and she threw herself back into society with a vengeance. Before I knew it, she was gambling away everything she could, disappearing for days. Once, I caught her with two of the footmen.”
Callie’s soft gasp cut through him, settling deep, lodging somewhere perilously near to his heart. Her eyes were luminous. “Oh, my darling. I am so sorry.”
My darling.
It was the first time she had used a term of endearment for him. The effect it had upon him was furious and wild. Suddenly, the last thing he wanted was her tenderness, her sympathy. The compassion in her gaze, in her dulcet voice, threatened to crush him. He could not bear it. He had no wish to relive the dark days of his marriage with Celeste.
Rather than continue unburdening himself, he lowered his head and took his wife’s lips. Her kiss was laced with tea and sweetness. Her tongue slid against his. He kissed her as if he could devour her. Because that was what he wanted to do. He wanted her naked on his desk, wearing nothing but those purple boots of hers.
Hell, he was a monster. His wife had gone for tea with her friend, and she returned to a jealous fiend who all but accused her of planning to bed the bloody butler. There was no excuse for his reaction. His feelings for Callie had him desperately confused.
He did not want to feel.
Feeling made him vulnerable.
He wanted the physical. Lust roared through him, along with the frantic need to possess her. His heart pounded. He nipped Callie’s lush lower lip, then kissed away the sting. Dragged his mouth down her throat. His hands found her rump. Delicious handfuls. He ground her against his aching cockstand, letting her feel what she did to him. How badly he wanted her.
“I am an arse,” he whispered against her creamy throat. “Forgive me.”
He sucked on her flesh. Her exotic, floral scent invaded his senses.
“Sin,” she murmured.
Her small hands were on his shoulders, caressing, holding him close. He would do penance with desire. Make her come. This was what he knew best—sensuality. All he had to do was figure out how the hell to get her out of her divided skirts.
His heart was pounding harder. Louder.
Too loud.
“Sin?” she breathed, a question in her voice. “Dunlop is knocking.”
Curse the blighter.
“My lord? My lady?”
“Go to the devil,” he called.
“The Duke of Westmorland is requesting an audience, my lord,” said the butler-in-training. “He says he will not leave until he has seen her ladyship.”
Damn it all.
His wife stiffened and extracted herself from his embrace. “Benny! Oh dear heavens, he must be returned from his honeymoon. He will be furious with me, I expect. And you as well.”
The desire coursing through him died.
“Send him in, Dunlop,” he called grimly.
The timing was bloody poor, but he had always known that sooner or later, Westmorland would return, and Sin would have to face his reckoning. Perhaps it was just what he needed, a means of reminding himself of all the reasons why he would be better served to forget about his maddening infatuation with his countess.
Chapter Twenty
I am dangerous, dear reader. I am a bad, bad man. If you see me about Town, run.
~from Confessions of a Sinful Earl
Callie braced herself for her brother’s wrath. Struggling for composure after her husband’s painful revelations followed by his potent embrace, she smoothed her fingers over her hair. She probably looked as if she had been properly ravished. Then again, any time she was within close proximity to her husband, that seemed to be quite common.
Benny was going to be furious with her.
And hurt.
And confused.
“What are we going to tell him?” she asked Sin, making certain he had not dislodged any of the buttons on her bodice.
Her husband scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “The truth, I expect.”
She bit her lip. “You intend to tell Benny about Confessions of a Sinful Earl?”
“No, wife.” He raised a brow, his countenance uncompromising. “I expect you to tell him. You are, after all, the one responsible for the straits in which we now find ourselves.”
She found herself frowning at his choice of words. Was he referring to their marriage, or to her brother’s impending interrogation? She did not have the chance to seek clarification, because the study door opened and Dunlop announced their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Westmorland.
Benny stalked into the chamber looking utterly enraged as expected. His new wife Isabella was at his side, looking fretful.