Page 28 of The Forbidden Lord (Lord Trilogy #2)

But when she tightened her grip on him out of curiosity to see the effect, his eyes shot open and he jerked her hand out of his trousers with a curse. “That’s too good. No more. I can’t take any more.”

His wanton gaze locked with hers as he reached for the hem of her skirt and drew it up so high it bared her legs nearly above the knees. “Your turn,” he whispered with a teasing smile that froze her breath in her throat.

What did he mean?

He showed her. Smoothing his hands up her thighs, he caressed her lightly above her garters. Then she felt his fingers open the slit in her drawers. She tried to clamp her legs together, but his body between them prevented that. “Jordan, I don’t know if you—”

The first caress made her jerk. The second made her sigh. By the third, she was aching for more, her hips writhing on the table in her attempt to get closer to his teasing fingers. “Dear heavens, Jordan … Jordan …”

“Yes, Emma?” He stroked her again, and she gasped. “Do you like that? Have I pleased you?”

“Goodness gracious—”

Whatever else she might have said was lost in the needy kiss he gave her.

He fondled her devilishly, driving her to madness.

She no longer cared what happened to her.

She was in the arms of the man she’d dreamed feverishly about for weeks, and he was showing her what passion was all about. Everything else paled by comparison.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, flexing and unflexing as he made her twitch and wiggle. When he slid his finger inside her, she was beyond being shocked. This was what she’d been waiting for, what she wanted. It was delicious. She liked it—she loved it!

“God, how I’ve wanted to do this from the first moment I saw you,” he rasped out. “I’ve wanted to touch you, to have you in my arms like this, to be inside you, my sweet, adorable darling.”

The endearment sent a thrill coursing through her.

“I’ve thought of nothing but you since we kissed,” he said fervently, his finger driving deep inside her.

Somehow she’d grown damp inside, making it easier for him to stroke her. “And they say you have no romantic feeling,” she whispered as she clutched at his shoulders. “How wrong they are!”

He delved inside the slick passage between her legs with a particularly insolent caress. “This isn’t romantic feeling, my dear. This is desire, pure and simple. I’ve never lacked for that. Not for you.”

It took a few seconds for his words to drift through the haze of seduction, but when they did, she froze and drew back to look at him. “Wh-what did you say?”

He nuzzled her ear, his finger still thrusting inside her. “I said I’ve always wanted you. Surely you knew that.”

His words were like a cold bucket of water dumped on her head. All her rampant urges and shameful impulses died at once.

The … the lecherous wretch! She’d thought he wanted her, but he’d just wanted this! Oh, mercy, she was going to be sick. She’d been such a fool!

Frantically, she grabbed at his arms, trying to get his hands off of her.

“What the devil are you doing?!” he cried when she dragged his hands from beneath her skirts. The incredulous look on his face was exactly what she deserved for being so stupid.

“Get away from me!” she cried desperately. “I don’t want your hands on me!”

“Damn it, Emma,” he growled as he reached for her, “what nonsense is this?”

“It’s not nonsense!” She batted his hands away, then shoved free of him and leapt off the table, hurrying to the opposite end of the room. She turned her back to him. “I won’t … I can’t do this shameful thing! It’s wrong!”

As tears of mortification and anger welled in her eyes, she fumbled with her clothing, trying to straighten it, trying not to think of the things she’d let him do.

And all because she’d been foolish enough to think he actually cared for her!

She would have fully given herself to him if she’d thought he was in love with her.

But no, not Jordan. Not him, with his hard heart. It had been lust and nothing more. For goodness sake, it hadn’t even been for her, but for Lady Emma! And only because he thought the woman from Scotland was as experienced as those … those fancy women he spent all his time with. The bastard!

“Emma, there’s no shame in making love,” he bit out as he came up behind her.

He laid his hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged them off. “No shame for you,” she whispered. “But no matter what you think of me, I do have a reputation to uphold. And if I throw my virtue away—”

“Throw your virtue away,” he said sarcastically. “It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?”

Horror gripped her as she swung around to face him.

“You don’t mean that what we just did … that I …

” She knew something of how a woman lost her virginity, but not in great detail.

He’d put his fingers inside her. Was that the same as …

did that mean he … “Did you take my … my virginity?” she asked, appalled by the possibility.

“What the devil! Don’t you know?”

“Of course I don’t know!” she cried in sheer frustration. “I’ve never been with a man like … like that! How would I know?”

His jaw went taut, and he looked decidedly ill. “I thought … from the way you acted in the garden, the way you kissed me … hell, from the way you acted just now, the things you allowed me to do, I thought—”

“I did those because I believed you cared about me!” she burst out, then instantly regretted the confession. “I was curious, and you were so … so—“

“Persuasive.” His voice was now under his wretched control. “Yes, I have a talent for persuasion. And I wanted you, Emma. I still want you. But that’s all there is to it. If you think that this little encounter shall result in marriage—”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” she snapped, remembering their first time in the carriage.

“I’ve never seen a man so convinced that women are trying to trap him into marriage!

” Rage made her reckless. “I’m not the one who dragged you in here!

I’m not the one who wanted ‘one kiss’! In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve had my share of suitors since I came to London.

I don’t need to trick some hapless man into marriage, Jordan! ”

For a moment, he looked stunned. Then his eyes narrowed, and his tone grew icy. “You’ve said that before, Emily.”

She started to retort, then froze. She had used those exact words—the first time they’d met, in the carriage. And he’d just called her Emily, not Emma.

Her heart sank. Dear heavens, he knew. He knew because he’d made her so angry she’d forgotten her role.

A thousand curses upon him! She couldn’t even take it back or invent some explanation for her words.

Playing a role was beyond her at the moment, when her emotions were raw and he was standing there, his hands clenched in fury.

Panic-stricken, she darted toward the door.

“Emily, no!” he growled as he lunged toward her.

But he was too late to prevent her. Praying that the guard was still there, she pounded furiously on the door and shouted, “We’re ready to leave! You can let us out now!”

“Yes, milady,” a muffled voice answered.

Relief coursed through her at the welcome sound of a key being inserted in a lock. Then Jordan pinned her against the door so hard she could feel his arousal against her backside. “Devil take you, Emily, we have to talk,” he hissed under his breath.

She shook her head violently. “Let go of me! I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” The door shuddered beneath her fingers. “Release me or I swear I’ll scream.”

He hesitated, his breath hot and hard against her cheek. She felt the guard trying to open the door, but Jordan still had her braced against it.

“Milady, is there something blocking the door?” the guard called out through the door. “I can’t seem to move it.”

She twisted her head to glare at Jordan, daring him to attempt keeping her in there. For a long moment, he glared back, and she feared he might actually do it.

Then with a curse he stepped away, allowing her to step away from the door, too.

It swung open at once. The guard looked suspiciously from Jordan to her. “Is everything all right, milady?”

She forced her voice to be calm. “Everything’s fine, thank you.” She walked out, grateful that there was no one else in this part of the museum at the moment.

“Wait!” Jordan said behind her.

She paused, all too aware of the guard’s gaze on her. “Yes?”

“You’ve left your bonnet and glove behind, Miss Fairchild,” Jordan said acidly.

She faced him slowly, hardly able to meet his implacable gaze. He held the items out, and she took them, not even bothering to correct him. It was silly to go on pretending with him. He knew who she was now.

The enormity of that fact suddenly struck her. She couldn’t just walk away, not without making some attempt to salvage the situation. She cast the guard a pointed look. “Excuse me, sir, would you give us another moment alone?”

The guard scowled at Jordan, whose missing coat and waistcoat surely demonstrated that something had been going on in the room besides simple admiration of the arts.

But if he noticed, he didn’t say anything.

With a curt nod in her direction, he turned away.

“All right. But I’ll be over here, miss, if you need me. ”

As he moved off a few paces, she forced herself to meet Jordan’s livid gaze. “I have a favor to ask of you. I have no right to it, I know, but I’m asking you …” She swallowed, staring down at her hands. “I’m entreating you not to tell anyone your … suspicions about me.”

“They’re not suspicions anymore, Emily.”

“I realize that. But only you know the truth, and I—”

“The truth?” Stepping toward her, he lowered his voice to a hiss. “I don’t know the goddamned truth. All I know is you’re masquerading as Lady Dundee’s daughter. I don’t know why or how or—”

“And I can’t tell you.”

He glowered at her. “Why the devil not?”

She drew on her glove, then forced herself to meet his gaze.

“It’s … complicated. But please believe me, I have good reason for this pretense.

If you reveal the truth to anyone—your friends, your servants, anyone at all—it could ruin not only my life, but the lives of several other people.

” She swallowed her pride. “I’m begging you.

If you care even a little for me, you’ll keep silent. ”

A muscle worked in his jaw. “You want me to keep silent, but you’ll give me no answers. Why are you doing this? Why be guided by Nesfield and his sister? What purpose does it serve? If you’d just tell me, I’d keep your secret!”

Yes, of course he would—except for where it concerned his good friend, Lord St. Clair.

She and Lady Dundee were so close to finding out who Sophie’s lover was, that Emily couldn’t risk frightening off their most likely suspect now.

Or suffering Lord Nesfield’s wrath. “I’m sorry, Jordan, I can’t tell you. It’s not my secret alone.”

“And if I refuse to keep quiet unless you tell me everything?”

Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them back. She would not let him see her cry. She wouldn’t! “Then the first person you’ll destroy is me. Isn’t it enough that you’ve taken my … virginity? Must you take everything else?”

Remorse filled his features, and his voice gentled. “I didn’t take your virginity. Your virtue is intact.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” she said in a whisper. “But it doesn’t change anything. I still can’t tell you.”

“Devil take it, Emily! Tell me, damn you!”

She cast him a pleading glance. “Why do you care so much about this? It has nothing to do with you.” He’d given her no indication that he’d ever been interested in Sophie, so there was no point in continuing to suspect him, no matter what Lord Nesfield thought.

“Keeping my secret won’t hurt you. Do you despise me so much for trying to fool you that you won’t rest until you destroy me? ”

His expression was stark, drawn. “I don’t despise you, for God’s sake. I could never despise you, and I certainly don’t wish to destroy you.”

“Then keep my secret.”

“Why can’t you trust me with the truth? Haven’t I proved I care about you?”

He could say that now? After what had just happened?

“Oh, yes, I heard how much you cared! ‘This isn’t romantic feeling, my dear,’” she quoted bitterly.

“‘It’s desire, pure and simple.’ You desire me, that’s all.

” She hugged herself, feeling the hurt slice through her again.

“No, you don’t even desire me! You desire that wanton Lady Emma!

Yet you want me to trust you with my entire future!

How dare you?” Tears began to stream down her face, and she wiped them away furiously.

“You have no right to ask that of me, you … you bastard!”

He groaned, his expression shifting from anger to guilt as he stepped forward, reaching for her.

Quickly, she backed away, stammering, “I … I have to go now. I d-dare not stay here any longer.” Turning on her heels, she hurried off.

“Please, Emily,” he bit out behind her. “Can’t we talk about this?”

She didn’t answer but kept on going, a fervent prayer tumbling from her lips as she hurried through the rooms. Dear God, don’t let him tell. If you’ll keep him from exposing me, I’ll never do anything like this again, I swear.

She only hoped God heeded the prayers of wantons.