There was inevitably some gossip and some ill-meaning comments that he hoped fervently did not come to Annis’s ears,for they would wound her terribly. The weight of the duke and duchess’s approval counted for a lot and quashed much of the incipient scandal. But there were still a few who muttered that Annis was no better than she ought to be and had snared the viscount when he was most vulnerable.
“A governess, you know, no family to speak of—a nobody. Appalling, but she is received everywhere, for the Duke of Troubridge approves her, so there is nothing more to be said, really. He and Ashford have been thick as thieves since Cambridge.”
Annis was to wear another delicious gown for the ball, green satin with something gauzy over it. A more sophisticated version of the one she wore to dinner with him the first night after her shopping expedition. He’d even had the foresight to ask Sarah what color her gown was, so he could get her something to wear with it. She had no jewels of her own except her father’s ring, which he had stashed in the safe, and her sinful little seed pearl brooch, which still brought him undone when she wore it. So, he had ordered a teardrop-shaped emerald pendant set in gold with a gold chain just the right length to have the emerald nestle into the top of her cleavage.
She began to cry, of course, when he gave it to her and stared at it, nestled in its white velvet box, with her hand over her mouth. “Oh, Emrys, it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. Sarah assures me it will go with your gown for her ball.”
“Yes. Yes, it will.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Thank you. You are by far too good to me.”
“I am not,” he said roughly and put an arm round her. She put hers round his neck, holding the box in one hand, and kissed him.
“Let’s see what it looks like on, shall we?”
She nodded, and he took the pendant out of the box. When she turned, he set it round her neck and fastened it. Looking down from above he saw that it sat perfectly just where he liked it most. He slid his arms round her and kissed her neck, rumbling, “Perfect!”
His hands slid up to squeeze her breasts in her day gown, pushing them up and dropping the emerald deeper into her cleavage. “When you wear it with your ball gown, it’s going to drive me to madness all night, you know.”
She relaxed back against him with a sigh as he continued to massage her breasts. She lifted her chin as he nuzzled kisses into her neck and pressed his rapidly hardening cock against her rump. She rubbed against him suggestively, and he growled in her ear.
“Keep that up, and I’ll want to fuck you, right here, right now.” She glanced up at him, and he groaned, “Annis!” He kissed her hard and deep, pressing her back against him with a firm arm across her middle.
His hand moved down her front to cup her through her gown and press his fingers just where he knew she wanted them.
“Emrys!” she said, breathless.
“Just a moment, I’ll lock the door,” he said and crossed the room to shut the door and turn the key. He came back to her and pulled her back against him, renewing his assault with his fingers on the place between her legs.
“You’ll ruin my gown,” she protested, whimpering.
“Bend over the damned table!” he said, his voice gone gravelly with need. He couldn’t fathom how much he wanted this woman. Repeatedly.
She bent forward over the small round table, her hands clutching the far edge as he lifted her skirts and nudged her legs apart a bit. He took in the view for a moment before he dropped to his knees and leaned forward to set his mouth on her exposedpeach, his tongue circling and plundering her entrance. She whimpered and moaned, pushing back on him, and he reached down to undo his falls where his cock was being strangled by the fabric of his breeches. He brought his hand up between her legs to fondle and stroke her clitoris, making her jump and moan louder. Her flesh clenched under his mouth, and he groaned into her. His other hand distractedly stroked and squeezed his cock to assuage its throbbing ache.
“Please, Emrys!” she begged.
Rising he brought his cock level with her entrance and thrust firmly forward and sank to the hilt with a groan.
“This will be quick and hard!” he warned.
“Please!” She pushed back on him, and he grabbed her hips and jolted her and the table with the fierceness of his thrusts.
Hot, hard, quick!He leaned forward over her back and kissed the nape of her neck with an open-mouthed kiss that scraped her flesh with his teeth and bathed it with his tongue, reaching around to stroke her rapidly where she needed it. His other hand went to her shoulder, holding her steady as he pummeled her.
Fuck, yes!
She cried out, her legs trembling and her body convulsing round him. The sensation ignited his own orgasm, and he came hard, her name a loud groan disintegrating into grunts as he expelled his seed and slumped forward on her back in a knee-trembling heap.
“Fuck!” he muttered breathlessly against her neck. She slumped under him against the table and sighed.
“Oh, yes . . .”
“I’ll have to give you jewelry more often if that is my reward,” he rumbled in her ear.
She laughed and tried to clench on him as he slipped out of her.
She stood up slowly, her gown falling back into place. She put up her hands to her hair. “Have you ruined me?” she asked, turning to face him.
