“That isn’t exactly what a man hopes to hear from the lips of a lady in a situation such as this,” he said.
“It is to be expected when a lady has never before found herself in such compromising circumstances,” she retorted. “Or thought of herself as a lady, for that matter.”
He chuckled. “I can attest to the fact that the man in question is just as surprised as the lady to find himself here. So what shall we do about it?”
It was in that exact moment that Laurence realized the object that was pressing so firmly against her hip was in fact his fully erect cock. The very same cock that had brought her such enjoyment just a few short hours ago. When she shifted her leg, he groaned.
“It sounds as if you might be in need of some very specific assistance, sir,” she said gravely, deliberately rubbing herself against his hardness.
“What I need is to be back within your gorgeous body.” Before she knew it, she was flat on her back against the feather mattress, her legs spread, his fingers exploring the satiny folds of flesh at the apex of her thighs. “So beautifully ready for me.”
He entered her in one deep slide, and she gasped at the feel of him against her newly tried flesh.
“Tell me if I am hurting you, for you feel so wonderful I cannot stop myself from having you again,” he murmured, pressing tender kisses against her cheek and brow.
“There is no need to stop,” she reassured him. “I love the way it feels when you are inside of me.”
“Thank you for taking me again.” He kissed her, his hands and mouth caressing her in rhythm with the motion of his cock as he stroked in and out of her body. Holding her hips with both hands, he tilted her up until he was fully embedded within her. “Oh God, it’s so good. You are so good.”
She could tell by the increasing pace of his thrusts that he was growing more excited, and his enjoyment fueled her own passion. So when he suddenly pulled out of her a few moments later, she gave a little moan of protest.
“I won’t last long if we continue this, and that will not do at all.” She watched as he gathered up a blanket and thrust it beneath her hips, fully exposing her most private places to him.
“What are you…” she began to ask.
“Shhh,” he said. “You will like this, I promise.”
He lowered his head, and before she could react, his lips touched the core of her in a shockingly intimate kiss beyond her wildest imaginings.
“You shouldn’t, you must not,” she protested, seeking to push him away.
He looked up at her. “Laurence, you are undoubtedly the most brilliant, beautiful, and capable woman I have ever met. But right now, at this minute, you need to lie back and allow me to have my wicked way with you.”
“But…”
“Dammit it, woman, for once would you do what you are told?” he growled, and she retreated.
“Fine, but I won’t enjoy…oh…oh…oh yes,” she breathed as his flicked the tip of his tongue against that place where she pleasured herself at nights. And then he was licking her until she could no longer control her moans. Without lifting his mouth from her body, he grasped both her hands and put them on top of his head, showing her how she could enhance her own enjoyment by exerting pressure.
Again and again, she felt herself coming close to the edge but unable to reach that pinnacle despite all that he was doing, and she nearly sobbed with frustration as her fulfillment slipped from her grasp each time.
Sensing her need, Matthew slid a finger into her moist channel, continuing to ravish her with his mouth while stimulating the sensitive nerves inside her.
“Oh yes, yes,” she cried, as she reached her peak at last.
“My turn,” he said, rising up to again fill her throbbing body with his hard length.
With his kiss, she tasted herself on her lips and wanted to die with mortification, but he gave her no chance, thrusting harder and faster into her willing flesh. He stiffened and with a deep groan, lifted himself from her, spilling his seed outside her body.
He fell back against the pillows, panting heavily, and she lay back as well, enjoying the afterglow of the pleasure they had given each other.
After a few moments, he looked over at her. “Laurence, my love?”
“Yes, Matthew?” she said drowsily.
“Will you marry me?”
All at once, she was wide awake. “You cannot be serious.”
“Once again, not what a man hopes to hear from the lady in his bed.”
Sitting up, she pulled the covers nearly to her chin, as if they would offer some protection from the audacity of his words.
“Why on earth would you wish to marry me?” she asked, utterly confounded. “Have you gone mad?”
“If I have, it is because you are making me so,” he said. “But more to the point, I am not in the habit of having marital relations with women I am not planning to marry—particularly virgins. Most particularly virgins who go about dressed as men. I would not have dishonored you this way had I not intended to offer you marriage.”
“I am nearly fifty years of age. Much too old for you,” she said.
“You are barely forty, and your age means naught to me,” he said dismissively.
“A man cannot marry another man,” she said.
“As we have proven last night and again this morning, you are not a man,” he pointed out. “You are a woman, an unmarried woman at that. And if you’ll forgive me for saying so, well past the age of consent. When we marry, you will no longer need to live this charade of being a man.”
“My life is not a charade,” she said sharply. “And I have no intention of becoming a wife.” She saw the hurt in his eyes and cursed herself for being so forthright.
“My apologies for offending you with my offer,” he said stiffly. He pulled back the covers and began to rise from the bed.
“Matthew, don’t leave like this.” She tried to grab his arm, but he shook off her hand.
“Like what?” he snapped, bending over to retrieve his clothing from the floor. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but admire his taut bottom and the way his muscles rippled across the backs of his powerful thighs.
“Like I have offended you and you hate me,” she said, unable to be anything but honest with him.
He turned around to look at her. “Dammit, Laurence, do you not understand anything? I cannot hate you, for I love you.”
His words flew toward her like the arrow from a bow, scoring a direct hit on her heart. She felt their impact like a physical blow to her body.
“You do?” she asked.
He nodded.
“No one…” She paused and swallowed. “No one has ever said those words to me before.”
“Well, I am saying them.” His tone remained terse.
“Say them again,” she asked. “Please.”
He sighed and, dropping the clothing he had been holding, returned to the bed. Sitting down at the edge of the mattress, he touched her face gently.
“I love you, Laurence.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, and he smiled in that devastating way of his.
“I am absolutely certain.”
For a moment, she was quiet, slowly absorbing the meaning of his words. He loved her. Was
absolutely certain
about it. But what was the price of that love?
She had to know. “In order to keep your love, must I change myself? Do I have to give up who I am and become an entirely different person?”
He frowned. “You are twisting my words.”
“Am I?” she asked steadily. “You want me to marry you and live as a woman, although you know full well the implications, for I could no longer practice law.”
“Is it so wrong of me to want to marry and live as man and wife with the woman I love?” he asked. “Have you be mother to my sons?”
“Is it so wrong of me not to want to give up the work that I love and the life that I have established for myself?” she countered.
“Attempting to win an argument with a solicitor as skilled as Laurence Heath is never a wise endeavor,” he observed. “Particularly when one is disadvantaged by a lack of clothing.”
“Perhaps, but I would assert that Solicitor Hastings can be equally effective in making his case,” she said, relieved that his earlier anger seemed to be dissipating.
“I have my doubts about that but know when I am beaten, if only temporarily,” he said before claiming her mouth in a kiss that left no doubt in her mind about his powers of persuasion. “I will drop the matter for now, but know that this subject is far from settled. For I love you and I want you to be mine for all time.”
Laurence looked into his eyes and saw the truth of his words shining back at her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, that she had never felt like this before, and that she wanted to be his for all time. But the words would not come.
He sighed. “I suppose it was too much to hope you might feel this same.”
“This is all so new to me—we are so new to each other,” she said. “Please, just give me some time to adjust.”
“I will give you time,” he said. “But I won’t wait forever.”
“I won’t make you,” she said, for the first time in her life making a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep.
Chapter Eleven
Laurence found it difficult to concentrate on her work that morning. She had arrived at the office more than an hour past the normal time, earning a curious look from Peters, her new private secretary.
“Are you quite all right, sir?” Peters asked.
“Of course I am all right,” she snapped. “Just because I am a bit later than usual doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong.”
“Of course not, sir,” said Peters. “But it is unusual for you to miss an appointment, although Lord Wickham was quite understanding. I’ve rescheduled him for next week. In the afternoon.”
Damn. She had totally forgotten about that one. “Thank you, Peters. You may go now.”
“Yes, sir,” said Peters, bowing and leaving her in solitude.
Two hours later, Laurence admitted defeat. She had read the same paragraph in the document she was supposed to be reviewing at least five times now and not absorbed a single word. It was damnably difficult to pay attention to the finer points of contract law when erotic memories of Matthew Hastings kept dancing through her brain.
He had looked so delectably handsome in her bed that morning, even when Martin arrived and Matthew had to hastily grab his clothing and tiptoe across the hallway back to his own room.
Just thinking about the feel of him inside of her body was enough to send shivers down her spine. How was she expected to wait an entire day to be alone with him again? It was absolute torture.
There came a gentle knock, and Laurence looked up from the papers she wasn’t reading to see Peters peering at her from around her office door with a rather tentative look.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Heath, but Mr. Hastings has asked to speak with you briefly about the Worrell case. Is now a good time, sir?”
“Show him in,” she directed, her pulse quickening.
“Good morning, Mr. Heath,” was Matthew’s greeting several long minutes later, his cheery tone containing no trace of anything even remotely untoward. The memories plaguing her seemed to be having no noticeable impact on him, she thought peevishly.
“Good morning, Mr. Hastings,” she said crisply. “You wish to see me?”
He shut the door and walked toward her in a most purposeful way. “I wish to do far more than that.” He took her into his arms with the kiss of a man starved a million years for affection. His large hands snaked down behind her back to grasp the cheeks of her bottom and pull her even more closely. “I also wish to hold you and lick you and bury myself deep within you.”
“We shouldn’t be doing this here,” she said even as she reveled in the feel and taste of him. “If someone should walk in and discover us, we would both be ruined.”
“It might almost be worth it, for I have been unable to focus on anything all morning for wanting you again,” he said, before reclaiming her lips for another long kiss. She felt his hands fumbling at her waist, and before she realized what he was doing, her trousers were unfastened and down to her ankles. His clever fingers wasted no time delving into the soft folds of sensitive flesh between her legs until she gasped.
“Matthew, you really must stop,” she whispered urgently but to no avail.
“I cannot stop,” he said. “God, you’re so wet for me already.”
She tried one more time to tell him to cease, but again the words got lost in her throat as his fingers surged in and out of her, stoking her into a frenzy of need.
He nipped her ear with his teeth. “Tell me what you want.”
“You know what I want,” she said. When he pulled his fingers away, she moaned in protest.
“Let’s find out if I do,” he said, walking her backward toward the large mahogany desk in the center of the room.
He spun her around until she was bent over, her arms resting on the desk, her backside tilted up and vulnerable to him.
“You look so beautiful right now. It is all I can do to restrain myself, for I want to take you in the most shockingly base and animalistic way.” He slide his finger down between the cheeks of her ass. “Will you let me have you here one day?”
She swallowed. “Is that something people do?” she asked weakly.
“Sometimes,” he said, as his finger made its way to the soft wetness of her vulva. “But today I am hungry for this.” He inserted his forefinger inside her, and she squirmed against him, desperate for him to get to that one spot where she ached for fulfillment. He added a middle finger and pushed in and out, and she bit her lip hard to keep from making noise. “I think you’re ready for me, darling.” He pulled away, leaving her bereft and unsatisfied.
“Hurry,” she said and heard rustling sounds as if he were unfastening his trousers. Within a few seconds, she felt the velvety tip of his penis resting at her entrance.
“You’ll likely be sore,” he warned.
“I don’t care, just do it!” she ordered, desperate for his hardness.
“Who am I to defy a direct order from Heath & Heath’s managing partner?” he asked, and she felt his cock breach her opening. He had been right, for she was still quite tender from their activities the previous night and this morning, and his possession was not gentle.
“Ah,” she exclaimed as he filled her, and he hesitated briefly.