Relentless Lord (6 page)

He wrapped his hand around her upper arm and the warmth of his touch soaked into her skin, heating her flesh. When he swept the pad of his broad thumb over her bare shoulder, a tingling shiver rolled down her spine.

He lifted his gaze back to hers.

She knew exactly what he was thinking, what he was feeling. Because she felt the same thing. Hannah took a shallow breath through parted lips and made a decision she never thought she would make. Before she left England, she was going to have him in her bed. Tonight. Right now.

Chapter Eight

Stepping up to him, she lifted her hands to slide them up over the satin surface of his waistcoat. The heat of his body seeped through the material, warming her palms. She recalled from their swim how tautly muscled his chest and abdomen had felt against her body, and she tested those muscles now with the exploration of her fingers. Reaching up to curl her hands over his shoulders, she rose onto her tiptoes and tipped her head back.

Their mouths were a breath apart. His eyes were sharp and alert beneath the dark sweep of his lashes. Hannah’s stomach fluttered in anticipation of his kiss.

But he made her wait. He lifted his hands and combed his fingers back through her hair at her temples. Fisting his fingers gently at the back of her scalp, he finally lowered his head.

In spite of his primitive grip in her hair, the touch of his lips was soft as a butterfly’s wings. He brushed his mouth across hers with infinite patience. Barely caressing the surface, making her ache for a deeper connection.

Hannah leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him to her.

With a chuckle sounding in the back of his throat, he bent down and looped his arm around her legs to lift her against his chest. He continued to press heated kisses to her mouth while he strode to the bed. After laying her down, he stepped back to quickly strip off his waistcoat and kick off his shoes.

Hannah watched his disrobing with interest. When he had stripped in similar fashion at the hidden pool, she had been too irritated to enjoy the unveiling of such a well-formed physique.

Noticing her avid gaze, Miles grinned. The smile was pure sensuality and sent a jolt of desire through her core. With the grace and poise of a man who knew he was attractive, he slowed his movements. He lifted his shirt up over his head and tossed it to the floor.

Naked to the waist, he gave Hannah another wicked glance and struck a dramatic pose that flexed his muscles to their greatest definition.

Hannah laughed at his antics even as she admired the sculpted ridges and shadows of his body. He seemed to know just how to keep any situation from turning the corner into something overtly serious.

Her laughter died abruptly as he joined her on the bed, settling his weight intimately atop her. She gasped and then sighed as her body accustomed itself to the sensation of his large male form pressing her into the mattress. One of his legs rested between hers and he held himself up on his elbows to look down into her face.

“Are you sure you want this, Hannah?”

The earnest tone of his voice surprised her. If she answered no, he would leave. She knew it, and her heart swelled almost painfully. For all his roguish posturing, he had a noble soul. She realized then that she had always known it, had simply been afraid to trust what her instincts told her about him when it seemed to contradict what everyone else insisted was true.

“I want you, Miles.” Then she pursed her lips in a rueful smile. “It looks like you won the challenge after all.”

His grin was charmingly lopsided as he lowered his head toward hers. “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Stop talking,” he murmured against her lips.

And she did, because he had shifted his leg to press more intimately to the juncture of her thighs. His erection was hard and insistent against her hip. He swept his tongue into her mouth and its velvety glide sent her senses spinning.

She arched up into him, seeking the press of his chest against her breasts.

No. She wanted more than that. She wanted to feel his body beneath her hands.

She planted her foot against the mattress and pushed at him, angling him off to the side. He resisted at first, but when she nipped at his lips with her teeth, he acquiesced with a short laugh. As he rolled onto his back, she followed and rose up over him. Sitting beside him, resting on one hip, she looked down at his outstretched form. The muscles of his arms, chest and abdomen were more defined than she had expected. She lifted her hand to trail a light touch over the contours of his body.

At her first exploratory caress, he propped his hands behind his head, essentially giving her free rein. Hannah met his hooded gaze and smiled, feeling a sudden rush of sensual power at having such a man lying patiently in wait for her to satisfy her curiosity. Holding his gaze, she circled the flat discs of his masculine nipples. She delighted in how they puckered to small points against the pad of her index finger while gooseflesh rose on his skin.

As if sensing her enjoyment, he chuckled low in his throat.

Emboldened, she trailed her hand up over the bulge of one biceps and leaned forward to flick her tongue against his nipple. His chuckle slid into a swiftly drawn breath. The planes of his stomach tightened visibly, drawing Hannah’s attention. She shifted to press a kiss just below his lowest rib.

His breath caught.

She ran the tip of her tongue down the center of his abdomen to his navel.

He exhaled with a whoosh.

Sitting tall again, Hannah eyed the obvious ridge of his desire still concealed by his breeches. Without hesitation, she released the fastenings, wanting nothing more than to see him, touch him. His erection came free, reaching up along his belly. Hannah tugged his breeches lower until Miles lifted his hips to allow her to pull them down his thighs. From there, he used his feet to kick them the rest of the way off.

Hannah sat back, running her gaze over his body finally revealed in its entirety. He was stunning. Purely male. She had seen men in various forms of undress before. African natives who did not have the same need for modesty as the western world. But never had she been so affected by the sight of male anatomy.

Her mouth was suddenly dry and her fingertips buzzed. Deep inside, melting heat overtook her, bringing a throbbing wetness to the juncture of her thighs. She pressed her legs together and rolled her lips in between her teeth.

As she looked her fill, gazing intently at all the ways he was formed so differently from her, he lay there still but not relaxed. His muscles tensed and twitched as her gaze passed over them. And when she allowed herself the pleasure of observing his erection, she noticed how it throbbed and pulsed against his belly. How it impossibly appeared to grow even more while she watched it.

“Touch me, Hannah,” he said. His voice was strangled and tight.

Hannah glanced up to see his jaw clenched so hard it looked like marble and his eyes locked fiercely on her face.

“Touch me,” he repeated.

Hannah lifted her hand to run just the tip of her finger up his length, from the base to tip. He was hot and smooth. She circled her finger around the ridged head and then teased the small slitted opening, causing moisture to seep in the wake of her finger. Curious, she ran her thumb through the droplet, spreading the silken issue over his tip.

The muscles of his buttocks clenched as he lifted his hips, as though trying to press himself more fully into her hand.

Hannah laughed softly but gave him what he wanted and wrapped her fingers around him.

He groaned.

She squeezed.

He tensed his buttocks again, thrusting himself against her palm. She slid her hand along his length, reveling in the satiny glide of his hard flesh as she wondered what it would feel like when that part of him entered her body. She was a virgin, but she knew well enough the act of procreation. The thought of experiencing such an intimate joining with Miles made her tremble. The throbbing between her legs increased to an insistent ache.

As though understanding the craving that claimed her, he gave up his submissive posture and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck to draw her mouth to his. She tumbled forward onto his chest and fell into the kiss. He brought his other hand to cup her buttocks, rolling her more fully onto him until his cock thrust up against the softness of her belly.

His kiss became deeper and more penetrating. She groaned into his mouth as he kneaded her derriere.

With a growl, he lifted and rolled, taking her over until he was atop her once again. This time, he settled both legs between hers, forcing her thighs to widen around him. Her nightdress was twisted up around her hips and she gasped as the hot, smooth tip of him pressed to the entrance of her body. But he did not push forward. Instead, he lifted his shoulders until he could grasp the neckline of her gown. He tugged it down, exposing her breasts to his view and the possession of his mouth.

He circled each thrusting peak with his velvety tongue, scraped her softness with his teeth and drew her deep into the heat of his mouth. Hannah clasped his head in her hands, holding him to her breasts as she rolled her hips beneath him, craving the awkward pressure and friction it caused. Needing more of it.

But instead of giving her what her body demanded, he lifted his hips away.

Hannah protested with a low sound in the back of her throat. He murmured a soothing sound before he reached down and slid his fingers along the seam of her needful flesh.

Hannah jerked and arched.

He teased and coaxed her by turns. Stroking her with his long fingers, then circling, then flicking and rubbing before starting all again. Every second ignited more fire in her blood, urging the ache to a restless hunger. And then the first intrusion into her body. A gentle press of his finger easing along her inner flesh. Then a second finger and the initiation of a rhythm that tormented beyond reason.

Hannah was lost. Her panting breath, her clutching fingers, her rocking hips, all belonged to a woman possessed beyond reality. She had not expected such intensity, such a feeling of being consumed.

It was not until she was completely mindless that he pressed his hips between her thighs once again. And now, finally, what she had been striving for. The steady pressure of his erection spread her, claiming her with slow, intense strength. Her body stretched, her need grew until that moment of inner resistance.

Miles looked into her eyes then, his green gaze darkened by desire, his brows low and his breath coming fast between his lips. So much restraint. So much focus.

And all of it for her.

Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and flicked her tongue over his lower lip. He released a guttural groan as his hips jerked forward to press more painfully to her core. Hannah stiffened from the searing burn, but before he could retreat, she lifted her head to thrust her tongue deep into his mouth. When his tongue met hers, she closed her lips over it, sucking it into her mouth.

He thrust his hips forward with enough force to tear through her maidenhead as he filled her completely. Miles dropped his forehead to hers. His breath was fast and stilted as he held himself still inside her.

But Hannah was out of patience. Even the burn of her lost virginity could not keep her from moving, grinding herself against him as she sought his mouth again. The pain was nothing compared to her need.

Propping himself on his elbows, he framed her face in his hands and kissed her. Deeply. Tenderly. She may have considered it reverent if not for the carnal taste on his tongue and the wicked heat of his breath.

Hannah soaked up that tenderness. She drew it into her body through his breath and claimed it as rightfully hers. And suddenly, she knew. This was far more than an expression of physical lust. Her inevitable joining with this man had far deeper implications than that of desire. As she lay beneath him, his body penetrating hers, his weight all around her, she acknowledged her own vulnerability.

She had let him into her body and into her heart.

For the life of her, she could find no reason to regret it. Every instinct she possessed urged her to accept it as a gift. Regardless of what may come after. This moment, with this man was entirely worth it.

After a few long, wonderful minutes, his kiss grew more potent. He started to move within her. First, there was a slow withdrawal. Then an even slower repossession. He would not be rushed as they moved together. Soothing, tormenting. Building the tension.

Their panting turned to groans and gasps. Their sweat mingled on their skin.

The pleasure took Hannah steadily higher and higher. Until a moment of breathless suspension when everything stopped. Her thoughts, her breath, her heartbeat. And then the most sublime expression of life she had ever experienced washed through her on a wave of intense sensation. No minute corner in her body was left untouched or unchanged. And she clung to Miles, her mouth pressed in an open kiss to his shoulder, trusting him to carry her through.

Two more languorous thrusts and he joined her. His spine arched and a groan caught in his throat as he ground his hips to hers. Hannah lifted her knees along his sides and grasped his buttocks in her hands, urging him to go as deep as he could.

Chapter Nine

Miles released his breath in a heavy whoosh. He barely managed to shift his weight before he collapsed to the mattress along Hannah’s side. Stretching an arm over his head, he dislodged the pillows on the bed and something heavy clamored to the floor.

Hannah emitted an unintelligible sound but did not move from her sated sprawl beside him. He cast a long look at the woman who lay mostly naked, her skin still flushed, her pale hair a tangled mess beneath her head, her eyes gently closed while her breath slid from between parted swollen lips.

Miles’s heart was near to bursting. It was an exceptional feeling and he struggled to contain the emotion pressing outward against his rib cage.

Unable to keep from touching her, he covered her breast with his hand. As the steady beat of her heart echoed against his palm, warmth spiked in his chest. He took a moment to revel in the sensation, understanding and delighting in what it signified.

Then his curiosity got the better of him. He gathered the strength to lift himself up to stretch across Hannah’s lovely body until he could gaze down over the edge of the bed.

Amusement washed through him as he reached for the fallen object. Propping himself on one elbow, he examined it with a mix of curiosity and bewilderment.

“Do you always sleep with a dagger beneath your pillow?”

She gave a heavy sigh and opened her eyes in a sleepy gaze. “Since I was five years old. A necessary defense against predators that hunt in the night.”

Miles couldn’t help himself. He burst into laughter. Without a doubt, this woman was the most adorable, fascinating, wonderful creature he had ever met. A wrinkle formed between her brows as his laughter continued and he leaned forward to press a kiss to the little frown.

Lifting his head, he muttered through a wide grin, “I love you.”

He did not realize he had said the words aloud until her eyes blinked wide open, the haze of her sensual aftermath gone in an instant. She took a breath in obvious preparation to protest.

Miles had to act fast. He pressed his fingers to her mouth. “Before you say anything, I have a confession. I did not come to your room tonight to fetch my coat. I had an ulterior motive.”

She pushed his hand away to reply in a wry tone. “I think our current circumstances prove that well enough.”

Miles couldn’t help but grin, considering the circumstances she referred to included him lying naked half atop her flushed body. “An added bonus,” he quipped, “but my true purpose was to discuss what will be expected after tonight.”

She slid her gaze away from his face. “You do not have to explain. I understand. I am leaving England as soon as I can. You will not have to worry about…any of this. None of it will matter once I am gone.”

The idea of her leaving England burned his insides like a red-hot lump of coal. But he had come to her room tonight prepared to say goodbye if that was what she wanted.

Could he really do it? Be that selfless?

He groaned and rolled his eyes closed.

Damn it. For her happiness, he would do that and more.

“Honestly, Miles,” she said in a lowered tone. “You do not have to marry me.”

“You are correct,” he said almost angrily as he opened his eyes again. “I do not have to, and if you insist, I will pen a note to your uncle rescinding the offer I made downstairs and will ride away from here before dawn.”

Her blue gaze was wide and locked on his. In their clear depths, he thought he saw a touch of the fear he felt himself. The fear and the longing.

He drew a ragged breath and framed her face in his hands. He brushed his thumbs over the crests of her cheekbones before pressing them to the pulse at her temples.

“Hannah,” he said, “I
want
to marry you. I cannot imagine a day without you in it, let alone the rest of my life. Please say you will be my wife.”

She stared up at him in silence for several long seconds. Then she swallowed and licked her lips. “How many other women have you claimed to love?”

Miles’s stomach tightened. “None. I swear it.”

She arched and imperious brow. “And how many have you proposed to so eloquently?”

He knew then she was only tormenting him. He issued a growl and wrapped his arm around her waist. He gave a rough tug and pulled her to lie atop him until her pale hair fell about them like a curtain. With her lovely hips in his hands and her breasts swelling beautifully beneath his chin, Miles found it difficult to form a proper response, but he gave it a valiant effort.

“There has never been and never will be another woman to ever hear those words from me.”

But her gaze was still skeptical. “You have known me less than a week. How could you possibly love me?”

Miles shrugged. “I am not one to question the hows and whys of things. I trust what I feel. Can you?”

She stared down at him with her beautiful blue eyes. She would not be rushed, he knew, but Miles tensed with every second that passed. If she refused him…

When she finally spoke, it was in the tone of someone reciting a phrase from memory.
“When embarking on any journey, having companions you trust is vital, but not nearly as important as trusting your own intuition.”

Miles arched his brows in question.

She smiled and lowered her lips until they hovered just above his.

“I trust you, Miles, and I trust what I feel,” she whispered, repeating his words.

“And?” he prompted as he ran his hands up her narrow spine.

She laughed, a soft and lovely sound. “I love you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as her lips continued to tease his by barely brushing back and forth over the surface.

“And?” he muttered as his pulse picked up speed.

“I will be your wife.” Her breath bathed his lips, and the taste of her response was sweet indeed.

Miles sighed his relief. She sealed her vow with a kiss, but as it gradually grew deeper and more impassioned, he abruptly pulled back, thinking of one last thing.

“You must promise not to tell anyone I agreed to this marriage willingly. I cannot have my false reputation ruined with the truth.”

Her laughter this time was a full throaty sound that vibrated up through her chest to surround him in a delightful sense of rightness. Without even trying, she had claimed his heart. The world would think Lord Whitely, renowned for ruining young innocents, had finally chosen the wrong woman to seduce and was going to find himself at the alter whether he liked it or not.

In truth, Hannah was the only woman Miles had ever set out to seduce, and he could not be more thrilled to have won such a bride.