no notion whatsoever.”
“I promise not to be any bother. You will not even know I am here…”
“Mon dieu,” he rasped. “You cannot be that innocent.”
Her brows drew together in annoyance. “What do you mean?”
“This.”
Without a shred of modesty, Edmond grasped her hand and tugged it beneath his dressing robe. Brianna made a sound of shock as he wrapped her fingers around the hard thrust of his erection.
“Dear God,” she breathed, her gaze trapped by the searing heat in his eyes.
“This is what you do to me simply by being near,” he growled. “If you remain here, I will have you.”
“You do not even like me,” she protested, her voice oddly breathless.
His hand remained wrapped around hers, but it was Brianna who began to stroke slowly downward, as if curious in spite of herself at the feel of his throbbing erection. She reached his heavy sack before she moved back to the tip, her thumb brushing the bead of moisture that had gathered. Edmond moaned at the exquisite sensations that exploded through his body. He had nothing more than her fingers on him, but she offered more pleasure than any number of women who had devoted hours to bringing him to climax.
“You are a desirable woman and I am a man who possesses a fine appreciation for such beauty,” he managed to mutter, his voice raw as the pressure began to build with a stunning swiftness. “Christ…yes. That feels so good.” He shifted, then scattered kisses over her startled face. “Squeeze harder.”
She shivered beneath his soft kisses, her breath rasping loudly in the air.
“Edmond, I do not think…”
“Precisely.”
“What?”
“Do not think.”
Smothering her lips in a demanding kiss, Edmond closed his eyes and allowed himself to savor the bliss of her slender fingers tightening around his cock as his hips pumped forward. He had known the moment he had gazed into those magnificent green eyes that it would be like this. A searing, mind-shattering desire that stripped a man of his thin veneer of civilization.
The next time he experienced this, he intended to be buried deep inside her as she screamed her own release.
Edmond plunged his tongue into the wet heat of her mouth as his hands toyed with her straining breasts, tasting her heady sweetness as his muscles clenched with a sharp, sudden pinnacle of delight.
“Brianna.”
With a wrenching groan, he turned onto his stomach to release his seed into the sheets.
CHAPTER FIVE
BRIANNA WAS AN INNOCENT, well-reared maiden who had been taught that any intimacy should be conducted only between a husband and wife, and she knew that she should be shocked and horrified with what had just occurred.
But she could not deny a dark fascination as she watched Edmond’s beautiful features twist with what appeared to be intense pleasure, a pleasure that she’d briefly tasted as his hands and lips had explored her body.
For a wild moment, she had wanted to allow his experienced caresses to continue, to discover precisely where the tingling sensations would carry her. It was only fear, and a stubborn refusal to concede so easily to this aggravating man, that had brought her to her senses.
Now, she could not deny a sense of frustration, as if her body were determined to punish her for denying it the satisfaction Edmond seemed to offer.
Dear heavens, what was the matter with her?
She had spent months fending off Thomas’s repulsive touches, even those of her few suitors who attempted more than a chaste kiss. The mere thought of having their hands on her breasts had been enough to make her physically ill.
But with Edmond…it was not revulsion that she felt.
Far from it.
With a low, husky laugh, Edmond rolled to face her, his dark hair charmingly tousled and his face sinfully handsome in the morning light.
“Now, that is a perfect means to beginning a day, ma souris,” he murmured, his hand lifting to lazily play with an auburn curl that lay against her cheek. “Of course, I should have preferred to be snugly tucked between your thighs. Next time, I will be deep inside you when I find my release.”
Lightning streaked through her body at his casual words, the image of Edmond poised above her as he tutored her in the pleasures of passion all too vivid.
“There will be no next time.”
He gave her curl a sharp tug. “Then you intend to leave?”
Something that might have been pain briefly clenched her heart. Ridiculous, of course. The man had no doubt enjoyed the delights of hundreds of women, far more fully than with her. Why would a few meaningless moments alter his desire to be rid of her?
“You’ve…had your pleasure, surely that has earned me a few days?” she retorted, sharply.
Without warning, Brianna discovered herself flat on her back with Edmond’s heavy body pinning her to the mattress. She swallowed a groan as he grasped her hands and tugged them over her head, his mouth skimming down the length of her neck in a path of searing fire.
“So long as you are near, I will want you. And if you do not flee, I will be your lover,” he muttered, exploring the line of her gaping neckline. “Mon dieu. Perhaps it is already too late for flight.”
“Edmond…” The words became choked in her throat as his mouth found the tip of her breast through her chemise. “Oh.”
Brianna closed her eyes as her entire body jerked in response. Was this heaven? She had never dreamed such exquisite sensations existed. It was enough to steal the wits of even the most intelligent woman.
His tongue circled her sensitive nipple, drawing low moans from deep in her throat. At the same time, his leg was pressing between hers to part them wide enough for him to settle his hips between her thighs.
Brianna gasped as her chemise was bunched around her hips and the feel of his hair-roughened legs brushed against her. Then, he settled even deeper and the hard thrust of his arousal pressed at the sensitive flesh between her legs.
Oh, this was…wicked. And wondrous. And so amazingly dangerous.
Edmond sucked in a sharp breath, as if he were as shocked by the violent jolt of pleasure as she.
“Damn you,” he breathed, his eyes a stormy blue that spoke of his tumultuous emotions.
Uncertain why he was angered, Brianna parted her lips to demand an explanation only to have the words halted as a sharp rap on the door made them both freeze in shock.
“Sir,” a muffled voice echoed through the door.
“Go
