Page 16 of Until the Rake Surrenders (Rogue Rules #5)

“ R ogues can change,” Evan insisted. The distress in Min’s eyes and in her voice tore through him more painfully than his ankle sprain ever had. “You’ve seen it. Your brother has changed. Wellesbourne has changed. Somerton has changed.”

Min did not appear moved. “You’ve been having an affair with this Mrs. Dalton, and she was here last week. Now you are returning to London. It doesn’t look to me as if you’ve changed.”

Evan blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Let us not have this conversation out here. We run the risk of creating our own scandal if anyone sees us standing alone in the dark at this hour. Can we go into the duke’s house?”

Min pursed her lips at him, then stalked toward her father’s house. Evan hurried to keep up with her and ignored the protest of his ankle. Min led him down the stairs at the front of the house to the lower level. She opened the door and walked inside, leaving him to close it.

They stood in a corridor that almost certainly led to the kitchen, but she didn’t take him there. Instead, she slipped into a narrow alcove with wine stored along one side. She folded her arms over her chest and glowered at him expectantly.

He joined her in the alcove. It was small enough that they could not face one another without almost touching, especially with her arms crossed. The wine was behind Evan. “I haven’t lied to you, Min. I just didn’t want to tell you what was happening, because…I’m embarrassed. I’ve made a terrible mistake, and it isn’t that I was having an affair with Mrs. Dalton. I barely know the woman. I was helping a friend.”

Min’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

Evan told her about Roger and why he’d wanted to help him. “You see, I could not ignore the opportunity to return his kindness.”

Her features softened a bit, but her brow remained furrowed. “So, you confessed that you were the one having the affair with Mrs. Dalton?”

“Yes, to protect Roger. I didn’t think it would amount to anything, and stupidly, I didn’t think people would care since some had started calling me a rake anyway.”

“And why is that?” Min asked. “I know you kissed Miss Forsyth in a garden and that you like to flirt. That’s not terribly rakish.”

“It is when you’re also known for daring pursuits,” he said with a faint grimace. “I’ve also done nothing to discourage that reputation from growing. I keep company with rakes and rogues, and the truth is that I like feeling as though I belong.” He suddenly realized he was always seeking connection with others. It was why he flirted with women and why he hated missing things. He liked to feel…included. “I suppose I enjoyed being part of a set, like with your brother and his friends in Weston.”

“So you’ve pretended to be a rake to make friends?”

“That’s rather simplifying things. I’ve fit in and found a place.”

“As a rogue.” She scowled at him briefly. “Why are you going to London?”

“To fix this mess.” He brushed his hand down the side of his face. “Mrs. Dalton came to Bath to tell me that Sir Abraham planned to file suit against me for criminal conversation in order to divorce her. I sent her back to London to try to persuade him not to do so. However, her efforts failed. Now I must reveal the truth to Sir Abraham.”

“As you should. A divorce would ruin you,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe you listened to me and Sheff talk about our father bringing the same sort of suit, and you didn’t say anything.”

“That is a terrible enough problem for both of you.” Evan looked at her with sympathy. “I wasn’t going to compound it by sharing my own troubles.”

“What about your friend?” Min asked. “The suit will ruin him, especially since he’s a barrister, I should think.”

“I plan to speak with my father and hope he can talk some sense into Sir Abraham. There’s no guarantee that the divorce would even be granted, so why drag everyone through the mud?”

Min cocked her head. “Are you saying Sir Abraham should just forgive his wife who betrayed him and act as if everything is fine?”

“Something like that,” Evan said. “I don’t know the specifics of their marriage, but Roger told me she is very unhappy. Sir Abraham is considerably older than she is. I imagine there are…areas where that could be challenging.”

“I’m inclined to be as outraged as Sir Abraham.” Min made a sound in her throat. “But then I am also sympathetic to someone who says they are unhappy. Now do you see why marriage terrifies me?”

He had known why she was inclined to dislike it, but he hadn’t seen that she was genuinely afraid. “I do.”

“I can’t believe you would even bring it up, as you did earlier when you were in the midst of all this…roguery. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t have the affair. You weren’t honest about it. Furthermore, you know what I want in a marriage, and you are not offering me that.”

He edged toward her so that his chest nearly met hers. “I know I handled this poorly, but I intended to tell you when I returned, when all this was behind me. Then I could look to the future—a future that I hoped to spend with you. I would be free to declare my love for you.”

Her nostrils flared slightly, but she did not soften. Indeed, her eyes were bright with outrage. “You’ve created a scandal, and you’ve lied to me. By your own admission, you didn’t want to complicate my life. You made that decision for me. How can we build a future on deception and selfishness? I’ve had far too much of that in my life.”

Evan felt as though he’d fallen from his horse again. The wind was completely knocked out of him, and he experienced a rush of something akin to panic. “I was trying to protect you. But I can see why you are upset. I should have been honest with you and let you decide whether we could remain friends.” He could not believe how badly he’d bungled this. “I don’t want to lose you, Min. That feeling of belonging I seek—it’s never been stronger than with you.”

“ Evan. ”

He braced his hand on the wall behind her. “I’ll go if you tell me to. But I don’t want to. I will prove to you that nothing and no one is more important to me than you.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment. He held his breath, praying she wouldn’t send him away.

“I have never been drawn to any man the way I am to you,” she whispered. “It scares me, I think. I don’t know what I will do if I lose you too.”

“You won’t lose me,” he vowed. “Not ever.”

“What about tonight? Will you stay?”

He lowered his head next to hers, putting his mouth near her ear. “What are you asking me for, Min?” His lips were tantalizingly close to her flesh. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest and practically hear the beat of her heart in her neck.

“What I asked you for earlier.” She gripped his waist beneath his coat with both hands and pulled him against her.

Evan nipped at her ear then kissed her neck, careful not to mark her though he wanted to. She lifted her chin, lengthening her neck so he had more area to taste.

She curled her fingers into his lower back just at the top of his backside. Evan moaned before he took her mouth in a blistering kiss. He pressed into her, rotating his hips. She arched against him, tugging at his shirt.

Desperate to feel her, Evan reached down to pull up her skirts. Her hand joined his, raising the layers of fabric to expose her leg. She held the gown and undergarments while he found the top of her garter. He skimmed his hand along her bare flesh, moving up her thigh and around to the back, where he gripped her and lifted her leg. He caressed her, his fingertips molding into her bare backside.

Her skirts were now bunched between them, frustrating him because he wanted to feel her against his cock. She seemed to understand and feel the same, for she gathered them at her waist. They were still too cumbersome for him to press as close as he wanted to be, but she was open to him now.

“Put your foot against the shelf behind me,” he instructed softly, his voice as ragged and tortured as he felt.

She did as he instructed, bracing herself so Evan could release her leg and move his hand between her thighs where he found the soft nest of her curls. He stroked his fingers along her crease, then kissed her again, long and thoroughly. She whimpered, clutching at his shoulder as her hips moved with his touch.

He increased his pressure and speed. Her thighs quivered. As he drove his tongue deep into her mouth, he slipped his finger into her sex. She twitched, and he slowed his movements.

“More,” she demanded between kisses.

“Not here.” He removed his hand from between her legs and guided her leg down so she could stand. “Where is your room?”

She stared up at him, her lips parted, her eyes dark with her pupils enlarged. “Second floor. We can take the servants’ stairs. But I don’t know if I can walk just yet.”

He smiled at her. “Then I will carry you.”

“You can’t. Not with your ankle.”

“You will find, my dearest Min, that there is nothing I won’t do for you.” He swept her into his arms and carried her from the alcove.

S omehow, Min had directed Evan to the right staircase. However, after the first flight, she’d demanded he set her down. “I will not be responsible for further injury,” she told him.

“If it means you at my bedside caring for me, I will have no quarrel.” He grinned at her with seductive promise, and she was unable to resist kissing him.

Evan swept her against him with a groan, and it was several minutes before they continued their ascent.

On the second floor, she opened the door and led him from the servants’ staircase, then froze.

“What is it?” he whispered.

She turned to face him. “I’m not entirely sure which room is mine. The footman said he would have a maid prepare it, but then I went outside to meet you.”

“Are we in danger of encountering someone?”

“I suppose we may run into a servant, but my father and Mrs. Welbeck are on the first floor.”

“We’ll be careful,” Evan said before waggling his brows. “What an adventure.”

He moved in front of her and went to the first door. It was a bedchamber, but did not appear to have been prepared—there was no fire, and the bed was not fully dressed.

“Not this one,” she whispered before moving on to the next.

The second chamber was the one—it had a freshly stoked fire. And there were bedclothes. They were pink and floral.

She walked in, and Evan chuckled as he closed the door.

“Your favorite decorating scheme,” she said with a smile as she removed her gloves and tossed them on a chair near the hearth. Turning to face him once more, she moved so that her skirt swirled about her ankles. “And it matches my gown, which you surely loathe.”

“I don’t dislike pink at all when you’re wearing it.” He moved toward her. “Indeed, your lips are a delectable shade of pink, as are your cheeks, particularly after I kiss you or say something naughty.”

“I don’t recall anything you’ve said that’s particularly improper.”

“I’ve definitely thought plenty of inappropriate things, and I am doing so right now. I do wonder what else about you is pink.” He pulled her into his arms. “I look forward to finding out. Pink may very well become my favorite color.”

He kissed her and cupped her nape, his fingers tangling in her hair. She reached up and began to pull at the pins, holding them in her hand as she loosened the locks. He grabbed a length of her freed hair and tugged gently.

Then he lifted his head and stared down at her while she finished taking the rest of the pins out. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

Min deposited the pins on a dressing table with a mirror and kicked her slippers from her feet. She slipped her earrings off and set them next to the pins.

Evan came up behind her, and she could see him in the mirror, his head bent toward hers as he nuzzled her hair.

“Will you unfasten my necklace?” She lifted her hand and swept her hair to the side.

He did as she asked and dropped the necklace on the table, his arm grazing hers. His gaze met hers in the mirror. “Is there anything else I can unfasten?”

“The hooks on the back of my gown. There aren’t very many.” Because the bodice was very short, with the waistline coming nearly to the underside of her breasts.

Evan’s arm was still lightly touching hers. He skimmed his fingertips along her flesh, up past her elbow, until he met the sleeve of her gown.

She shivered where he’d touched her and recalled the way he’d used his fingers in the wine cupboard. Her sex tingled as she anticipated him continuing what he’d started.

He unfastened the hooks of her gown, and Min brought the garment forward so she could pull her arms from the sleeves. She pushed it down to the floor and stepped out of the circle it formed as it pooled.

Before she could retrieve the gown, Evan swept it up and took it to the chair, where he gently laid it over the back.

“You could be a lady’s maid,” she said as she untied her petticoat.

“Only for you.” His eyes glinted seductively as he removed his coat and laid it atop her gown.

“Then come help me.” Min wriggled out of her petticoat, and he rushed to take it from her. Then she presented her back to him so he could loosen the laces of her corset.

Again, she moved her hair, sweeping it over her left shoulder. He tugged at the laces, but then she felt his lips against the back of her neck. She closed her eyes as he kissed from her nape to the top of her chemise, his mouth tracing along her spine. He slipped the straps from her shoulders, then pushed the corset down her body before taking it away.

Min turned to face him as he returned. Without his cravat, an alluring triangle of his near-olive skin was exposed to her gaze. She longed to touch his flesh and feel him against her.

“Should we get into the bed now?” she asked.

“If you like.” His voice was husky, his expression hungry.

She held his gaze as she moved around to the side of the bed and climbed onto the mattress. Unsure of what to do, she knelt there as he followed her path and stood beside the bed. Min pivoted to face him.

“Sit.” He clasped her waist as she moved her legs toward him and sat flat on the coverlet. “Closer,” he whispered, tugging her toward him. “And part your legs around me.”

She opened her legs so that he stood between them. He thrust his hands in her hair and held her head as he kissed her. His thumbs stroked her cheeks while he plundered her mouth.

Min placed her hands against his chest. He was warm even though his shirt separated her flesh from his. Eager to touch him directly, she moved her hand up and slid it into the open collar of his shirt. He released her momentarily so he could remove his shirt. This time, he did not carefully retrieve the garment and take it to the chair with the rest of their things. He cast it aside and reached for her once more.

He kissed her, then looked into her eyes. “You must tell me if you want me to stop. Or if you don’t like something.”

“What if I do like it? What if I want more or…something?”

His lips spread into a heart-stopping smile. “You must tell me that too. I would say loudly, but I suppose we don’t want to alert the household to my presence.”

“No, we don’t want that,” she murmured. “I should like you to continue what you were doing in the wine cupboard, please.”

Evan moved one hand to her thigh. He gripped the chemise that still covered her there and pushed it up to her waist. “I will. But first, if you will humor me, I have long wanted to see your breasts.”

“I hadn’t realized.” Min found the drawstring at the neckline of her chemise and loosened it. With her finger, she pulled it down to reveal one breast. “Is that better?”

His gaze fixed on her naked breast, and his lips parted. “Lovely.” He lifted his hand to her and cupped her flesh.

Sensation shot through her. It was a simple touch, but she felt the electricity of it everywhere. His fingertips stroked her nipple, and she felt that directly in her sex. The pulse that had started there when he’d kissed her at the Upper Rooms intensified. She gasped.

He closed his fingers around her then, lightly pinching. There was no pain, just a more insistent ache that needed satisfying.

“More,” she rasped.

He lowered his head and kissed her where his hand had been. His lips feathered her skin as he held her. Then his mouth closed over the nipple, and he suckled her.

Min grasped his head as her world tilted. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the dizzying sensations. She cast her head back and was soon leaning backward. A moment later, she was flat against the mattress with Evan bent over her. He brought her hips closer to the edge of the bed, and she felt him press against her bare sex.

Her eyes flew open, and she looked up at him. His eyes were slitted as he rotated his hips against hers. As much as she’d loved him touching her breast, this was even better.

He pushed her chemise up, and together, they took it over her head. As with his shirt, he simply threw it to the side. Then he untied her garters and slipped her stockings off, letting them fall to the floor. He thrust his hips into hers, and she met him, realizing that was his sex, hard and long, beneath his fall.

As he rubbed against her, she closed her eyes again and moaned softly. Then his mouth was on her other breast, drawing on her nipple so that she arched up from the bed. She clutched at his head and whimpered as the passion she’d sought ravaged through her.

He stroked her sex again, his fingers sliding along her folds as he’d done earlier. When he touched that spot at the top, her body shuddered with need. She could feel something building and knew it was the release Persey had told her about. But Persey hadn’t told her everything, and Min hadn’t expected she would feel the same. Why would she when no man had ever aroused her in the slightest?

Evan, however, was making up for that. Min began to quiver, her body pulsing with overwhelming sensation. He moved his mouth to her other breast and continued to tease her sex. At last, he slid his finger inside her as he’d done earlier—that was what she craved, what she needed. She bent her legs, opening herself to him completely.

His mouth left her breast as he kissed down her abdomen. He kept descending, and she couldn’t imagine he meant to keep going. But he did, until his mouth met his hand. He licked at her sex as he pumped his finger into her. Pleasure pulsed through her, and she surrendered to her body, letting it move as it would. She thrust her hips and cast her head back.

Evan gripped her hip, his fingers curled around her backside and digging into her flesh. He held her steady as his lips and tongue drove her to the brink of control. She writhed on the bed, unable to stop herself from careening wildly into an unknown release. He stroked her hard and fast until her muscles tightened, and she broke apart.

Min cried his name, then clapped her hand over her mouth as she recalled what he’d said about alerting the household. She whimpered into her hand as wave after wave of ecstasy washed over her. Evan did not cease his attention until she began to float down from the impossible heights she’d reached.

Working to catch her breath, she opened her eyes. He stood next to the bed, his gaze fixed on her. His lips curled into a devastating smile. “I should let you sleep now.”

He started to turn. Min scrambled to sit up and grasped his arm. “Wait. You can’t leave.”

“I can’t spend the night,” he said with a chuckle.

“But that isn’t everything.” She frowned at him rather exaggeratedly. “I told you I wanted everything.”

His features tightened as he appeared to be in pain. “We should not.”

Min slid from the bed and stood in front of him. She put her hands on his bare chest, her fingertips grazing the dark hair in the center. “I won’t let you leave.”

She recalled what he’d said to her earlier, about her telling him if she wanted him to stop. Perhaps Evan wanted to leave. Taking her hands from him, she dropped her hands to her side. “Unless you want to.”

“I don’t.” His answer was low and hoarse.

She met his gaze. “What do you want to do?”

“Wicked, sinful things.”

“Show me.” Min took his hand as she returned to the bed.

“You’re sure?”

“Never more.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re wearing too many clothes, I think.”

“Definitely.” He tore off his remaining garments and joined her on the bed.

She couldn’t help staring at his sex. “May I touch you?”

“Please.” He stretched out beside her on his side with his head propped on his hand, and she rolled to face him.

Tentatively, she wrapped her fingers around his length. His flesh was softer than she would have imagined, which was silly. It wasn’t as if he went around with it exposed to the elements. “What you did to me with your mouth… Is that something I should do to you?”

“You could,” he said slowly. “But perhaps for now, we should start with something…simpler.”

Min stroked his shaft. “Can it be that complicated to put my mouth on you? Is there some special technique?”

“Er, no. I suppose it is rather easy.” He closed his eyes and moaned as she continued to move her hand along his length.

“You seem to like this,” she said, enjoying the pleasure written in the lines of his face.

“Immensely. You could move your hand even faster if you like.”

Min complied, stroking him from the base to the tip with increasing speed.

“Or not,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t want to spend myself in your hand. But perhaps I should.”

Spending himself meant going through what she had. But he would also spill his seed. “Yes, I imagine it’s preferable if you do not come—is that the right word, I think it is—inside me. However, you can start that way, can’t you?” She tried to remember what Persey had told her.

He opened his eyes and looked into hers. “Is that what you want?” He ended the question by sucking in his breath as she moved her hand to the soft sacs underneath his shaft.

She cupped them gently, massaging him before returning to his cock. “Yes.”

Evan came over her, pushing her to her back and settling himself between her legs. “I can’t wait another moment.” He stroked her sex, his fingertips gliding through her folds. “You’re wet again,” he murmured.

“That’s good?”

“It makes things much easier. Though, I’ve ways to make you wet.” He gave her a wicked smile.

“It seems as though there is a great deal to this. How many variations to sexual intercourse are there?”

“Endless,” he hissed as he positioned himself at her opening. “Ready?”

Min wrapped her legs around his hips. “More than.”

He thrust into her, moving slowly, methodically, as he buried himself within her body. When he was fully seated, she felt uncomfortable, but not painfully so.

“All right?” he asked, brushing a kiss against her temple.

“I think so. Is that it?”

He laughed. “No. I was giving you a chance to get used to this feeling before I start to move. I’m going to pull out.” He did so, removing himself from her sheath. “Then slide back in.” He slid forward, filling her once more.

“Like you did with your finger. And your tongue. But this is different. Perhaps even better.”

He withdrew and thrust again. Then again. He began to move faster, his body crashing against hers.

“Definitely better.” She dug her heels into his backside, eager for every thrust. She clutched at his back and shoulders as pleasure built within her once more. They moved together, and she was reminded of a horse and rider who were perfectly trained to ride as one.

“Min, I have to—” He groaned loudly as her muscles clenched around him.

Then he was gone from her, his sex replaced by his hand as he worked her flesh. Somehow, she realized he would need the same assistance, and she reached for his cock. She wrapped her hand around him and stroked him as she’d done before.

“Faster, Min,” he begged, and the ecstasy roiling through her shot even higher.

At last, he cried out, and she felt warmth on her hip.

Their breath came hard and fast as their movements slowed. Evan collapsed beside her and gathered her into his arms. He kissed her as long as their breathlessness would allow.

Min laid her head against his chest and listened to his heart slow. It lulled her into a drowsy state, and she closed her eyes. She’d no idea how long they lay together entwined.

“Min?” Evan whispered.

“Mmm.” She was too sleepy to form words.

“I meant what I said earlier tonight—at the Upper Rooms. I do want to marry you, and when I return from London, I will ask you properly.”

His words brought her awake, but she didn’t move. She opened her eyes and tried to keep her pulse steady. She didn’t know what to say.

Earlier, when they’d been in the wine cupboard, he’d mentioned declaring his love. But he hadn’t done so. Much like he hadn’t asked her to marry him. She wasn’t sure what he was about, but she also didn’t want to discuss it right now. After the most amazing experience of her life—and with all the turmoil surrounding both of them—she just wanted to relish this moment. She didn’t want to think of the past or the future. There would be plenty of time for that.

Min allowed her eyes to close once more.

Evan stroked her back, his fingertips gliding along her spine. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Good night, Min.”

She ought to make sure he would leave without being seen, but she trusted him to escape undetected. So, she surrendered to sleep and vowed she wouldn’t dream. Tonight, at least, her dreams had already come true.