“All in time.”
“We don’t have that much time,” she said, unfastening the fall of his trousers. He grasped her wrists.
“You’ll have your turn, Miss Baker.” He put his hands on her waist and slid them up to cup her breasts. “You know, I think there is one part of you I like even more than your bum.”
“What’s that?” she asked, and he was pleased to hear she sounded breathless.
“Lie down, and I’ll show you.” He lowered her to the bed and used one knee to open her legs. She was pink and wet and open to him. “Yes, definitely my favorite part.” He lowered himself to kiss the inside of her thigh and felt the way her muscles tensed as she anticipated his lips sliding higher. “Did you like when I kissed you here last night?” He allowed his mouth to linger at the juncture of her thighs.
“King,” she said, her voice petulant, pleading.
“It’s a simple question. Did you like when I kissed you?”
“Yes.”
King rewarded her with a kiss that lasted long enough to make her moan. “What about when I licked you? Did you like that?”
“You know I did. Come here.” She held her arms open. If there was a more inviting sight, he couldn’t think what it might be.
“I like where I am right now. In fact, I could stay here for hours.” As though to prove his point, he licked her. The sounds she made only encouraged him, and he spread her wide and began to pleasure her in earnest. Hearing her moan and pant was absurdly gratifying to him. He relished hearing her call his name and beg him to…
Well, he’d never heard a lady use language like that. It made him hard and hot.
King took her to the brink of climax twice before shedding his trousers and settling between her legs. By then, she was pink-faced and breathing heavily. He wanted to enter her slowly, but she wrapped her legs around him and thrust her hips up, taking him to the hilt. Now it was his turn to moan. He tried to move slowly to let the pleasure build, but she was having none of it. A moment later, they had rolled over so that she was on top, taking him the way she wanted.
King thanked God there was still some light filtering into the chamber so he could see her face and her body. Her dark hair swung over her shoulders, falling to the sides of her breasts, which jutted proudly as she rode him. King put his hands on her hips then slid them to her bottom, sliding his palms over the silky skin. But what he enjoyed the most was seeing her face. Her lips were swollen and red from his kisses, her eyes slightly unfocused, and a thin sheen of perspiration covered her brow. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and he fought giving in to his own pleasure so he could watch as she found hers.
Her head fell back, her lips opened, and her entire body tensed. He felt her inner muscles contract as she climaxed, and when her face fell forward, their eyes met. King’s breath whooshed out at the blueness of her eyes and the beauty of her face. She was entrancing. But his own climax was coming, and he had to roll her over and take control. He thrust into her, making her cry out with the last ounces of pleasure before he withdrew and spilled his seed onto a towel at the side of the bed.
“Violet,” he breathed, lying back beside her. He was generally pretty good with words, but they failed him now. He didn’t know how to describe what had just happened, how he was feeling.
“I know,” she said. She moved over and put her head on his shoulder. “I thought the first time… But it wasn’t.”
He knew what she meant. He too had thought the first time might be some sort of fluke. King didn’t think their lovemaking could be any better than it had been. But this time had been even better. “Violet—”
“Shh.”
He was glad she silenced him, because he had no idea what he was about to say. King was half afraid he might tell her he loved her.Didhe love her, or was it merely the aftereffects of pleasure? King couldn’t be sure, but he knew that even when hewasn’t in bed with her, his feelings for her were more than just friendship. More than just lust.
The room grew darker, and Violet’s breathing became deep and even. King rose, careful not to wake her, dressed, and went back to the window. The streets were still empty, but the little slivers of light that spilled out from the various buildings showed him a lone figure moving slowly and carefully closer to the Silver Unicorn. The boy stayed to the shadows, but King recognized him as Joshua. He went downstairs and opened the back door.
“You’re here,” Joshua said, coming inside and waiting for King to close the door and lower the bar. “Did Vi make it back?”
“Yes. She’s sleeping upstairs.”
“Sleeping?” Joshua gave him an incredulous look. “It’s barely past dark.”
“I don’t think she’s slept much the past few days. Too worried. How are you? Violet said you’d been treated for a burn.”
The boy waved a hand. “I’m fine. I didn’t need any treatment. Vi tries to coddle me like I’m still Georgie’s age.”
King put a hand on his shoulder. “She loves you, and as far as I can tell, she loves only a handful of people in this world. Consider yourself fortunate.”
King wondered what it might feel like to have someone love him. He supposed at one point, when his mother had been alive, she had probably loved him. But she’d died when he was very young, giving birth to her second child. That sibling had not survived more than a day or two at most. Then it was just King and his father, and King didn’t think the Duke of Avebury loved anything or anyone but himself and his hunting dogs.
He certainly hadn’t loved King.
Violet didn’t love him either. He told himself she probably never would. She would most likely always see him as the spoiled and inept marquess—albeit a marquess who was diverting in bed. Pleasing her there wouldn’t make her fall inlove with him, and taking her to bed certainly wasn’t making it easier for him to stop falling in love with her.
