Wicked Deception (47 page)

Caspian could never recall such a
torrid, erotic encounter in his life and was shaken as he brought
her to pleasure again. His hands wound in her silky black hair, his
mouth cutting of her moans of throaty satisfied pleasure. She
sounded like a cat, purring contentedly against his chest. He eased
away and she held him fast, wrapping her legs around
him.

“
Stay with me,” she asked, a
look in her eyes beseeched him. “I don’t want to sleep alone
tonight.”

“
If I stay, we will not
sleep,” he warned as he lay back against her, his lips pulling upon
her nipple softly as he raised his head. “You’re so beautiful I can
hardly stand to stop touching you, Catherine. You have children who
will demand your attention in but a few hours.”

She smiled her hands smoothing his rich
auburn locks. “I want you to stay with me tonight, Caspian. I ask
nothing of you.”

He looked down at her and was amazed at
the feeling of elation stirring within him at her words. His lips
found hers, his hands linking with hers. He sighed and lifted his
head, smiling wickedly. “You ask nothing, but you will get
everything if you insist I stay, sweet minx,” he warned as his lips
nipped at her neck. “I have been known to go all night.”

She smiled and her eyes glowed with
satisfaction. “I think I can bear it.”

Caspian smiled and dipped his head to
her breasts once more. “You will regret this when your adorable
little brats awaken you within minutes of my departure.”

She swatted at him then and he
chuckled, rolling until she came to rest atop of him. He cupped and
kneaded at her buttocks, luxuriating in her smooth, supple skin.
She was perfection and his eyes softened as they met hers above
him. She was far too easy to love, not something he wanted to
do.

He gasped as she eased onto his long
shaft and moved onto him. He sighed in delight. His hands stroked
her full breasts as she rode him. Her head went back with wild
abandon as she took her pleasure.

Still, the hurt of his recent rejection
aside, she was just what he needed to forget the luscious redhead
who cared nothing for him. Catherine needed him, and he her. There
was no happily ever after between them both, and it was understood.
There was only passion and the promise of many more nights in her
eager arms. He sensed she wasn’t available for more, even if her
full lips parted in invitation, ripe and yielding under
his.

His hands slid into her hair bringing
her down to him, crushing her upon his chest, arching upward as she
moved. Their bodies moved together in unison until they were crying
aloud together, mouths fused as the passion unfurled once
more.

Caspian explored, delighted, and adored
every inch of her body until she was aching and breathless in his
arms. The explosion of desire between them flared its brightest
before dawn when he held her legs high over her head up to the
headboard of her bed, driving so deep within her she wept, her body
shaking and opening to his like a flower. He joined her in
completion, burrowing deeply, her name escaping his lips in a
ragged sob.

Afterwards he held her, kissing her
ivory shoulders with soft kisses, his hands shaking as they
caressed her trim back. He looked down into her languid green eyes
and knew torment. This woman was enough to wreak holy havoc upon
his state of control. He held her until she slept, her face pressed
into his neck, her small hand tangled in the hair at the back of
his neck.

Something awakened in Caspian’s hard,
jaded soul as he stared down at her when he eased her back to her
pillows. Tussled with their passion and lips so swollen they looked
engorged and reddened; she was breathtaking.

He could well understand why Iverleigh
and Nicky nearly killed one another to possess her. His hand shook
as he brushed back her raven locks. He brushed a soft reverent kiss
on her forehead and she murmured in her sleep. He eased away from
her side as the pink glow of dawn peeked into the sheers at the
window.

He knew her servants would be about
soon. Not good to be caught sneaking from their mistress’s room. He
dressed, his eyes filled with admiration as he saw her so flushed
and well-satisfied in her bed.

Caspian knew he would return here
again, as long as she had need of him. He reasoned it would be far
easier to protect her if he was here with her, but he knew
different. She aroused instincts within him so completely unlike
him, all male and primitive, he was astounded by his sudden
possessive feelings for her.

Had he not warned her they could only
be lovers? He deceived himself and he knew it. He knew the brass
tack heart within him beat frantically now at the prospect of
returning tonight. His beautiful lover made no qualms about what
she wished from him. He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her lips.
She didn’t stir, exhausted from their lovemaking.

Caspian would have wanted to linger but
he heard sounds within the house. He left her room soundlessly,
closing the door behind him. He made his way out of the house
unseen.

Ty wasn’t amused when he joined him in
the coach across the street. His most-trusted guard eyed him with a
disgusted expression.

“
Do not spoil it for me,
Ty,” he said wearily as he held up a hand. “I know you do not
approve of any but Elise, but she is gone. I mean to savor the
aftermath of the present, if you don’t mind.”

“
You let her go with him,”
Ty pointed out darkly, ignoring his words.

“
She had a choice! You saw
her leave me!” Caspian flung coldly. “I offered her everything and
she threw it in my face to be with another!”

“
You could have fought for
her and made her stay, instead you pushed her away.”

Caspian smiled grimly as he looked out
the window. Only Ty ever dared to talk to him this way, and only
when they were alone. They had very different outlooks on his
recent parting with Elise. Ty didn’t know what he did. Elise still
loved her Tieghan, with every fiber of her being. While she was a
perfect lover and companion, her heart was never in it.

“
You know I cannot make a
woman happy for long, Ty.”

The way he saw it, his beautiful
companion these last six months grew bored in his cloistered life.
She tired of moving around to his different residences and hiding,
tired of the secrets and constant threats of assassination looming
over him. Ty seemed to think she wanted more than to be his lover
and he refused to wed her. Truth hurt far more, she refused him and
went to the Norseman.

“
She didn’t care that you
cannot give her children. It is you who cared. She loves you. I
know she does.”

Caspian’s lips twisted bitterly. “Who
would know you’re such a romantic, Ty? Elise has no love for me,
just this Tieghan she already gave her heart to. She left with him,
did she not? You see much that is not there. I heard no such words
on her lips.”

“
Had you offered her more,
she would have stayed with you,” Ty protested and shook his head.
“I saw her crying when you left her that last night. Had you told
her of your feelings she would have stayed. Instead you acted like
you didn’t care. Who could blame her for leaving with the man? Now
Van Ryker is barely warm in his grave and you’re bedding his
widow.”

Caspian refused to answer him. Elise
made her choice and left him, despite whatever feelings Ty claimed
she had for him. She made her choice, choosing Tieghan over him.
Catherine was warm, beautiful, and achingly willing to fill the
void within him.

He stubbornly refused to feel badly
about how he spent the glorious hours in Catherine’s bed. The last
thing he would do was regret being with the woman he just left. Ty
had a soft spot for Elise. He expected him to chase her like a
love-sick schoolboy with heart in hand. His feelings for Elise
would only get him killed in his line of work. Love had no place in
his world.

Elise was out of his life and happy
with the man who searched for her for months, the father of the
child she still wept for. Good riddance, he said inwardly, despite
his hurt she left him.

Thinking of the ravishing, raven-haired
minx made all thoughts of Elise vanish in an instant. For that, he
would be back tonight. He would take whatever she would give him,
wishing he could offer a woman like her more. She was a goddess, a
rare treat for a man of his ilk, he knew.

The lush fragrant smell of her was
still upon his hands and lips. He refused to think of anyone but
her right now. He told himself he did this for Nicky, keeping his
woman safe to finally pay him in full. He knew the painful truth.
He saw in those emerald eyes a reflection of the man he should have
been, could be, if he allowed it.

~ ~ ~

Catherine was as sleepy as her four
year-old daughter who dozed upon the settee. Devlin and Aidan
napped upstairs and she could hardly keep her own eyes open. It was
a rough morning when she was up a scant two hours after Caspian
left her bed.

She felt no shame at all as she
stretched beneath the blankets, smiling as she thought of how
incredible it was in Caspian’s arms. The languid sensations stayed
with her all afternoon.

Her eyelids fluttered and before she
knew it, she dozed in the chair. When she woke, her child was gone,
ushered upstairs to the nursery by Martha. She sighed, feeling much
better. Martha eyed her speculatively, her steely grey eyes
regarding her flushed face in concern.

“
Are you feeling alright?”
she asked in worry. “Your face is flushed and your eyes are very
bright.”

Catherine didn’t want to tell her loyal
friend she was basking in the throes of Caspian Roth’s passion and
yawned sleepily. “I’m tired, nothing to worry about. I’m going to
lie down before dinner.”

Martha nodded and encouraged her to
nap. She knew the older woman adored being in charge of her
children. She was delighted with the idea of keeping an eye upon
them. Catherine felt guilt as she left the salon and sought out the
maids, requesting water for a bath.

Once she was soaking in a steaming
bath, she allowed herself to think of the previous evening. A hot
flush stole up her neck at the thought of how brazenly she had
taken Caspian to her bed. She felt little remorse.

In truth, she eagerly looked forward to
his joining her at midnight tonight as he promised he would. Her
blood warmed at the thought of his passionate taking of her, her
hand trembling as it slid under the suds in her tub, touching her
quivering folds, amazed at how her body reacted to just thinking of
him.

She leaned back, bracing her feet on
the edges of the tub, her hand rubbing herself under the water
until a soft gasp escaped her and she went rigid. Shaken she had
become so heated with thoughts of Caspian, she eased out of the tub
and dried off. She toweled her hair and donned a light
shift.

A noise in the outer room made her wary
as she eased open the door to the bathing chamber. She tiptoed out
of the room and gasped as a hand slid over her mouth, cutting off
her cries. Caspian grinned down at her. He eased his hand away and
she smacked him in the shoulder.

“
You really have to stop
that! My heart can’t take it!”

“
I enjoyed watching you
bathe. I know I’m early but I have several errands late this
night,” he told her with a roguish grin. “Come now, Catherine, your
hand is not as good as mine. Tell me you haven’t ached for me all
day. I thought to put us both out of our misery by joining you
early.”

“
You’re conceited if you
think I have thought of you all day!” she snapped in annoyance, her
color high.

“
You have thought of nothing
but having my cock deep inside you,” he whispered as he came near,
his eyes clinging to her lips. “Lock the door. Tell your servants
you will take dinner in your room and come to bed with me. I would
show you how much I have thought of you, sweets.”

Catherine couldn’t refuse him, had no
desire to as she left him and sought out her maid. A tray would be
left outside her door as requested. Her heart hammered in her
breast when she entered her bedroom and locked the door.

Caspian was already nude in her bed
when she returned, looking gloriously decadent sprawled in wait for
her. She was breathing unsteadily and shivered in renewed desire as
she let her robe drop. She slid into the bed with him, sighing in
delight as his hot lips and hands made her quiver with
desire.

He adored and laved at her breasts, his
finger sliding into the moist curls between her thighs, his long
finger teasing her opening until she was gasping. He rolled her
over onto her belly and eased between her thighs, pulling her up on
all fours to fit the tip of his shaft within her. His hands gripped
her hips as he thrust hungrily inside her with a sigh of
delight.

“
Ah, that is so much better,
isn’t it, sweets?” he asked in a purring voice as he slid slowly in
and out of her.

“
Yes, oh God yes, it feels
so good. Do not stop, Caspian.”

She bit her lip to keep from crying out
as his hips moved with bruising speed then, slapping against her
buttocks furiously. He watched his cock move in and out of her,
glistening with her juices. A low carnal growl escaped
him.