“Persephone…” Her name was uttered on a plea, a benediction as his eyes began to drift shut. He was quickly falling over the edge of oblivion. He reluctantly put a hand on her head to cease her movements. “You have to stop if you want me to perform properly in bed.”
She ran her tongue around the edge of her lips and murmured, “You forget that we have all night.”
As she took him in her mouth again, he gave himself over to the pleasure tightening his midsection. He watched her until the intensity became too much and then closed his eyes as he spilled himself between her lips with a low groan.
Afterward, she rose to her feet and gave a light purr. “Mmm. That was nice.”
He chuckled, albeit a bit shakily. “I’m not sure I’d use such a tame adjective.” He sighed, for some of the tension that had been his constant companion over the years had already begun to ease.
She moved back to the bed and laid down, a tempting goddess that had his cock twitching back to life. “Join me?”
Hunter wasn’t sure if this woman would be his angel back to life, or the demon sent on his destruction, but he would no longer deny her whatever she wanted.
***
Sephy wanted to rejoice in her triumph. It appeared her tutelage over the years was just as she recalled, for the intensity in Hunter’s eyes as he lay down beside her was thrilling. It was obvious by his release that she had pleased him. If she could only keep her lover satisfied in the bedchamber, her mother said she would be set for the rest of her life. ‘A good mistress will generally be left with a generous allowance so that she may live the rest of her days in peace at the end of the association.’
She was quite sure that Hunter intended to change his mind and keep her after tonight, and while Sephy didn’t want to think about the eventual termination of her union with the duke, she wasn’t about to squander their time together on maudlin thoughts. A harlot’s purpose was all about pleasure, and she intended to give him everything that she had. She had to ensure that he never wanted to leave the bedchamber.
She reached between them and began to stroke his cock back to full vigor. He made some sort of husky growl of approval in the back of his throat. “Why do I feel as if you’ll be the death of me?”
She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I’m not your death, but your salvation.” She pulled back to look into his eyes. “I’m whatever you want of me.”
“Good.” He rolled her onto her back and mounted her. “Because I want all of you.”
He kissed her even more passionately than before and Sephy knew that she was starting to break through that tough exterior that he’d built around himself. But she must tread carefully and be patient, or it wouldn’t take much for him to retreat into that shell. If that occurred, it would be devastating.
For both of them.
The flames of her desire quickly flared back to life as he teased and tormented her, nibbling a path along her neck and throat. When he nudged her legs apart and settled himself between her thighs, she wasn’t nervous about what was to come, she was just glad that he was finally here with her.
When he paused, she lifted her hips and the tip of his cock slipped inside. Their eyes locked and she reached up to touch his strong jawline. “I want you, Hunter. Make me yours.”
As if he was waiting for that last bit of consent, he pushed forward and broke through the final barrier of her innocence. She gasped at the foreign sensation, the invasion of her body, and found that nothing she’d ever been taught could have truly prepared her for such a joining. She certainly couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone other than Hunter. It was too intimate, too personal.
When he began to move, she moaned at the friction he was causing, the wondrous sensations that were building inside of her. More. She hooked her heels behind the back of his legs and clutched his shoulders as his speed began to increase. More. Suddenly, the passion that had been building burst free in a thousand brilliant sparks of light, the display at Vauxhall a pale comparison.
With a hoarse shout, Hunter’s neck muscles strained as he emptied himself into her for the second time that night. He collapsed on top of her, his breathing labored and his body weight pressing her into the mattress beneath, their skin still damp from their exertions.
She loved every bit of it.
Finally, Hunter rolled onto his back, but he made sure to draw her within the circle of his arms. She laid her head on his chest and lifted a finger to trace an invisible pattern through the hair.
They were both quiet for a time, and then he finally exhaled heavily. “After all these years, I broke the one vow I told myself I never would.”
Sephy swallowed down the anxiety that wanted to suffocate her, but she couldn’t help asking, “Do you regret it?”
Following a brief pause, he said softly, “No. I don’t. It just felt… right with you. But yet, a part of me feels as though I’ve dishonored Louisa somehow.”
She frowned. “Why? You’re a man with needs the same as anyone else. Even your sister has likely felt the stirrings of lust.”
He didn’t reply immediately, so she thought he was considering what she’d said. Instead, when he spoke, his voice was hard and unforgiving. “Louisa doesn’t feel anything anymore. Not after what Lord Gregory did to her.”
Sephy said nothing as he drew away from her and got to his feet. He pulled on his trousers and gathered the rest of his things in his arms. He didn’t even fully
