The Devil Rogue (22 page)

Going to the liquor cabinet, he poured a liberal amount of brandy into a
cut-crystal
glass
, some of the precious liquid spilling due to his shaking hands
.
He cursed, mourning the loss of the expensive liquor
.
What was left in the decanter was the last of his stock, and since he was no longer welcome to make purchases on credit, it could not be replenished any time soon.

He would have to find a way to get that money from Angela
.
Now that she was Blackridge’s mistress, her reputation was destroyed, so there was no way he could continue with his blackmailing scheme
.
It had worked well
enough
while she was here, under his control
.
She wasn’t a very clever girl, to have never figured out what he’d been up to
.
It was only by a stroke of luck that none of the gentlemen involved had attempted to speak with her
.
They’d been too angry over his threats to risk any further contact.

The money had been nice, enough to finance his lifestyle of drinking and gambling
. It had
also
helped to
maintain the illusion of wealth
,
easily
snar
ing
the wealthy young men into his trap
.
It was unfortunate what
had
happened to that Winston fellow
.
The man
would have been a good payoff
.
Too bad he’d refused to pay the price and wound up dead instead.

Then
there was that devil,
Blackridge
.
Eberly
ha
d sense
d
Blackridge’s
interest in
Angela.
She
was very beautiful, like her mother,
with
a spotless reputation
.
It didn’t surprise
Eberly
that the notorious
rake
would see it as a conquest
, a challenge
,
to acquire the lovely Angela Hopkins as his mistress.

Eberly didn’t care about that as long as he was paid for the loss of his pawn
.
But Blackridge was holding out
, and Angela
could
no longer
be used as a bargaining chip
. T
herefore
,
she was
no longer of any
value
.
Eberly’s
fingers
tighened
around the glass with impotent rage
.
He would have to think of a
nother
way to get to Blackridge.

A tentative knock sounding on the door to his study broke
Eberly
away from his thoughts
.
“What
is it
!” he
barked
, annoyed by the disruption
.

Connors
, the
butler
, poked his head into the room
.
“My lord, there’s a gentleman waiting to see you.”

“Tell him I’m not at home to receive visitors
.
”

“Yes, my lord.”

Walking over to the desk,
Eberly
settled back into his chair with a sigh
.
Glass still in hand, h
e took a long swallow, savoring the way the brandy
burned
down his throat
.
The effect of the liquor slowly seeped into his system from the inside,
as
soothing as a lover’s caress.

His gaze darted to the door as it opened
.
“Go away, Connors
,” he growled
.
“
I
already
told you
I don’t wish to be disturbed
.
”

“Your wishes are not my concern
.
”

Eberly snapped upright in his chair
.
“I say, what is the meaning of this?”

The man who belonged to that
deep
voice stepped into the room, closing the door behind him
.
Eberly
instinctively
cring
ed
backward against the soft leather
.
A shudder of dread
accompanied his feeling that death had just crossed the threshold
.
“W
hat do you want?”

“You, baron –
I’ve come for you
.
”

ANGELA SLIPPED IN
and out of consciousness, waking every so often, bleary-eyed and disoriented
.
Her body ached, when she was aware of it enough to notice, and she could never quite determine where she was
.
Sometimes it seemed as though she were in her old bed at
T
he
B
aron’s house
. At
other times she imagined she w
as
in the narrow bed in the tiny little room
in
Blackridge’s
house
.
She remembered Rosemary’s voice, coaxing her
to accept the broth
fed to her by a spoon.

And then there were the dreams
.
They were disjointed
and troubling
as they jumped from one scene
of her life
to another
.
There was that awful fight with her father, then she was bathing Blackridge, but in the dream she was in the tub with him, fully clothed
.
She was sick and in pain after the whipping her father had given her
when she was a child
, then she was standing in
Backridge’s study, kissing him
.
The dreams went on and on in a never ending cycle of confusing images and
even more confusing emotions
.
As she finally settled into an un-drugged, normal sleep
, one dream was especially nice . . .

5

Villarreal / The Devil Rogue
                                     

Chapter
1
2

SHE WAS NAKED
and so was he, their skin glistening
with
heated with passion
. T
heir bodies twist
ed, limbs entwining
in a carnal dance of seduction and sweet surrender
.
His lips
forged a burning path
down
the column of
her throat while his tongue
licked and tasted,
his hands touching her everywhere
.
Her body tingled and throbbed,
playing
a tune only he knew
the notes to
.

Then h
is body covered hers
. S
he welcomed his heavier weight, her own hands exploring the muscled expanse of his back, caressing down along his spine to the gently rising curve of his buttocks
.
The rigid
shaft of his manhood probed insistently against the moist flesh of her woman’s opening, sending shudders of pleasure to her core
.
Her hips lifted with desperate urgency against that part of him that was so foreign, yet so familiar, as though they were two pieces of a puzzle destined to fit together
.
His hot mouth fastened on one of her breasts, suckling, licking, his skilled tongue
teasing the nipple until it puckered and she pleaded for
more
. . .

When she opened her eyes, Angela realized she’d been dreaming, yet her body still hummed with pleasurable sensations
.
The
sheets
had been pulled back
and
she was naked
,
her thighs
open
.
She was
completely
exposed to the wicked fingers that now caressed and circled her slick
woman’s flesh
.

Blackridge
!

He was here with her
. . .
in bed
. . .
fondling her as she slept
!

Angela
didn’t know whether to be appalled or thrilled.

She
’d
be appalled later.
This was something she didn’t want to miss, not after that dream she’d been having.

H
e slipped a finger
into
her
opening
, kissing her breast, sucking
her nipple until it was hard and aching.
H
e insert
ed
another finger,
dipp
ing slowly in and out, stretching her
.
Her breath hitched and s
he moaned, lifting her hips
against his hand
.
He
covered her mouth
,
his tongue plunging deep, while his thumb found the sensitive
bud
hidden in her maiden hair. He
swirl
ed
and teas
ed
until her body quivered with pleasure
.

She
could barely
distinguish between the sweet torment of her dream and conscious reality.
And then s
uddenly she was drifting
on a current of sparkling stars, the sun her destination, its brilliant intensity expanding around her, through her, compacting into a fiery ball in the center of her soul.
It tightened and tightened until it was white-hot, and then finally it exploded outward to her extremities in a wild array of colors and sensations and energy.

His deep kiss captured her
scream.

Angela
barely had time to decipher the marvelous thing that had just occurred, when
she
felt
his
weight come over her, sinking her into the mattress.
Her legs spread wider to accommodate his
large
body
.
H
e placed
his thick shaft right
at
her slick entrance.

“My name is Ian,” he said hoarsely. “Say it, angel.”

“Ian,” she whispered, still
shudder
ing
from her climax
.

“Are you ready for this? You’re not too sore from your injuries?”

Angela could hear the concern in his voice, knew she could trust him to stop if she but said the word. She
was
a bit stiff and sore, her ribs still giving her a bit of a twinge, but she was not about to let him stop now. “I’m ready, Ian,” she said, eager to continue.

With a deep groan he slipped into her slowly, one
hot
inch at a time,
filling her, stretching her,
until he met the guardian of her virginity
.
It was such a close, intimate and personal act
–
their two bodies connecting by way of their flesh.
It shocked her how her own body responded with a renewed sizzle of excitement
,
of anticipation.

He
placed his hands on either side
of
her head, lifting himself up, the
muscles in his arms
trembl
ing
.
“I don’t want to hurt you, princess,” he rasped.

Angela looked up into
the
intensity of his golden eyes
.
His jaw was clenched, his body sh
aking
with restrained passion
.
Her heart expanded with tenderness for this strong, vital, virile man
.
He was waiting for
her
–
her permission
–
her acceptance
–
her surrender
.
He would mark her as no other man ever had
–
or ever will, she realized
.
The raw sexual need reflected in his gaze
fill
ed
her veins with molten heat
that moved her to rise against him, effectively forcing him through the barrier.

Ian hissed through his teeth
,
and then
groan
ed
aloud as he slid home,
fitting snuggly within her tight sheath
.
He
held himself
still for a moment, allowing her to become accustomed to the feel of him inside her
.
She’d only given a small whimper when he’d pushed through the thin membrane, and now stared up at him with wide, liquid blue eyes that glistened with unshed tears
.

Angela
had
mostly slept for the
last
couple of days while
he
’d
gone
about his business. He
’d
checked on her regularly to reassure himself that she was as comfortable as possible. He’d
even
had her gowns and personal items moved to his room, so that when she awoke, everyth
ing would be within easy reach.
But that wasn’t the only reason. H
e
was also determined that she remain here,
as
they were to be married soon.

The special license had been easily acquired, and now all that was left to do was inform her of his plans. Part of that plan involved making her irrevocably his.
T
he thought of any other man touching her the way he was touching her now brought out a savage possessiveness he hadn’t known existed.

This morning, he’d been roused from sleep by the soft sighs and whimpers coming from the woman next to him.
It had been obvious s
he was dreaming, but the way she
’d
arched her back, lifting her breasts and moaning from some pleasurable fantasy was
all it took
to make the blood pound in his veins and
his cock to stiffen painfully.

For the past two nights he’d slept fitfully, and when he did sleep he
’d been
plagued with dreams that tempted him beyond endurance. Last night, he’d actually gained relief by his own hand, spilling his seed into a handkerchief while she lay quietly oblivious beside him. God, he hadn’t done that since he was a youth, when just a slight breeze
gave him a raging cockstand.

Ian
knew he
wouldn’t be able to
wait until they were married
– didn’t want to. He hadn’t earned his reputation as
The Devil Rogue
for nothing. The temptation was too great, and he was just wicked enough to take advantage. And so, l
ike a general mounting a
n important
campaign
, he
used
his hands, his mouth, and the liquid velvet of his tongue as his arsenal
to
plunder
,
conquer
, and
possess her every sense
.

When he’d first entered her hot, wet, tight little
passage
, it had been the ultimate c
hallenge to
control himself.
He
’d had to
f
i
ght the urge to thrust
hard
, to bury his cock deep within her, but
had
held himself in check, not wishing to hurt her.

“Are you all right
, princess
?”
His voice was hoarse from the strain of holding himself still
.
He
clenched his teeth, wanting
to withdraw and
thrust
again
so badly, it made his temples pound.

“Yes, I-I’m fine,”
she said
breathlessly
.
“It didn’t really hurt that much
.
Is it
– is it over
?”

He couldn’t help the
burst of
surprised laughter
at
her question.
It
forced him deeper, the head of his cock bumping up against the wall of her womb. And when her inner muscles
contract
ed in response, he almost came then and there. Her gasped “Oh!” made him grin.

“No, angel,
it isn’t over
.
This is
just the beginning
.
”

To demonstrate,
Ian
slowly
pulled out until
only
the tip of his cock
remained inside, and then just as slowly, slid
all the way
back in
. H
is grin fad
ed
away
as he experienced the full measure of
her very hot, very slippery,
very
tight
canal
.
He repeated the movement
. . .
slowly out, slowly in
. . .
out again, in again
, over and over
.
His breathing became
more and more
labored
as he struggled for control, consumed by the need to thrust harder and faster
.
It was when she reached up, clasped her hands behind his neck, pulling him toward her, and at the same time, curled her legs over the back
s
of his thighs, that he increased the rhythm
.

His
blood exploded through his body, pumping his heart, pounding in his ears
.
Nothing else existed except the
wildly passionate woman in his arms, under him, clinging to him as if her very life depended on it
.
He was entranced, enthralled, held prisoner by her beautiful body, her
snug
little passage bathing his cock in its slippery heat, and her primal response
.
He was nearing his breaking point, ready to climax when she came apart
all around him
.

She cried out his name, her inner muscles convulsing with such powerful contractions it wrung a hoarse shout from deep in his throat
. He thrust
one last time,
burying his cock all the way up to his balls
and came,
filling
her
with his seed
.