She made it ten quick steps before a hand came from behind to grip her elbow.
Eyes forward, Charlie sighed. “Really, Matthew, it’s okay. Take your sweetheart out for coffee. I can see myself upstairs.”
“Alice ain’t my sweetheart,” he growled, tugging her so she’d hold still for a damn second. “I didn’t even know she worked here.”
Unwilling to humiliate herself further, Charlie began to seek out an escape, her eyes everywhere but on the slack-jawed woman who’d chased after them.
“Miss Elliot.”
“Christ, what now?” Charlie muttered under her breath.
An approaching stranger outstretched his hand. “You should have informed us you were family to our illustrious Mr. Radcliffe.”
Not having a clue who was speaking to her, Charlie faced him squarely, leaving Matthew the odd man out. “And you would be?”
“George Parks, night manager, at your service, Miss Elliot.” Reaching out, he earnestly shook Charlie’s unoffered hand. “Had we known you’d be joining us, champagne and light refreshment would have been waiting in your room. I corrected the oversight. Here at the Drake, we always take special care of our favored guests.”
Yeah. Special, bribing care so that no bad word might get back to a man who, when offended, would probably kill you.
Pulling her fi
ngers from the overeager man’s grip, Charlie resisted the urge to wipe her hand on her dress. “That’s very kind of you.”
Enough was enough.
Matthew put a hand on the greasy manager’s chest, pushing the fop away. The second Charlie opened her mouth to get difficult, Matthew marshaled her away. Leaving a stunned Alice and an insulted Mr. Parks behind.
Even though they stood in stony silence for the entire elevator ride, the flat of his palm remained on her back, warm and persistent. When the doors opened, he led her down the hall, Charlotte awkwardly fumbling for the key in her clutch.
She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. “Thank you for the escort. I hope you have fun with Alice.”
When she jammed the key into her door’s lock, a large hand covered hers. “Alice ain’t my woman, Charlotte. Like I said, I didn’t even know she was here.”
She felt all jumbled, strangely panicked—sad, eager—like she might cry. “Then wh—”
Trapping her between the door and his body, Matthew pressed right up against her. He took her jaw. He made her look, made her listen. “I didn’t come all this way for Alice.”
And then he kissed her. Hard.
The searing press of his mouth seemed far more inflaming than, what by comparison, had been a chaste kiss in the woods. Matthew devoured her, firm lips perfect, tongue dipping into her mouth in a way that drew a shameless mewl from her throat. He was flush to her satin draped body, his hands anything but timid—the curve of her hips palmed, the dip in her waist stroked, his arm burrowing between her and the door so he might grip the fleshy swell of her rear.
The man groaned against her mouth so beautifully she just about lost her footing.
Fumbling for the knob, Matthew pressed her back into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. Once the lock engaged, Matthew’s attention went right back to her swollen lips.
Far too mixed up in the soft abrasion of his tongue teasing hers, Charlie didn’t demure when the straps of her dress were pulled down, the silken fabric slipping low. Uncovered, the tips of her breasts scraped over fine wool, and then the glorious feeling of rough palm gripped the suddenly aching flesh.
A swell of noise caught in her throat. The things he was doing... kneading her, his thumb and forefinger seeking out and tweaking a nipple ripe for attention, it was all she could do not to outright beg him for more.
Matthew left her mouth, Charlie panting into the air as his teeth and lips moved down her jaw. After marking the column of her throat, he bowed, pushing up her breasts for his lips.
The pleasure of feeling that pert nipple sucked into a warm mouth—Charlie arched into it, greedy for more, certain the entire floor could hear the cry she’d made. It was… it was absolutely thrilling: the rapid flicks of his tongue, the teeth, the sounds of slurping when he left one breast to suckle the other.
Somehow gravity disappeared and her back bounced on the mattress, the huge male already crawling over her body. His coat was off, his hands tugging at her gown, yanking, pulling, doing anything to reveal more creamy skin. Satin pooled and a hand began to search under her skirt, slipping right up the soft inside of her thighs.
Charlie looked almost pained, her lips parted, little gasps of breath sucked in each time he unsnapped an exposed garter.
Chapter 14