and sleeping for hours in the day, had already ensured a low fire burned in the hearth and the heavy drapes had been drawn to blot out the sunlight. The night had been long, and he was tired. His lashes lowered and he breathed deeply and evenly.
The lush, sensual scent that seemed to be imprinted into Maryann’s soft skin invaded his nostrils, and his mouth damn well watered at the memory of her taste on his tongue. “Not now,” he murmured. “I cannot dream of you. I am bloody well tired, and I want my rest.”
Whatever God he appealed to did not listen, for she stole into his dreams as she had done every night for the last several days. Keeping his eyes closed, he felt the phantom dream of her lying beside him, curved into his side, her lush mouth nuzzling into his throat.
Nicolas groaned, his cock twitching, his arms reaching out to grasp the air. It felt so damn real, as if she were really there. His dream lover bit his lower lip, then trailed that lush mouth down his neck and his chest.
Racoons do that.
That sultry murmur wrapped him in heated anticipation, and he drifted off to sleep with her tormenting him with her tongue and dry wit.
…
When Nicolas surged awake several hours later, his cock was heavy and straining against his belly, and his balls damn well ached. The dream was reluctant to leave—hell, he did not want it to leave, for in it, his little minx was wickedly caressing her tongue over his manhood, her beautiful eyes laughing at him and tempting him in the same breath. The memory of the wild and sensually wanton way she had come undone for him in the greenhouse rose in his thoughts. The hunger grew even as he felt discomfort with the recollection of how badly he had wanted her.
You made me tremble…my heart pounded and such cravings I’ve never known torment me for days.
Still lying on the bed, he threw an elbow over his forehead, and gripped his cock with his other hand. With a groan, he stroked upward, squeezing the head to prevent himself from releasing like an untried boy.
“Fucking hell,” he whispered in the dark of the room. “How can I want one woman this badly?”
He willfully pictured her thighs split wide on this very bed, her delicate fingers gripping his sheets, pillows propped under her hips arching her, and he on his knees tonguing her plump cunny. His Maryann was a screamer. She would yell her pleasure, possibly even clamp his head between her thighs.
He grunted when his cock flexed at the idea. That made him wonder if she would be able to take his girth. Then he remembered how damn wet she had been that night in the conservatory and how she had trembled under the lash of his tongue. The next time he had her in his arms, he would test her tightness and…
She is a lady, you blackguard, he reminded himself fiercely, pushing aside his lustful musings. Perhaps he should take the time to figure out if she had a place in his life at the end of everything. Clearly he would not be able to simply dismiss her from his thoughts or awareness. Nor do I want to. He had never met another lady like her and doubted he ever would again.
“I will need a wife eventually and heirs,” he said, his mind turning over the matter. Lady Maryann was a lady of quality and good-natured charm. He was sure his family would fall in love with her. Christ. The way his heart raced at the thought of Maryann being his wife shocked him.
She would be a suitable candidate to be his marchioness. More than suitable. He liked her. She was intelligent and had a little bit of cunning inside her. That, he appreciated more than he thought he would. She had a vibrant and unflinching spirit he admired. Her loveliness and damn smile always tossed his heart into disorder.
To court her, he would have to reshape the reputation he had in the ton from wild and wicked to a proper marquess. It had taken years for him to build this reputation. He couldn’t imagine what he would have to do to dismantle his dastardly notoriety. Worse, he felt like that part of him stamped upon his bones was simply another facet of himself he hadn’t known existed until he was forced to explore it.