Aurora sighed as his tongue teased her and began to flick over her clitoris repeatedly. Her knees trembled as her pleasure in the moment increased, too fast to stop. He certainly knew what he was about and where to devote his attention.
Aurora lay her head back against the wall, gasping, but an unpleasant thought crossed her mind. Was he pretending he was making love to his late wife, or was he really with her?
There was no way to know unless she asked. But if she did so, he would stop the exquisite thing he was doing. She did not want him to stop now, or to hear about Clare today.
Aurora whimpered as he sucked harder on her clitoris. She was going to climax soon, likely scream down the house at the relief of it. She’d occasionally dreamed of a moment like this.
She looked down at him—only to find Sullivan looking back at her, a bright light in his eyes as his tongue flicked across her clitoris a few more times.
Her climax swept over her, and she shuddered and buck against his face.
She did not scream, but only by the barest thread of control did she hold in the sound. She held fast to Sullivan’s head as her world turned giddy, and when it was finally over, she was utterly spent and weak.
Sullivan immediately rose to hold her tight against his chest, and Aurora allowed herself the luxury of basking in his embrace for a short time.
But it had to end.
Everything had an end when it came to Lord Sullivan.
Slowly, reluctantly, she pushed him away, expecting him to be impatient to unbutton his trousers and seek his own satisfaction in her. Sullivan was breathing hard, but he turned out to be in no rush to undress himself, even a little. He merely smiled at her. Appearing decidedly pleased with himself, too.
Aurora unfortunately was not feeling the same, and she straightened from the wall. If he was not willing to make the effort to undress himself, she was not about to do it for him.
Sullivan reached out and brushed his fingers across her cheek softly before he took two steps back. “I hope you won’t say that I should not have done that.”
“I was going to ask if you feel better,” she replied, one brow raised, as if having a man under her skirts happened all the time.
He frowned. “I have no regrets. Do you?”
“No,” she assured him, turning toward a mirror to check that her hair was still neatly coiled about her head. Regret would come later, surely, and when it did, he would be the last to hear about it. “I am glad that moment between us is over. You’ve finally been with another woman, and so you can be certain of yourself with any other, too.”
In the reflection, she saw Sullivan had followed her to the mirror, frowning again. “I need no one else. Marry me, Miss Hillcrest. I have surely compromised you now.”
She winced. The man still confused lust with love. Aurora did not. “No.”
He brushed his lips back and forth across her shoulder as he whispered, “I had to ask. As a gentleman and as your friend. I had to ask you to become my wife today…but I knew it would be too soon for you to say yes to me.”
At least he was finally being sensible about something. “I won’t change my mind later, I assure you.”
“We will see,” he murmured, settling his hands lightly on her hips. They lingered there, heavy and warm. “I have a proposition for you now, though,” he said. “You’ve every right to refuse, but I want you to stay for a while with me. Alone like this.”
His hands slipped forward, landing one atop the other over her curls, through her skirts. She gulped, startled by the boldness of the gesture. She had thought she’d known Sullivan’s character. She’d been so sure he would never act this way around her. But clearly, he possessed an abundance of lust yet to be satisfied. “I’ll consider it.”
His grip on her tightened until a gasp left her lips. “We could continue our conversation upstairs. In bed, perhaps. I noticed it was somewhat warmer up there.”
Aurora was tempted to agree. She weighed the risks carefully. Her cousin Sylvia would be away from Town a few more days yet, and Eugenia was much caught up in her husband’s interests. They had no plans to meet today, or tomorrow either.
There was likely no one to notice what she did with her days. Should any servants enquire, she had any number of acquaintances who would cover for her. She had done it before.
Another tryst might once and for all purge the impulse to propose from him, too. “I won’t marry you, if you think to persuade me with more passion. Or worse, use today to get what you think you want by telling anyone about us.”
“I would never force a marriage between us,” he promised, kissing her cheek, and then dropped another on her neck. He kissed her skin and caught her eye in the mirror and stared at her like a wolf who sees something he plans to devour. Her sex responded with a lurch of anticipation, and when his hand rose to cover her breast, she let out a sigh. “You might not want me for a husband today, but you want this as much as I do. Stay or think about it and come back tomorrow and kiss me again.”
Sullivan squeezed her nipple to encourage her to say yes to his invitation. Given the lusty look in his eye, she would probably climax again very easily. Sullivan’s first thought seemed to run toward showering her with attention, rather than taking his own pleasure, and that was a vast improvement over other men Aurora had known. She would not have the worry that she might conceive with him.
She was also starting to appreciate his unpredictable nature more and more. What other secrets would be revealed if she spent a few hours with him?
Aurora believed in equality, in fairness, and giving back in kind. To her mind, she owed Sullivan a release, at least, but nothing more permanent than that. She could not stay today though. She couldn’t give in too easily to her own lustful impulses. “Very well. I’ll meet you here tomorrow at the same time, and you can tell me how tonight’s event went.”
“Thank you.” He kissed her cheek again, and sauntered away to finish covering up furnishings so he could leave. Aurora slipped away while he wasn’t looking.