Ruin Me Please (34 page)

Declan knew he was testin
g the limits of his willpower
, but his need was too
i
n
tense
.
 
He had
already
pictured this moment in his mind many times.
G
roan
ing
deep in his throat
with satisfaction, h
e could have cried out for wanting her
.  Raising his head, he
watch
ed
as the fir
e
light played across her face.
 
The pull of his gaze slowly brought Popp
y from her passion-filled daze, then he tugged her closer
, crush
ing
her curves to his hard body.
Fasc
i
nated, he captur
ed her mouth in a frenzied kiss. 
She opened
her mouth under his
, making way for him to slide
his
tongue deep into her mouth, and she greeted hi
s assault
fe
r
vently.
 

Shocked, h
er ey
es flew open when
his fingers found her secret place
, the place
where no one had ev
er touched her before. 
His long fingers rifl
ing
through
the dewy cu
rls
covering her feminine secrets
s
ent ripples of delicious tension through her
.
 

A breathy sig
h escaped her,
wiggl
ing
her hips searching for
something
.
The
tension
slo
w
ly
buil
ding
within her, his
steady stroking made a sizzling
heat flood her from head to toe.

His member throbbed, aching to escape the confines of his breeches.  Emboldened by her reacti
on, he traced her
seam
,
delving inside her folds to find
the hidden nub of her d
e
sire
making her cry out in shock
at the intimacy
.

“So wet,” h
e groaned into her throat.
  He lifted his head to watch,
enthralled by the sight of her fighting the storm about to break as he caressed her sham
e
lessly.

Lashes tipped with gold fanned out against the curve of her cheek. 
She
f
lushed with d
e
sire
, taking
deep gulp
ing breaths.
  The heat rose like an uncontrollable fever and with each stroke the temperature increased.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. The exquisite torture of bringing her to fulfillment for the first time was almost
more than he had bargained for
.  He gritted his teeth in agony. The potency of
this privilege was overwhelming
.  He was barely hanging on to his thin thread of control.  Running his tongue back and forth over her
puckered
ni
p
ple
almost
pu
t
t
ing
her over the edge
, but it was nothing compared to the feel of his mouth as it replaced his hand.  Licking, then pressing his tongue into her
heat
, tasting deeply
.

She writhed urgently beneath him, t
hrashing and bucking as pleasure washed over her.  A strangled sob of wonder es
caped her and
Declan hurriedly captured her rapturous cries with a deep kiss.

Taking her in his
arms,
he gently placed her on his lap
,
strok
ing
her back
,
whisper
ing
soft words in her ear.  He would never forget the sight
she made as long as he lived.

Sighing languidly, Poppy crumpled boneless in his arms.  “Heavens
,
”  
s
he sighed, taking slow even
bre
aths, s
avoring
the feel of this big, virile man
, g
azing
deeply into his eyes
, her face
aglow in the
golden firelight
lightly flushed with desire
.

Laugh lines fanned out from
the co
rners of his eyes.  “Yes indeed.
” 
Declan’s laborious breath
ing
echoed the cadence o
f Poppy’s
.
 
His e
xpression turned
thoughtful as his hands smoothed over her back in soothing ci
r
cles.

“I did not realize…I had no idea…
It never occurred to me
that people did that.
”
  She
heaved a deep sigh, trying
to catch her breath. 
She slowly breathed in and out for several long minutes
before she spoke again,
“You do realize that Parker will kill you if he finds us like this
.
”
T
he
words burst out of her mouth, causing
Po
p
py
to chuckle
quietly.

“I have already been forewarned
,
”
Declan,
mentioned still stroking her back.
“Now you
must
marry me
.
”

Baffled, she pulled away in order to straight into his eyes. 
“
Is that what this was all about
?
”
S
he frowned
.
“
You wish
ed
t
o force my hand in marriage?  I told you
I am o
n
ly going to marry for love
.
”
H
er
brow puckered in
frustration.
“I am fairly certain that you ca
n
not boast true love for me so soon
.
”
S
he
cocked
her eyebrow.

Leaning over, Declan gently kissed her forehead
.
“No Poppy, I cannot admit to true love at this time
, a
strong case of lust
m
ost definitely
.
”
  H
e
grinned wickedly.  “But under the circu
m
stances, what we just shared is tantamount to a betrothal.  For someone like you, these intim
a
cies are to be shared in a marriage bed.”

“If that is the truth, then why did we just share them on the floor of my brother’s l
i
brary?”  She quirked her brow, her chin lifted.

Declan snorted, but made no answer.

“Then I suggest we
return to
our rooms for the night before we are forced into som
e
thing we both do not want.”  Poppy stretched like
a kitten, sighing contentedly.

Standing, his strong arms still crad
led her close. 
Declan strode quickly to the door and quietly searched the hall to insure they were indeed alone
before carrying
her up the stairs to her room
, not releasing her until she
inside her door. 
Leaning down, he cradled her chin, kis
s
ing
her so softly Poppy
felt as if she were dreaming.

“Go to sleep my angel
,” he
whispered,
s
lowly back
ing out of her room
.
 
Pivoting, he was w
alking
towards his room
when he heard Poppy
softly
call
,
“Sweet dreams
,
Declan
.
” 
Looking over his shoulder, he caught
her
bl
o
w
ing
him a kiss
before she q
uietly closed her door.

His goal of marrying her became
exceedingly
clear tonight. 
H
e was going to have to be very clever indeed to win Poppy’s hand
. 

He suffered no illusions
. 

S
he w
a
s
his
.

***

Lying
on his bed naked, Declan could not remove the smile on his face.  The look in her ey
es as she found her release now
permanently imprinted on his mind.  Her face flushed. 
R
e
member
ing
the sweet sounds she made caused him to groan.  He was painfully aware that he had unselfishly given her pleasure.  He was obsessed with a beautiful, young
,
not so innocent wo
m
an anymore
who was full of passion
. 
He shook
his he
ad in frustration.

His palms burned with the memory of his hands on her naked flesh. 
He was so hot and aroused, he was sweating,
sm
older
ing
with
enough
pent up frustration
he thought he might burst
. 

Kicking off his blankets
to cool himself
, Declan slid his hand over his heavily muscled chest imagining Poppy’s
sm
all
, soft
hand
s
sliding over him
.  His
mouth went dry
at the thought
of her plump rip
e mouth gliding over his body.

He jerked with need.  He could not sleep like this
, realizing his manhood stood fully erect
.  It had been years since he had to resort to pleasuring himself
,
but the ache was too great.  He needed this
release.

He
closed his fist around his straining
cock.  Slowly rubbing his hand up and down his shaft
imagining Poppy’s tight, hot sheath surrounding him
until his breath came in short sha
l
low bursts. 
He im
agin
ed
her slick wet heat as he touched himself.  He could not remember when he felt something so uncontrollable.  Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.  As his hand b
e
gan moving faster and
faster,
his hips jerked as
a rush of pleasurable release washed over him. 
He pressed
his lips together
, gritting his teeth
to silence the loud moan as he came vi
o
lently
in his hand
.  Deep rasping breaths escaped him as his heart rate began to slow.

Rising from his bed, Declan cleaned himself
off
. 
Shaking
his head as he dragged
his hand roughly through his hair
, laying back
on top of his bedcovers
, still
heavily aroused
. He knew he had brought himself a measure of sexual release, but he would not be sated until Po
p
py was his. 

He laughed. 
A
t
either
Allingham Park or his townhouse in
London,
he would have
easily
been able to find a warm willing body to take care of his baser needs
,
but
now it seemed
he o
n
ly wanted Poppy. 

Looking back now, h
e realized how lonely he had been before coming to Rosebriar.  He was convinced that he had only been living half a life before. 
He had known since the death of his brother that he would have to marry.  It was his duty to produce an heir and possibly a spare.  Not one of the women of his past had pressed him to think seriously about that instit
u
tion until now.  Until now, his freedom had appeared too valuable.  Was he truly free?