The Princess in His Bed (6 page)

“. . . I want to come for you . . . Adam.”

He kissed her neck, trailing his way to the sensitive spot below her ear. “It would be an honor to pleasure you, Aimee . . .” Curling his buried fingers, he brushed over the ultrasensitive spot inside her vaginal wall.

A cry burst from her lips, her knees almost giving way as he stroked that sweet spot with stunning finesse, milking more juices from her sex. Her hips jerked forward. Her sex contracted, and she knew she was going to go over soon. Very soon. The pleasure and tension inundating her became entwined into one exquisite sensation, mountaining inside her. Surging fast. And furious.

His name escaped from her mouth. Rapture exploded through her senses, her body stiffening. She pushed up against him hard, her scream eclipsed by the final firecrackers in the sky, her sheath contracting wildly around his fingers.

“That’s perfect, Aimee. Ride it out. I’ve got you.” He held her, his strokes slowing down only when the delicious spasms ebbed.

Applause burst around her, signaling the end of the fireworks display.

Adam slid his fingers out, the luscious sense of fullness slipping away. She shivered. Her skirts fell back in place while he busied his other hand with her bodice. Knowing people were about to leave, she tried to help, her trembling fingers fumbling, hindering his progress.

“Let me,” he said softly in her ear. In short order, he had the front of her gown closed without anyone around them being the wiser.

She turned and slumped against the wall, still wearing his justacorps as the crowd disbursed toward the tables set out in the gardens for the feast about to be served. Her breathing and heart calmed. Aimee felt euphoric, her muscles deliciously lax.

She felt light enough to fly.

Her marital relations with Marc had been the best part of their marriage, and as good as they were, they had never been like this. She’d never been left feeling this incredible. There was a wonderful warmth in her belly that was slowly seeping through her entire being. A calm sated feeling. A feeling of well-being. A peace.

She met his gaze. The night’s light shone on one side of his handsome face, making him look even more devilishly beautiful. He was beyond potent. Dangerously irresistible. Women throughout the realm should be warned—the Marquis de Nattes had devastating allure and sexual talents no mortal man should possess.

He ran a knuckle lightly down her cheek. It was then she realized it was wet. Oh God . . . He’d moved her to tears during sex. She swiped her other cheek dry, embarrassed by the unprecedented occurrence. She’d made it a habit of hiding her tears during her marriage. Never once had she shown them to Marc.

“You come beautifully, Aimee.”

How did one answer that?
“Thank you”?

Most of the crowd was gone. They were all but alone. Did he expect pleasure in return? Of course he did. Marc demanded pleasure for pleasure. Didn’t all men?

A sudden urge to taste him swelled inside her. She quashed it. “I . . . should go.” She expected his ire to hit at any moment. Yet it was the only response she could offer. She desperately needed some distance to collect herself. To snap this unsettling spell he’d cast on her.

The corner of his perfect mouth lifted in the most sensual smile. “If you must.”

No anger?

“My cousin awaits me,” she told him, completely unsure why.

He took a step back. “Then you shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

She shouldn’t? No argument? He was simply letting her go after giving her the strongest orgasm of her life?

She held his gaze, unsure what more to say. His expression was unreadable, and she wished she knew what he was thinking.

She pushed herself off the wall. “All right then.” She managed a smile, feeling out of sorts, unable to shake the wish that he’d demand more of her. A kiss. Or simply to give that delectable part of his male anatomy that was still solid and erect some carnal attention.

If he’s this talented with his hands, imagine what he can do with that beautiful cock
.

She immediately chastised herself.
Those sorts of thoughts will get you into the kind of trouble you don’t need
.

“Are you sufficiently warmed now?” he asked.

“Pardon? Oh, yes, I . . . I’m warm now.”
Warm me some more
. . .

“Then may I have my justacorps?”

Her brows shot up. “Oh, of course . . .” It suddenly occurred to her she’d never checked the lower pockets. She’d completely forgotten to search for the ring. Aimee drove her hands into the pockets and brightened her smile. “This really is a very nice justacorps.” She slid her fingers around the pockets, hoping to touch upon the ring. “You do have exquisite taste in clothing.”

“Thank you.” He looked amused. “The justacorps, if you please?”

Nothing. The pockets were empty. “Yes . . . Here.” She removed the coat and handed it to him.

He leisurely put it on. She watched with fascination as one strong shoulder and then the other slipped inside the blue knee-length coat. In the distance she could hear the chatter of the courtiers and strains from the violins.

His dark eyes gazed back at her, but he said nothing more.
Why are you still standing here, Aimee
?
Leave!
“Good evening, Adam.”

“Good evening, Aimee.”

She took a step, then stopped and said, “Thank you.”
Thank you? Good God
.
Did you just thank him for giving you a climax?
She felt her face turn red. One release and she was behaving like an unsophisticated fool.

His lips twitched, and she could tell he was holding back a smile. “For what?”

The devil. He knew full well what she’d just thanked him for. He was going to make her spell it out. “For the . . . uhm . . . the . . .”

“Orgasm?” he supplied.

She was grateful it was night and he couldn’t see just how red her cheeks were. “Yes, for . . . that.”

A slow steady smile graced his mouth, one of pure male pride. “It was my pleasure.”

Oh, he was good. Much better than Marc on too many disquieting levels.

She gave a nod and, feeling completely awkward, forced one foot in front of the other, walking away from Adam, only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw Renault de Sard, Louise’s former lover, marching toward her.

“I want a word with you,” he said the moment he reached her.

“Really? I don’t much care to have one with you, sir,” Aimee bit back. The wonderful lassitude that had been humming in her veins dissipated instantly by Renault’s presence.

“Have you seen your cousin?” He was unfazed by her curtness.

“Of course I’ve seen her. I see her quite regularly.” She stepped around him.

“Halt right there,” Renault ordered.

Aimee turned around to see Adam approaching, a frown furrowing his handsome brow.

“I’ve not dismissed you,” Renault added.

Aimee set her jaw. “I don’t need your dismissal to leave your presence, sir.”

Renault walked up to her. “I am the King’s Lieutenant General of Police.”

“So?”

“So I am permitted to detain anyone I choose and ask them questions.”

Aimee’s ire heated her blood. “Do you dare speak to me as if I were a criminal? Have you forgotten your place?” She never threw her title or social standing around for clout, but he’d been made noble because of his political office.

She was a noble by blood.

“What is the problem, Renault?” Adam placed his hand on the vermin’s shoulder.

She disliked everything about the man. His arrogance. His ill-treatment of Louise and her affections. She never understood what her dear cousin saw in the man.

Upon seeing Adam, Renault changed his demeanor. “Oh, it’s you, Nattes. It’s nothing . . . Just a matter between a former mistress and me.”

Adam looked at Aimee and lifted a brow.

She immediately added, “He’s referring to my cousin. A lovely woman with terrible taste in men.” She looked pointedly at Renault. The last thing she wanted was for Adam—or anyone—to think she’d take a lover as unappealing as Renault.

“Your ‘lovely’ cousin has never behaved herself a single day I’ve known her, yet she has stayed away as requested and not a peep has been heard from her,” Renault said. “A most uncharacteristic behavior. I want to know why. What is she up to? It’s usually no good.”

“Perhaps she’s finally come to the conclusion that you are a waste of her time.”

With that, Aimee picked up her skirts, turned on her heel, and stalked away on weak and wobbly legs, her heart pounding. That was all she needed—for Renault to be keeping Louise under close scrutiny.

Reaching the long elegant tables with gold service, surrounded by torchères, Aimee scanned the area and quickly located Louise. She was by her side in an instant and sat down.

“Where have you been, Aimee?” Louise whispered. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“I got caught up in the crowd,” she responded vaguely.

“Did you find Adam de Vey?”

Just as Aimee was about to respond, she glanced down the lengthy table and caught Adam’s gaze. He was seated at the same table at the opposite end. He smiled at her and lightly ran the length of his finger along his upper lip, just under his nose.

Heat rushed to her cheeks as the impact of what he was doing hit her. Her scent was on his fingers, and he was clearly enjoying it. She felt a quickening low in her belly. Her sex clenched, hungrily.

She tore her gaze away and forced her focus onto Louise.

“Oh, look, Aimee. Adam de Vey is at our table.” Once again, Louise pointed out the obvious. “Do you want to check his justacorps?”

“No!” she cringed at how strongly that came out. “I mean, I already did, darling. There was no ring.”

Louise’s disappointment was etched across her features.

“That’s not all, Louise.” Aimee covered her hand affectionately. “Renault is suspicious of you and thinks you’re up to something.”

Louise flinched. “Oh God! He does?”

“Yes, I think I defused it some, but we must be careful. And we must act quickly.” Aimee glanced down the table, but found the beautiful Marquis de Nattes gone. His seat had been vacated and another sat in his place.

Disappointment over his disappearance stabbed into her. And irked her.

Her unusual behavior toward him was completely explainable. Her lengthy celibacy was to blame, motivating her wanton reactions to him. Nothing more.

“Tomorrow afternoon the Marquis de Nattes has a meeting with the King.”

Louise’s eyes widened. “And?”

“And I intend to go to his personal apartments and check in each and every justacorps he owns until I find the ring.”

All this madness was going to end tomorrow.

4

“You can stop grinning like a fool, Robert,” Adam said dryly. Palms pressed against the large desk in the King’s private apartments, studying his drawings while waiting for His Majesty to arrive, Adam could see his friend out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re being very quiet about your whereabouts last night.” Robert was smirking. “And as coincidence would have it, last night Louise d’Arcy couldn’t locate her cousin anywhere. She came to me and asked if I’d seen her. Any idea where the fair Aimee de Miran was last eve?”

Adam felt his cock harden at the mere mention of Aimee and last night.
Merde
. A stiff prick was the last thing he needed just before he met with the King. Damn Robert.

The memory of Aimee in his arms, of her honeyed sex squeezing around his fingers while she came, rushed through his mind. That very same memory had kept him up most of the night—keeping both him and his cock fully awake.

Adam had always enjoyed a chase—especially since he didn’t usually get much resistance to his advances—but his pursuit of Aimee was far more than mere entertainment. Having her meant too much to him.

More than it should.

More than he was comfortable with. His desire for her had spanned an eternity. Nothing had been so difficult as to watch her walk away last eve and not pull her back and claim what she so obviously wanted him to take. Every inch of his body clamored for her.

But he refused to do it and resisted by sheer iron will.

If she wanted to be taken, she was going to have to come to him and ask with her very own sweet lips—without reservation or inhibitions. To that end, he’d made great strides last eve, despite being left with a painful prick. She’d lingered afterward, waiting for him to demand more, and the disappointment in her golden eyes when he hadn’t had been difficult to miss.

Adam sensed it wasn’t going to take much longer. Then she’d be all his.

And he had six years of pent-up fantasies to indulge in with her.

Robert walked over smiling, and stopping on the opposite side of the desk, pressed his palms down onto the surface. “Please tell me you fucked her. Any man who’s been walking around with a stiff cock for another man’s wife for six years deserves some relief.”