What You Desire (Anything for Love 1)

“I’m sorry,” she whispered placing kisses along his jaw, behind his ear, as her hand fluttered across the fall of his breeches. “I do not know what has come over me.”

He did not know either and frankly he didn’t care. After a mild tussle with his conscience, all thoughts of decency and decorum flew out of the window. Her warm hand brushing against his bulging manhood played a pivotal role in his decision.

“Good God,” he panted. It was madness, like sweet torture. The need to be inside her was unbearable. He swallowed hard, trying to hold onto the last thread of restraint that lingered somewhere in a lonely, cobwebbed recess of his mind. “Sophie, we cannot … we do not have time …”

He could not take his future wife in a hackney!

“But I thought … you said …” she began between breathless kisses, “that a lot … can be achieved in just a few minutes.”

He was not fully aware of what happened next. Drunk with desire, they tugged at each other’s clothes, their lips still locked as they moaned with pleasure. He could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears, could feel the blood pumping around his body as they jostled against each other with the motion of the carriage. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to push her breeches to her knees or free himself from his own restrictions but the sight of her beautiful, round derriere as she lowered herself onto him with a slow, seductive wiggle, would be ingrained in his memory for the rest of his life.

Lost in a whirlwind of reckless passion they rode each o

ther to completion. The blissful wave of pleasure had slackened his craving, but only momentarily. On their return home they had rushed upstairs to indulge in a slower, more languorous form of amusement that had lasted well into the evening.

Still, it was not enough for him.

Raising himself up on his elbow, he gazed down in awe at her luscious form sprawled naked in his bed. With a white sheet draped over her body and tangled around her legs, she was the image of a Greek goddess.

Absorbed in the deep rhythmical rise and fall of her chest, he took pleasure in the sound that suggested pure contentment. He could live the rest of his life like this, he thought, touching her, tasting her, to the point he could well and truly lose his mind. She murmured softly as she drifted in and out of sleep and the sound stirred something deep inside him, something he struggled to define.

It seemed hard to believe she was the same girl who had taunted and tormented him to distraction. Now, she was tormenting him in an entirely different way. He reached out and let his fingers trace the line of her outer thigh, trailing up over her hip before laying the palm of his hand on her stomach. The thought of her swollen with his child caused another deep stirring and he was somewhat shocked to find that the idea pleased him. He was going to have to broach the subject of marriage, and soon, as they could not continue in the same reckless manner. Perhaps now, when she was relaxed and sated, would be a good time to discuss the matter.

“Wake up, sleepy,” he whispered, leaning down to place a kiss on her parted lips. “You have not eaten since breakfast and by the rumbles emanating from your stomach, it is not happy about it.”

Roused by his voice, she pushed her arms above her head and stretched. The low humming sound that escaped from her lips caused a familiar tightening in his abdomen, which proceeded to travel to his groin.

“What time is it?” she yawned, fluttering her eyelashes as she became accustomed to her surroundings.

He glanced over towards the mantel, but in the subdued candlelight could not quite read the hands of the clock. “I have no idea. At a guess, I would say it’s nearly nine.”

It was a calculated guess for he had heard the church bell chime eight, had heard Mrs. Cox’s hesitant tread as she hovered outside the door. No doubt, she was wondering why no one had gone down for dinner. She had paced back and forth and then returned with a tray, which she’d left outside the door.

Sophie shot up, but then remembered she was naked. Grasping the sheet, she wrapped it around her chest. “But Haines … Mrs. Cox … they’ll know …” She took a deep breath but did not finish the sentence. “Why didn’t you wake me,” she snapped.

“You looked exhausted. I thought you needed the rest.” He winked and flashed her one of his devilish grins as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed and bent down to pick up the breeches lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. “You know, you do say the most wicked things when you’re sleeping,” he continued enjoying the way her face had taken on the resemblance of a beetroot. “I didn’t know you held me in such high regard.”

Sophie looked horrified. “What … what did I say?”

Opening the door to retrieve the silver tray, Sebastian glanced over his shoulder. “It’s not something I feel I could repeat in the presence of a lady,” he teased closing the door with his foot. “But I believe you’re more than satisfied with my performance.”

“I am?” She narrowed her gaze as she studied him, before reaching for a pillow and hurling it at his head. “Oh, you fibber. I never said anything of the sort.”

“Well, no, not exactly,” he replied, steadying the tray as he avoided the flying object with a timely twist of the hip. “But you did do an awful lot of mumbling. You cannot blame a man for concocting his own interpretation.”

He placed the tray on the bed in front of her and noticed her frown as she glanced at the two plates positioned side by side.

“Two plates!” she groaned. “They’re obviously aware I’m in here.” Her distress was evident in her tone. “No doubt they are accustomed to your dissipated habits, but that does not —”

“Mrs. Cox is aware I do not always follow custom, yes,” he interjected before she became overly dramatic. He lifted the cover from the plate, picked up a slice of cold ham and took a bite.

Sophie stared at him, slightly aghast and then pulled the sheet tightly across her body as she said with an element of hauteur. “Do not think for a moment I have anything in common with the other women you have entertained here.”

He tilted his head and considered her, slightly baffled by her train of thought. “Why would you think I’ve had other women in here?” He had intended discussing marriage, not his business ventures. Besides, the women he had sheltered had never been in his private chambers. They had kept to their own quarters and been spirited away as soon as a convenient moment arose.

“Amy said you never let your mistresses stay overnight. She said you always escort them home in the early hours.”

Sebastian tried not to laugh, for he was truly flattered by such a display of jealousy.