Page 89 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel

Ellie’s heart was pounding as she waited in one of Tess’s spare rooms. It was where she always stayed when she was at Wansford House, and a few of her things lay scattered about on the dressing table and chairs.

Too excited to sit on the bed, she paced nervously between the window and the cheval mirror, and just when she thought she’d splinter apart from anticipation, Harry opened the door and stepped inside.

The distant hum of the ball far below faded away completely as she rushed into his arms. Her mouth opened under his, and he pressed her roughly against the wall, his big body the perfect combination of urgency and restraint.

Ellie bit back a gasp of delirious happiness. She kissed him back, twining her arms around his neck as her tongue tangled with his. The taste of him, so wonderfully intoxicating, made her lightheaded.

“Mine,” he growled against her lips. “God, Ellie, I want you so much.”

“Wait!” She pushed lightly on his shoulders. “You saidas soon as we were alone, you were going to beg for my hand.”

His playful growl of frustration warmed her heart, but he fell back from her and raked his hand through hair she’d already disordered with her fingers.

“Such a stickler,” he groaned. “But fine. I did say that.”

With jerky motions he tugged his gold signet ring from his finger, sank to his knee on the floor, and gazed up at her. “Eleanor Law—”

“Jane,” she said with a smile.

“What?”

“My middle name’s Jane. Do it properly.”

He let out a sound of playful fury. “Right. EleanorJaneLaw, you infuriating little baggage”—he held out the ring—“will you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?”

“Henry James Charles Brooke,” she said with mock solemnity, repeating the names she’d seen listed on numerous documents in the past few weeks. “Yes.”

She held out her hand, which was only shaking a tiny amount, and he slid the ring onto her fourth finger. She didn’t get time to admire it, or to marvel at the miracle of a man like Harry wanting a girl like her. The moment it was on there, he surged to his feet and pinned her back against the wall.

“Bloody fantastic,” he growled. “And now we’ve got the formalities out of the way, I’m going to pleasure you up against this wall until you can’t think straight. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

The kiss went from soft to carnal in less than three beats of her heart. Ellie clung to him, seeking with her tongue as a burning urgency rose within her. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pushed the garment off hisshoulders and he shrugged out of it, paying no heed to the expensive fabric. He flung it away and reached down to pull her skirts up her legs, gathering the fabric in huge swathes.

His hand slid up, over her silk stockings’ garters, then encountered the bare flesh of her thigh, and he groaned against her mouth as he palmed her bare bottom.

“Quel vestito mi ha fatto impazzire tutta la notte.”

“Meaning…?”

“This dress has been driving me mad all night.”

“It was meant to,” she admitted with a laughing gasp.

“Vixen! I always knew there was a devious streak hidden behind that studious veneer.”

He kissed his way down the side of her neck and pressed little nibbling bites to the top curves of her breasts, which were shown to devastating effect by her bodice. Ellie threaded her fingers through his hair and held him tight, loving his passion, his fervency.

A moment later he’d unbuttoned his falls, and she wrapped her leg around his thigh, letting him settle between her own. His seeking fingers found her core, and he made a deep sound of approval at finding her already wet. She was more than ready for him.

“Ellie. Love.”

He kissed her again and she tilted her hips, going up on tiptoe so their bodies could fit together. He slid inside, and the strange angle made her suck in a breath. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but when he started to withdraw, she clutched at his shoulders, determined to allow him his pleasure even if she took none herself.

She pressed her back more firmly against the wall, and he took more of her weight, lifting her off the floor and wrapping her legs around his hips, and suddenly their bodies aligned perfectly.

Ellie closed her eyes. Every rock of his hips produced a wicked, delicious friction that made her body clench around him. The same building tension she’d felt before began to grow, as he pressed and withdrew in a maddening rhythm.