Let's Misbehave Page 4

  She slid her hand between his legs, cupped his balls, stroking and squeezing, before taking the full length of him once again in her mouth. A tremor swept through him, and she knew he was on the edge of losing control. On the edge, but still holding back.

  Even as he came, his body shuddering with the involuntary waves of ecstasy, he fought the tide.

  He lay back against the pillows, spent, smiling. She curled into his side, and let her fingers wander over the smooth, hard contours of his chest. What would she have to do to make him lose control?

  His eyes fluttered open. They were as bright as the sky on a summer’s day, and so deep she could drown in them. He caught her hand and lifted it to his mouth, brushing her wrist with his lips. The roughness of day-old stubble sent shivers through her, radiating out along her limbs and pulling tight in the apex of her thighs. She sighed, giving herself over to the pleasure.

  His eyes darkened, no longer the summer sky, but filled with the secrets of twilight. Perhaps that was how she could break through his barrier. The key wasn’t his satisfaction, but hers.

  He had never been with a modern woman, his equal, a woman who valued her own pleasure as much as her partner’s. She smiled. “Now it’s my turn.”

  She moved away from him so they faced one another. Plumping up a pillow and placing it behind her back, she lay back, bending her knees to afford him a perfect view of her sex. Holding his gaze, she raised her hands to her breasts, skimming her palms over nipples already stiff with desire. She rubbed the buds between her fingers, felt the delicious tightening between her legs once again.

  Slowly, sensuously, she ran her hands over her stomach, to the triangle of hair between her legs. His eyes widened as she edged her knees further apart, as her fingers slipped down to stroke her slit, where she was so wet for him, her body crying out its need. She swallowed against the urge to beg him to fill that need and instead slid a finger deep into the folds, into the slick heat.

  His eyes were so dark now she could barely distinguish the pupil from the iris. It was his arousal more than her own that drove her to the peak. Then as wave after wave of passion engulfed her, she let herself go, setting her body and her mind free to ride the storm of sensation.

  ***

  Sebastian exhaled, a long low breath of excitement. He’d barely had time to recover and already his erection grew again. No woman he’d ever known had pleasured herself for him before. He had never imagined how stimulating it would be.

  She closed her eyes, giving herself up to the pleasure, living in the moment as he only wished he could.

  He leaned over her and took a pink nipple in his mouth, licking tentatively across the hardened tip. Her breath quickened. He blew cool air across the taut nipple, then moved to suckle the other, his hands cupping the soft weight of her breasts. When she crested the peak, the waves of her self-induced climax crashed over him, sending heat sizzling through him like liquid fire.

  Never in his life had he been so turned on, so ruled by his desire.

  He wanted her again, fuelled by the same fervour of their first coupling. His restraint stretched thin. She opened her eyes, and they were still wild with desire, bright with passion. She laughed softly, breathily. “Did you enjoy what you saw?”

  He nodded, unable to speak.

  “Do you want more?”

  She nudged him with her knee, and his eyes were drawn back to the inviting rosy warmth of her core. Something inside him constricted, winding so tight that if he didn’t sink himself into her now, he would explode.

  She stretched out a leg, opening herself up to him, and he needed no further encouragement. He straddled her, slowly easing his erection into the slick warmth between her legs. His movements were slow and rhythmic as he buried the tip between her soft lips, then retreated, teasing her.

  She laughed again, a deeper, throatier laugh, as he plunged in and out, driving deeper and harder with each thrust. She moaned with delight, arching her back to take in more of him. Her moans sounded deep, carnal, and uninhibited. Her luminous eyes glazed over, and he drowned in her wild-eyed exultation, plunging into her again and again until it was as though a floodgate within him threatened to burst.

  Still, he held on, denying himself, until her muscles spasmed around him, driving him past the limit of his control. The floodgate broke. He took his release, losing himself in her, driven further and higher as she cried out her ecstasy. In that moment of exultation, his body took him beyond the point of all thought, to a place where not only their bodies fused and soared but their souls did, too.

  Dazed, he fell back beside her. He held her tight, their hearts beating in frantic harmony. Slowly, as reason returned, he cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face to his, so he could see the intoxicated blaze in her eyes.

  He felt drugged, out of control. The sensation was heady, exhilarating. He would do anything to hold on to her, to not lose her. The wild, primal urge that had ignited between them could not be sated, even with physical release unlike anything he had ever known.

  He kissed her, softly, slowly, with all the gentleness he hadn’t shown during their fevered couplings. Then he wrapped her in his arms, held her sleek, pale body against his as she drifted back into sleep.

  Not much later, as the sun struck the windows, Sebastian heard his valet moving in the outer room and leapt out of bed, pulling on his trousers as he hurried to forestall his servant from entering the room. Though he trusted the man’s discretion, he did not want to expose Gabrielle to any discomfort.

  He glanced at her where she slept, the sheet cast aside to reveal her naked limbs. He couldn’t resist a grin. He wasn’t so sure she would care as much for her modesty as he did.

  He found Mason collecting the clothes they’d discarded in their haste to get upstairs last night. The man’s face revealed nothing as he turned to Sebastian and asked, “Shall I give the staff the day off, sir?”

  “That would be appreciated.”

  Sebastian turned back towards his bedroom, drawn as a moth to her flame, pausing only on the threshold to say, “Before you go, Mason, please ask Cook to lay out lunch in the kitchen and prepare a picnic hamper for dinner.”

  He returned to the bed, and nestled into her warmth, cradling her satiny softness against him. The early summer sunshine slid across the ceiling, a reminder that already this day was slipping away from them.

  As his life had slipped away. Except that it wasn’t his own life he was living, but the life that should have been the older son’s. Will hadn’t wanted this life either.

  For so long, he hadn’t questioned the decisions he’d made. But in Gabrielle’s arms the questions could not be silenced.

  She made no secret that she thought he was mistaking a mistake. But how could he explain to a free spirit like Gabrielle the obligation he felt to fill the space left behind by a brother he had adored and who had been larger than life?

  Will would not have understood, either.

  But his brother was no longer here, and Sebastian had to take care of the living, not the dead. If he could not have what he wanted from life, then at least he could use his position to bring happiness to other people.

  In that, he hoped to find his peace.

  Gabrielle stirred, reaching out to him. “Tell me why you’re so willing to give up your own happiness to make other people happy.” Her voice was soft and dreamy, still thick with sleep. “Do you really believe the people who love you want you to sacrifice your happiness for them?”

  “We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” he quoted, nuzzling her neck.

  She turned in his arms and looked up. “Scott Fitzgerald.”

  “He calls us the Lost Generation. We have never been so prosperous, so full of opportunity as we are now, and yet we feel as though we are cast adrift. The old order brought us to the brink of destruction, so we rebelled against the rigidity and the rules of our predecessors. But I’m too tired to fight the current any longe
r. Perhaps it is easier to change the world from within the system, rather than fighting from without.”

  “And so you’ll go into politics, even though it’s not what you want.”

  “What else is there to do?” Even as he said it, he heard the echo of another voice. He’d been a child then. In his innocence he’d asked Will why he was going to fight a war he did not believe in.

  “What else is there to do?” Will had shouldered his kit bag and climbed onto the train, and it was the last time they’d seen him.

  Sebastian shrugged away the memory. “In embracing those things in our past that were good and pure, I hope to find peace.”

  “But you haven’t found it yet.” The sleep was gone from her eyes, replaced by a sadness that pierced into him. “You say you’re too tired, but still you feel that restlessness, don’t you?”

  Not here, not now. With Gabrielle in his arms, the restlessness was replaced by a deep stillness, as though he had finally found the meaning amidst the chaos. But this feeling could not last.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

  She shivered as his breath fanned across her collar bone. “Hear what?”

  “It’s the sound of nothing. The rest of the world has ceased to exist. For today, it’s just you and me.” The sadness disappeared from her eyes, replaced by the familiar mischief.

  “Then we’d better make the most of it.”

  ***

  The sun reached its zenith before hunger finally drove them out of bed. Gabrielle put on his shirt, leaving the top few buttons undone, and padded barefoot through to the kitchen behind Sebastian. She perched on a high chair beside the scarred oak table that dominated the centre of the room.

  “Your cook has outdone herself.” She watched him lift the silver dome from a tray to reveal a whole salmon, poached and decorated with crisp vegetables. It was only one of many intricate dishes set out on the table. “Is this a regular thing, or does she know you have company?”

  He raised the next cloche. Beneath was a fresh blackberry and apple pie. “Yes and yes. Mavis has known me since I was a child, and she spoils me rotten. She’s also very loyal.”

  There went that spotless reputation of his. That hadn’t been part of her plan. If they hadn’t abandoned all sense last night, they both would have known better.

  But when could they have put a stop to this madness? After she’d climaxed, pressed up against the wall of his front hall, her dress pushed up around her waist, and her blood molten in her veins? Or on the boat, their bodies rocked together by the waves and the music and the magical night? Or on the dance floor, when he’d turned a tango into a prelude to their lovemaking?

  No, she had been unable to stop this tide that had thrown them together. From that moment she’d watched him as he drove, and excitement had it his eyes and shown her the man he could be, she’d been lost.

  She rested her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands to watch him prowl the table, removing all the cloche covers. He wore nothing but cotton undershorts, revealing a strong, muscular chest and a dusting of dark hair just above the waistband, both of which her fingers itched to touch.

  “She believes you’re wining and dining your fiancée.” She hoped that wasn’t how jealousy sounded.

  He arched an eyebrow but said nothing. She’d never been envious of anyone before. It was a novel feeling.

  “Mavis wouldn’t be too concerned to hear it’s not Lilly enjoying her fare.”

  “She doesn’t like Lilly?”

  He gave a careless shrug. “She’s never met Lilly. But she has strange notions and thinks I should marry for love.”

  Gabrielle agreed. She thought she’d like Mavis.

  But as Sebastian clearly didn’t agree, she wasn’t going to open another hornets’ nest. She didn’t want to see the haunted look in his face again.

  To end the conversation, she rose and dished up a plate for herself. Across the table, Sebastian did the same. He moved with grace, confident in his own body, yet he had none of the swagger of the men she usually slept with. It made for a refreshing change.

  “Shall we take these back to bed?” He raised his plate and sent her a wicked grin that turned her stomach to jelly.

  They sat on the bed and ate. Their eyes remained locked, promising pleasure to come. Never had food tasted so exquisite as now, when all her senses were heightened and her body thrilled with anticipation.

  The meal at last done, Sebastian cleared away the dirty dishes. She lay back against the mound of pillows, and as he returned, she deliberately uncrossed her legs, offering him a glimpse between her thighs. His eyes flared as he realised she was naked beneath his shirt. He sat beside her and slowly unbuttoned the shirt. His fingers scalded her naked flesh as he brushed the shirt open to stroke her breasts.

  “I prefer you like this.” He ran his hot hands tantalisingly over her peaked nipples. “Your breasts are too beautiful to be crushed beneath that vile corset.”

  That vile corset had cost her good money. Her breasts were too buxom and pert for current fashion. She sighed, laying back her head and giving herself over to the sensation of his hands on her body.

  “Tonight I want to take you out. I want to take you somewhere special.” He buried his face in her hair, so he didn’t see the shadow that crossed her face, quickly suppressed. Then he ducked his head and his mouth closed over her right nipple.

  A tremor rippled through her. She tried to fight it. She had to be strong for both of them. “We can’t go out. Not tonight or any night.”

  He lifted his head to look her in the eyes. “Why not?”

  “What if we are seen together?” Servants were one thing; they always knew more than their masters thought they did. “What if we meet someone you know, someone who knows Lilly?”

  “We won’t. Though it would be a risk worth taking.”

  “No, it’s not.” She found herself getting angry. Not with him, but with herself. The temptation to stay with him was overriding her judgment.

  For her, this was no longer just sex. She wanted to stay with him. She wanted to lie forever in Sebastian’s arms, where she felt the love and acceptance she’d been searching for. With him, she did not feel the exhausting urge to keep moving.

  But she could not allow it to be anything more than sex for him. This affair was supposed to be nothing more than a little fun. No matter how she thought he was wasting it, she wasn’t here to change his life.

  Sebastian rolled her over, wrapping his legs about her hips, and pulling her close.

  “No.” His voice forbade contradiction. “I want us to make a memory that we can hold onto long after this is over. I want to take you to a place that will be ours alone.”

  She couldn’t say ‘no’ to him. She could barely think, with his body pressed up against hers, enflaming her. She rubbed provocatively against him and felt the answering swell of his manhood. She wanted him inside her again, filling her as no other man had ever been able to, showing her pleasure she’d never imagined.

  “All right,” she whispered, a deep chuckle escaping her. She burrowed into his neck, tracing the rough stubble of his throat with her tongue. “But before we go anywhere…”

  Chapter Five

  “So where are you taking me?” Gabrielle asked, reaching for her coat.

  “It’s a surprise. First, let’s take a walk.” Sebastian shut the door behind them, then glanced down the street to ensure none of his neighbours were about, before linking arms with her. Arm in arm they strolled along the river, basking in the warmth of the summer’s evening. He relaxed only once they had put sufficient distance between them and his home.

  Without the distraction of her naked body, he found it easier to make idle conversation. They chatted as they walked, discovering common interests he hadn’t guessed they possessed.

  Beside Battersea Bridge they paused, leaning on the parapet that lined the Embankment. He he
ld her hand loosely in his own, enjoying the warmth flowing from her, filling him with its golden glow. They talked about music and moving pictures, about places they’d been and places they still wanted to go.

  “Paris,” he said, “for its nightlife and music.”

  “Venice,” she said, gazing into the distance. “For its magic and romance.”

  Then she smiled, her eyes still faraway, and a terrible bleakness filled him, because he would never have the chance to take her there. That she would live every adventure that came her way, he did not doubt. But he would not be there to share it with her. Some other man would have that pleasure. A cold, hard knot of jealousy caught in his chest.

  He dragged her to him, holding her tight against his body, revelling in the heat that sparked between them.

  “It should be you living your dreams.”

  She looked up at him, her attention focussed entirely on him, dark eyes so full of swirling emotions that he could not read them all. “Society forgives men their indiscretions. Take the chance and be who you want to be. There’ll be time enough when you’re older to settle down and fulfil your father’s expectations.”

  “But I wouldn’t forgive myself,” he said. “After everything they’ve been through, I won’t disappoint them.”

  She smiled, but her eyes held sorrow. A single tear welled up, and sparkled as it caught the slanting light.

  “You will never disappoint them. They love you, and love forgives all.” Her tone was fierce, at odds with the sadness of her expression.

  He wasn’t sure in that moment if she was thinking of him or of herself.

  He held her tight against him, and she dropped her head to his shoulder. For a long moment they stood like that, in silence, drawing strength from one another, and he wondered for the first time whether this connection between them might be deeper than simple lust.