The return trip would take three days, and then he’d have nothing to look forward to but the boy’s care. Arabella made no protest and extended no invitation for him to stay. He studied her face, looking for signs she disagreed, and saw nothing to give him hope. He nodded but he wished he didn’t have to go. Arabella was all he could think about. He might very well need his brother’s stubborn nature to make him leave her and Winslette behind.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Arabella slipped inside Merrick’s chamber and shut the door firmly behind her. She was confronted by his bare back, and her pulse raced as she discovered he was completely naked already. She licked her lips as her body reacted. “I had hoped to see you again.”
He tossed the shirt he’d been holding across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “I considered visiting your room.”
She moved closer to see his face. He’d been silent and watchful at dinner and had only picked at his food. She hoped he wasn’t annoyed with her for telling Gray and Rosemary about them. “Then why didn’t you?”
He shook his head. “I wanted to.”
She stopped at his side and lifted her hand to his hair. When she touched his head, he leaned into her palm. “I wanted you to, as well.”
Finally, a smile. He caught her about her hips and drew her body between his knees. “I’m glad.”
Between them, his length thickened and grew while she watched in wonder. Discovering just how easily he became aroused and how comfortable with it he seemed brought a smile to her lips. She’d learned much about pleasure from him and intended to thank him in a very personal way.
Slowly he toppled backward, taking Arabella with him so they lay on the bed. The heat of his body beneath her scorched her through two layers of nightclothes. She wore his banyan again over her nightgown, but the material was not thick enough to prevent awareness of every inch of him. When she was comfortable atop him, his hands danced over her covered bottom. “You’re wearing my banyan again.”
“I like it. It feels lovely against my skin.”
He wriggled his hand between them and untied the belt. “I like you naked against me.”
“I did notice that.” She studied his face. “I wish you didn’t have to go tomorrow.”
He freed one of her arms from the robe and tugged the tie on her nightgown undone. “I wish I didn’t need to go, too.”
“I suppose you must have much to do for the boy?”
“I’m not going for that reason. The boy will live with me for a while before he eventually goes off to school.” He forced her nightgown over her shoulder and kissed her bare skin. His lips, their startling caress, forced a moan from her throat in response. He chuckled softly, then continued, “I don’t want to ruin your reputation. I’m not sure we’ll avoid gossips as it is, but staying here any longer will only make the tongues wag worse.”
Arabella at last understood how difficult it was to be good when you desperately wanted to touch someone. Doing without him today had been difficult. She was amazed at her restraint in not dragging him to a secluded corner every time he smiled her way since his return. “I know there is the risk of that, but I would not regret one moment spent in your arms.”
He kissed her fiercely, tangling his tongue with hers and setting her senses on fire. Before she knew it, she was beneath him on the bed, her nightgown at her waist, his hands everywhere at once.
Remembering what she’d set out to do, Arabella pushed against his chest. “Lie down for me. Please.”
He groaned and flipped to his back. “Woman, you’re not going to make me beg, are you?”
“No.” She rose onto her hands and knees as Rosemary had suggested and hovered at his side. Tonight she wanted to explore Rothwell with her lips and hands as he had done to her last night. Rosemary had explained as best she could, but the challenge she’d set herself was daunting. Merrick had likely had a lot of lovers, and they all might do this one thing better than she ever would. “I’d hate to make you beg for anything, but lie there and don’t move.”
She bent her head and kissed his shoulder, his chest, and then his flat nipple. He grunted as she licked it experimentally. When she attempted to draw the little bud into her mouth, he cursed. “Damn, now I know what Lady Grayling whispered to you.”
She grinned. That wasn’t all Rosemary had mentioned. Just the first in a series of suggestions that had made her eyes pop from her head. “You should thank her. If not for Rose, I’d have been even more clueless than I was.”
He cupped her head and played with her hair. “I’d happily take over your education in passion, but the way you make me feel leads me to think you don’t need the help.”
She kissed the center of his chest and slowly worked her way down to his belly. “Are you sure? I imagine there are many things you like that escape me.”
She kissed his hip, right where the bones protruded beneath his skin and he squirmed. “Believe me, you’re already doing it.”
She glanced up his body, noting he was breathing hard, and smiled. She moved ever so slowly until her face hovered above his cock and then met his gaze. The poor man looked about to throw her over and pounce. Tonight she would resist. Or at least try to. “Are you sure there isn’t one thing you would want me to do?”
He swallowed. “I won’t ask.”
Rosemary’s suggestion was perfect. He looked so astonished and she treasured that. She kissed him right on his shaft, paying attention to the strangeness of what she was doing and the ragged gasps her lover made. He fit in her hand like warm silk and as Rosemary had suggested, she was careful not to be too gentle nor too rough with him. She slid her fingers up and down his length, experimentally at first, and then with growing surety.
So far as she could tell, Rothwell wasn’t unhappy about her attempt to please him. He rose to one elbow and his free hand caught her hair and twined it about his fist. She lifted his length away from his body and lowered her face again, intent on kissing him on the tip.
“Stop.”
Rosemary had mentioned men tended to get bossy in bed, so she felt safe to ignore that particular command. She kissed the head as planned. His seed tasted salty and just the tiniest bit bitter when she licked her lips. There was more to do, she knew, so after a few more kisses she opened her mouth and ran her tongue around the head.
“Please,” Merrick said.
She smiled and repeated the movement, and when he begged her to stop again, she took the tip into her mouth as far as she could manage. It didn’t seem very much at all, but Rothwell moaned as if she were torturing him.
She swallowed quickly before she licked her lips and tried again. She managed a bit more the next time and tightened her grip around him. Rothwell covered her hand and together they stroked his hot flesh.
Arabella did her best to bring him pleasure with her mouth, but Rothwell appeared much harder to please than she’d thought he’d be. Either she was doing wrong or he was resisting her efforts. She released him and sat back on her heels to study him. He’d taken his hand away too, and his breathing was fast and shallow. “You didn’t like it.”
“I loved it,” he countered.
“It did not seem that way.” She put her hands on her hips and glanced about the room. “I wanted to do something good for you before you left.”
“Oh, believe me, you were. Too good.” He scooted closer on the bed and brushed her hair back from her neck. “I’d like to last at least longer than a minute. We have all night.”
Appeased somewhat, she took him in hand again and stroked him. Now that she saw his face, she noticed he was biting down on his lower lip in an effort to be silent. “So you liked what I did for you?”