There was no place to hide, nowhere to run.
“This will be the last time,” she vowed.
She was stunned that she had allowed him this close, a man whose beauty and charm had always weakened her. Then he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with a ravenous hunger. Gripping her hips possessively, Marcus held her still as he withdrew and then thrust again, shuddering as she did at the exquisiteness of it.
Elizabeth shifted restlessly, awed that her body had stretched to accommodate him, was even now stretching to hold him more comfortably. It was amazing, his hardness inside her, filling her completely, bringing a feeling of connection so deep she couldn’t breathe.
“Elizabeth.” His voice was deeply sexual as he wrapped his arms beneath her, pulling her tightly against him in a full body embrace. He nuzzled against her throat. “Only when I’m sated will you be rid of me.”
With the ominous threat he began to move, a sinuous glide of his body upon and within her own.
“Oh!” she cried, startled as the sensations built higher with every slide. She’d meant to withhold her pleasure from him, meant to lie there and deny him what he wanted. But it was impossible. He could melt her with a heated glance. To fuck him, as he so crudely called it, was an act she was helpless to resist.
She tried to increase the pace, wrapping her legs around his hips, her hands grasping his buttocks and pulling him into her, but he was too strong and too determined to have his own way.
“Fuck me,” she gasped, trying to regain the feeling of control by stealing some of his. “Faster.”
Marcus groaned as she writhed beneath him. His voice came, slurred with pleasure. “I knew it would be this way with you …”
In response, Elizabeth dug her nails into the flesh of his back. She loved feeling his damp skin against hers, his warm scent surrounding her. Slipping a little in his control, he slammed into her, hard and impossibly deep. Her toes curled.
Liquid heat traversed her veins, pooled in her core, and then convulsed in climax. She tightened around his thrusting cock, crying out his name, holding onto his flexing body as the only anchor in a swirl of incredible sensation.
And Marcus held on, drenched in sweat, heat radiating from every pore. He growled her name as he spilled into her and the brand of possession burned deep.
Closing her eyes, she cried.
Elizabeth felt as if her limbs were weighted with lead. It took all the effort she had to turn her head and look at Marcus sleeping next to her. His long, black lashes cast peaceful shadows upon his cheeks, the austere beauty of his features soft in repose.
She managed to roll onto her side, which was no easy task with his heavy arm thrown casually across her torso. Lifting onto one elbow, she studied him silently. Boyishly innocent while sleeping, he was so gorgeous she could hardly breathe.
Slowly, she traced her finger along the generous curve of his mouth, then his eyebrows and the length of his jaw. She squealed in surprise as his arm tightened, drawing her body over his.
“What do you think you are doing, madam?” he drawled lazily.
Sliding off him, Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed, struggling for the nonchalance she was certain she should display. “Is this not when lovers part ways?” She needed to think and she couldn’t do that with him lying naked beside her.
“There is no need for you to go.” Leaning back against a pillow, Marcus patted the space next to him. “Come back to bed.”
“No.” She slid off the mattress and gathered up her clothes. “I am sore and tired.”
As she came around, his arm shot out and grabbed her, hauling her closer. “Elizabeth. We can take a nap and have tea later. Then you can go.”
“That’s not possible,” she murmured without looking at him. “I must go home. I want a hot bath.”
He rubbed her arm and grinned playfully. “You can have a bath here. I’ll attend you myself.”
Standing, Elizabeth hastily pulled on her stockings. She struggled with the tapes of her skirts, having difficulty tightening them. Marcus rose from the bed, heedless of his nakedness and crossed the room to her, brushing her fingers aside.
She turned away quickly, her face flushed. Lord, he was handsome! Every part of him was perfect. His muscles rippled with power just beneath golden skin. Recently sated, she still felt the renewed stirrings of desire.
He made quick work of dressing her, adjusting her garters, and securing her tapes. Jealous at his obvious experience, she stood stiffly until he turned her to face him.
He sighed, pulling her against his bare chest. “You are so determined to keep to yourself, to allow no one to get close to you.”
She rested her head against his chest for a moment, savoring the smell of him now mixed with her own scent. Then she pushed him away.
“I gave you what you wanted,” she replied, irritably.
“I want more.”
Her stomach clenched. “Find it elsewhere.”
Marcus laughed. “Now that I’ve shown you pleasure, you’ll crave it, crave me. At night, you will remember my touch and the feel of my cock in you, and you will ache for me.”
“You conceited—”
“No.” He caught her wrist. “I will be craving you as well. What happened today is singular. You won’t find the same elsewhere, and you will need it.”
She lifted her chin, hating the idea that, deep inside, she suspected he was right. “I am free to look.”
His fingers tightened painfully. “No. You are not.” He tugged her hand down to his rampant erection. “When you need this, you will come to me. Don’t doubt that I would kill any man who touches you.”
“Does such forced fidelity work both ways?” She held her breath.
“Of course.”
Marcus stood for a moment in the tense silence, before turning away to retrieve his discarded breeches.
Expelling the air from her lungs in a silent sigh of relief, Elizabeth took a seat in front of the mirror and attempted to fix her hair. She was amazed at the visage that stared back at her. Cheeks flushed, lips swollen, eyes bright—she looked nothing like the woman she’d been that morning. Looking away, she caught Marcus’s reflection. She watched him dress, weighing his words and damning her foolishness. He was even more determined now than he’d been before bedding her.
When she was ready, she stood quickly, a little too quickly for legs still shaky from the afternoon’s events. She stumbled, but Marcus was there, his arms warm bands of steel around her. He had been observing her as well.
“Are you all right?” he asked gruffly. “Did I hurt you?”
She waved him away with her hand. “No, no, I’m fine.”
He stepped back. “Elizabeth, a discussion is in order.”
“Why?” She fluffed her skirts nervously.
“Bloody hell. You and I. Just made love. In that bed.” He gestured with an impatient thrust of his chin. “And the chair. And the floor in a moment, if you don’t cease irritating me.”
“We made a mistake,” she said softly, icy fear settling in her stomach.
“Damn you.” His sidelong glance was scathing and she flinched. “Play your games and bury your head in the sand if you must. I will have my way regardless.”
“It was not my intent to play games, Marcus.” She swallowed hard and moved toward the door. He made no move to stop her so she was startled when she turned and found him directly behind her.
“Don’t be frightened about what happened in the park today,” he murmured, once again all charm and honeyed drawl. “I will protect you from harm.”
Her eyes slid closed. Suddenly the thought of leaving held less appeal. “I know you will.”
“Where will you be this evening?”
“The Dunsmore musicale.”