Page 3 of A Husband for Esyllt
“You want to make it look like we are coupling, then?” he whispered in her ear.
She did. It was her only option, Esyllt told herself. She was in bed with this man to escape a marriage she did not desire, she had freed him from the ropes because she had no other choice, she was lying under him because it was the best way to make Lord Sheridan believe she was not a suitable bride andnotbecause she wanted him.
A burst of heat exploded between her legs when he pressed his shaft against her mons. Though he was still wearing his braies and her own flesh was covered by her shift, she could feel how hard it was.
How was she going to stand it? Her body felt like melted wax already. If the door did not open soon, she might disgrace herself and beg this man to take her.
“You might want to open your legs for me, my lady,” he drawled, looking at her from under his lashes in the same manner as before. Evidently, he was all too aware of the effect this lethal look had on women. “At the moment it doesn’t look like much is happening.”
Oh but itwashappening.
“Yes.” The word barely made it out. Somehow, the air had left her lungs.
He waited, holding his weight over her, until she parted her thighs. After what felt like an eternity, she did. He smiled, a devilish smile if ever she’d seen one.
“Do I have your permission to lift your shift?”
“Lift my?—”
“Men and women can couple while dressed, though it is a pity in my opinion, but one thing is for sure, nothing must come between their intimate flesh. I’m sure you’re aware of that, having already borne a daughter.”
She nodded, allowing him to do as he wished, knowing all the while it was a mistake. There was no need to go that far. Anyone walking into the room right now would be shocked by the sight meeting their eyes. She was lying in a bed under a near-naked man, with her legs spread open. There was no room for misinterpretation.
Slowly the man ran his hand up her calf, lifting the hem of her shift as he went. Dimly, Esyllt wondered why he thought it appropriate to stroke her thus. He could just have gathered the fabric up without making it feel like a caress.
No, it wasn’tlikea caress, itwasa caress. And her reaction to it was shocking.
A finger brushed the place between her legs and she almost swallowed her tongue when the pleasure of the touch made her buck upward.
“How much of a wanton do you want to be, my lady?” he purred. “You don’t even have to pretend. I could have you right here, right now.”
Esyllt’s mouth fell open because suddenly he was... there, poised at her most secret entrance, ready to slip in. When had he unlaced his braies? How had she not realized what he was doing? Her body didn’t care about the answers, it welcomed what her mind was struggling to comprehend. He gave the tiniest nudge, and it was all she could do not to arch her back and urge him inside.
“I...” She could not agree to such a shocking thing, could she? Pretend, that was all they were doing, that was all they needed to do. In a moment the guards would arrive with her betrothed and it would be over.
“It would be good for Lord Sheridan to hear you moan when he is brought up to your room. I could help to make it convincing... If you wanted me to, of course.” He gave a low, sensual chuckle. “I only ever consider bedding willing partners, but I don’t think that is an issue here, is it?”
Esyllt thought she was going to expire from the tension coursing in her body. The man ground his hips in scandalous invitation, but still he did not press inside of her. He was waiting for her to agree. Oh, Lord, where were the guards? If they did not arrive soon, she would not resist the need to wrap her legs around the squire’s waist and draw him in. She would beg him to plunge inside her and yes, she would moan.
“Surely there is no need to do anything else,” she managed to say, her voice little more than a croak. “Our position is already compromising enough. Lord Sheridan?—”
“No one is coming,” the man said in a persuasive whisper. “Let me give you what you deserve, my lady. You’re so wet, I can barely control myself. Your body wants me, I’m sure you can feel it. Just say yes.”
He had not stopped his teasing for a moment; her core was pulsing desperately, as if to draw the man’s hardness in. Could she give in? It was clear he was leaving the decision to her, and she wanted to agree.
“My men have been sent to get Lord Sheridan, they will soon?—”
“They will not find him. No one is coming,” he repeated. She shifted her hips, and the movement caused him to slide inside her just a fraction. She could not help a cry of relief at the sensation.
Oh, yes, more, she wanted more of that!
Esyllt stopped resisting and allowed him to push in another inch. Closing her eyes, she let her body take over. She was poised on the edge of something devastating, and suddenly, she wished no one would come to her room, not yet, at least. The idea that they would be interrupted before she could find out just how pleasurable having him make love to her could be was too dire to contemplate.
“How do you know they won’t find Lord Sheridan?” she asked, feeling him withdraw then slide back in, a little further. She bit her lip and he withdrew again, then plunged in all the way. Yes. Like that was perfect. Just one more thrust and she would...
Erupt.
That was what it felt like. Instinctively, she knew that was what was about to happen. She would erupt. And she was desperate for it.
