Page 98 of The Boxing Baroness

“Tickles?”

She nodded. It did tickle, but she missed it when he put an end to his explorations and came up to lie beside her.

He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her, pushing a lock of hair away from her bruised temple, his mouth tightening. “I’m not much of a nurse—did I hurt you?”

“I rather like your bedside manner.”

His mouth flexed into a slight smile, but his eyes were serious as he stroked her midriff. “I don’t like seeing you hurt, Marianne.”

She captured his hand, bringing it to her mouth and kissing each knuckle.

His pupils flared, but his lips compressed into a stern line. “You have been fortunate thus far, but your luck will not hold out forever. You need to find some other way to support yourself before you take permanent injury.”

She lowered his hand and glared at him. “Do you have some position in mind?” she retorted, regretting her aggressive words before they were all the way out of her mouth.

“You know I’d never suggest anything like that between us.”

“I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t. But tell me, since you’ve raised this topic, what kind of a job do you think I’m fit for? I can’t be a governess or companion with my reputation—I couldn’t find a position teaching even before I began working at the Fayre, which is why I’m boxing. Just what do you think I should do?”

He opened his mouth, paused, and then closed it.

Marianne nodded. “Now you see my dilemma.”

“There are jobs in your uncle’s—er, Barnabas’s—business that do not require taking a weekly beating. Can you not find something else?”

She was tired of this subject and lifted his hand to her mouth again. Instead of arguing, she took his index finger and guided it between her lips, lightly tonguing the pad.

His jaw tightened as she sucked, working his finger suggestively. He shook his head, his mouth curving into a grudging smile. “You are an expert at distraction, but I am not finished with the subject.”

Marianne smiled around his finger, her tongue stroking as she sucked, and then paused. “But you are for now.”

He growled. “I am for now,” he agreed, and then pulled his hand away and shifted his body until he was on top of her, holding his weight on his elbows while his knees nudged between her thighs.

She spread for him eagerly and groaned when he thrust into her. He was almost painfully thick and long—much bigger than Dominic—and she squirmed slightly as he held her full.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked, nuzzling her jaw and trailing kisses back to her mouth.

Marianne shook her head.

“Mmm,” he hummed as he gently pulsed his hips, angling himself exactly right and rubbing her swollen, sensitive nub. He paused. “What a brute I am taking you again so soon. Are you too sore?”

She was, but she didn’t care. “I’m not too sore,” she lied. She tilted her hips and pushed up against him. “More,” she commanded.

Their eyes locked as he pushed up onto his knees and hooked his arms under her legs, lifting her higher, his eyes greedy and dark as they settled on her sex.

“I wish you could see this,” he murmured as he pulled out slowly and then gave her his entire length again. “You look so beautiful wrapped around me.”

She reveled in his hungry stare, shivering and bucking under his touch as he worked her over the edge, her climax catching her in a convulsive grip.

He sucked in a harsh breath as he pushed himself infinitesimally deeper and then stilled. “I can feel your pleasure,” he marveled, his shaft flexing inside her as she convulsed around him.

He lowered her feet to the mattress and covered her with his body.

Marianne grabbed his buttocks with both hands and pulled him closer as she tightened around him.

He groaned while she massaged him with her inner muscles. “Mmm, what’s that you’re doing to me?” he asked with a breathless chuckle, their faces only inches apart.

He began moving again, but more slowly and deliberately this time, his gaze burning through her, his jaw tighter with each measured thrust. The room was too dim to see the color properly, but his pupils had swollen so huge there was very little iris to see.