Chapter Ten

“Your differences don’t make you less desirable; they make you unique enough to be pursued because you stand out.” The desire that darkened his gray eyes nearly made her breathless.

Those words warmed her from the inside out, and for several seconds Samnatha held his gaze while heated tingles zipped up and down her spine. This man had come into her life in the most unorthodox of ways, but after spending a few days in his company, watching him as he’d defended her from being attacked earlier, seeing him interact with his family, she wanted to know absolutely everything about him.

Would he trust her enough for that?

“You are…” She shook her head, temporarily at a loss for words. And he looked so endearing with his battered face and his bloodied knuckles. “Just know that you are enough, Cornelius. Broken or whole, you are enough.” Unwilling or unable to be apart from him, Samantha threw herself back into his waiting arms. When she peered up into his face, some of her doubts and fears faded. “Thank you for your protection. It’s not easy, this looming scourge that is coming from Lady Stover, but just know I don’t plan to let you go at this alone.”

Oddly enough, moisture gathered in his eyes before he blinked away the excess of emotion. His Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow. “I appreciate that.”

“Good. For as long as you wish it, we are a team.” In that moment, they were perfectly aligned, and she wanted him, as much as he would give, but more than that, she needed to be with him, the consequences be damned. Lifting onto her toes, Samantha held his head between her hands and kissed his mouth.

The press of his lips to hers, the sure insistence of his hands on her hips then sliding up her back left her gasping, wanting more.

And she was ready for this next phase of her life, for she wouldn’t be the same after this.

As tiny fires licked through her veins, she pulled away merely to find his gaze. “I need you, Cornelius, in all the ways a man can claim a woman.” It was a bold statement to be sure, but it was how she felt, and she stood by those words. Perhaps this was her only chance to know what it felt like to share carnal intimacy with a man, and she didn’t want to waste it.

Those gray eyes deepened into the most mysterious charcoal. The hand at the small of her back tightened ever so slightly, and already his other hand worked at the laces on her raspberry dress in a lightweight wool blend. A hint of vulnerability shadowed those gorgeous pools. “You should keep your innocence for the man you will marry.” The same desire burning her up from within lined his face. “That is your right.”

“We both know I am a spinster and nearly thirty. There is no more hope for me.” But her heart trembled from his consideration. “I am old enough to know my own mind. What I do with my body is my decision, as is living with any potential consequences.” It would be a sticky wicket if she should fall pregnant, but she worked with an orphanage. If she wasn’t able to keep the child, easily it could be incorporated into the infants already there.

Unwanted.

He stared at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. “I have never known anyone like you before,” he said in a low voice.

“I’m happy to turn your head, at least for a bit.” She tamped on the urge to sob at the choice she might need to make. Then wanting the distraction and the experience, she pressed her lips to his. “I am giving myself to you. Without coercion, without the expectation of anything from you other than this night. Promise me you won’t sully that with obligation.” Truth be told, spinster or no, she didn’t want a man out of guilt or pity.

“I promise.” For the space of a heartbeat, he held her gaze. “You have no idea how much I want you, Samantha.”

“Oh, I have a fair idea.” Hadn’t she already glimpsed his engorged length in the carriage yesterday? And she could certainly feel the hardness as it pressed against her belly. No matter, she would confirm that desire as soon as his breeches came off. “Will there be much more talking? I’d rather kiss you.”

The corners of his lips twitched. “Let’s see if we can give that tart mouth of yours something to keep it occupied.”

“Rogue.” She squealed when he hefted her into his arms, holding her beneath the thighs, then took a few steps until the wall at her back halted further movement. As her heartbeat beat out a frantic rhythm, she clutched his strong shoulders, wrapped her legs about his waist, and kissed him again, for there was no reason not to. The faint metallic taste of blood on his cheek oddly enhanced her need, but she didn’t wish to think about that now. Instead, she breathed in the scent of him and let the sandalwood and citrus mingled with man carry her away.

Timelbury wasn’t content to let her have all the fun. He swiftly took possession of the embrace, and all too soon his tongue was in her mouth bossing hers, and the kiss veered into wicked, heated territory that had every inch of her tingling with anticipation. Friction from the fabric between their bodies rubbed along her sensitive flesh, and she shivered. A barely audible moan left her throat, and Cornelius chuckled.

“Your first time shouldn’t be against a wall, I think.”

“But I—” Before she knew what he was about, he lifted her once more, and when he gently deposited her on the low sofa, he followed her down. He covered her body with his, treated her to long, drugging kisses that left her heated and floating in a cloud of passion with need for something she didn’t quite understand zipping through her bloodstream. “Mmm.”

There was simply nothing better than having the weight of a man on top of her. She shuddered with eagerness as his hands glided over her skin while he slowly, oh so slowly, removed her dress, petticoat, shift, stockings, and then her slippers.

“I thought your breasts were gorgeous, but seeing all of you…” The appreciative gleam in his eyes as he devoured her naked form with his gaze sent curls of excitement through her belly. “A muse, surely, come down to torment me.”

“Do stop, Cornelius.” Yet she couldn’t contain her grin of pleasure. The chill in the air tightened her nipples, and she shoved the thought of this being scandalous from her mind. “Far too charming for your own good, I think.” She wanted him as nude as she, so they could play with conviction. “Remove your clothing, please.” Samantha plucked at the buttons on his waistcoat then tugged at his cravat. “Or I would be happy to stand in for your valet.”

“So polite.”

She giggled, for something about him had her leaving inhibitions behind. “I’m afraid I don’t know what I should do or how I should act.” Then she frowned. “Please don’t think badly of me for it.”

“Such gammon. I like you as you are.” He grinned but followed her command with alacrity. Clothing dropped indiscriminately to the sofa as well as the floor. “And I can teach you everything you need to know.”

“Oh, dear.” He was quite manly indeed, and she didn’t know where to look first. The dratted man paused on his knees, merely so she could look her fill.

“You are… for lack of a better phrase, mouthwatering.”

Merciful heavens, he is wonderful!

Finally, she had a glimpse of him sans breeches, and it was every bit as lovely as she’d hoped. His body was lean and muscled like marble statues of Greek gods, but he wasn’t the perfection of those men of legend. In fact, he was better, for he had scars presumably from his time in the military, as well as cuts and bruises just from this week from his attacker. Those imperfections made him exquisite in her eyes.

“I want to kiss every inch of you, all those horrible bruises because I know what they must have cost you.”

“Hush.” When he brushed his knuckles over one of her aroused nipples, he chuckled as she moaned. “I appreciate you thinking of me, though.”

“Touché.” Those broad shoulders alone could bring her to tears, but her mouth watered at the sight of the ridged lines of his chest as well as his flat abdomen. “I would do many things to lick syllabub from your naval, and I don’t even care for the dessert that much.” What had happened to her since meeting this man? The dark hair on his chest drew her attention, and with a hand she followed a thin ribbon that went down his body. The rampant length of him that sprouted from a nest of black curls had her gasping. What would that appendage feel like moving inside her? For that matter, how would it fit? It was quite thick…

“I can almost see your mind working.” His grin was genuine as he waggled his eyebrows. “Sometimes thinking about an event gives more worry than actually experiencing it.”

“Perhaps.” She smoothed a hand along his chest and shoulder. “So solid.” She met his gaze and smiled. “I would have adored seeing you in your military uniform.”

“Ah, well…” A flush went up his neck. “Perhaps my mother has a portrait I can show you.” Once more he came over her body, and this time he kissed her as if he had all the time in the world.

“I would like that.” Samantha didn’t mind the distraction, for he was darling in his quest to see her relaxed and comfortable. Everywhere he touched brought out exquisite sensations or sent ripples of awareness sailing over her skin. As best she could, she returned the favor, for she couldn’t have enough of his body. Timelbury was strong and hard in all the places a man should be, but soft and luscious in others. His warm skin was a lovely contrast to the coolness of the room, and when she dragged her lips along the underside of his jaw, the trace of his stubble ignited her need. “This is better than I could have dreamed,” she managed to gasp out before a moan stole further words.

“On this I agree with you, but you have dreamed of me?”

Heat seeped into her cheeks. “I… Well, I…”

His chuckle sent tingles down her spine. “The hint is ego-boosting enough.”

Then he proceeded to kiss and caress every inch of her body. Nowhere escaped his notice. He explored all of her with slow leisure, and that unwavering devotion brought tears to her eyes. With each touch, lick, and nibble, she was lifted higher and higher toward that edge of bliss and a goal she didn’t understand why she was going toward. Cornelius’ hot mouth on her breasts, his tongue teasing her sensitized nipples, his talented fingers between her thighs left her moaning and wriggling with excitement. Her body hummed in heightened need. Each time she reached to fondle his member, he batted her hand away.

“Not yet.”

Slowly, her mind began to shatter. “I cannot survive much more of your torture.” She contented herself by caressing his chest, his shoulders, his back, but her concentration fractured for he was relentless in bringing her pleasure.

“That is too bad, for I am only starting my campaign.” The warmth of his breath skated over her skin as he kissed a blazing path between her breasts while he kneaded those quivering mounds. Down, down, down he went along her torso, over her stomach, past her mons, kissing and licking and nibbling as was his wont. When he put his mouth over the place, the center of her heat where his fingers had just teased, Samantha wasn’t prepared for the feelings that crashed into her. She shook into a million pieces of light. A moan mixed with a slight cry left her throat as she arched her back.

“Merciful heavens, Cornelius! What are you doing to me?”

“Trying to make you shatter.” There was a certain smugness in his words. “And we are not finished.” While she cried out and danced her fingers over his shoulders, he drew out her pleasure with tongue and teeth. At the same time, he worked at teasing the swollen button at her center. When she tugged on his hair as contractions rocked her core, he lifted his head. His chuckle further heightened the sensations battering her. “Did you need something else?”

“I, you…” She panted but urged his head back to where she wanted him. “There will be paybacks.”

“I don’t doubt it, for you are quite determined to convolute my life, but in this I have the upper hand.” With a gleam in his eyes that promised wicked things, Cornelius resumed his work. His fingers dug into her hips, branding her, holding her steady, and on one particularly enthusiastic series of teasing with his tongue, release caught her up in an unexpected vortex.

“Ah!” She tumbled into the void of white light dappled with rainbows as pleasure washed over her. How he’d managed to toss her into bliss so quickly, she had no idea. “I didn’t know such a feeling was possible.”

“There is more, if you would like to continue.” The words rumbled in her chest as he came back up her body.

“Definitely continue,” she said in a broken whisper. This time she wanted to show him the same pleasure, so she slid a hand between their bodies. As she wrapped her fingers around his straining shaft, a moan escaped him. “Retribution is at hand, Timelbury.”

“In your hand, rather.”

“Even better.” She nipped the underside of his jaw while slowly pumping her curled fingers up and down his length.

“Mmm, go slowly else I’ll embarrass myself, for it has been a while since I was last with a woman.” When he kissed her again, all thought flew out of her mind. She left off with her torture, and as he spread her thighs wider, he fit the wide head of his member to her opening. “I want to savor this moment.”

“While that is an adorable comment, please don’t draw this out.” Nearly mad with need, she bumped his hips with hers.

“Such a managing baggage.” Yet he didn’t seem in a hurry to claim her. Instead, he threaded their fingers together, pressed her hands to the sofa cushion at either side of her head. “I shall try to make your first time memorable.”

Even in this he was protective of her. She shifted her body, and as his shaft brushed her sensitive flesh, she moaned. “Finish me.” Longing coursed through her, made stronger by his delay, and enhanced by anticipation.

“Ah, Samantha. Your excitement is infectious.” He brushed his lips over hers. Then, with a powerful flex of his hips, he penetrated her in a long, smooth glide that didn’t stop until he was fully sheathed.

A pinprick of pain followed, and she squirmed, but the discomfort fled in moments. His length filled her, stretched her, was snug into her as if he’d always been a piece of her that was missing, and it was easily the most incredible thing she’d ever experienced.

“Merciful heavens, you feel wonderful. I couldn’t have thought…” A sigh shuddered from her. Never in her life had she experienced anything like this. No one had told her how lovely lying with a man would be, for her mother had avoided the subject whenever she was asked. Desperate for more of him, Samantha canted her hips and took him deeper, and the sensation was so exquisite, another moan escaped. She clung to his fingers. “What should I do? My thoughts are scattered…”

“Just feel.” Cornelius rested on his forearms as he stroked into her, slowly at first, the thrusts leisurely and tender, leaving no part of her body unclaimed. “I’m honored you would share this with me.”

Her heart shivered from his words, but she was too far gone to answer him. Freeing her hands, she looped her arms about his broad shoulders and clung to him in an effort to be closer still. Then she wrapped her legs about his and kissed whatever part of him she came into contact with as he increased his pace. Over and over, he pushed, harder and harder he moved as if he wished to join them permanently. Deeper and deeper came his strokes, and she met them by moving her hips to receive him.

The rhythm was far too right. It was quite odd to try and describe, but each time he thrust, fractured shards of bliss streaked through her body. When Samantha opened her eyes, it was to find him looking at her in surprise. She held his gaze, and for a moment he paused. They communed without words or movement. Instead, their souls connected, and something was exchanged between them. Then the moment passed, and he kissed her as if this would be the final time he would see her.

With each stroke, the band of need stacking within her grew until she feared she would certainly break apart. A muffled cry left her throat. She held him tighter while Timelbury’s thrusting grew ever faster and more urgent.

“Cornelius!”

That intense madness came upon her before she was ready, and it roared with veracity through her already primed system. Samantha tumbled and pinwheeled through a field of white, sparkling light where all sound and thoughts were absent. There was only her and him, and it was the most glorious thing. Heated pleasure crashed over her, pulled her down beneath its waves, swept through her body until she bobbed along with it, powerless to resist, never wanting to come up for air. She drowned in it, succumbed to the vortex swirling within and for the second time that night, she fractured into a million pieces.

Shortly after, Timelbury found his own release with a muffled shout of her name. Heat sank into her cheeks as his member pulsed. Seconds later, Cornelius collapsed on top of her. The comforting sound of his ragged breathing filled her ear, but it was the strength of his embrace as he wrapped her in his arms and turned them both onto their sides that guided her back to reality.

“If every Christmastide was like this, perhaps I wouldn’t be so reluctant to celebrate it.” His whispered statement seemed overly loud in the sudden silence, but she didn’t care.

“I quite agree.” Samantha smiled when he chuckled and nuzzled the crook of her shoulder. Several minutes later, as her breathing returned to normal and the tremors faded, she snuggled deeper into his embrace. There were no regrets after what they’d just shared, for in this perfect moment, she was his, and the farce of an engagement held no sway.

For a long time, she luxuriated in the feel of his arms around her and his strong body pressed so intimately against hers, then she sighed. She’d willfully given her innocence to this man she’d only known for a handful of days. What would that mean for her future? For her reputation? And worse yet, would her father be disappointed in her if he should discover what she’d done today?

Was she disappointed in herself? Then she grinned and a residual shiver of pleasure went down her shine. No, she was not. There was no shame in this, scandal or not.

“I rather think if you were a cat, you would be purring.”

The rumble of his voice beneath her ear tickled through her chest. “Can I help it if you have opened my eyes to this new world and it agrees with me?”

He chuckled. “Ah, Samantha, sometimes I can’t believe I only met you five days ago.”

Surely, that didn’t mean he had feelings toward her. Yet when he didn’t continue, she wriggled from his hold to prop herself up and peer down at him. “I suppose our tea is now cold.”

“No doubt.” A snicker followed the response, and when he brushed a knuckle over one of her nipples, it immediately hardened, and she gasped with renewed awareness. “Or we could indulge and restore our strength to have another go ‘round…”

“Oh, you.” With a laugh, she shoved at his shoulder then removed herself from the sofa. “You should go home. No matter how lovely this was, you were attacked in the park today and need to rest.”

“I suppose.” With desired darkened eyes, he watched as she began donning her clothing.

There was a certain scandalous excitement to dress in front of a man, and each layer of fabric she put on slid over her skin and ramped that awareness. “Uh, perhaps you can call again tomorrow? We could do a bit of decorating for my father. Of course, that assumes you might bring evergreen boughs and pine branches with you. Even if he’s not lucid, he might enjoy it.” She struggled into her stays. “We could play games and have tea.”

“Oddly, I would like that.” After he left the sofa and yanked on his breeches, hiding that glorious manhood, he assisted her with the stay’s laces. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“It will be lovely if you could find something in common with Papa, and it might just give him a bit of a kick to remain in the present longer.” Though that point was something Cornelius hoped was over by Twelfth Night.

“It is good we’re engaged.” His words were muffled as he tugged the lawn shirt over his head and then smoothed it down over his chest and shoved his arms into the sleeves.

“Why?” After she had her petticoat and dress on, she let him adjust the laces at the back.

“Because after what we just shared, if something should come of it…” His smile was wide. “You are quite thoroughly ruined, and I want to make sure gossip evades you.”

“Oh.” A tiny piece of her heart flew into his keeping. Closing the distance between them, she lifted onto her toes and bussed his cheek. Again, his scent tempted her, and she tamped down her reaction. “You are sweet to protect me, even in this, but you and I both know this engagement has an expiration date.”

And once it ended, he would cease to care what became of her. What a miserable thought, but it reminded her that she couldn’t let herself get too close to him. A broken heart or a silly crush weren’t something she needed in her life.