Chapter Thirteen
Callum was captivated by Lady Alice’s lips that shone in the moonlight with a soft pink hue. “It is not up to me who you marry, my lady. I hope, whomever it is, he’s as good and kind to you as you deserve.” He grinned when, for the first time since seeing her exit the house, a whisper of a smile tilted her lips.
“Do not concern yourself over your cousin, my lord. I came to the conclusion he’s an ass, among other things, well before you stated it. In fact, I almost feel sorry for you to be a relative of his.”
“My cousin will inherit the title and Kester House should I die, and I suppose being the golden-haired lad whom the family adores, he seems to think he should’ve inherited this time, instead of me. But”—he shrugged—“the law is what it is, and solely for my daughter’s sake, I would not change our situation now, not for anything.” His daughter would have a good, secure future, more so than if they’d stayed in the north. Here, in Surrey, with his family’s name behind them, she would be elevated in Society where her life would be easy and carefree, as all children’s should be.
“And you’re going to abide by the law and not slip back into your nefarious past, my lord?”
“I have promised such, have I not? Why you continue to bring up the Surrey Bandit is beyond me, unless you miss him? Or his kiss, to be exact.”
He grinned as she threw him a glare, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Oh yes, she was thinking exactly what he was, of their mouths fused, along with their bodies. Of feeling his blood pump through his veins and reminding him of what it was like to love a woman.
“I do no such thing.”
“Really?” He leaned toward her, smelling the soft scent of roses that wafted from her hair. “You don’t miss that kiss you shared with an outlaw?” He certainly did. In fact, since that day, he’d thought of little else. With each day they had worked together at the cottages, every time Alice had spoken to him, had been alone with him, he’d become more obsessed with tasting her again, possibly doing more than kiss her, if she’d allow.
Callum stood and paced to the balustrade, needing space.
“The kiss was hardly satisfactory. In fact, the memory has almost been erased from my mind, it was so forgettable.”
“That will never do,” he said, striding back over to her, having heard enough of her denial. He clasped her hand and hauled her up against him, eliciting a startled gasp from her delectable mouth. Her eyes widened in shock, before challenge lit her blue orbs and it was one battle he was only too happy to best her at. “Forgettable? I must be slipping,” he said, taking her lips in a searing kiss.
It was an error of judgment the moment their lips met, for all he wanted was more. So much more than she, the daughter of a duke, would be willing to give him.
Though she’d not allowed him to hang for his crimes, something told him she’d not forgiven, nor would she forget, what he’d done. And as much as he’d love to kiss the chit in his arms for the rest of his life, and to protect and cherish her sweet soul, Callum had an inkling she would never marry him, due to his own misbegotten actions when desperate times had called for desperate measures.
Through the kiss, he punished her for what he’d done, kissing her deep and long, pulling her into a world she knew nothing of, but one he desperately wanted to show her. If only he’d could’ve walked a different path, their future could be so much more, so different. But it was not to be.
Alice pulled back, staring up at him, her breathing as ragged as his. “I ought to slap you for kissing me so.” Her hand came up and clasped the nape of his neck, sending a shiver of need down his spine. Callum gritted his teeth against pushing her up against the vine at her back and showing her what outlaws did with virginal ladies.
“I’m guessing you’re not going to?” He grinned as she shook her head.
“No. Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
Callum laughed and swiped his lips gently over hers, teasing her with his mouth, making him ache. He wondered if she, too, had a need that pulsated between her legs, making her stomach tumble like a ball down a hill.
“You’re teasing me,” she said, trying to deepen the kiss and failing when he kept her just out of reach.
“I want so much more than to tease you, Alice.” Callum sat and pulled her onto his lap, positioning her legs to straddle his. “Let me pleasure you, I beg you.”
Her breaths came in panting gasps, and he bit back a groan. Damn, he wanted to see her take flight into pleasure, to feel what it could be like between a man and woman—before all the useless fops bowed before her skirts this Season.
“I cannot.” She shook her head, but did not move. “I may be forward in some things, but not this. I cannot be ruined.”
Callum kissed down her throat, sliding his tongue across the tops of her breasts that with each breath came up to meet him. He slid his hand up her waist and cupped one soft globe of her breast, surprised at the weight of it in his hand. Shutting his eyes he pictured her naked, of him holding her breast and laving her nipple with wanton abandonment. “I’ll not ruin you, I promise. I’ll merely give you pleasure.”
She bit her lip, before nodding her acquiescence. He sighed, although there would be no relief for him. Already, his balls ached, his cock rigid and ready. Callum pushed away as much of her gown from between them and, clasping the cups of her ass, hoisted her hard against him. Her hot core nestled against his prick and he guided her up against him, sliding her excited nubbin against his hardened length.
She bit her lip, watching him with awe and he swallowed, having never seen anything more beautiful than the sight she now made.
“Trust me that what I’m about to do will leave you a maid, but I want more.” He ripped open his frontfalls and nestled her against his member. Oh, sweet mercy to have her mons against him, wet and ready, almost broke his resolve to behave.
“Callum, we cannot.”
Alice pulled away and he shushed her, shaking his head. “I’ll not take your virginity, but let me give you pleasure this way. I want to show you what it can be like between us, if only you’ll let me.”
She moved of her own accord against his sex and he groaned.
“I trust you,” she said, undulating again. “Oh my,” she gasped as he increased the glide and pressure of their movement. Alice caught on quickly and was soon moving of her own accord against him. And sweet heaven, the fight to not lose himself before she did was something he didn’t think he would conquer.
“This feels so good, too good to be wicked.”
Callum groaned, taking her lips as she rose and fell upon his lap. The thought that this wasn’t his smartest idea flittered through his mind. To have her in his lap, to show her the arts of pleasure in such a way opened a floodgate of wants and needs he shouldn’t have teased her with. They could be caught, her reputation ruined in an instant. The duke would run him through without a second thought and rightfully so.
But the thought of her marrying another pushed the worry aside. If, by having her this one time made her stop and think about accepting another man, this delicious torture, this pain would all be worth it.
She quivered in his arms and he knew she was close. Her strokes became hard as she took what she wanted, pushed herself against a release she’d never experienced before.
“Oh Callum,” she sighed against his lips. He guided her hips against him, wishing that he could make love to her, claim her virtue, and make her his forever. He wanted to hear her scream his name, fill her with himself, and watch as her eyes closed in bliss.
Unable to deny himself, he pulled down one side of her bodice and kissed his way toward her nipple. Her hands clasped his hair, her fingers spiking against his skull as he laved the sweet beaded flesh.
She moaned and it was the most exquisite, erotic sound he’d ever heard. “I want you so much, Alice.” He suckled hard, pulling her nipple farther into his mouth, and she clasped him tighter against her.
“Yes, like that. Keep doing everything that you’re doing.”
Nothing would stop him from his current actions. He kissed her breast with abandon, while kneading the other. The feel of her soft, sweet skin against his lips, of having her in this way even if it left him wanting more, was perfection.
She was close, and so, too, was he. Callum clasped her ass and pushed her hard against his cock with heady abandon.
“Callum…” His name a plea more than anything else gasped from her lips as she shattered in his arms. Small, perfect tremors ran through her, and he ached to come, but not here, not like this.
He gritted his teeth, pushing her to enjoy, to take all that she could in his embrace. For a moment they sat there, both of them breathing hard, and nothing separating their bodies. To control the roaring need that consumed him, Callum breathed deep and promised himself that he would have her one day, not as a tryst at a ball, but as his wife, warm in his bed, for every night of every year they would have together. But first he would finish his dealings with the moneylenders, lay to rest the Surrey Bandit and come to her a man of little wealth, but no hindrance to their happiness, no veiled threats that could injure her or Amelia at any time.
“Was that forgettable?” Callum asked. Unable to deny himself one last kiss, he dipped his head and swept her lips with his.
Alice shook her head, her hands idly running over his cheeks. “That, my lord, I shall never forget.”