Page 58 of After the Abduction

That truly was a scandalous thought.

He withdrew his hand from between her legs and lowered her skirts, though the one fondling her breast continued the motion. Her breathing slowed, but his seemed to quicken as he feathered kisses along her cheekbone.

“You liked that, didn’t you?”

“Oh yes.” She could hardly deny it. He’d have to be blind and deaf not to know.

“And just so you won’t lie about it ever again, I want the words. Admit that I gave you pleasure, that I—not Morgan—managed it. I deserve to hear the words.”

It was such a typically arrogant statement, the kind that only Sebastian would make. “Why, so you can control me as you control everybody else in your dominion?”

Drawing back, he gave a wry laugh. “I only wish I could. But I can’t even control myself when I’m around you—how in God’s name do you think I could control you?” He grabbed her hand and flattened it on the fall of his trousers.

The firm bulge inside leaped under her touch, making her gaze at him wide-eyed.

“You see?” he said hoarsely. “My poor John Thomas has been uncontrollable ever since you showed up here.”

“Your…John Thomas?”

“This, sweeting, this.” His hand pressed her fingers around the hard ridge. “The sign that a man wants you.”

He released her, but curiosity kept her from taking back her hand. So this was a man’s “thing.” She would never have guessed that mere flesh could get so firm. And it seemed awfully large for something meant to lie between a man’s legs.

When she swept her fingers along it, exploring him as he’d done to her, he groaned and pushed himself into her hand. “Yes, like that…yes. Touch me. I’ve imagined you touching me for years.”

“Have you?” she said coyly and stroked him again. It was nice to have power over him for once.

Then slowly his words sank in. Her heart began to pound. “For years?” she prodded, though she continued to stroke him. “Years, Sebastian?”

His eyes were shut, his expression rapt. “Since the day I…first saw you in that theater.”

The first time they’d met had been at the theater in Stratford.

As victory swelled through her blood, she broke into a smile. “Oh, Sebastian, I’ve got you at last.”

Chapter 12

A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

English proverb written on a list once mounted on the Templemore schoolroom wall

Sebastian’s eyes shot open when he heard the peculiar note of triumph in Juliet’s voice. His cock was still in her hand, and at first he thought that’s what she meant.

Then the fever in his blood cooled, he saw her exultant look, and it dawned on him what he’d said. About the theater.

“You can’t deny it now,” she said. Drawing back her hand, she smiled with feminine glee. “You can’t.”

A cold reality washed over him that froze his ardor as surely as if she’d doused him in snow. She knew. She really knew.

And he’d accused her family of being oblivious to her abilities! She was far more sly and disarming than he’d given her credit for. All these little games and lessons…they hadn’t been about attraction, not for her. The devious baggage had been setting traps, waiting for him to step into one and hang himself.

And he’d played right into her hands. Why hadn’t he seen what she was about until now? What had blinded him?

His own hubris, that’s what. And the needs of his deuced John Thomas, the same thing that had proved his father’s downfall. By thunder, it would not prove his.

“What are you talking about?” he said to buy himself time while he searched for how to cover his blunder. “Deny what?”

Her eyes gleamed. “You can’t play dumb this time, you rogue. You know what. You’ve only seen me in a theater once in your life.”