Secluded with the Rogue

Chapter 12

Twelve

E very thought emptied from Ezra’s mind. Every thought but one of Calista.

Christ, how was it possible for her to taste like mana from heaven? How was it possible for her to feel like perfection in his arms?

In some distant corner of his head, a voice told him to go easier, to step back. He wasn’t just kissing her, he knew, he was devouring her. Yet he could not stop. Especially not when she opened her mouth with a gasp, giving him the chance to plunge his tongue inside to tangle with her own.

Her breathless moan sent his soul up in flames and when she pressed her center against the hardness of his cock, any chance of him keeping control flew out the window.

Outside the storm raged but it was nothing compared to what raged between them in here.

Calista rolled her hips and he could only utter an oath against her lips before gripping her and pulling her closer still. It wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed to be inside her. So deep that he’d never really leave.

But he couldn’t. Damn it, he couldn’t. She was an innocent, and far too important to ruin on a tiny cot in a cottage.

Calista rolled her hips again, whimpering into his mouth and clutching at his neck with a desperation that seemed to match his own.

He tried to pull back. To slow down. He really did. But when he lifted his head and looked down at her, saw the desire in the pools of her eyes, and heard her whispered plea. He was lost. Bending slightly, he lifted her from her feet, cursing again when she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, her heated center pressed right against him.

Ezra moved his lips to her neck, and her jaw, biting on her earlobe before traveling lower still. She was so incredibly responsive, so naturally sensual. He should have known she’d be perfect. He had known that something like this would change everything. Would spin his world off its axis.

“I have to stop, love,” he breathed against her neck. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t be able to.”

“Don’t,” she demanded. “I forbid it. This is my prize.”

He huffed a laugh against her skin. God, this woman. This incredible, beautiful, addictive woman.

The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on him. She’d asked him for a real kiss. From her pact. Him, Ezra Tilton. Who’d never felt worthy of anything. The idea of being deemed worthy by someone like Calista was mind-boggling and he would never take it for granted.

“Your prize was a kiss, Damsel. And that’s just what you go.”

She looked adorable as she frowned at him, her arms and legs still wrapped around him. “You don’t want more?” she asked, a vulnerability to the question that made his heart twist.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea how much more I want,” he growled. “I’m stopping for you. ”

“And I said I don’t want you to,” she snapped back stubbornly. “Ezra, I want this. I want you. Before I get married to some stranger and –“

He stopped her with another desperate kiss. “Do not mention marrying another man to me again,” he warned against her mouth. The vicious jealousy that had coursed through him earlier returned with a vengeance. And now that he’d had a taste of her, it was worse than ever. He felt as though he could happily kill this hypothetical husband of hers with his bare hands.

Her only answer was a tiny, mischievous smile. And it completely undid him.

He kissed her again, the fire that had dimmed slightly roaring to life once more. He knew in that moment that he could kiss this woman for an eternity and it would not be long enough.

He stumbled toward the cot, one hand plunged into the hair that she left hanging loose all day just to torment him, he was sure. That was why he’d lost so many hands of cards, he was sure. Because of the silken tresses falling over his hand right now. Though, if this was the result, he’d happily lose every game of cards for the rest of his life as long as she was the one he was playing with.

The edge of the cot hit his shins and Ezra lowered her to the mattress without breaking the kiss. And once she was laid out beneath him, every delectable curve crushed against his body, he knew it was over for him. Deep down, he’d known for days. She’d utterly destroyed him. Broken down every part of him and rebuilt him as a servant put on this earth to draw those breathy little moans from her.

But he couldn’t cross that line. No matter how much he might want to. When he bedded her, truly bedded her, it would be in the way she deserved. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t touch her and taste her and see what other sounds he could drag from her.

He intended to do just that and take his sweet time, too. Lowering his mouth to hers once more, he kissed her deeply while his hand worked to undo the laces of her dress. He pulled the gown from her shoulders baring the skin he’d only caught glimpses of yesterday.

Pressing a train of kisses across her petal-soft skin he marveled that she could still smell so floral, so feminine, even washing with David’s sandalwood soap. Reaching the swell of her breasts, he basked in every one of her moans, each one growing louder than the last. She squirmed beneath him, driving him to the brink of madness with every movement, until he couldn’t take it anymore.

Pulling down the neckline of her chemise with his teeth, he made quick work of pulling one pink nipple into his mouth, not moving to the other until he’d earned a new sound, a moan that bordered on a sob.

It wasn’t enough. He needed more.

Dragging his hand up her legs, he didn’t stop until he hit the center of her thighs. “Ezra,” she gasped. “I can’t –“

“You can,” he whispered in her ear, brushing his thumb over the bundle of nerves that had her back arching off the mattress. “Open up for me, love.”

She did as he asked and he wasted no time in plunging a finger inside her. She cried out before begging him for more and he was more than happy to oblige, adding another finger, and curling them to find the spot that would tip her over the edge.

He pumped his fingers in and out and waited for the explosion.

Calista cried out his name, then cried out for God, and when she became entirely incoherent, he pressed his thumb against those nerves and she shattered, coming apart completely in his arms.

Ezra could only watch mesmerized as her orgasm tore through her. She rode his hand and screamed her pleasure to the skies and he stayed with her through it all knowing he’d never see anything as beautiful as what had just happened in his arms.

N othing she’d ever read, no whispered conversations with Marianne could have prepared Calista for what she’d just experienced.

She felt as though her entire body had come apart at the seams and she could do nothing but lie there, gasping for breath and waiting for the ability to speak, or move, or even think to return.

“You are exquisite,” Ezra whispered against her throat, before placing a kiss against her racing pulse.

“And you’re wonderful,” she told him honestly. “But –“

“But?” He reared up on his elbows, frowning down at her. “You’re not about to tell me that I left you unsatisfied, are you Damsel? Because you’ll bruise my terribly fragile ego.”

Calista giggled, feeling inordinately happy. “No, your ego can remain inflated, sir. That was – I’ve never felt anything like that.”

“Good,” he countered immediately, a bite of possession in his tone. “I don’t want to think of any other man’s hands on you.”

“But you didn’t, I mean – don’t you need to.” She trailed off, her cheeks heating. And it seemed so foolish to be shy given what they’d just done.

Ezra’s eyes softened and he reached up to cup her face, his thumb stroking her cheek in the way she was coming to love. “That was enough for me, love. I don’t want to rush anything and more importantly, I don’t want to rush you into anything.”

“But I want to be rushed.”

“Calista –“

“No.” She pushed against his chest to get him to move and though it was akin to trying to push a boulder, he immediately moved so she could sit up. “No, Ezra. You don’t understand.”

He sat up, too, so they were facing each other on the very limited space of the cot.

“Our time here won’t last forever,” she started. “And I want to experience everything with you, while I can. I-I care about you and I’m not asking you for anything more than this. I have no expectations of you beyond here and now. I just-“ She paused and tried to think how best to articulate her feelings. A part of her wanted to simply confess her love for him. But she worried that he would feel like she was trying to trap him or some such thing. “Once my father decides who I am to marry, I won’t ever get this chance again. All of my choices and all of my decisions will be taken from you. And you are my choice, Ezra. You are the choice I am making for myself, while I still can.”

His face was like thunder all of a sudden, and Calista was so worried that he’d turn away from her that she took matters into her own hands. With a boldness she didn’t think she’d ever be capable of, she scrambled over the cot and placed herself firmly in his lap. She felt his length stir against her and rolled her hips experimentally, relishing his hiss as his hands gripped her waist and pulled her against him.

“We need to talk, Damsel,” he gritted out. But she was done talking.

“Later,” she promised before pressing her lips against his and finally, finally he gave in and kissed her back.

T he wind had quieted hours ago but Ezra barely noticed. He’d allowed Calista a moment to control their kiss before he’d taken over.

They had so much to say to each other, he had so much to explain to her, but he simply hadn’t been able to resist when she’d climbed onto him. He wasn’t a saint, after all.

Now she was naked beneath him, her skin glistening, her eyes widening as he lined himself up at her entrance. He’d spent was felt like hours readying her for this moment, and had thoroughly enjoyed each second of it, but he wasn’t sure he felt ready himself.

She pushed her hips upwards, silently begging him to continue. “This might hurt, love,” he warned her, his muscles straining from holding himself back. “But I promise I’ll make it better.” She nodded up at him, nothing but trust in her eyes as he plunged inside to the hilt.

He watched her face for signs that it was too much, even as a rush of pleasure, of rightness swept through him, so strong it took his breath away. He had thought he knew how perfect she would feel wrapped around his length but nothing could have prepared him for this.

“Damsel?” he whispered, tone laced with concern. But she smiled up at him, her breath coming in short, sharp, pants.

“I’m well, Ezra. Please, please don’t stop.” He needed no further encouragement to move, gently at first then picking up speed, learning her body and what she craved. And he managed to stay in control for a time, but once she clenched around him, crying out as she squeezed him tight, her orgasm coursing through her body until it was milking his, that control snapped and he pounded into her until he exploded in his own release.