Bridal Favors - Engaged in Wickedness Read online

  Edward joined her at the railing, standing by her side as they stared out into the illuminated pathways. It was a charming view, but he was more interested in looking at her. So he turned enough to look directly at her profile. "Your brother is heir to an Earldom. I suppose issuing decrees was part of his education."

  She released an unladylike snort. "He needed no education in that, I assure you. Robert began giving orders when he was still in his crib."

  "That must be very trying for you," he said, only half meaning it.

  "Not nearly as trying as I am on him when I disobey absolutely everything he says." She sounded positively gleeful about it, and he couldn't help but smile into her eyes. She was so beautiful, and he was already besotted.

  Good God, what was wrong with him? He had to gather his wits! This was a campaign!

  "Do you know what my brother's latest decree is?" she asked, fully disrupting his attempts to keep his wits in order.

  "I am breathless with curiosity."

  "He has decreed that I shall not go out into gardens such as this one with gentlemen." She glanced coyly up at him. "And that I absolutely should never, ever kiss them."

  The muscles in his belly froze and his mind stuttered into gibberish. She couldn't possibly be suggesting... but of course she was... but it was too fast... she was too fast! But...

  Somehow, he found the wherewithal to speak, though God knows they were the exact wrong words. "It sounds like your brother has made a very reasonable and prudent decree."

  She pursed her lips in a flirtatious moue. "Ah, but that is just the problem. It is a decree, and I am possessed by a devil that makes me defy every one of his decrees."

  So. Well. She did wish to. But he couldn't. It wasn't honorable, which of course was ridiculous in that he had already intended to seduce her. In fact, he ought to be gleeful about his progress, and yet...

  She took his arm and began to head down into the lawn. He resisted for a moment. Not because he intended to, but because he was still frozen in shock.

  "If it isn't you, it will be some other gentleman," she said with another one of her coy smiles. "I would much rather it was you, but if you refuse me..."

  "Certainly not!" he snapped as he joined her on the steps. He wasn't even sure what he was responding to. He certainly wasn't refusing. The vehemence of his reaction startled him, but it clearly seemed to delight her as she laughed. In fact, she was entirely too bewitching as she patted his hand just as he had done to her not fifteen minutes before.

  "Do not fret," she said in an exact echo of his words. "I assure you, I am well used to disobedience. I shall instruct you on exactly what to do."

  They stepped onto the pathway, the stones well lit by lanterns. But it was a rather long path that ambled to a small park beyond. How easy it would be to disappear into the darkness for all manner of mischief.

  His head nearly swam with the thought. Did she have no idea what could happen to her? What he could do? He was already rock hard and more than a little tempted to do the deed right here, right now. Of course he knew it was too soon and timing was everything, but good Lord, he was just a man. And she was leading herself right into disaster!

  "Lady Gwen," he began, but she danced ahead of him, stretching out her arms and spinning around. Her head fell back and her hair swung free. And once again, he found his better thoughts slipping away under her hypnotic beauty.

  "I do love the fall, especially when it is not so cold yet." She stopped spinning and pointed up to the three quarter moon. "I love the moonlight and the trees in all their colors." She danced around a trunk. "And most of all..." her voice trailed away as she disappeared behind a cluster of tightly packed trees.

  Edward stumbled after her. She was an autumn fairy, leading him down the garden path. He was powerless to stop himself even knowing he'd changed from predator to prey.

  "Most of all?" he asked as he rounded the corner.

  It was dark here, but the leaves were well packed. Clearly other couples had found this particular pocket of darkness. But no one else was here now. None but her, her back against the tree and her eyes sparkling up at him.

  "Most of all, sir, I love the way my skin tingles with the chill."

  He stepped up to her, taking his cue to warm her by putting his hands on her. Her skin was indeed cool from the air. Did she know that her nipples were tight, that her skin glowed white in the moonlight, and that no man could resist her?

  "You have done this before," he said softly. Not in accusation, but as a statement of fact. He was delaying, trying to find an honorable path but seeing only her.

  "One question, Sir Edward, before I disobey my brother and let you kiss me."

  "Yes, Lady Gwen?" He didn't know how he managed the words. His blood was roaring in his ears and his hands trembled. She felt so soft, so vulnerable, and he was so very large compared to her.

  "You said you were here to find a wife. Have you selected one?"

  "Yes," he confessed.

  "Oh," she said, her shoulders drooping in disappointment. "Then you shouldn't be out here kissing me."

  He leaned forward slowly, close enough to smell the rose scent of her hair and the sweet musk of her skin. "I am not the heir to an earldom," he whispered as he pressed his cheek to hers. "I do not issue decrees, but my parents did. My mother most especially."

  She lifted her face, slowly rolling her mouth toward his. But he was not to be distracted or rushed as he stroked his lips across the arch of her cheekbone.

  "So?" she asked.

  "So," he said as he gently meandered his way toward her mouth. "I am no stranger to disobedience either."

  Then he found her lips, starting to stroke them with exquisite care. He felt her breath catch and her mouth open. He felt her body soften and her hands ease up his arms. Within a second, she was gripping his shoulders and urging him to do more, to go deeper.

  And then he completely lost control.

  Chapter 4

  Gwen felt her eyes snap open, stunned that this wasn't going as she expected. Usually at this point, the man just swooped in and started kissing her. And she's specifically positioned herself so that he could fulfill her favorite fantasy of pushing his groin against her. She wanted to feel it again, especially with him.

  But he wasn't cooperating! He'd started by easing alongside her face, not at all where she wanted his mouth to be! But then he'd started teasing her, brushing his mouth slowly across her highly sensitized skin. And she felt the heat of his words curl about her ears, making her shiver in delight. No one had done that before!

  She clutched his arms, hoping to draw him closer. Now more than ever she wanted to feel his weight against her. She arched upward, her mind struggling to manipulate the experience to her requirements.

  She quickly learned she had no control here. This man would not be directed by her. At least not completely. Fortunately, he was finally doing what she wanted. He brought his lips to hers, and she sighed in delight. She was experienced enough with kisses to know that she was supposed to open her mouth, but she didn't like to give in so easily. So she kept her mouth closed only to discover that he didn't mind at all.

  He began teasing the edges of her lips, first stroking them with his mouth and then abruptly nipping at the bottom of her lower lip. It startled her enough that she gasped in surprise which gave him the opening he wanted.

  He took it with a swiftness that startled her. A thrust of his tongue, and he was inside. She began to duel with her tongue, but he was so much more the master here than she. He touched her everywhere, including the roof of her mouth and she could not believe how very wonderful it was!

  At this point in the usual experience, she would sigh in delight, enjoy the experience for a second or more, and then sweetly draw away all the while tabulating the encounter in her mind. Then she'd return to her friend, Amelia, and relay everything in detail. That was her plan, but it didn't work.

  She couldn't think of anything. Her blood was sparking
inside her veins, and she had to arch into him just to release some of the fire. Her belly and breasts connected with him, and her head fell back against the tree. No matter though because he was so tall. He easily kept their mouths fused together. His hands slid up her arms and fire trailed in their wake. She was so absorbed in their kiss that she barely noticed when the shoulders of her gown began to ease down.

  His hands flowed over her chest, pushing the fabric off her shoulders. She wouldn't even have noticed then, but the tightness of her sleeves held her upper arms pinned. She couldn't lift them like she wanted to stroke his broad shoulders or play in his hair.

  And then her breasts popped free! She hadn't meant that to happen. She hadn't realized it could happen! But she had relatively small breasts, and he had slipped his fingers underneath the fabric to lift them out.

  She cried out in shock, but the sound was lost in his kiss. She tried to pull back, but it was too late. His hands had found her breasts. He had such large hands and they covered her fully, lifting her up so his fingers could...

  Oh! He was squeezing her nipples, and her legs went weak from the sensation searing through her torso. She rolled her head to the side as much to get air as anything else. It was enough to break their kiss but not enough to leave him.

  His mouth began to trail down her check and neck. He was pressing kisses into her skin, nipping her with his teeth, then stroking her with his tongue. And all the while, his fingers were doing things to her nipples. She couldn't even separate the sensations enough to know what it was he did. She just felt... oh so much!

  His body abruptly lowered. It took a moment for her to realize that he had dropped down onto one knee before her.

  "My God," he murmured. "Your skin glows!"

  She looked down, but in the darkness she could see very little. Her white skin did indeed glow in the moonlight. But she looked at his curly mop of hair and the width of his shoulders. Truly there wasn't much to see, but she could feel such amazing things. Soon, she closed her eyes as her mind gave in to her very last thoughts.

  This is exquisite, she thought. No one has ever touched me there...

  His mouth found her right nipple and began to suck. Her body arched into him in shocked surprise, but she simply cried out in delight. Every pull of his mouth, every stroke of his tongue had her shuddering in wonder. Her knees went weak, and she was grateful to feel his hand brace her leg.

  She could move her arms enough to touch his shoulder with one hand and to stroke her fingers through his hair with the other. His hair was silky soft and his shoulders so solid. It gave her enough strength to keep herself upright. She wanted nothing to interrupt the nip and caress of his tongue on her nipple.

  Since he didn't need to hold her upright, his hand dropped lower, stroking beneath her skirts as he touched the stocking over her ankle, her calf, and then up and around her knee. His touch was gentle, his caress down there barely noticed while his mouth did such wonderful things to her breast. Nothing mattered except that. Her entire attention was riveted there.

  Until his fingers crested over her stocking to slip a finger at the juncture of her thighs. She cried out again and tried to jump backwards. But her back was against the tree trunk, so there was no where to move. Worse, the brace of her legs against the ground widened her stance enough for him to push between her folds.

  Never had she imagined the like. Not this way, not with the specifics. Not with the way his finger pushed in and drew back against her curls. She felt every ridge and bump of his knuckles.

  She couldn't breathe for the explosions of sensations between her thighs, rippling through her belly, coiling behind her breasts. He was still pulling on her nipple, a steady distraction fracturing her mind to nothing. She was a body experiencing too much to comprehend.

  He continued... everything. Her nipple. His knuckles. In and out. Twice. A third time. And then...

  The coil snapped! Everything released.

  She burst apart. That was what it felt like. As if skin and blood and bone flew apart, and her inner self soared.

  Glorious!

  A long time later, she returned to Earth. Her breath slowed, her heart still thudded but in a wonderful rhythm. The tree bark bit into her back, but she scarcely cared. She was busy pulling together the pieces of her body and mind. But it would not reassemble as she'd once been. A piece here, a piece there, and everywhere were gaps in what she'd once been.

  It confused her. It also delighted her because she liked nothing better than to be something different than before. After all, before she was bored and sometimes afraid. Now she was new. Or at least different. And that made her smile.

  He was still kneeling before her, his face against her chest, his hands shifted such that one remained beneath her skirt, supporting her bottom. The other was stroking her hip above the fabric. A slow caress in a lazy circle.

  She touched his forehead, brushing a curling lock away from his eyes.

  "Are you back then?" he asked, his voice hushed with what might have been awe.

  "Yes," she whispered. "No." Words were so very hard to form right then.

  He pressed a kiss to the curve of her breast. He was smiling, she realized. "You have not done that before," he said. "Any of it."

  It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway. "Some. I have kissed before."

  She felt his slow exhale and his hand beneath her skirt slid down and out into the night air. "I should not have done this."

  "Is this why women wish to be married? Why didn't I know this before?"

  He looked up at her, and she smiled at the dark shadow that was his face. She wished to see him more clearly, but as she couldn't, she settled on touching him with her fingers. She stroked across his cheek, measured the length of his nose, and brushed across his lovely mouth.

  And when he opened his lips and stroked his tongue around her fingers, her toes curled in delight. More interesting, her belly quivered. Could they do this again? So soon?

  He glanced back up the path. "We have been gone too long."

  She frowned, reluctant to understand his words. But the meaning would not be denied. All at once, the practical considerations rushed into her mind. The ball, Amelia's mother, her reputation. Was her gown stained? Was she ruined now?

  "Oh!" she cried, too dismayed to do more. Good lord, her breasts were still bared to the sky!

  Fortunately, he was made of stronger stuff. "Shh," he said as he pushed to his feet. "Turn around, let me help."

  She didn't respond at first as she was busy resetting her bodice correctly. She was so hurried that she nearly tore the dress. Never before had she been grateful for small breasts, but this time she was happy they tucked away without damaging herself or her gown.

  Meanwhile, he was brushing off the knees of his pants before eyeing her skirt.

  "It hasn't been too horribly long," he said, though he sounded as if he was lying. "Now turn around so I can see what is on the back."

  She did, and he was remarkably efficient about knocking aside the dirt.

  "That will do," he finally said.

  She almost felt insulted by his brusque manner until she felt a slow brush of his fingers across the back of her neck.

  "So beautiful," he murmured.

  She turned back to him, wanting to search his eyes. So many men had called her beautiful, but his words didn't sound like flattery. In truth, she wondered if he knew he'd spoken at all.

  "Sir Edward," she began, not even knowing how what she meant to say.

  "Just Edward," he corrected with a wry twist to his mouth. "Please, Lady Gwen, call me Edward."

  She nodded. "Will you call me Gwen then? Just when we are alone?"

  He smiled at her, a slow delighted expression that filled her with warmth and had her stepping into his arms without thought or restraint. He welcomed her eagerly, wrapping an arm around her as he drew her tight.

  She kissed him then, a slow press of her lips against his. He deepened it quickly, wrapp
ing his other arm around her until they were pressed belly to belly. Groin to thick, hot, and impressively wonderful groin.

  Finally her secret fantasy had come true. But now, of course, she had so many other wonderful experiences and ideas. Not the least of which was the way he kissed her.

  Until he pulled back with a groan. "We risk too much right now."

  She nodded, knowing he was right. Especially as he pulled a leaf from her hair. She glanced down at his pants, finally able to see them in the moonlight. Thankfully he wore a rather dull brown. She doubted the dirt stains would show. Especially if he did not linger in the ballroom.

  "Do you remember my friend, Amelia? Find her and tell her that it's a Mr. Danford situation and I shall be taking a hackney home."

  "The devil you say!"

  "It's not as bad as it sounds. Last season Mr. Danford was too exuberant in his attention and I was forced to punch him in the face. I broke his nose, which was fine, but then his blood splattered on my gown. I couldn't very well let everyone see that, so I left the ball by the back gardens. I was going to walk, but there were cabs waiting there, so I hailed one and went home."

  "Did your brother kill him? If not, I certainly will." He sounded so wonderfully furious that she chuckled.

  "I don't think Robert ever knew about it. I am very independent. No one knows the half of what I do."

  He grimaced at her as he took her arm and began steadily escorting her back toward the ballroom. "You risk too much, Lady Gwendolyn."

  "Oh pray," she said with a laugh, "do not spoil the very best night of my life by sounding like my brother. Just do as I ask. I am sure there are cabs waiting nearby." Exactly where, she wasn't entirely sure. But the things were always close to a ball to pick up wayward gentleman. They would be just as happy with a wayward lady.

  "I will do no such thing," he said. "You will wait here against the wall on the terrace. If someone sees your gown, they shall assume it was because you were leaning against the building there."

  "You said my gown was fine."