Page 53 of His Wicked Charm

She could not hold back the faint cry that came to her lips. “Con!”

He planted his hands on the wall on either side of her head and pushed himself back from her. For a long moment they didn’t move, could only stare at each other. Con’s eyes were glazed and hot, his lips reddened from their kisses, and tension radiated from him. The sight of him made desire coil inside Lilah again. She wanted more. She wanted him.

“Lilah... We can’t... I shouldn’t.”

“I don’t care.” Lilah shoved her fingers into his hair and moved into him, fastening her lips to his.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

AFTER THAT, HE said nothing, merely tore at his clothes as they continued to kiss, moving blindly across the floor. Unwilling to part, they jerked and twisted and shoved at their clothes, leaving bits and pieces of them scattered across the floor in a meandering trail to the bed.

When they finally reached the bed, they tumbled backward onto it, shedding their last remnants of clothing. They rolled across the bed, kissing, stroking, reveling in the feel of naked skin on skin. Con’s body was heavy on hers, and the very weight of him was another pleasure.

He slid down her, cupping her breasts to feast on them. Every tug of his mouth, every velvet caress of his tongue sent another twisting thread through her, tightening the tangle of desire deep within her. As his mouth worked its magic on her, he explored her body, moving with a featherlight touch that left a shiver in its wake.

His fingertips slid across her stomach and down onto her thigh, and then, startling her, insinuated themselves between her legs and drifted upward over the soft skin of her inner thigh. She was lost, breathless in anticipation as he teased ever closer, until at last he settled in that most intimate of places.

Con’s lips returned to hers in a deep, slow kiss as his fingers caressed her. Lilah would have been embarrassed had there been any room inside her for anything but passion. She felt in that moment utterly open and exposed to him, naked in every way, and she reveled in it, at once so free and yet so caught. Transfixed, transformed, she drank him in.

Hunger grew and pulsed, and she moved her legs restlessly against the bed, aching for completion. The knot of desire deep in her abdomen became ever tighter, and suddenly pleasure exploded through her, waves of it sweeping outward and leaving her shaking.

There was still more, for Con moved between her legs, opening her to him. His hard length pulsed against her sensitive skin, probing, easing inside. She drew in a gasp, amazed and eager, and then he was thrusting into her. There was a flash of pain, but it was stifled under the bone-deep satisfaction as he filled her, stretching her in a way that made her want to purr beneath him.

Lilah dug her fingers into his back, flooded with an elemental hunger, a deep primitive need to surround him, possess him, be taken by him. With every stroke, every hard, hot breath he took, the wild hunger built in her. Unbelievably, it broke through her again, crashing through all barriers, all resistance. She shook under the force of the feeling, clinging to him, as he emptied himself into her.

In that moment, it was so fulfilling, so achingly pleasurable, so shattering, that tears welled in her eyes.

Con collapsed against her, his face in the crook of her neck, his breathing ragged. Pressing a gentle kiss on the soft skin of her neck, he rolled onto his side, sliding an arm beneath her head and with the other, tucking her into him.

She was enveloped in his warmth, her chest swelling with emotions she could not express, could not even identify, and somehow that spilled more tears out of her eyes. Con’s arm tightened beneath her head. “Are you crying?”

No, no, don’t, Lilah thought helplessly, as he reared up on his elbow, gazing down at her with something like...horror.

“Oh, my God, Lilah.” He sat up, pulling his arm from beneath her head.

Lilah swiped at her eyes. “No.” Her voice came out hoarse, and she had to clear her throat. “Don’t be silly.”

“I’m sorry. Lilah, I—please, forgive me. I thought you wanted—no, that’s no excuse, I know.” He closed his eyes, shoving his hands back into his hair. “I was wrong, so wrong. You’re—you didn’t know really, and I should have—” He muttered a curse.

Lilah lay there, looking up at him, tears gone, along with the achingly sweet, wonderful moment. Now she was aware of the air upon her bare breasts, and shame washed through her. What had she done? She thought of the way she had acted, throwing herself at Con—it was no wonder he thought she had wanted to do this. She had. She’d been utterly brazen.

Lilah crossed her arms over her chest, wishing desperately for clothes, a blanket, anything to cover her nakedness. But her clothes were thrown everywhere, and even though Con had obviously seen her naked, had touched her and done the most intimate things, somehow she couldn’t bear to hop out of bed and run about naked in front of him, picking up her skirt and bodice and—oh, Lord—her various undergarments. She and Con were lying atop the dustcover over the bed, and she reached out to pull it across her, covering herself as best she could.

“I shall marry you of course.” Con squared his shoulders, his face, for once, tight and inexpressive. Like a child offering to take his punishment. A man facing the firing squad.

His words froze her. Lilah sat up, keeping the dustcover wrapped across her front. “I think not.”

Con sighed, his face changing from the blankness into a kind of sorrow, an expression equally unfamiliar on him and somehow even worse. “Lilah...I know you’re angry at me, and you have every right to be. I should have been more careful. I knew it was a mistake. I knew, deep down, that you didn’t realize what you were agreeing to.”

A mistake. That inexpressible, heart-piercing joy she had felt, that new and wonderful experience, was a mistake to him.

“I’m not a child, Con. Of course I realized what I was doing.” It made Lilah feel a little better that she could still pull her armor into place. Whatever else she might be, she would not be weak. “I’m surprised that your mother’s son would make such a condescending statement.”

“It’s not condescending!” he protested, looking offended. “You are an innocent, and I am not. I am at fault.”

“This is a perfectly nonsensical thing to be arguing about,” Lilah said crisply. She was on firmer ground now, at least, with Con glowering at her.

“Blast it, Lilah, be reasonable. It’s all very well to believe in women’s equality, but you know as well as I do that it’s the woman who suffers.”