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Pippa feltfaint and flush and heated. She was scared and also excited. The duality of such sensations almost robbed her of breath. Or perhaps it was being pressed against the wall with the marquess’s powerful body pinning her in place, the threat of discovery in this scandalous position a real threat for the door remained ajar. And his golden eyes gleaming with dangerous want.
Worse, she suspected that if they were caught in this compromising state, he would not move to offer for her. Not that she would want him in such a manner. Nay, Pippa would only marry the Marquess of Trent if she fell in love with him, and if he in turn also fell gloriously in love with her. She was being far too daring with the wretched rogue, but she could not help herself. Since she had decided to live life to the fullest, Pippa had not allowed any form of society’s constraint to dictate her actions.
Still, she couldn’t escape the feeling that she might have gone too far in her reckless desire to be different from that shy girl a few years ago. “William,” she began raggedly, “I—”
Oh!He caught her words with his mouth and everything inside her surged toward him. She felt that the breath had been stolen from her lungs by his deep kisses. Sensations dropped low into her belly like fire, and it was with a dazed sense she felt her dress being dragged up to her thighs. William did not stop kissing her, and Pippa fell deeper and deeper under his sensuous spell. The touch of his fingers along her inner thigh wrenched another moan from her throat and he swallowed it down into his being. Those wicked fingers climbed even higher, and she pulled her mouth from his when he slipped a finger through her drawers and ran it along the curls covering her sex.
Pippa clutched his shoulders and stared up at him, her heart pounding and her body shaking. She bit her lip to hold back the whimper when he pushed his muscular thighs between hers and opened her legs. Pippa felt weak and feverish and utterly shocked and aroused.
“This is all I have to offer,” he said against her mouth. “Wicked debauchery, Pippa. A man like me is not for an innocent like you, hmm?”
He rubbed his fingers along her sex and she lurched to her toes, a wanton sound escaping from her and hissing in the space between them. His eyes had darkened to black, and the cords of his throat stood out in stark relief. It was then she felt the slight trembling in his frame, and a sense of awe whispered through her. Still perched atop her toes, she moved one of her hands around his neck, curling her fingers through the hair at his nape, and with the other hand she tenderly cupped his jaw.
Pippa kissed his lips. “Tell me, my lord, have you ever trembled for another lover?”
A shocked breath hissed from him. William tightened his arm around her, jerked her more against his body, and made love to her mouth with scorching expertise. He shifted with her, shoving the door closed and pressing her against it. The finger that had been stilled against her mons moved, striking a fiery pleasure against her nub. Pippa quaked in the cage of his arms as he repeated that wicked caress over and over, before dipping lower with that finger and slipping it deep inside her sex. She cried out at the sensations that poured through her like a honeyed blade.
“What is happening?” she gasped, aware of the sweat beading on her brow, and the awful fire of need in her lower limbs. “William?” she choked out when that finger slid even deeper, then harder in a few quick strokes that careened her senses. He then used his thumb to circle her knot of pleasure. Delight swamped her senses and to her mortification something low inside her belly snapped, and release pulsed through her body.
“Not even the presence of your chaperone could stop me if I lifted you right now and took you against this door. Do you understand.”
Shock jerked through Pippa, and she stared up at him, unable to find any words to counteract his assertion.
“I am that kind of man, Pippa. And afterward I would not marry you.”
She felt as if something inside her crumpled, but she lifted her chin, and rendered her face an indifferent mask. He had never promised her anything, and if he acted the callous rake now, it would be foolish of her to be so wounded when it had been her who had recklessly dared.
“The naivety that brought you here to my house will do you no good in tangling with a gentleman of my jaded tastes and varied experiences. I am not for the likes of you, Pippa. You need a gentleman who is not a decade older and far harder than you are. A man who shares the same interest as you, a gentleman who—”
“Who is kind and protective of me, that he would make enemies for me because his honor recoiled that I had been attacked. A man who would watch me plant a facer on a libertine but admires me for it instead of scolding me as many men of society would indeed do,” she whispered, now taking his mouth as he had taken hers, gripped in a storm of desire for him.
William groaned, taking her passionate kisses and responding with the same ardor she showed. It seemed to take all his self-control, but he gentled their torrid kisses and removed his hand from under her skirt. Breathing heavily, he stepped back from Pippa reluctantly, although she could see from the tightness of his trousers that he was fully aroused.
“This will not happen again, Lady Pippa,” he said gruffly. “Forgive me for losing control.”
Her heart squeezing and her throat aching, she made no reply. William stepped away from her and walked over to the windows overlooking his small gardens. Pippa lifted trembling fingers to her lips, knowing they would appear swollen and well-kissed to Lucinda’s far too perceptive gaze.
“I bid you good day, my lord,” she said hoarsely.
“Goodbye, Lady Pippa.”
She closed her eyes against the finality of his words, turned around and walked away. Lucinda had been waiting in the hallway with a contemplative air about her, however, she remained silent as they departed the marquess’s home.
Once seated in the carriage, Lucinda shared with her a sympathetic smile. Pippa tried to return that smile, but her mouth wobbled.
“Would you like to tell me about it?” Lucinda gently invited.
“I think perhaps in my bid to be…different I went too far,” she whispered, looking out the carriage windows.
“He kissed you.”
Her cheeks violently heated.
“Ah,” Lucinda murmured, “the rogue did more.”
Pippa bit into her lower lip, trying to not squirm on the carriage seat. “What are your thoughts in regard to the marquess, Pippa?”
