Page 40 of Seeking Ruin

“Why haven’t you?”

“For all the reasons I gave you before. It would have been a dreadful scandal, and I feared that some might put two and two together if you and I were seen beside each other in public too often. Much easier to hide from scrutiny when one is merely the help.”

“I don’t think it matters now,” Kitty said. “I’ve created enough scandal on my own as it is, and I will have a dukedom to hide behind.”

“Your father is of the same mind. He was quite persuasive this time around, and has accosted me a full three times today whilst you and His Grace were holed up together in the parlor.” Mary looked at her with raised eyebrows. “You behaved yourself, correct?”

“Of course not,” she said with a sniff, crossing her arms and letting her mother get away with diverting the topic. It wasn’t Kitty’s business what her parents did with their lives, she decided, though she would encourage a match at any chance she could get. “Sebastian wouldn’t let me have my way.”

Mary nodded. “As he shouldn’t.”

“I even invited him to my room tonight, and he didn’t budge an inch.”

“Kitty!”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s my fiancée, Mama. We’ll be married in the morning, anyway.”

“You don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to,” Mary said, though Kitty could tell from the small smile the woman wore that she was delighted with the prospect.

Kitty smiled back. “I want to.”

“Thank you.” Her mother picked up another dress. “Now, help me decide what you need, and don’t you even think of getting any bright ideas concerning His Grace tonight.”

Kitty held up her hand in surrender. “I won’t,” she said emphatically, even if the words were a bold-faced lie.

**

Sebastian sat up in bed with an irritated exhale, glaring at the fire crackling in the fireplace. He’d been tossing and turning for a good two hours, yet sleep continued to evade him. There was nothing wrong with his accommodations, the room being perfectly serviceable and even a bit cozy. No, the cause of his restlessness lay sleeping a few doors down, only a few seconds’ walk out of reach. He was feeling shamelessly randy and for only one lady in particular. But, he had to behave himself. For once in his life, Sebastian wanted to do the proper and honorable thing, and debauching Kitty in her own house before they were married was certainly not it, no matter how much his body was raging at him to do so. He leaned back against the pillows with a huff, closing his eyes and begging sleep to overcome him. His eyes snapped open at the sound of a creaking door, and he peered at the corner of his room, mind going blank as someone quickly slipped through the door and clicked it quietly shut behind her. Kitty turned to face him in nothing but her chemise and dressing gown. Her hair tumbled in amber waves over her shoulders, her big brown eyes crackling with gold from the light of the fire.

“Hello, there,” she said quietly, a small, shy smile quirking on her pink lips.

He blinked, doing his best to keep his mouth from falling open. “Are you mad?”

“Probably,” she said with a careless shrug, the action drawing attention to the barely concealed outline of her lovely breasts.

He swallowed back a heated wave of arousal, clutching the counterpane between his fingers and trying his darndest not to lunge out of bed towards her. “You need to go back to your room.”

Kitty shook her head. “I think not, especially after I went through all of the trouble to sneak in here in the first place. I thought my heart might stop when I creaked the floorboards in front of my father’s door on the way here.” She fiddled with the front tie of her dressing gown, untying the knot and letting the fabric slide from her shoulders to pool at her feet. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

The glow of the fire allowed him to see her shapely legs and the delicious curve of her hips through the thin chemise she wore, and his cock went rigid at the sight. “Oh, hell,” he growled, flipping the counterpane off of him in one violent sweep and all but launching himself out of bed. Her eyes widened on his naked form as he stalked forward, and Sebastian felt a swell of masculine pride at the sight of him giving her such pause. She squeaked as he hauled her against him, her lush breasts crushing against his chest. “Have it your way, then,” he said, inwardly admitting defeat as Kitty boldly ran her arms down his sides, her soft fingers sending ripples of pleasure everywhere they roamed. He nearly choked into her soap-scented hair when her fingers wrapped around his shaft.

“You like that?” she murmured, staring up at his face with heated interest.

He suppressed a moan as she glided her hand up and down, seemingly out of curiosity more than anything else. Likely encouraged by his harsh breathing, her grip became tighter and more assured until Sebastian was forced to push his hands against her shoulders. “Stop that now, darling, or this will end far sooner than either of us wants.”

She slowed her speed, but did not let go, peppering his chest with kisses in much the same way he’d done to her at Vauxhall. Her voice was a tingling whisper against his skin. “But, I’m having such fun. It makes me wonder what else works well. My mouth, perhaps?”

He looked down at her in shock, even as the thought of her lips wrapped around his cock threatened to undo him completely. “Where the hell did you hear about that?”

She bit her lip with a flush, looking so tempted that he came close to letting her have her way and pushing her head down. “I found a book stuffed between the cushions in Sophie’s private sitting room a few days ago. I may have burrowed it without her knowing.”

Oh, God, she’d found one of Amberwood’s bawdy books. No wonder she was getting ideas. “You’re going to be the death of me, woman,” he said, his voice more breathless than he would have liked as her hand continued stroking him. Before he could reach a breaking point, Sebastian gently pushed her away. The pout that had been forming died on Kitty’s lips as he fisted her chemise and hauled it up and over her body in one fluid motion. He hungerly took in her nakedness, trailing his eyes over her unblemished skin, the inviting swell of her hips, and generous breasts, puckered nipples all but begging for attention. He grasped her wrist and pulled her towards the end of the bed, his self-control held on by mere threads. “Sit down.”

She heeded the command, her legs opening in wanton invitation at his approach. He leaned down to take her mouth, her tongue boldly meeting his as her arms wrapped around his neck. “Sebastian,” she whispered against his lips, shuddering as he took one of her breasts in his hand and rolled her nipple with his thumb. He nudged her onto her back, pushing her thighs wider apart and drinking in the sight of her quim, pink and slick with wanting for him. He rubbed the head of his cock along her flesh, letting out a low hum of pleasure at the slick friction. She squirmed against him with a small whimper. “Sebastian, please.”

Too riled up to tease, he thrust inside of her warmth, delighting in the sound of her pleasured gasp. Her calves wrapped around his waist, a cry leaving her lips as he increased his speed. The sight of his cock sliding in and out of her slick flesh and the erotic bounce of her breasts from his thrusts was enough to make his body tighten, and he reached down to roughly swirl his thumb over her swollen nub, sliding relentlessly over the soaked bundle until she threw her head back, hand clamping over her mouth as a violent moan forced itself through her lips. “That’s it, my love, come for me,” he breathed out as she clenched hard around his shaft with a muffled whine. The tension within him shattered, and he was barely able to contain the guttural shout bubbling up his throat as he throbbed and spilled inside of her pulsing warmth. They remained still for a moment, their harsh breathing and the crackle of the fire breaking the quiet of the night. He stared down at her sated form, heart tightening as she gazed at him with undisguised affection.

“I love you,” she whispered into the dim light.

Though she had affirmed her feelings earlier, it was the first time she’d said the phrase aloud. He wondered how his heart had become so overwhelmed in such a short span of time, wondered why the notion didn’t utterly terrify him. The only thing he felt as he leaned down the nuzzle the side of her head was a sense of utter contentment.

“I love you, too.”

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