he lifted her up and down his length until her release soaked his length. He swallowed her wild cries, holding her against his chest as he chased his own release, rocking her roughly onto his cock until he barely pulled her from him to empty his seed.
Hell. They held each other, and he almost chuckled to realize he damned well trembled. The pleasure he felt being with her was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, and he could not imagined ever holding another woman in his arms.
“We are attending Lady Fairclough’s ball tonight,” she whispered in the crook of his neck. “Will you come?”
“I do not believe my family received an invitation.”
“Will you let that stop you?”
He smiled. “No.”
“As expected of my Nicholas Fairbanks.”
My Nicholas. “Cressida,” he began only for the words to close over his throat.
Her lips brushed against his jaw as she shifted to peer into his eyes. “Yes?”
“You matter to me, greatly.”
Her eyes widened then crinkled in the corner in a smile. “Is that your way of saying you like me.”
“Yes.”
“That you might even be falling in love with me?”
His damn heart stuttered. “Yes.”
Tenderness shone in her gaze. “Good, because I am falling in love with you too, Nicholas.”
They smiled at each other like two loons, and he arranged her clothes properly, and kissed her soundly before he alighted the carriage at a darkened corner of Audley Street, whistling a jaunty tune as he strolled toward St. James Square with the canvas in his hand.
Even though they admitted their desire for each other, he was a damn fool indeed to think they might have a future. However, for tonight, he was a happy fool.
CHAPTER13
Meet me in the conservatory.
N.F
Cressida discreetly folded the note slipped to her by the footman, trying to hide the excited thrill going through her heart. For the last several days, she had found every imaginable excuse allowable to a lady in her position to see Nicholas. She had danced with him at enough balls that there were murmurs linking their names together. It had so outraged her mother, the countess had forbidden Cressida to dance publicly with him again. Her father had added his support to her mother, and even Leigh had cautioned her to be careful.
Tonight, though she desperately wanted to dance with him, she had wisely listened to her sister’s council and tried to occupy herself with laughing and chatting with Elizabeth who was now dancing with the duke who had come out of mourning.
She felt as if her affair with Nicholas was on the cusp of a revelation. One that she hoped might end in a proposal. What she might say if he asked her she did not know, but her heart said yes. Hiding her delight, Cressida waited a few minutes before hurrying from the ballroom and discreetly going outside. The cool night air nipped at her bare arms, but she ignored the discomfort and hastened to the conservatory. The music from the orchestra was but a faint melody. The path was illuminated by the hazy glow of gas lamps, and she slipped inside fragrant space, frowning at the encountered darkness.
A tremor of uncertainty quivered through her. “Nicholas?”
Odd—she could feel his presence, though he was silent.