Undone (29 page)

Merde
. He wasn’t used to feelings like these during sex.

He might have made a lot of mistakes in his quest for betterment, but he would not err here. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—deny her the life that had been denied to him. He wouldn’t let her lose her nobility—and that was the consequence for a noblewoman who married a commoner.

He
would
let her go. He would
not
keep her.

“What is it, Simon?” She forced his face back to hers. “This has to do with nobility…”

He quickly kissed her. Uncomfortable with his emotional turmoil, he didn’t want to talk about this now, afraid of what he might say. He used the moment to collect himself, drawing upon years of experience in disguising his true thoughts and feelings to help him.

If he’d learned to hide his emotions, emotions as strong as fear, since he was a boy growing up on warships with Robert, then he could certainly manage to hide
this
, as a man, until, by strength of will, he’d master it.

She broke the kiss and frowned. “Simon, I wish to talk about this.”

“Not now.” He formed a smile. “There is something I want to do first.” He stood and held out his hand.

She remained seated, arms at her sides, staring up at him.

He indicated the environs with a sweep of this other hand. “This is our private Eden. Come, I’ll make it worth your while.” His right hand still jutted out, waiting for hers.

She folded her arms, not looking inclined to comply.

“I see my Eve requires further encouragement.” He pulled off his shirt and tossed it down onto his doublet. The sunshine felt good against his skin.

He bent down, easily picking her up in his arms and, walking toward the water’s edge, climbed up onto a rock.

“Simon, what are you doing?”

“Enjoying our private paradise. A little fun and frolic in the sun.” He glanced at the inviting water before them.

Her pretty eyes narrowed slightly. “You wouldn’t dare…”

He cocked a brow. “Wouldn’t I?”

He tossed her into the blue-green water, hearing her yelp of surprise just as she broke the surface. This was exactly what he needed—lighthearted diversions to lift his spirits and sexual indulgence to diminish the enchantment.

It had to work.

Quickly, he stripped away his remaining clothing and jumped in after her, welcoming the water’s cool sting against his body.

Just as he resurfaced, she splashed him.

He wiped the water off his face with a swipe of his hand, then reached out and pulled her into his arms.

“Sorry, but you looked as though you needed cooling off,” he teased.

“Really?” She was miffed, keeping her hands on his shoulders instead of around him. Surrounded by the turquoise water, her eyes took on a spectacular shade of green. For a moment, he lost himself within their depths. She looked utterly ravishing, with the soaked chemise plastered to her body, her wet hair, and the droplets of water on her skin.

She pulled away from him. Her gaze dropped to his erection below the surface. “I think you are the one in need of cooling off. I hope the water helps.” Turning, she began to make her way to the shoreline. “I’ll be on the blanket waiting for you, when you are ready to talk.”

In a quick movement, he caught her hand and pulled her to him, trapping her in his arms. Dipping his head, he licked a water drop off her shoulder and heard her breath catch.

“I’m sorry, Angelica.” The apology had risen from deep inside him. From the pit of that emotional ache he couldn’t seem to vanquish. Although, what he was truly apologizing for was what was most defeating, for he found himself in that moment wishing he could give her more than he had to offer. “I don’t wish your ire. I brought you here to spend time with you. Just you and I. It’s a beautiful day. Why discuss things that cannot be changed? Why not simply enjoy what we have together?”

He felt delighted when she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I give of myself freely and completely to you. Without reservation. But you are holding back from me. And it’s because of my station of birth.”

Instantly, he sealed his mouth against hers, fearing certain words might escape him. Words he couldn’t say nor take back afterwards.

Ending the kiss, he forced himself to look into her mesmerizing eyes once more. “There
is
more I wish to give. Last night was but a small sampling of decadent delights. We’ve only just begun…” His tone was full of carnal promise.
Much better.

He claimed her mouth, his kiss languid yet heated. He sensed her fighting the hot impulses building between them. He couldn’t let her.

“What about our talk, Simon?” she said between kisses.

“I promise before I leave for France, we will talk,” he said. “But not now…” Lifting her, he then slid her sex down along his stiff cock. She softly moaned.

Stubbornly, she pulled back slightly and breathlessly said, “I’m going to hold you to your promise.”

“I know. I want to make it up to you for tossing you into the water. Would that be all right,
chérie
?”

“That depends on what you had in mind.” Though she sounded suspicious, he saw clear interest reflected in those stunning green eyes.

“I was thinking of paying ‘extensive homage to your person.’” He quoted her words from the night before.

She paused as though thinking his proposition over. “I believe that would be satisfactory…
as a start
.”

A laugh escaped him.
Dieu
, she had a way of enticing smiles and laughter from him. “How about if I start by telling you about a dream I had on the ship on our voyage here?”

“You wish to tell me about a dream?” By her tone, he sensed she left out the word
now
?

He continued to smile, unable to help himself. “An erotic dream. About you.”

“
Oh
.” It was a breathy sound. “Go on.”

He lightly caressed her back under the water. “In my dream, you were here with me, in the water, before the falls, just as you are.”

“I see…”

“And I held you just like this, tightly against me, letting you feel how hard you make me.”

“What…else?”

“Then I kissed you, like this.” He brushed his mouth against her lips, then deepened his kiss. Even though his voice had been soft, his heart pounded. Every fiber of his being clamored for her, for a connection he’d never desired with any other woman. Moving his hand to the back of her head, he kissed her with unbridled hunger, wanting to obliterate everything he was feeling except raw lust.

By the time he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

She licked her lips. “What happened next?”

“I’ll show you.”

He took her hand and led her to a wall of smooth rock, near the waterfalls. What he wanted to do with her had been a long-held fantasy of his. One of many he intended to act out, hoping the hold she had on him would lessen with each one.

He pulled her into an inlet secluded by the large rocks.

Touching the sun-warmed stone, he made certain it wasn’t too hot for her back, and then gently pressed her against it.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Yes. Now what happens in your dream?”

He pulled off her wet chemise and tossed it to the side. “I look at you.”

Taking a step back, he let his gaze move over her. The water here reached her mid-thigh. He watched in fascination as the splatters of sunlight, reflecting on the glassy water surface, danced on her skin.

“My dream does not do justice to how truly incredible you look in the flesh.”

Her blush reached to her sweet breasts.

“Then what happens?”

He stepped forward and leaned his palms against the warm stone near her shoulders. “Then I confess to you how much I have wanted to taste you.” She stared at him intently, adorably trying to decipher the full meaning behind his words.

“I ask you, ‘Angelica, will you let me taste your pretty sex? Will you let me suck that perfect little clit and make you come with my mouth?’”

Her lips parted. Over the sound of the waterfall, he heard her soft gasp.

“Men…do that to women?” she asked, full of delightful astonishment.

Dieu
, she was precious. He found himself thankful to whatever heavenly forces had allowed him to cross her path, allowed him this experience with her.

“Lovers do ‘that’ to each other.” He knelt before her, the water rippling just above his waist. Placing his hands on her hips, he looked up at her. “What say you? I have been dying to taste you for so long.”

Her eyes scanned about.

“No one will interrupt us,” he reminded her. On the way to their picnic spot, she’d seen the man he’d ordered to remain on the main path to the waterfalls to keep others away.

“I promise, you’ll enjoy every moment.” He grazed his hands up her thighs. “What is your answer,
chérie
? Will you let me taste you?”

He desperately wanted to be the first man to pleasure her this way. This he could do. It was something he actually had to offer.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her nipples were erect, like two ripe berries begging to be sucked. She bit her lip, then finally gave him a shaky nod. A wave of joy crested over him.

It took him a moment before he could say, “Place your foot here.” His voice was husky with desire as he helped her balance her foot up on a rock beside him.

Her fingers dug into the stone. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. And her pink sex was wet. She was as excited as she was anxious over the unknown experience.

He placed his hands back on her hips. With care, he ran his thumbs over her silky, slick folds, opening her further. She stiffened.

“Just relax.”

She nodded, yet she looked anything but.

He kissed a warm path along her inner thigh, inching closer and closer to that private place he ached to taste. Then he lowered his mouth onto her. She lurched and cried out at the first stroke of his tongue.

He stopped immediately. She was all but panting. “Are you all right?”

She nodded.

“Do you wish me to stop?”

She shook her head.

“Then you must be still. You don’t want to injure your back against the rocks.”

She nodded. “Please…continue.”

He managed to contain his smile. She was delightfully sweet during carnal play, and he wanted nothing more than to cherish every inch of the delicate pink flesh exposed to him.

He tightened his grip on her hips, anticipating another sudden movement, then stroked his tongue tenderly along her inner lips. She jerked only slightly. He glided his tongue inside her slit, enjoying her soft whimper. He relished the taste of her warmth, her wetness. Her. The rest of the world and its problems disappeared. Nothing existed but this moment and this woman. And he savored both. Taking his time, using his tongue, he gave her a most intimate, erotic kiss—a kiss he wanted her never to forget.

He made his way to her sweet clit, so sensitive and engorged with need, and swirled his tongue around it, teasing her, building her anticipation, until finally he drew it into his mouth. Her sultry moan filled his ears. Steadily, he suckled her, settling into a rhythm that drove her wild. He continued until he had her straining hard against him, until she screamed without reservation as a shattering orgasm shook her. Still he persisted, gently tasting her, waiting for her to finally quiet before reluctantly lifting his mouth.

She collapsed to her knees. Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face in his neck, her breathing warm and quick. He held her tightly, her luscious taste still on his tongue.

She looked up into his eyes, her cheeks flushed. “I want to taste you.”

His cock jerked hungrily at her provocative words, but he shook his head. “After having you come against my mouth, I’m so hard I’ve got to have you right now.” Not to mention that given the insanity inside him, he was afraid he would begin reciting love sonnets within moments of having her delectable mouth on him.

He stood.

She stayed put and reached out, taking hold of his rock-hard cock.

“Angelica,” he gently admonished and grasped her wrist, intending to pull her hand away. She brought her mouth closer to him.

“Tell me what to do.” She brushed her lips over the tip of his prick. His knees almost gave way.

“Angelica…” Her name escaped his throat in a raspy whisper.

“Tell me how a woman tastes a man, Simon. Is this right?” She gently licked across the engorged head of his erection.

He jerked and groaned. A second swipe of her tongue was all it took to snap his resolve. He leaned back against the rock, not trusting the strength in his legs, not caring that something was jabbing into his spine.

“Take me inside your mouth,” he heard himself say, barely recognizing the sound of his strained voice. “No teeth.” His hands were on her head, urging her on. “In and out.”

His blood thundered as she drew the crest of his cock into the wet heat of her mouth. Then back out. Then in again, a little deeper, and
Dieu
, out. The torture was sublime. Tentative at first, she quickly became bolder, her strokes, licks, and sucks more sure and devastating. Taking more of him in her mouth each time. He closed his eyes. He was dying. There could be no better way to perish. Her novice mouth had him utterly enthralled, the friction unbearable. His body screamed for release, his semen needing to escape, about to spill. Abruptly, he pulled away.

With his heart pounding, his body ravenous for her, he picked her up and placed her onto the flat, smooth stone where he’d tossed her chemise, then laid her back on the wet garment.

Beautifully flushed, she frowned. “Why did you stop? Was I not doing it correctly?”

Standing between her thighs, he bent her knees and leaned over her. “If you did it any better, my heart would stop,” he said, his breathing erratic.

She smiled and laced her arms around him. “It’s been hours since you have been inside me. I’ve missed you.”
Christ
, the things she said. She pulled him down and drew on his bottom lip before she kissed him.