A Heartless Design (21 page)

“You already know,” he said.

Without waiting any longer, Sebastien drew her closer, claimed her mouth. She returned the kiss with a mesmerizing zeal. Heartless, perhaps, but she certainly wasn’t cold. Indeed, he felt the heat of her through her gown.

As if reading his mind, she took his hands in hers and guided them to her waist, to her breasts. With that unequivocal invitation, he gave up restraint for the moment and took what he wanted. Cordelia gasped at the touch of his hands on her breasts. Her head fell back, and Sebastien took the opportunity to taste her throat.

Cordelia’s knees went weak at that, and he moved to hold her closer. She felt the evidence of his desire for her, all along her body, and she trembled, knowing what lay in store for her if she chose to let him continue.

Let him? She could barely think with what he was doing. Cordelia responded instinctively to his caresses, moving ever lower down her heated body. Without thinking, she moved against him with her hips, causing him to groan softly.

He murmured, “Cordelia, you’re going to drive me mad.”

“I want to drive you mad,” she said, leaving all social pretense behind. “I want you to drive me mad.”

Sebastien pulled away to look at her face in the darkened hall. “Do you know what you’re asking?”

“I’m not
asking
, Sebastien.” Having discovered what effect it seemed to have on him, she moved her body into him again. She saw his eyes flash and darken. “I want to know what it’s like. And I want you to show me.” She forgot that she was diverting him from his questions about Lear. She realized she wanted this for itself. “I gave you what you asked for. Why can you not give me something in return?”

“Because I would just be taking something else from you, Cor,” he explained, his tone growing softer.

“No. You’d be giving me the one experience I never thought I would have. Can you not just give this to me, as a gift? One night?”

Sebastien thought he’d never heard a sweeter or more maddening offer. He was already certain that just one night with Cordelia would never be enough. But it was a start. “As a gift then,” he said, and without warning, swung her up into his arms.

He carried her up the darkened stairs, through the doorway of his bedroom. He was pleased that the moonlight was already shining into the room. He wanted to see all of her, every inch. He laid her down on the bed, leaning down over her.

She put her hands to his chest, pushing the jacket aside. Possessed by something she didn’t understand, she helped him tug his shirt off. She stared at the man revealed. He was devilishly handsome—she’d dreamed about him often enough—but this sight was far beyond her innocent little fantasies. Broad shoulders, rippling muscles, olive skin that seemed to burn under her touch. She stroked her hands down his back, and he sighed with satisfaction. Then he pulled away.

“What…” Cordelia asked, missing his comforting weight.

“Patience,” Sebastien chided her, knowing that his own patience was about to snap. “I want to see you, darling.” Cordelia inhaled sharply at the promise in that tone.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Sebastien began to take off every article of clothing she had on. Her slippers were the first to go. Then her stockings, expertly peeled off with one hand. His other hand rested on her thigh, an intimacy she found as tempting as it was shocking. Then he stroked upward, slowly, and she gasped as his hands reached her hips, and caressed her skin. “Do that again,” she whispered.

He laughed, a low, possessive sound. “Patience.” He loosened her gown and eased it off, leaving only a thin chemise between his gaze and her skin. The nearly transparent cotton left little to the imagination. She felt his eyes travel every inch of her, and squirmed as an unfamiliar heat began building in her body.

“You’re a goddess,” he said quietly, and she trembled at his tone.

He bent down to kiss her throat, once again drawing a gasp. He trailed his mouth down to where the chemise began. Cordelia arched her back, instinctively pushing herself closer to him, giving him access to the flesh he desired.

He felt her reaction, and smiled through the kiss. The woman below him seemed to quiver in anticipation. He moved still lower, worshipping her breasts and waist. She tangled her hands in his hair, feeling the tension in her body rise with every touch.

He raised his head to look at her. Her skin was flushed, her breath came quickly. “What next?” she asked, curious.

“What comes next, darling, is that you enjoy everything I do to you.” He slipped his hand under her chemise, which had bunched up to her hips by now. “As I will enjoy watching you.”  

“Watch me do what…ohh.” She closed her eyes when she felt him touch her between her thighs. Her head fell back into the pillow, even as her whole body arched in pleasure. He continued to stroke her gently, following her gasps and moans as he moved closer to what he sought. She cried out when he slipped one finger inside her tight warmth.

“Oh, darling, you’re going to be my undoing,” he murmured, even as he withdrew his hand.

“No,” Cordelia protested softly, aching with need.

“Patience,” he said again, as much to himself as to her. He swung off the bed, standing up to remove the rest of his clothing. Cordelia also sat up. “Let me help,” she said, putting her hands on his stomach, moving to the cord that would loosen his breeches. The offending clothes came off quickly, and Cordelia inhaled appreciatively, noting that her daydreams about Sebastien would need significant revision.

“Do you truly want this?” she heard him ask through her dazed contemplation. “I can stop.”

In answer, Cordelia stood and shyly touched him. “You said you would give me this night as a gift.”

Sebastien’s whole body caught fire when she put her hands on him. He took the chemise in his hands and pulled it down so it fell at her feet, leaving them both completely naked, and open to each other. He turned her around and held her close to him, cupping her breasts, glad that she could not see the look of near desperation on his face. Then he kissed the back of her neck, lifted her long black hair away, and ran his hands down her body, leaving her trembling. “Sebastien, what are you doing to me?”

“What I’ve thought about doing since I first saw you, darling,” he confessed. Kneeling, he slowly spun her around once more, so his face was level with her silken stomach. “Sit on the edge of the bed,” he commanded hoarsely. She did, reaching out to twine her fingers in his hair. “Now lay down, love.”

Curious, she did, falling back among the covers, her feet still touching the floor. He put one hand in each knee, and slowly parted her legs. Moving to her hips, he pulled her closer to the edge of the bed. Cordelia shook a little.

He calmed her, stroking her thighs with long, smooth moves. He laid his mouth on the heated skin of her inner thigh, kissing her lightly. Those sensual lips, and his wicked tongue wreaked havoc with her body, drawing ever more heat to her center. She moaned, her hands touching him, making sure he was real. He found every sensitive, hot place, and made it hotter. It was shameless, and she loved it.

Sebastien lifted her to lie fully on the bed, since she was still weak and trembling with the aftermath of his tongue. He moved over her, kissing her with devotion, and she saw that he was still hard with desire. He settled himself between her legs, pressing her into the bed. She felt him hard against her softness. Her legs fell open even more as she thought of taking him inside her.

By inches, Sebastien moved into her, withdrawing and then returning, always a little deeper into the tightness she offered. Cordelia moaned as she felt him fill her. She longed to hold him, all of him, to her. Then she felt something break inside of her, and she cried out.

He felt it too, the last barrier before he could bury himself in her. He paused, waiting for her pain to subside. He’d known that she was innocent, yet he didn’t really believe that her reactions to him could be purely instinctual. Until now.

“What is it?” she asked. “Don’t stop.”

Despite himself, he laughed. “I would rather die than stop now, love.” And he moved again, deeper within her.

She sighed as the slight pain was replaced by another feeling, a deep yearning to move with this man and make their bodies one. The coil started tightening in Cordelia’s body again, ratcheting up with every powerful thrust. Her breath became ragged, just like the man’s above her. She looked up, and caught his dark gaze raking her shoulders, her breasts, her skin.

When she cried out in delight at one movement, he smiled savagely and focused on that thrust, bringing her ever closer to the brink. He released one hip to cup her breast, the nipple rosy and hard under his touch. She didn’t know how much more of this exquisite torment she could take, how much deeper she could hold him. He took his hand to her torso, then lower. Her muscles tightened around him when he grazed the nub at her center, and she felt her whole body contract and then expand in waves of pleasure as the coil unsprung once more. She felt it when he reached his own peak. He moaned with the release, and she held out her trembling arms to him, even as he sank down onto her. She stroked his back, cradling him, kissing him. She never wanted it to end.

He opened his eyes to see the green-eyed nymph showering him with soft little kisses, uninhibited in her desire to touch him. He put his arms around her, curiously unwilling to part from her. She shifted a little, and he felt another wave of pleasure as she contracted around him. He moaned.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He lifted his head again to smile at her. “Don’t thank me yet. The night isn’t over.”

Her heart skipped. “There’s more?”

“As much as you want,” he assured her. All he knew was that he was far from finished with his beauty. Satisfied, yes. Finished? Not a chance.

He showed her how much more there was. He reveled in her willingness to play, to let him do the things he thought would make her most pleased. So many other women, even the most worldly, had restrained him, had stopped him from pleasuring them, as if it were a sin to feel good. Cordelia, innocent as she was, allowed him to do what he liked, what
she
liked, and her pure joy was the proof that it was right.

The moon’s light shifted from the bed to the carpeting to the wall before he was willing to slip into a doze for the few remaining hours of the night. He didn’t let himself think about tomorrow.

Cordelia never thought she could feel like this. She curled up on him as sleep took her, robbing her of her waking thoughts and sending tantalizing dreams where she walked safely with Sebastien by her side, and he brought her to ecstasy every night.

Early morning light spoiled her
dreams. Cordelia woke up, still languid with remembered passion. She sat up as she recalled that she was in a man’s bed, and realized that Sebastien was not beside her. Surely he would not have left her there with no words at all!

Her heart jumped when she heard a footstep in the hall, but it was Sebastien who opened the door, bearing a tray.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling at her in a way that made her insides warm. He put the tray down on a low table. “I don’t really have the makings of a chef, but I thought you might be hungry.”

Cordelia’s stomach rumbled on cue. He had made coffee, strong by the smell of it, and cut up a loaf of bread, smothering the slices with jam and butter. Cordelia devoured everything. Food was not the only thing she craved this morning. But last night had gone by, and she knew that it was unwise to continue what they had started. It was best to think of their affair as a singular event. It would be safer for her and safer for him. Her supposedly cold heart ached at the thought.

“What are you thinking of?” she asked him, noting his intense silence.

“I am sorry I can’t stop the sun,” he replied. “One night with you wasn’t enough.”

Cordelia opened her mouth, but he silenced her with a look. “Don’t worry. You asked for one night.” He paused. “If you need anything, however, know that you can ask me. Anything.”

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Well, that wasn’t too demanding.” He gave her an exaggerated, exasperated look. “A little after five.”

“Is it? I must go soon, before…” Cordelia bit her tongue to stop herself from telling him how much she wanted to stay. It would be beneath her dignity, but oh, how she wanted him still. But she knew he was used to different, more experienced women. She would hold no fascination for him now, despite his words.

In tacit agreement, neither of them spoke further about their sudden scandalous behavior, either the reasons for it or the possible consequences. Cordelia didn’t want to hear anything more. Her dalliance with him satisfied her curiosity regarding exactly what occurred behind a couple’s bedroom door. And she knew he would be utterly discreet about their one encounter. Strange as it was, considering how short a time she had known him, Cordelia was sure that, at least regarding some things, she could trust Sebastien more than anyone else in the world.

He offered to take her back home himself, but she reassured him that it was unnecessary…and indeed foolish. “I’ll return the way I came, alone and anonymously. That’s safest for both of us.”

He nodded, accepting her argument with a slight expression of surprise. Perhaps he expected her to break down, or ask him for something after all. Cordelia would rather die before that happened.

She left the house as unobtrusively as she entered it. With her hood up, Cordelia hired a carriage to take her home. She paid the man well enough to lose any curiosity he might have had, not that he seemed to care at all who his fare was. Back at Quince Street, she slipped in the study door. She reached her own bedroom before anyone saw her. Bond appeared moments later, looking like she had not slept at all.

“My lady?” she asked, hesitant.

“It’s over, Bond, and everything went well. He has the plans he’s interested in, and no one should look at this house or my work again.”

“That’s good news, for certain.” The maid was unable to ask about the other aspect of Cordelia’s night. She helped her mistress undress and put her into bed.