Page 17 of Once You Love a Scoundrel

Seven

Heat spread over Iris in waves. She tried to push the blanket off of her, but it was too heavy, almost intractable. Dreams filled her mind. He was there. He was always there. She reached for him and held on. Only in this world could she give in and touch him the way she wanted to. Iris couldn’t forget about him. Would never forget about him... But giving in to her deepest desire was not something she could do in reality.

This dream seemed more real than any of the others. His skin underneath her fingers was hot, hard, and sensuous. How could her mind have brought so much detail in where it had failed before? She should open her eye and escape from this fantasy, but she wanted more. Iris wanted to press herself up against him. To taste his lips against hers and touch more of his body that was so different from hers. She needed to do that almost as much as she needed to take her next breath.

Iris curled against the heat. Where she had been ready to remove it a few moments earlier, now she craved it. His hand moved over her hip and cupped her bottom. It was like a brand that was now permanently etched on her skin. When his lips finally came down on hers, she moaned.

She wrapped her arms around him. This... Iris lost all ability to think. She had been on the brink of a revelation, but he had slid his hand lower. Her dressing gown slid upward, and then he pushed his hand upward. Confusion filled her mind. She’d never taken things this far in her dreams. In truth, she had never taken him to her bed in them. They had kissed, and kissed, and kissed. But nothing more... This dream had taken on a life of its own.

He brushed his fingers over her spine, then slid them in between her legs. When he brushed them over her sex, she gasped. It was so intimate and taboo. She should not let him touch her this way. Iris had to wake up and stop this dream. Even if it was a temptation, she found irresistible. She would never be able to meet his gaze and not think of this delectably stunning dream.

Iris pulled away from the kiss. He didn’t like that and pulled her against him again. Daniel didn’t want to let her out of the dream anymore than Iris wished to go. She had to do it, though. “No,” she said in a husky tone. “We can’t. It’s...”

She didn’t finish the sentence. His mouth came back down on hers. The kiss stole her breath with its intensity. His fingers slid against the sensitive nub between her legs, over and over again in a rhythm so sensual it made her moan. Daniel slid his tongue into her mouth and tangled it with hers in an intimate dance. The kiss along with the motions of his fingers, was too much. Something was building up inside of her. There was an intense pressure and only he could make her reach the peak that would send her over. She pressed herself against him and writhed with each slide of his fingers over her.

Iris would have screamed if he didn’t swallow it with a kiss. Her eyes flew open. Somewhere along the way she had realized that she hadn’t been dreaming, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it. There was no denying it now. That was not something her mind could have imagined.

She scraped her nails against his naked flesh. “Daniel,” she said in a harsh whisper. His eyes were closed, and he was unresponsive. He leaned into her and trailed kisses along her neck and down to her bosom. He sucked on her breast, pulling the nipple into his mouth through the cloth of her dressing gown. Iris moaned. She cursed under her breath. He had to stop, but damn if she wanted to let him have his way with her. He’d already gone too far, anyway. Why not take this act to its inevitable conclusion?

“You feel so good,” he said in a gravelly voice. “So, so good.”

Iris groaned. He felt damn good, too. “Daniel,” she tried saying his name again.

“Yes, love,” he said in a tone that made her entire body shiver. “Say my name. Say it for me again. I’ve been dying to hear it from your lips.”

He was going to be the death of her. “Daniel,” she said more sharply. Iris didn’t know why he was in her bed, but he had to leave. Before her maid came in and then there would be no turning back. So far no one knew he had been in here. They were safe from this ruinous act. But only if he left soon.

His eyelids fluttered open, and he met her gaze. He hummed a little in pleasure. “I don’t know why you’re in my bed, but I’m so glad you’re here.”

She frowned. “Are you drunk?”

“No,” he said. “Well, I might have been.”

Great. He had crawled into her bed completely foxed and unaware of what he had been doing. She wanted to smack him. “I am not in your bed,” she said in an irritated tone. “You are in my bed, you sodding fool.”

“What?” He jerked upward and stared down at her. He was finally blinking away the remnants of sleep. “Iris?”

She sighed. He was as confused as she had been. The pleasure he had given her had been intense, but she also realized that it would lead somewhere she couldn’t go. He didn’t want to marry anyone, especially her. He had made his feelings for her very clear. It did not matter how she felt about him. Iris could not risk finding herself in a precarious position. If she were to end up with child... She shook her head away. They had not gone that far in this farce. She was safe from being tied to this man for the rest of her life.

* * *

Daniel stared down at her,shock filling him. What the hell had happened. He was in bed with her and he could not discern how he had come to be with her. How much brandy had he drank? She stared up at him as if he’d grown two heads. His cock was hard as a rock, even with that look of disapproval on her face. Her lips were plump from his kisses.

Bloody hell...

He had been touching her, kissing her, and so close to spreading her legs to shove himself inside of her. He still wanted to do that. She was there and it would be easy to seduce her, and love her the way he had been dreaming for days.

But that would be wrong.

His Iris deserved to be courted properly. As it was, he already ruined her by being in her bed. The sun would rise soon and if he were caught there... A courtship would not happen. He would have to marry her. There would be no choice for either one of them. He wanted her to have that choice, and he wanted her to choose to be with him.

“You need to leave,” she hissed out.

“I know,” he said. His heart hurt. Daniel rubbed his chest, hoping to ease that pain. What the hell had he done? “I’m...” He had been about to tell her he was sorry, but he didn’t get the words out.

In that moment, he realized two things. He was completely naked, and Iris hadn’t stopped him from kissing her or from bringing her to climax. Why had she allowed it to go as far as she had? He narrowed his gaze. “Iris,” he began. He was suddenly uncertain if he hadn’t taken her completely. “Did we?”

She shook her head. “We can talk about this later. When you’re dressed and not in my bedchamber.”

---