Page 39 of One Night of Surrender
CHAPTER 12
Isabelle should not have asked such a thing, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to take it back.Already stimulated by this daring escapade with Viola and the tankard of beer she’d consumed, it hadn’t taken much for her attraction toward Val to rise to a dangerous level.When he’d helped her to position the cue, her entire body had come alive, both in memory and in anticipation.She wanted to know if being with him would feel as good now as it had ten years ago.
There was only one way she was going to find out.
Val stared at her, his eyes narrowing slightly and his nostrils flaring.The muscle in his jaw grew taut, and then he suddenly spun around.He didn’t move, however; he simply stood there for a moment.Then he sprang into action and dragged a barrel in front of the door.
It wasn’t a lock, but she supposed it would do.Lifting her hand to her face, she gently pulled at the beard, which Viola had applied with a paste she’d insisted was safe, that actors used it on the stage.But now, as Isabelle tried to remove the hair, she began to think it would rip her skin right off.
Joining her at the table, Val took her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist.He then took over, carefully pulling the hair away from her face.He worked slowly, and she closed her eyes as he freed her flesh.When he was done, she heard him move and opened her eyes.
He returned with a damp cloth, which he smoothed over her cheek.Then he kissed her there, his lips caressing her with the same care as he’d taken with removing the fake beard.He moved to her other cheek and repeated the ministration.She closed her eyes again and surrendered to his touch.He wiped the cloth across her chin and kissed her there, his mouth lingering for a moment.Then the cloth stroked her lips, and her heart beat in anticipation of what would come next.
The cloth disappeared and was replaced by his lips.But this wasn’t a gentle caress.This was an urgent request, a plea for her surrender.
Isabelle clasped his neck and pressed her hands against his heated flesh, opening her mouth to him and answering his entreaty with her own.The barriers of time and propriety fell away as their lips and tongues moved together.
He kissed her hard, then soft, then angled his head in a new direction, then drew back to nip at her lip.She dug her fingers into him, sliding her hands beneath his cravat—or at least trying to.Frustrated, she tugged at the silk, loosening it until the knot came free.Then she pushed her hands inside his shirt and this time had total access to his neck and collarbones.He was heat and corded muscle and divine sensation, groaning into her mouth as she explored him.
He pulled at his coat, and she helped him shrug it to the floor.She unbuttoned his waistcoat, eager to feel him against her.But wait.How were they to do this?There was no bed.No place of comfort.There was only brewing equipment.
She pulled her mouth from his and sucked in air.“Perhaps—”
He kissed her again, hard and fast, then he leaned his forehead against hers.“If you tell me we should stop, I might die.I mean, Iwillstop, but it’s possible I will actually perish.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you to stop.I was merely going to ask if we should wait to do this until we’re in a more appropriate location.”
He cupped the side of her face and drew back to look into her eyes.“I don’t need a bed.Or anything else.I only need you.”
“I shall trust you, as I always have.”
He kissed her once more, his lips searing hers with an intensity that made her knees almost buckle.She clutched at his shoulders, and he rotated her until she felt the table against her backside.
Pulling back, he untied her cravat and surveyed her costume.“While I enjoy looking at your legs encased in breeches, this would be far easier if you had worn a skirt.”
She could see that now and giggled.“I hadn’t planned to be seduced.”
He arched a brow at her as he tossed her cravat aside and then followed it with her coat.“You’re being seduced?I believe it was you who suggested I lock the door.I think I am clearly the object of the seduction.”
She finished unbuttoning his waistcoat as he did the same for her.After dropping hers to the floor, he lifted her shirt over her head, leaving her upper half covered only by the length of muslin Viola had wrapped around her breasts.
He stared at it, his expression a mixture of disappointment and confusion.She pulled the end free, which was tucked between her breasts.“Unwrap,” she said simply.
Taking the muslin from her fingers, he slowly unwound the fabric, his eyes meeting and holding hers.The simple task became a sensual endeavor as she was more and more liberated by the loosening of the muslin.And then it was gone, and his gaze dropped.
The sound of his indrawn breath cloaked her in heat and need, making her body pulse with desire.He reached for her, his hand lightly stroking her breast before he dragged his thumb across her nipple.She felt it harden at the precise moment she saw his eyes narrow with lust.
He bent and put his mouth on her there, his lips teasing, his tongue taunting.He tortured her for a long minute, and she closed her eyes, basking in the sensation even while she was desperate for more.She cupped his head and tugged at his hair, urging him to take more of her, to give more of himself.
And he did.
His mouth closed over her, and he sucked, sending a fierce spasm of want straight to her core.Yes, a skirt would have been far better.She could have pulled it up that very instant and urged him to come inside her.
She pressed her fingers into his scalp.“Val.”
He paused and looked up at her.
“I want you.Just as I did ten years ago.No, I want you more.And I know I shouldn’t, thatweshouldn’t, just as I knew it then.I am helpless when it comes to you.”
