Page 60 of The Earl

Chapter 25

She had never seen him like this.

Nay, Cait corrected herself. She had seen a version of the man in the bath, but that had been many years ago. The look in his eyes now was much the same as it had been when he stared back at her, cheek oozing blood, willing her to be okay.

This was a man accustomed to having his orders followed. One who had been groomed to become an earl but who also harbored doubts.

I am scared, Cait. I am alone and scared.

Hard to believe Conrad was afraid of anything, but he had never told her an untruth, to her knowledge. Still angry but also aware that he needed her, she took the final step that put her within reach of him.

His tug on her hand was anything but gentle. She found herself, rather quickly, being pulled into the tub. Although large enough to accommodate a large man, as it likely often did, it was hardly big enough for them both. There was nowhere for her save directly on top of him. She straddled him, with Conrad’s assistance, and he kissed her like they hadn’t touched each other for the entire day, which they hadn’t. Hard. Demanding. And that’s when she felt his hand between her legs. She’d spent so much time thinking about his mouth on her, wishing it would happen again, that it took her a moment to decide if this was real or another fantasy.

Real.

Very, very real. She hardly had time to react before his fingers slipped inside. Just as before, a delicious pressure built inside her.

“Show me,” she managed against his lips.

But he didn’t respond. Instead, Conrad kissed her again, his hand moving against her even as her hips pressed into them. It was heaven. Pure heaven. A blasphemous thought, to be sure, but Cait could not be sorry for it. Nothing in her short life had ever felt so perfect. But if he thought to pleasure her again and not allow the same for himself . . .

“Show me,” she said again, this time ensuring he understood her meaning. Cait found him easily, her hand wrapping around him as it had the other night, before he had stopped her.

Moaning, Conrad broke away. He looked into her eyes even as his fingers continued to taunt her. She remembered how he’d moved their hands together that night, showing her how to pleasure him, and she mimicked those movements now, staring into his eyes.

Cait was doing something right. His mouth opened, the look of pure pleasure on his face one she vowed to see every day of their lives.

“You should not.”

His palm pressed against her, moving in slow, sensuous circles, as his fingers continued their delicious assault.

“That is enough.” She was finished taking orders. “You do not speak for me. I am a grown woman and can speak and act for myself. I will do as I will, and if you think to stop me, then do it now so I know your measure. Otherwise, you will trust that I can make a decision all on my own. And just this moment . . .” Just this moment, she was having difficulty remembering what she’d planned to say. His hand, his expressions . . . her own stroking of the evidence of his desire for her. It was simply too much.

“Just this moment, you will succumb to me,” she finished on a gasp.

She could see the very moment he did.

Conrad thrust into her hand, shuddering. Letting go. And it was simply too much all at once. Her body split apart, Cait crying out his name as he did the same for her. She reached behind him and held on to the edge of the wooden tub, her entire body wracked with tremors she could not contain. He kissed her as the tremors of pleasure still ran through her, holding her as if he never wished to let her go.

Nor did she wish him to.

“What is it like to make love?” she asked, pulling away just enough to ask.

Conrad swallowed, his wet hands pushing back her hair on both sides as she allowed herself to fall atop him completely.

“With us, it will be all-consuming. It will feel as if you no longer live in the world, if just for a moment. The thought is almost frightening.”

With us.

The implication that it would be different with them, better, made her heart soar. He’d said as much before, but she wouldn’t tire of hearing it. They still had much to discuss, but for now, Cait wanted only to revel in the feel of his strong body under her. Of his hands, as gentle as he was hard, cupping her face as if she were a wee baby bird.

Just like that day.

The day they met, he’d both killed a man and looked at her with such softness Cait had thought he must be two different men.

But he was not.

He was simply Conrad.