“That is what you truly desire?” His arms wrapped firmly about her waist as he steered her backward, deliberately toward the bed behind her. “Privacy?”
Grimly she remained behind her walls of detached control. She might not be capable of quashing the lust this man could stir within her body, but she would be damned if he would stir anything else.
When he walked away, as he most certainly would, she would feel nothing but relief.
“Yes,” she muttered even as Edmond pressed her against one of the heavy walnut bedposts.
His hands skimmed up her back, his hips shifting forward to press his thick erection against her lower stomach. A smug smile curved his lips as she instinctively shivered at the electric sensations of pleasure that shot through her body.
“You can tell as many lies as you want with those pretty lips, Brianna, but your body will always speak the truth.”
“And what truth is that?”
“You want me. You want me to strip off your clothes and kiss every inch of that satin skin. You want me to lay you on that bed and thrust myself deep inside you.”
Dear God, her blood felt as if it were on fire as it rushed through her body.
“Of course I do,” she said, her voice remarkably even. “You are obviously a master at seduction. How could a poor innocent like me possibly resist?”
For some reason, her calm composure appeared to infuriate him. As if he preferred her to be ranting and raving, rather than aloof.
“I see.” His expression was dangerously tight as he shifted enough to turn her in his arms, so that she was facing the bed with him pressed against her back. While she was still caught off-guard, he took her hands and placed them against the bedpost, caging her with his much larger frame.
“Edmond?” She struggled to free her hands, not afraid that he would hurt her, but that she would be even more deeply ensnared in his seductive web.
“No,” he growled next to her ear. “I am the master, do you not remember?”
“But we are expected downstairs.”
“Dinner can wait.” His fingers tightened on hers. “Do not release your grip on the post.”
“What are you…” She caught her breath as she felt Edmond lower himself to his knees behind her, then with a shocking intimacy, he was beneath the folds of her skirts, his lips coursing a searing path up the back of her thighs, while his hands were firmly tugging her legs farther apart. Brianna’s fingers dug into the wooden post as a shudder of sheer delight shook through her. “Oh, dear lord.”
“It is too late for prayers,” he muttered, nipping at the sensitive curve of her backside before he gave her legs one last tug and he was able to find the damp heat he was searching for.
Brianna gave a strangled scream, her body clenching with shocked joy. There was something extraordinarily erotic in being fully dressed as Edmond made love to her with his tongue and teeth.
Her eyes slid closed as she concentrated on the building tension in the pit of her stomach. She had already accepted she could not be rid of her desire for this man. Why not enjoy what he could offer?
Over and over, his tongue teased at her sensitive peak, occasionally dipping into her opening with a skill that had her swiftly tumbling toward her climax.
Attuned to Brianna’s low moans and quickening pants, Edmond abruptly rose to his feet, hiking up the back of her dress and fumbling with the fastening of his elegant breeches.
“Keep a hold on the post,” he rasped, his hand tugging her leg up until her foot rested on the edge of the mattress, leaving her feeling open and vulnerable.
Expecting Edmond to lay her on the bed, Brianna glanced over her shoulder in confusion, her heart jerking at the stark determination etched on his dark features. It was as if he were utterly focused on providing her the pinnacle of satisfaction.
“I do not understand.”
“You will,” he promised, his hand sliding down her inner thigh at the same moment his erection nudged at her slit from behind.
“Oh.”
Her head fell back to lie against his shoulder, her neck boneless with pleasure as he thrust deep inside her. Oh…dear heavens. She’d thought he had taught her all there was to know about passion. Obviously, there were still delicious lessons to be learned.
Holding on to the post to help support her weak knees, Brianna groaned as his clever fingers spread her folds, stroking through her damp heat in pace with the fierce, relentless pump of his hips.
Downstairs, Lady Aberlane was no doubt waiting alone in the salon while the servants kept a close watch on the passing time, but at the moment Brianna did not care. Let them speculate on what was keeping her and Edmond absent. Right now, all that mattered was the beckoning release that hovered just on the horizon.