“Here it is.” He slid it into Lily’s palm.
She eyed the delicate piece of jewelry with reverence, turning it over carefully, examining the gold filigree with her fingertip. “Ah, it’s lovely. Your grandfather had fine taste.”
“I always thought it impractical,” Devon admitted. “But by all accounts my great-grandfather loved my great-grandmother to distraction. I’m not surprised he commissioned such a piece.”
“I’m sure she treasured it.” Lily handed the brooch back to him and nearly jumped at the spark that ignited along her nerves at the touch of his hand.
* * *
Devon’s gaze slid from the bed, where he couldn’t help but imagine doing all sorts of things to the beautiful woman standing next to him. Lily’s jasmine-scented hair was driving him insane and she was so sweet and pretty tonight. He ached for her. It had been a long time—too long—since he’d been with a woman. But Lily standing here, in his bedchamber, this close, torturously close, to his bed was making him feel every single day of his self-imposed celibacy. He swallowed hard.
Something about her trusting him, her coming into his bedchamber. He couldn’t betray her trust and seduce her. Not like this. Not tonight. He had to get her out of here. And quickly.
“I’ll meet you in the hallway,” he said. “Let me just put this away.” He disappeared into the antechamber again.
When Devon emerged from the other room, he headed toward the bedchamber door. He stopped short, his mouth going immediately dry. Lily sat on his bed, her skirts spread around her, her comely ankles showing, and her slippers kicked to the rug underneath.
He cleared his throat but didn’t dare speak.
“Surprised?” she asked.
“I might use that word.” He took two steps toward her, then stopped.
“Do not tell me I’ve rendered you speechless, my lord,” she said with a throaty laugh that made Devon’s groin tighten.
“It is rare, I admit.” He took one more step. “Lily, I don’t think—”
“Nor should you,” she breathed. “This is not a night for thinking. What’s the trouble, Devon? Don’t you want to kiss me?”
“Lily, I—”
“It was gentlemanly of you to offer to meet me in the hallway. Truly, it was. But entirely unnecessary. It occurs to me that I’m alone with you in your bedchamber and such an opportunity will not likely present itself again any time soon.”
“But, Lily—”
She put up a hand to stop him again. “I’m destined to live a spinsterlike existence. We cannot actually make love tonight, Devon. I’m not that brave, but I can kiss you again. Let you kiss me, and spend a night—of sorts—here in this bed.”
The lady made sense. This time, Devon didn’t stop. He wanted to make love to her, of course, and the thought of doing anything less drove him mad. But having some of Lily was better than none of her. He would
not
cross the line with her, even if it killed him.
He moved over to the edge of the bed where he sat, turned, and pulled her into his arms. He let his mouth capture hers. He stopped briefly to shuck his boots from his feet, then he moved back to her. Without letting his mouth leave hers, he pushed her back onto the bed, pulling her up to the pillows and lying atop her. The sweet weight of pressing against her made him groan. Her answering moan, with her fingers trailing through his hair, made him insane.
“Lily, are you sure?” he whispered.
“Just to be clear,” she said through kisses, smiling against his mouth. “We’re only kissing. You haven’t seduced me yet.”
Devon smiled. He had her now. He’d make her feel like she’d shot through the clouds.
And he knew exactly how to do it.
The room was dark save for a few candles. One twinkled atop the mantelpiece, one sat on the bedside table, and another blinked in the sitting area. There was enough light to see Lily’s beautiful countenance. He had to move slowly. He couldn’t risk scaring her away.
Devon moved behind her and deftly unfastened the row of tiny buttons at the back of her gown. He unlaced her stays quickly, never so glad he was an expert at undressing a woman.
“This is going to be fun, isn’t it, Devon?” Lily asked in a shy, but decidedly excited, voice.
She turned her head toward him.
Devon nodded. “Absolutely.”
Her dress was down to her waist in short order and her stays were wholly removed. Lily bit her lip. He’d always liked it when she did that. Endearing.
“I expected to feel embarrassed being seen half-nude by a man, but all I feel is warmth,” she whispered.
Devon blinked. What did she mean by that? She’d been married. She’d obviously seen a half-nude man before. But now was not the time for interrogation.
He quickly unwrapped his cravat with one hand, and ripped open his shirt. He pressed his chest against her breasts, making him ache. He reached down and cupped one of them and she moaned.
“God, Lily, you are beautiful.” He kissed her swollen lips again. “So perfect.” He touched his forehead to hers.
She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and kissed him with every bit of herself. “So are you,” she whispered against his mouth, fitting her breast more closely into his hand and placing her own atop his to keep his hand there. “Don’t stop,” she murmured. And then with a slight smile. “Yet.”
Devon drew a deep breath and shuddered. Lily didn’t seem frightened. Why didn’t she seem frightened? Given the probable contents of her blasted pamphlet, he expected she might be half quaking with fear when a man kissed her. Instead, she melted against him like marzipan left in the sun.
The ungodly perfection of Lily’s tight, full round breast in his hand made his cock throb. He pressed himself against her leg and bit his lip to keep from crying out. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
He kissed her soft lips again and let his mouth trail to her earlobe. He sucked and bit. He groaned again when she squirmed and moved against him, her hand brushing the tip of his cock. More sweet ecstasy. He let his mouth trail to her neck where he suckled and nibbled. More welcome squirms.
His lips moved to the valley between her breasts. He cupped both of them in his hands and squeezed lightly. He rubbed his thumbs against her nipples and she bit her lip. One of his hands moved up to pull the pins from her hair and the tide swept over her shoulders in dark falls. She sat up slightly and shook it out. And Devon reveled in the sweet scent of it around him. His one hand continued to tease her nipple. He found the other one with his mouth and sucked.
Lily’s head fell back on the pillow and she clamped her legs together hard, moaning. He wouldn’t let his mouth leave her no matter how much she squirmed. She held his dark head to her breast, allowing him to do anything and everything he wanted with it. Was she silently begging him not to stop?
Just when he hoped she couldn’t stand any more, he moved his lips to her other breast and sucked there. He bit softly, scraping his teeth against the sensitive center. This time, her legs fell apart, and he moved to lie atop her. She welcomed him, pulling him tightly against her.
He suckled her breast and moved his hand up to her lips. She took his thumb into her mouth and sucked. Devon groaned. The weight between his legs was getting heavier and harder to control with every movement Lily made. Her gorgeous body writhing beneath him was unholy torture. When she took his thumb into her sweet, small mouth, he nearly lost control, imagining her doing the same thing but with another appendage entirely.
His kisses slackened on her breasts and he gave them each one last peck, moving back up to her mouth and kissing her fiercely. Her dark hair fell against the pillow. He ran his fingers through it. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to touch you like this, Lily.”
“Five years?” she breathed against his mouth.
“God, yes.”
“Me too.”
* * *
He kissed her again. Lily was suddenly sad, thinking their time together was coming to an end. He’d done things to her breasts she’d never imagined possible, but they could go no further.
He kissed her eyelids and her forehead, and just when she thought he was going to stop and help her get dressed, his hand moved slowly down her body, past her rib cage and stomach, coming to rest between her legs.
Her heart stopped. Time stopped. She couldn’t breathe. Never in her life had she imagined such a thing.
“Devon, I—”
“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “I won’t hurt you, Lily. Please.”
It was the “please” that was her undoing. She’d never seen Devon Morgan so humble. He was usually so controlled, but now he was humbling himself. Asking her to let him touch her, and somehow she knew he would go no further than she allowed. And if what he’d done to her breasts was any indication, she was about to be amazed again. God only knew what that man was about to do to her. Only one thing mattered. She desperately wanted to find out.
She couldn’t make her lips form the word “yes,” so she merely nodded, then buried her face in the side of the pillow, too dazed to do anything else.
Devon shimmied her dress from her hips and it swooshed to a heap on the floor. Lily shivered at the feel of his warm hands on her overheated skin. He pulled the coverlet up over them in deference to her modesty. Lily appreciated that. No doubt she was blushing all the way down
there.
When her drawers came away from her ankles, she sucked in a deep breath. Then, Devon was touching her. His fingers plied against the wet, hot skin between her legs, his fingers working a magic Lily felt certain would send her straight to hell, but at the moment she didn’t care. One finger entered her, so slowly. The sweetness of it made her cry out. And then he moved within her, slowly, carefully, making her ache and want things she didn’t even know existed. She twisted her hips beneath him. She whispered his name.
He pulled his finger away. Then he started circling her with his fingertip, in a place so sensitive, so perfect, she wanted to cry. His wet, sure finger made her hips writhe. Her hands tangled under the blanket in his dark hair. She wanted to pull him up, to kiss him, but she also didn’t want to interrupt. Wherever this was going, it was a place she desperately wanted to be.
She put the back of one hand to her lip and bit, trying to keep from crying out. And then, time ceased to exist. Devon moved down her body. His hot, perfect mouth replaced his fingers. His tongue circled her now and his large hands held her hips, holding her up against his lips, forcing her into contact with him, giving her something she didn’t know until today that she’d always wanted … no, needed.
“Oh, God,” she sobbed against the pillow. She pulled it over her face, still twisting helplessly beneath his mouth. He licked her, in perfect laps, kissed her in deep, wet swashes, and rubbed his rough tongue on a spot that made her beg.
“Devon, please,” was all she could utter, her limp fingers squeezing the sides of the pillow with as much strength as she could muster. “Please.” And while he didn’t answer, she knew he was going to give her exactly what she was asking for.
His licks became more insistent, perfectly timed, torturous, and Lily squirmed, hitching her breath as she climbed a precipice of feelings she’d never dreamt possible. It was a journey to the top of a place she never wanted to leave. And when Devon paired his insistent tongue with his finger sliding into her one more time, she reached the pinnacle, crying out against the pillow. She uttered his name on a sob that lingered, while the tentacles of pleasure wrapped around her insides and brought her floating down on a cloud of sharp breaths from heaven.
She lay there for several seconds, enjoying the aftermath, the sharp little pings that zipped through her body, causing her to shudder. Her arms wrapped around Devon’s shoulders. He’d pulled himself away from her, but remained hugging her hips, allowing her to enjoy the final moments of her climax. No words were spoken. None were necessary.
Finally, he pulled himself up and Lily gave him a smile.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” she whispered.
“Did I frighten you?”
She smiled. “No, no. There was absolutely nothing frightening about that.”
But it was a lie.
Whatever had just happened, she was not going to be the same. And that thought scared her more than she could say. But that’s not what Devon had meant, and there was still the one secret of her wedding night she would never tell him.
They lay in each other’s arms a while longer until Devon told her he’d fetch her a cup of water. She didn’t need water. He was leaving to give her privacy to get dressed. Lily appreciated that. She leaned back into the pillows and smiled and sighed. Good heavens. The man was perfect in
all
things involving seduction.
* * *
Devon let the door to his bedchamber close behind him and only then did he release his pent-up breath. Good God, what had just happened? He’d pleasured Lily, he knew, but he’d nearly made a mess of himself too, and that hadn’t happened since he was a lad.
God, he’d wanted her. And he could have had her. He knew it. Just a few whispered words and assurances. She would have been his for the taking. Nothing he’d done in his life had been more difficult than to stop.
But he couldn’t do it. Just couldn’t.
She didn’t know about the bet at the club. He couldn’t make love to her without telling her about that blasted bet. It would be unfair.
Lily didn’t know about a lot of things, actually. Like Justin.
Devon’s first duty was to Justin. And while Devon had felt some spark of a dormant emotion while he’d been touching Lily, he needed a woman who loved him and trusted him, who would help him raise his son. Lily was squared off against him as his opponent now. And of course there was the little matter of what had happened between them five years ago. How could he forget? No, Devon had no right to feel anything for Lily. Anything at all.
What exactly did he feel, anyway? He’d had his chance to shame her. She’d been willing and pliant in his arms. He could easily have left her unfulfilled. Sent her away wanting more. She’d be out of his life for good if he’d done that. So why hadn’t he?