Page 13 of The Diamond's Absolutely Delicious Downfall

When it came to the act of love, Juliet was far more educated than most young ladies. But here, in the candlelight and fire glow of Tobias’s chambers, she did not feel educated. She felt utterly unprepared.

For all the reading, all the discourse in the world, could not have prepared her for his utter masculine magnificence or the way he made her feel.

As he divested himself of his heavy printer’s apron and stood in the glow of the amber flame, he looked like a god. Shadows played over the hard planes of his face, his dark hair was wild about his shoulders, and his dark brows were twin slashes over his eyes. Eyes that spoke of a hedonistic promise.

His mouth was parted ever so slightly as he contemplated her, as if he hungered for something that she could not understand.

Her entire body crackled with it… Crackled with the energy and emotions traversing between them through the night air.

There, in his shirt sleeves—the cuffs rolled up to his forearms and the neck unlaced—she longed to step forward and trace every sinew.

The lines of his neck, his Adam’s apple, the spot where his throat descended to the gentle hollow over his hard clavicles. His forearms were muscled from hours of work with his press and, from what she had seen, work with a rapier.

She trembled as heat burned from her breasts to the vee between her thighs. There were no words to express the ache there—an ache she was certain only he could ease.

Wordlessly, he let his gaze travel from her mouth down over her breasts, her waist, her hips…and her thighs.

How could a man’s gaze be so powerful? But it was. It was as potent as any caress, surely.

Her hands folded into fists.

“Do you wish to give me your virginity?” he asked, his voice a delicious rumble. “It is a great gift.”

She swallowed, then nodded.

“I need to hear you actually say it, Juliet,” he growled softly as if he was holding himself in check.

“You are the man I wish to give it too,” she whispered.

His eyes flared and a wild, possessive look darkened those orbs. “Good. Because I want that too. Now, let us begin.”

She nodded, then started to unpin her gown.

“Wait.”

She frowned. Had she already blundered?

“You are a gift. And I wish to unwrap you.”

A laugh burst for her lips. “Can I do the same? For surely you are a gift for me as well?”

That wolfish smile, the one he had worn in the theater’s hallway, warmed his face. “Ah. My lady wishes to survey her bit of rough?”

“Don’t say that,” she protested.

“Why?” he murmured. “It’s what you want. Something harder. Something stronger. Something different.”

She sucked in a shuddering breath. He was all those things.

And with that, he quickly tugged off his boots and stockings, then pulled the hem of his linen shirt from his breeches up over his head.

He stood with utter confidence before her.

As he should.

He was beautiful. Dear heaven, he was perfect. His muscles bulged and rippled as he moved. She licked her lips, aching to touch him. Aching to trace her fingertips over the hard lines of his abdomen that descended into his breeches.

Then he unbuttoned the placard at his waist and easily shrugged off his fawn-colored breeches.

She swallowed.

She’d seen examples of the male sex in many representations from books to art. Of course she had. But nothing could have prepared her for his sheer prowess. For his size and the way it sprang hard and upward towards his belly.

“It is eager for you,” he rasped. “Would you care to examine it?”

She blinked, astonished. “Yes,” she managed and then somehow she walked forward, closing the distance between them.

His scent, heady and masculine mixed with ink, only intensified her desire.

She hesitated for the barest of moments, then splayed her hands on his hard chest. He was warm to the touch. His skin… It was heaven. Slowly, she let her hands wander, and before she could think, she leaned forward and kissed his pectoral muscle.

He sucked in a breath.

She smiled her own satisfied smile as she tentatively lowered her hands to touch his hard sex, which bobbed excitedly. She wrapped her fingers around him, stunned by the hard shaft that also felt silken to the touch.

He groaned. “You are pure torture, Juliet.”

Somehow, she loved the strained sound of his voice.

“And now, turnabout is fair play,” he growled.

He worked quickly, stripping her of her robe and her night rail, until she stood before him in naught but her stockings.

Tobias let out a low rumble of a sound as he circled her, taking her in. He stood behind her then and draped her long locks over her shoulder, baring her neck. Slowly, he leaned down and kissed the curve.

She gasped, shocked at how delicious it could be. He palmed her breasts and pressed her back against his front.

His hard cock pressed into her hip. And her heart skipped.

He teased her nipples with his fingertips and then one hand wandered further down.

With his free hand, he tilted her back towards him and stole her lips in a hot, open-mouthed kissed. With his other hand, he slipped his fingers between her thighs.

She bucked against his hand, and he deepened their kiss.

It was heady, like drinking one too many glasses of wine. She felt as if she was floating towards bliss.

His fingers circled into her wet heat, pressing, teasing.

Her body tensed and strained. His tongue thrust into her mouth, devouring her.

Then he slipped a single finger inside her.

A moan slipped past her lips.

That sound seemed to undo him and he turned her, picking her up in his arms. He walked her towards the fire. He lowered them both onto the burgundy rug and stretched her out onto it.

His gaze wandered over her body, his face a mask of desire. He bit his lower lip.

“I want you to reach your height with me inside you,” he rasped. “Have you ever pleasured yourself before? You know what it feels like to peak?”

She blushed.

“Good,” he growled, slipping his fingers again to her most intimate spot.

She arched against his hand.

“That’s it, love,” he whispered, watching her face.

As she gasped for air, he took his sex in hand and then rested it against her opening.

He said nothing but rocked forward in one hard thrust.

She reached up, grabbed him, and dug her hands into his shoulders. “It’s too much.”

He stilled, his face hard. But then he slowed, teasing her folds with his fingers, gazing down into her eyes.

And it was his gaze… That gaze which promised her a door to paradise, to a world of so much more, that undid her.

Her body relaxed, welcoming him.

And when he felt that, he began a slow, delicious rhythm. He took her thighs and wrapped them about his waist.

Tobias drove into her again, and she tossed her head back and forth. It was indescribable. It was more than she ever dreamed.

It was…

She threw back her head and cried out as ripple after intense ripple wrapped about his sex and threw her over the brink into a new world.

And as she went, he pulled her into his arms, let out a ferocious moan, and pumped wildly into her.

Clinging to each other before the fire, their breaths began to match and slow.

She blinked. Their damp bodies were entwined. She was someone new now. Something utterly different.

All because of him.

Juliet smiled against his chest, determined to hold onto this happiness as long as she could. For as long as she could be allowed.