Ruin Me Please (33 page)

Her eyes widened at his erotic play. 
“After dinner, the girls and I performed a magnif
i
cent rendition of
Romeo and Juliet
which you rudely missed
. 
So earlier we were rehearsing, if you can call it that.”
 
She
wrinkled
her nose
mischievously
.
“
There was more
gossiping in truth
.
”

“
I am
sorry I missed your
theatrical performance.”

“I would
n’t
be
.
”
S
he
chuckled
.  “I have
it on very good authority that I
would be reeking of spoiled fruit if there had been any available for
Seymour to toss.
”
 
She
giggled
behind her han
d
.  “
Honestly that just makes me feel better. 
Seymour’s
delicate
sensibilities were hig
h
ly offended by our
amateur
performance
.
”
Poppy
c
lutched at
her side in mirth.  “He said that Shakespear
e was probably rolling in agony
in his grave.”  Making a harrumph like noise and rol
l
ing her eyes
.
“
He’s such a stick-in-the-
mud.”

“I wish I could have been there.  I would have been able to stare at you all night and none
would
be the wiser.”
  A wicked glimmer appeared in his eyes.

Seeing the wicked glint, she tried to calm her jumpiness. 
“I can tell y
ou I make an appa
l
ling Romeo.”

“
It is not
night, when I do see your face,
”
Declan quoted
scoot
ing
nearer.

“Is that Romeo or Juliet?”  Poppy asked
on a whisper
.

“It is neither
,
”
Declan
answered.
“It is from
A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“I too am an avid reader
.
”
Declan grinned. “
Besides,
it
is always good for a gentleman to have an arsenal of romantic quotes and poetry at his
disposal when wooing a lady.”

“Are you
endeavoring to
woo me, Your G
race
?”  Poppy whispered huskily, flush
ing from the heat of his gaze.

“I am doing my bes
t,” he
w
hisper
ed
back. 
“Is it working?” 
He was
too tempted
,
not to touch her.

He slowly sat
up in front of Poppy
and
gently pushed a fallen curl behind
her ear before leaning
forward
to place a
kiss on her nose.  “
Your freckles
intrigue me.
”  He ran his finger ligh
t
ly down her nose, starting at the bridge and ending at the tip.
 
“
I cannot understand why they are frowned upon?
”
 
Because they mad
e
him
want to
thoroughly explore he
r body.  “
I
would like to find out if
you
r
delightful
freckles
cover
other parts of your anatomy.” 
His finger l
ightly
trac
ed
back and forth
over the exposed skin right above
the
edge
of her bodice.  His mouth glided down the curve of her jaw
taking
succ
u
lent bites of her neck.

In the quiet intimacy of the library, Poppy whispered
,
“I thought we were playing chess?” 
She timidly
plac
ed
her hands on his shoulders
feeling his muscles bunch
.

“Do you want to play che
ss?” h
e prodded,
with t
hat all too familiar wicked gleam
in his eyes.

Her mouth went dry, she felt dizzy, and
she
was having difficulty
focus
ing
on the que
s
tion
D
e
c
lan had posed
,
no matter how hard she tried, she could
not
bring herself to respond
. 

“For I fear
I have been
too
distracted by a wee fairy with angel kisses on her nose
.
”
D
e
clan couldn’t stop the
wicked grin
that spread across his face.
“I don’t think I could concentrate even if
my life depended on it
.”

“Hopefully it will not come to that.” 
A flicker of amusement crossed
Poppy’s features before she
her head
fell back
giv
ing
him better access to her neck
.  She sighed
in rapture
when he took advantage of her position
.  “What would you like to
do?
”

He l
ift
ed
his lips from her
tasty
neck, his
mouth quirking
in a wry smile. 
“Tell me som
e
thing that I would never guess
about you
.
”
  H
e swirled
his tongue
softly
on her ear.

Giggling, Poppy answered breathlessly
,
“I am a crack shot
, well at least tolerable
.  Parker made sure we all were.”  She shivered as his wicked tong
ue licked her jaw.

“
Humility
.
”
H
e laugh
ed.  “I like that in a woman.”

“What
else would you like to know?” s
he
practically
purred.

“Hmmm…let me try a different tactic
,
”
h
e w
hisper
ed
against her skin. 
“Your favorite flower?” 
H
e buried
his face in her neck
and
i
nhal
ed,
enthralled by her scent.

Gasping his name, Poppy
pressed
against him, closing her eyes with a dreamy half-smile
.
“I love
daisies
.  They are such a happy little flower
.
”
  S
he moaned
in ecstasy
.

“Then I chose wisely this evening.”  He grinned
, thinking of
the daisy he had placed on her pillow
.

She nodded. 
“What is your favorit
e color?”  Poppy murmured,
measuring the width of his broad back. 
He smelled expensive,
exotic
,
and very manly
. 
The heady incense of sanda
l
wood and spice enveloped her. 

Breathing fast and hard D
e
clan struggled to respond
,
“Blue
,
definitely blue
like the
color of your eyes
.
”
H
is
voice
was
thick with desire
as he ran
his
hands hungrily down her sides.

Laying Poppy back, he leaned over capturing her mouth with a groan
, her lips
s
o soft and warm.  With exquisite
thoroughness,
he ravished her mouth.

Sensations flooded through her.

Pressing into
her,
his body tightened
painfully
.

Poppy met his demanding kiss without hesitation
, clinging
to him
, a
rching
so
close
she could feel his heart beating against her breasts
.

“I have been longing to be alone with you all day
,
” D
e
clan growled.

Slowly
he
lower
ed
the bodice of her gown
and
feasted his eyes on th
e perfection before him,
watch
ing
as her rosy nipples pebbled with desire. 
Gripped by a primal fever, he wanted to touch all of her, his fingers
tracing
a fiery trail
down her throat
over her naked flesh
until it rested in the vulnerable hollow where her pulse pounded erratically
. 

Poppy stiffened at the new sensations
,
taking a ragged breath
she
cried out in anticip
a
tion.  Her eye
s filled with innocent wonder
as she watched him lower his to her breasts
.

Dipping
his
head,
he traced the peak of her
breast with his tongue, taking
her
ripe flesh
firm
ly into his
mouth.  H
e s
uckl
ed
her
taut
nipple, swirling his tongue around her scorching sweet
ness
until she
cried out
with
a raw
uncertain sound.

Nevertheless, that didn’
t stop him from
continu
ing to
d
evour her as a starving ma
n would devour a crumb of bread.

The hint of his whiskers scrap
ing
aga
inst her sensitized flesh shot a wicked thrill straight
through to her core
as a
moist heat pool
ed
between her thighs.
  Restless,
the decadence of his firm lips on her
sizzling
flesh caused
Poppy
to cry
out
again
.
  Her intense c
raving
for
more of these sensations, she held his head tightly to her breast
willingly
surrender
ing
to the intense dark pleasures.  Closing her
eyes,
she moaned in ecstasy.  She arched shamelessly against h
im trying to figure out how to beg
him for more.

His breath shallow and fast he lowered
his hand
until he could
wrap
it
around her ankl
e
,
teas
ing his
way up her leg.

She tried not to
squirm
; squeezing her eyes shut
to ease this
overwhelming desire
, b
e
wildered by her inexplicable loss of control
, so rich, so potent that it took control of her sen
s
es
. 
Poppy felt a rush of cool
ness when
little by little
he s
lowly r
an
his calloused hands up every snowy inch of her slender legs past her garters with tiny pink r
ibbons
,
pushing her skirts up to her waist. 
Poppy felt only a moment’s hesitation
before she surrendered to the sensations
.