How to Fall for the Wrong Man (Ladies of Passion) Read online

  His thumbs rubbed tantalizing circles on my inner thighs as I conquered his mouth. He let me take the lead, moaning as I deepened the kiss. Empowered, I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. My breasts crushed against his collarbone as he pushed my skirt up my legs, nestling the fabric around my hips. He ran his hot palms up and down my legs, making me arch and squirm.

  I pulled back on a gasp. “Edwin.”

  He grinned, his smile turning lascivious. “I adore it when you say my name like that.”

  “Like what?” I asked as he bore me onto the bed with his weight.

  He claimed my lips, thrusting his tongue against mine in a weak parody of the pleasure to come. It made me ache. When I broke away to run my tongue along the underside of his jaw, he fisted his hand in the coverlet. “Like you can’t wait until I’m inside you.”

  His husky voice, coupled with the rough feel of his skin beneath my tongue, drove me wild. I sucked on a tender spot on his neck, then moved up, arching my hips against him as I kissed a path to his earlobe. When I took it between my teeth and flicked my tongue, he swore under his breath.

  He wedged his thigh between mine, using it as leverage to brush against the sensitive bud at my apex. Pleasured rippled through me and I fell back onto the mattress, moaning. Edwin leaned down to deliver the same treatment, circling his tongue around the hollow behind my ear in the way I liked so much. Although we’d had only one night—and a morning—in each other’s arms, he had made it his mission to learn precisely which spots on my body made me squirm and moan in pleasure. That studious nature of his was put to good use.

  “Edwin.” I dug my fingers into his muscular shoulders.

  I felt the satisfied rumble in his chest before I heard it. “There it is again.” He captured my mouth, drawing out the kiss as he trailed his palm along the contours of my waist. When he reached my breast, he brushed his thumb over my hard nipple. I thrashed in the throes of the teasing touch through my bodice.

  Running my hands over his body as I went, I retracted my hands from his shoulders and sought out the buttons on his jacket to undress him. Edwin broke away, catching my hand and delivering a hot, open-mouthed kiss to my palm. The searing contact set me on fire, alight with the desire I found mirrored in his eyes.

  “You first,” he whispered, only two words. He was losing his eloquence as urgency overtook him. Frankly, I was surprised he was still of a mind to say anything at all.

  My will to protest dissolved as he started to kiss his way up my bare arm. He lingered in the crook of my elbow, making me shiver before he continued his path. When he reached the bottom edge of my sleeve, he slipped his hand beneath by back in search of the buttons on my dress. I arched, helping him.

  One by one they slipped free as he kissed my neck. When the dress loosened enough, he guided it down my arms one sleeve at a time, then shimmied down my body to pull the fabric over my hips. Cool air surrounded me in his wake, raising gooseflesh and making me even more sensitive to the brush of his fingers as he passed my dress over my ankles and pooled it on the floor. The moment the muslin fell away from his fingers, he returned to the bed, pressing me into the mattress as he claimed my mouth. I spread my legs in welcome, easier done now that I had only my knee-length underdress to cover me.

  Edwin stoked the fire in me. When I tugged on the lapel of his jacket, he let me strip it from his shoulders and toss it away. His cravat came next, baring more of his throat for me to lick and kiss. I loved the way his moan vibrated through him from the inside out when I did that.

  His fingers made fast work of my stays, which he discarded near the foot of the bed before drawing my underdress down my arms. The fabric ensnared my arms, pinning them to my sides as he bared my breasts to the air. Grinning, he took advantage of the position to run his tongue around my areolas.

  “Edwin!”

  “I could grow accustomed to you saying my name that way if you’re not careful.”

  He stole my retort and my breath as he returned to his task, laving my sensitive skin and rolling the tip of my nipple on his tongue. I thrashed, aflame. The ache between my legs built to an insistent throb. It wasn’t appeased by rubbing against him. I craved more of him.

  As if he heard my thoughts, he continued to work my shift off my arms and torso, over my belly and down my legs. He chased it with his mouth, pressing kisses to the new skin he bared. When he reached my navel, visible over the line of my drawers, he paused to dip his tongue into the indentation. I felt the contact as an echo between my legs. Moaning, I arched against him, trying to convince him to continue. He tongued the edge of my drawers instead, teasing me.

  Tangling my fingers in his hair, I urged him up for a scorching kiss. That made my desires known if the way he thrust his body against mine in response was any indication. He dipped his fingers into the slit in my drawers, seeking out the part of me that needed him the most. The moment he brushed his thumb over my apex, I bucked into his hand. My clit was swollen and sensitive, my body ready for the invasion of his fingers.

  As my body clenched around his fingers, Edwin shuddered with desire. “Mary,” he whispered next to my ear. He started a lazy rhythm that I rolled my hips to match as he kissed his way down my body once more.

  This time, when he reached the line of my drawers, he peeled them away and left them with the rest of my garments on the floor. I quivered, legs spread wide as his breath teased my center. All thoughts of modesty melted in the path of my need for more. When he pressed his lips to my inner thigh, I gasped. Instead of moving up, where I needed him most, he kissed his way down to the line of my stockings.

  I threaded my fingers through his hair in protest. “Edwin!”

  “Patience.”

  “I don’t have much of that.”

  With a laugh, he nipped at my skin, then soothed the sting with his tongue. “You never have, love.”

  He worked his way lower in a maddening trail, chasing my stockings down my legs one by one and replacing them with hot kisses along the way. When I was completely bare in front of him, he kneeled beside the bed and hooked my knees behind his elbows, using the position to haul me closer. The breath gushed out of me as he gave me what I needed most.

  With lips and tongue, he laved at my sensitive inner flesh and drew me closer to my pinnacle. It took only a few moments before I was rocking into his mouth, begging him for release. Flashing me a wicked smile before he took a long lick, he obliged. The moment he latched onto my bud and sucked, I saw stars. He didn’t stop there, but built up my pleasure again until I hovered on the brink once more.

  This time when I reached my peak, I wanted him there alongside me. I used my grip on his hair to urge him up, back to me. Somehow, while he’d been driving me mad with pleasure, he’d managed to work off his boots. One less article of clothing for me to worry about.

  Our mouths met, tongues tangling. Tasting myself on his tongue made me want to make him writhe with pleasure. Wordlessly, I urged him onto his back and worked free his waistcoat buttons. He shucked the clothes quickly as I moved lower, treating him to the same wicked teasing as he’d given me. He moaned my name as I tongued his navel. I unbuttoned his fall swiftly and guided his erect shaft into the open air.

  Previously lovers had always seemed to enjoy my tongue, but I’d never tried to pleasure a man in the same way. Tentatively, I leaned forward to lap at the thick tip of his manhood. He fell back on the bed, boneless. I took that as encouragement. I took my time to learn the shape of him, where each of his most tender spots resided. With each strangled moan or roll of his hips, I grew bolder. By the time I took his crown into my mouth, his hands were fisted in my hair, now falling free around my shoulders. I ran my tongue along the ridge on the underside of his manhood as I wrung out his pleasure.

  Tightening his grip, he guided me away. His eyes were dark with desire as he leaned on one elbow to look at me. With his hair disheveled and his breeches only partially removed, he looked thoroughly debauched. I
liked the look.

  I ran my tongue across my lips. His gaze followed the movement.

  “I want to pleasure you the way you did me.”

  “If you do, this will be over far sooner than I’d like.” The rough edge to his voice rekindled my desire for him. I divested him of the rest of his body, then climbed up to kiss him.

  He took full advantage, wrapping his arms around me and rolling until I rested beneath him. The weight of his body drove me wild. I spread my legs willingly, inviting him closer. As he settled the tip of his manhood between us, he paused. He kissed me once more, lingering as he cupped my cheek. As he lifted his head, he brushed his thumb across my lower lip. His gaze glimmered with an emotion I couldn’t name.

  “Say my name again, the way I like.”

  “Edwin.”

  He slid home. I arched to meet him halfway, overwhelmed by the exquisite friction between us.

  “Edwin. Edwin.”

  Each time I spoke his name, he thrust again. So I continued. The name poured faster from my lips as I clasped his biceps, feeling the delicious play of muscles beneath my hands. As I tightened around him, on the edge, I wrapped my legs around his waist and held him close. He followed me into bliss, his arms trembling as euphoria blanketed us both. As he fell against the bed, he rolled to pull me to rest on his chest.

  For the longest time, neither of us spoke. As his heartbeat slowly returned to normal, I couldn’t help but think this was precisely where we were meant to be.

  Edwin ran his hand down my back and over my hip to rest on my rump, possessive. “It seems a waste to put on clothes again.”

  My stomach grumbled, letting him know precisely what I thought of that notion.

  Chuckling, he kissed the top of my head. “But I suppose there’s plenty of time to take them off again later.”

  Perhaps…at least, for the duration of our engagement. We might have only five days left. For some reason, I wasn’t looking as forward to our parting as I’d thought I would. At least I still had him for tonight.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Bloody hell, you overgrown lump of fur, move over.”

  The sun hadn’t yet risen enough to peek past the drapes, but when I squinted my eyes open, I found myself in bed with two prominent lumps—Puck and Edwin. Edwin wrestled one arm beneath the dog’s shoulders and tried to slide him out from between us.

  “How did you manage to squirm your way between us again? Sleep at the foot of the bed!”

  Puck groaned as if the very notion sucked the life from him.

  Smirking, I shut my eyes again and let my head rest on the soft pillow. The bed was more than big enough to fit the three of us. In fact, it likely could have fit two more people…or animals. I bit my lip and kept that thought to myself. Edwin made enough fuss over the cat, Patches.

  “You could help.”

  That exasperated statement was likely directed toward me and not the dog.

  “Shh, I’m sleeping.”

  “You are not.”

  I chuckled at his disgruntled tone.

  With a huff, he gave up trying to move Puck and flopped down on the bed, defeated. “Is this what you envisioned when you insisted he sleep with us? When I reach over, I want to touch you, not this cotton ball. For all his fur, he has elbows that could cut glass.”

  I chuckled again but didn’t open my eyes. “Come sleep on this side of the bed if it bothers you so much.”

  “It’s my bed,” Edwin grumbled even as he shifted his weight. Cool air flooded inside the warm nest of blankets as he slipped out. A moment later, the mattress swung as he slid into bed behind me. As I’d suspected, there was plenty of room. He slept in a bed big enough for a harem.

  With a satisfied sound that went straight to the pit of my belly, he snaked his arm around my waist and tucked me intimately into his side. “Isn’t this more enjoyable?”

  “Much,” I answered, my voice a bit breathless.

  He nuzzled my neck sleepily. “I could wake like this every morning.”

  Puck whined and crawled toward us.

  Edwin sighed. “Except him. He can sleep on the floor.”

  I laughed again, the sound a bit weak. “You aren’t particularly convincing.”

  My mind raced. He sounded at peace, content. The moment he awoke fully, he’d recall what he truly wanted out of a marriage, what he’d professed to me. He’d spoken of separate bedrooms, separate lives. Not spending nights and lazy mornings pressed up against his wife. Tears stung my eyes and I was grateful I had my back to him. Whatever this was, it was temporary. Passion would fade.

  Perhaps, if I’d taken back our no-kiss rule years ago before he’d left…

  But I couldn’t change the past. We were different people now. This insanity between us was temporary. As selfish as I felt for indulging his company for another night when I knew it must end, morning had come.

  Puck concurred. With another whine, he straddled my legs and stuck his nose in my hip, snuffling as he searched for an opening.

  “Don’t you start,” Edwin grumbled. Despite his irascible tone, he lifted his hand to lazily rub Puck’s head. “You are not getting between us again.”

  I smiled, though it felt a bit achy. How long would I let myself lie here and pretend? After swallowing to make sure my voice held no trace of my inner turmoil, I murmured, “He likes to be the center of attention.”

  “Well, so do I. I’d rather have you all to myself.”

  He wrapped his arm around my waist again, holding me like he never intended to let me go. It was too much. I ached, wanting something I couldn’t have. If I stayed here another moment, I might fool myself into thinking I would keep him forever. No more returning home to an empty, lonely house. His bustled with life. Most importantly, he would be in it, smiling and asking after my day.

  How many people did you save today? He used to ask when we were young, as if I was some knight in shining armor out of legend.

  Drawing in a shaky breath, I said, “Perhaps he needs to go out. I should take him.” I blinked hard and turned in his arms, offering him a smile.

  Fortunately, the light was too dim for him to notice the storm of worry brewing inside me.

  “Would you like me to come with you?”

  He started to rise, but I pinned him back against the mattress and kissed him soundly. For a moment, I forgot myself in his arms. I almost lost my resolve to leave. When I lifted my head, I smiled and brushed an errant lock of hair away from his forehead. “Stay in bed. One of us ought to.”

  With a sigh, he let his arms fall from around me. “Next time, we send him to spend the night with Isaac.”

  My heart flipped. Clearly, he expected there to be a next time. Did he have any intention at all of dissolving our engagement, even if I obeyed the contract to the letter?

  I didn’t ask. Instead, I escaped the bed and the house. I didn’t stop walking until I’d returned back to Blandford Street.

  The moment I stepped into the informal dining room for a quick bite and discovered Papa pacing the back wall on a weekday, I froze. He worked such long hours, usually Sunday was the only day I spent time with him. I looked forward to rising early on those days. Last Sunday, I’d spent the day with Edwin instead. My stomach shriveled.

  He turned to me, anger and worry warring on his face. “Mary, thank Zeus! You didn’t come home last night.”

  I cringed. “I spent the night at the Sutton house. I must have forgotten to leave a note. I’m sorry.”

  He flung a folded news rag onto the table. It slid across and fell over the edge, crumpling to the ground. His eyes snapped with emotion. “You aren’t married yet. He can wait a few weeks before you move your trunks into his house.”

  The bottom dropped out of my stomach. I froze. A lump formed in my throat, so big I could barely force words around it. “You know about the engagement.”

  He rubbed his hand across his whiskers. “Your betrothed informed me about it the other day as you were dressing. Why
didn’t you tell me? I would have liked to have learned it from you! I waited, hoping you’d come around to doing it, but it’s increasing clear that you have no intention of telling me about the most pivotal thing that has happened in your life.”

  I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “It’s not really happening.”

  His big, bushy eyebrows dropped lower over his eyes. He sighed. “I don’t understand. This needs tea.”

  Yes, it certainly did.

  Papa dropped into his chair. He looked gaunt, like he hadn’t eaten all week. Dark rings formed under his eyes, shadows of the demons haunting him. He worked too hard. He needed a day off.

  Instead, I gave him one more thing to worry about.

  “I’m sorry.” I tiptoed forward, pulling out a chair. I slipped into it, and clasped the cup of tea he’d poured for me. It was lukewarm, and he hadn’t added any sugar. I fetched some from the mantle. At this hour, there wasn’t much there aside from tea and a few leftovers from yesterday. Even Albert didn’t rise this early to make breakfast. That would come in an hour or two.

  As I stirred some sugar into my tea and added a couple lumps to his, I studied his face. “Forgive me. I should have told you.”

  He nodded, weary. “An explanation would have been nice.”

  “It’s only a sham engagement,” I offered, lifting my shoulder in a shrug. I knew it didn’t make up for neglecting to keep him apprised of the situation, but at least the marriage wouldn’t happen. If it had, I didn’t know if he would forgive me.

  Let alone Mama.

  He frowned. “There are no sham engagements, Mary.”

  “There is, this time. Edwin and I have an agreement. He needs a fiancée for…” Why did he want to pretend we were engaged? He’d never offered a proper explanation for that, aside from the fact that he was being pressured to marry. Was it as simple as he made it sound? I shook my head and completed, “for appearances. In a few days, we’ll part ways. I’ll live my life and he’ll go on to marry some nice, sweet girl who cares more for plants.”