Page 7 of Wickeds Scandal
He winkedand lifted his hands, palms up in supplication, before he clasped them behindhis back.
Her eyeswidened.
Sutton oftenthought that so much of seduction could be accomplished with only the mouth andtongue. Words, in particular, were incredibly seductive, although he hadfound few women who understood that. This girl in front of him had noidea how her tart tongue had incited him.
The gunmetaleyes followed his progress. She said nothing, but her face remainedflushed. She didn’t order him to step aside. She didn’tscream. The tilt of her head told him she wanted him to kiss her.The white column of her neck turned, just so, inviting him to touch it.She may not be aware of her actions, but her body knew what it wanted. Heheard her breathing, like a frightened animal.
I reallyam a vile man.
Her gazefell to his chest, then, back to his face. Her breasts lifted towardshim, her body making an unconscious appeal to his. He sensed deep passionin the prickly badger. Sutton leaned forward and caught her scent.Green apples on a spring day. How appropriate. He loved tart, greenapples.
A tiny nestof curls, dainty and fine, hung underneath her ear. He blew softlytowards the curls, watching them move as if they were caught in a gentlebreeze.
Sheshivered. Deliciously. Her hands pressed against the back of thedoor as if to brace herself for his attentions.
Heconsidered just reaching around her to open the door and waving her out.But she tempted him. Lured him.
Carefully,he nuzzled the nape of her neck with the tip of his nose, pushing aside thesmall tendrils to touch the skin underneath. Her skin was warm andsoft. Delicate like fine satin. He couldn’t help himself. Henipped her.
“Oh!”Two hands flew up immediately, like trapped doves, to place themselves on hischest.
Heat joltedthrough his chest at her touch. He wanted nothing more than to wraphis arms around her, pressing her small form to his. But hedidn’t. Instead he inhaled deeply and pressed his lips to the spothe nipped, savoring the Badger as if she were fine wine. He flicked out the tipof his tongue and traced a line from the spot to just below her earlobe.He took her lobe in his mouth and gently sucked on it.
“What areyou – oh!” She said again, before she sagged towards him.
Themagnificent breasts pushed against him. He imagined her nipples, thecolor of dusky ripe cherries, pushing through the lawn of hisshirt. The beat of her heart could clearly be seen beneath thecolumn of her throat.
She rubbedagainst him, like a cat wishing to be stroked.
He nearly cameundone then but forced his hands to stay still. What started as virginbaiting turned into something else entirely. Sutton pressed agentle kiss to the side of her mouth. His tongue flicked out to runagainst the inside of her upper lip. Her head moved back an inch,unaccustomed to the sensation.
“No.” Hewhispered against the corner of her mouth. “Be still.”
Her eyesclosed in surrender. Her touch ran up his chest, fingers tensing as shemade her way slowly up to his neck. His lips brushed over hers, suckingon her bottom lip, pulling away gently from her.
Sutton’sheart hammered in his chest from their kiss, a rare and unnervingexperience. What in God’s name was he doing?
***
SatanReynolds kissed her. Erotically. Decadently. And he smelledof cinnamon. She wanted this moment to last forever. The mostnotorious rake in London looked at her with seduction. She should run asfar from this man as possible. Something about him made her want tobe wicked. Wanton.
A puzzledlook crossed his angelic face as he watched her. His eyes were the mostglorious color she had ever seen, green with flecks of gold. Only oneother creature in her acquaintance also possessed eyes of that color, hercalico tabby cat, Marmalade. Thinking of Marmalade, who was likelysitting by the fire in Helmsby Abbey’s kitchen, brought Alexandra back toreality. She was just a girl from Hampshire, who had never been kissed,desperate to outsmart her uncle to save her home. Were she not so muddledby the man standing before her, Alexandra would have laughed out loud.Her situation sounded very much like a plot of a Lord Thurstonnovel. The knob of the door ground into her back. She reachedfor it.
“What isyour name?” The dark rasp ran over her like molten chocolate.
Herhand froze on the knob. “Alexandra Dunforth.” She looked into thosecat-like eyes, truly frightened for the first time. She wondered if thiswas what the gypsy cursed him with, a magical allure that women could notresist.
“I’ll beseeing you again,Alex.” He smiled wickedly at her.
Alexandracautiously opened the door, never taking her eyes off Lord Reynolds. Shenodded a polite goodbye to him, as if they merely met for tea. She triedto pivot gracefully, but stumbled a bit in her haste to exit. She cursedher clumsiness and forced her shaky legs to take her back to the ballroom. Theside of her mouth tingled from the imprint of his tongue on her lips.
***
Lord SuttonReynolds, known to his friends as Cam and amongst the gossips of thetonas Satan Reynolds, felt his heart thump loudly in his chest as the delectableMiss Dunforth attempted a regal exit. She tripped over her gown, caughtherself, and stumbled in a most ungraceful manner away from him. He thought toassist her, but feared touching her would unleash all sorts of behavior bestleft for another time. Besides, her awkwardness charmed him.And hediddesire her. That was quite apparent from the hardenedarousal in his breeches, meaning he couldn’t follow her immediately.He lit another cheroot.
One of hismistresses in Macao had given Sutton a puzzle box as a gift. Thebox was intricately inlaid with two different types of wood in a delicatepattern made to look like fish in a sea. He couldn’t open it. Hespent weeks looking at it, trying to discern where the secret latch could behidden, how to push the button just so to reveal the mysteries hidden within,
Suttonflicked his wrist and the remainder of the cheroot fell into the fireplace,sparking briefly. He adjusted his breeches as he walked out of thelibrary. Patience was one of Sutton’s strong suits. After nearly a year,he had finally opened the box to his immense satisfaction. Hedidn’t think it would take quite that long with Miss Alexandra Dunforth.
