Page 15 of When Jess Wainwright’s Curiosity Was Satisfied (Wainwright Sisters #4)

Chapter Fifteen

J ess knew what she should do. And it wasn’t letting him assume she was in his thrall. Emily had trained them all in self defense, but Jess had no desire to thrust her knee between his legs. She wanted to indulge in experimentation. To test her effect on him as much as he was testing his effect on her.

She shifted against his thigh and tipped her chin up. “I dare you to try, Mr. Morgan.”

“You should know by now, dragonfly, that I never refuse a dare. No matter how reckless it is,” he said as he hitched her more firmly against him.

When he captured her mouth, his assault was ruthless. His lips nipped at hers, demanding entry. Merciless and unforgiving of any misgivings she still harbored. She met his demands with her own. To be seen and recognized and acknowledged. In the spaces she occupied now. With no expectation of her conformity to those she wanted to cast aside and ignore.

Her lips were just as savage. She bit his bottom lip when he stroked his tongue across hers. She tangled her fingers in the unruly tousle of curl at his nape and yanked his head closer. When his tongue stroked into her mouth she quelled the feral urge to bite it in half and welcomed his exploration with one of her own.

“So this is to be a duel,” he murmured into the kiss.

Jess pulled back just far enough to answer him. “Not a duel, a battle. I’m changing the terms of our wager. If I leave you panting for more, Morgan, you’ll give me two lenses instead of one.”

She could just make out his gleeful smile. “The dragonfly shows her claws.”

“Dragonflies don’t have claws, you idiot,” she said.

“It was a figure of speech, madam. To let you know I welcome your little aggressions.”

Her little aggressions? She’d show him exactly how minuscule her aggressions were. She lowered her hand to grapple against his waist. He was tumescent against the fall of his trousers and she grazed him there with the back of her hand. A light, teasing, purposeful touch that made him surge against her.

“I don’t think we have much time until we’re discovered,” she said as she grazed him again.

He grunted something incoherent in response and pressed her even more forcefully against the wall at her back.

She removed the hand at her waist and set it against her breast.

“I accept your invitation,” he growled and molded her against the searing warmth of his palm. She could feel it beneath the layers of her gown and her half-corset and her chemise. As keenly and sharply as she felt him swell against her own palm when she stroked his length with the delicate touch of a single, slender finger.

“It wasn’t an invitation, it was a challenge. I think I can make you fall apart before you do the same to me. You’re closer to the edge, blackguard.”

“Blackguard? You’ve yet to see that side of me.”

His whole body was now flush against hers, her hand crushed between them, his thumb and forefinger a ruthless caress on her breast, tweaking and tugging while they fought for dominance of the kiss.

He sipped at her lips with abandon, and he was as lost to the feel of it as she was. Jess felt as if she were drowning in the spice and heat and danger of him. She wedged her hand free and slid it beneath the hem of his shirt. When she stroked his abdomen, the rigid fortress of muscle quivered, far from invincible. She smiled slyly at the evidence of his weakness.

He was just as affected by the passion unfurling between them.

His caresses ceased and he began fumbling at her bodice, as if he was too impatient to loosen it from the back. She placed her hand in the middle of his chest and shoved.

He resisted before he let her go, with a nearly inaudible groan as his head thumped against the side of the wardrobe.

“We’re done here. Your control has abandoned you and I still firmly hold the reins of my own.”

His eyes glittered in the near darkness, and she could see that his lips were as plump and swollen as hers felt. As if she'd been stung. Which perhaps she had.

“Well-played, dragonfly. If you consent to visit me tomorrow, I’ll surrender another lens.”

They heard the thunder of feet at the same time and flung themselves into the opposite corners of their hiding places in the nick of time.

Callie and Rissa yanked open the door and shouted, “We found you!”

Cadoc threw her a hooded glance before he stepped out. “You have indeed found us,” he said. “And none too soon,” he muttered under his breath.

“Hullo, girls.” Jess greeted them with a jaunty salute.

Rissa cocked her head. “Auntie Jess, your hair looks like you were wrestling with someone.”

Jess’s hand flew to her hair. It was barely pinned. She glowered at her partner in crime as he smirked. “I didn’t realize I looked so ramshackle.”

Callie looked her up and down with an unapologetic perusal reminiscent of her stepmother. Arie had taken Thad’s girls under her wing and Jess could see her influence. “You might want to straighten your gown and fix your hair before our mother sees you.”

“She insists on making us change or take a bath when we look as rumpled as you,” Rissa said.

“I’ll assist you in your bath,” Cadoc’s offer was too low for the girls to hear.

“What did you say about a bath, Mr. Morgan?”

Of course her nieces were possessed of excellent hearing. And were probably expert eavesdroppers. Jess turned to the man just beyond her shoulder. “Yes, do tell all of us what you said about a bath, Mr. Morgan,” she said as she crossed her arms.

“I said wrath, not bath. I was agreeing that it might not be advisable to incur the wrath of your stepmother.” His recovery was swift and the smirk he leveled in Jess’s direction as he offered an explanation to her nieces was infuriating.

“Well, your room is here, so you should go make yourself presentable, Aunt Jess,” said Callie.

“I’ll do that before I meet you downstairs for our gift exchange.”

Rissa came to a staggering halt and grabbed her sister’s arm to remain upright. “We get presents besides the ones we received in our stockings this morning?”

Jess nodded. “I know there are some packages for you under the tree. And you already know that Mr. Morgan was kind enough to bring oranges for us to enjoy.”

“Don’t forget the chocolate,” he muttered as the girls scampered away.

“I’m not,” she said with a devilish grin. “I’ve decided the chocolate is your present for the adults to enjoy.”

“If you’d like me to give you something to enjoy…”

“You’re incorrigible. Go downstairs and try to win the approval of my family.”

He sketched a bow. “By the time you return, I’ll have them eating from the palm of my hand.”

“It isn’t a bear taming, Mr. Morgan.”

“The size of your two brothers-in-law would suggest otherwise.”

“Though you may not have their formidable height, Mr.Morgan, I’m confident you can hold your own,” Jess said as she swept him a curtsy in return.

She felt his gaze on her as she walked away. Likely on her rump because he was a rogue of the first degree.

Jess’s reflection in the tiny mirror above her washstand filled her with dismay. It was no wonder her nieces had pointed out her dishabille. She looked thoroughly ravaged. Thank goodness they hadn’t the discernment to comment on her beestung lips and flushed collarbones.

Despite the havoc the armoire interlude had wrought with her appearance, Jess was pleased with its outcome. Cadoc Morgan might boast about his ability to make her family eat from the palm of his hand, but she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt she’d had him eating out of hers. She was the indisputable champion of their latest bout.

The key to turning Mr. Morgan’s world upside down was meeting him with a fierceness of one’s own. As she smoothed and repinned her hair, Jess contemplated what her discovery meant for their future interactions.

If she was able to keep him as imbalanced as she had today, she would have her microscope back in her possession before the holidays ended.

Once she was satisfied that everything was put back to rights and her sisters would suspect nothing was amiss, she made her way down to the parlor.

Vin raised a brow at her delayed entry, but didn’t comment. It would have been impossible to hear her over the hubbub of the children. They each had a small stack of packages in front of them that they were ripping open one by one. They looked like wild creatures.

Cadoc had joined Thaddeus and Cormac on the floor and all three were romping around offering to be destriers. The girls were screeching with laughter as they threw ribbons and paper at them, and the men were snorting as if they were trying to dodge the ammunition exuberantly flung in their direction.

Her thief was doing his damnedest to win over her family. Jess had only been half serious when she suggested he do so- because their close association was ephemeral and she doubted it would become one of long standing.

When she took a seat on the sofa, he glanced up from his place on the floor. His irrepressible grin hit her squarely in the chest because it was carefree and brimming with boyish charm. From the little he had told her of his life, she doubted he’d had many chances for romps such as this.

His willingness to play hobby horse was obviously ingratiating him to Jess’s family, and she shuddered at the mere thought of the conversation that would be demanded when he left their company.

Once Jess took a seat beside her, Arie wasted no time. “Your Mr. Morgan appears to know his way around a nursery.”

Well, that hadn’t taken long. Though Jess knew Arie’s intentions were kind, they needled. Arie had always been something of a brooding hen - and now Jess felt like she was the object of all that clucking.

“Yes, he’s quite accustomed to taking charge of a situation. Whether or not he’s qualified to do so.”

“He confided that he raised his siblings. Thad is probably the only one of us with more experience.”

“He’s not a marriage prospect, Arie. As much as you want him to be.”

Jess’s sister sighed at her harsh tone. “I didn’t say he was, Jess. I was simply making an observation.”

“An unwelcome and inappropriate observation. Leave it alone.”

“Fine. I’ll just leave you with this -” Arie paused dramatically. “The air in the room simmers between you and I've never seen you look at someone that way.”

“The way I look at him is no different than the way I look at one of my preening male dragonflies.”

Arie harrumphed. “If you say so.”

As if he sensed he was the topic of their conversation, Cadoc lumbered to his feet and made his way over to her chair. “Miss Wainwright, the hour grows late and I have much to do in my workshop. I will take my leave of you.”

Jess rose to her feet. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

As soon as they were out of earshot, she grabbed his forearm. “Where is the lens you promised you would deliver?”

His hand went to his pocket and she saw the flash of one of the concave mirrors before he closed his fist. “Here.”

Jess’s hand flailed to reach it, but he easily held it out of reach.

“You owe it to me,” she bristled. “Those were the terms.”

“I’ll give it to you if you grant me a Christmas boon.”

She braced her hands on her hips. “I think I’ve granted you enough favors for one day.”

His arm slid around her waist and pulled her into him, before she had a chance to protest. The touch of his lips was fleeting, but the close darkness of the closet came rushing back to her, and she was on the verge of looping her arms around his neck when he stepped away. He pointed at the mistletoe hanging from the archway above their heads. His thumb scraped over her bottom lip as he grinned. “Thank you for my favor.”

He eased her hand into his own and closed it around the lens.

He tipped his hat in her direction once he was bundled against the cold. Jess gave him a sharp nod in return that made him grin before the door shut behind him. Once he’d vacated her space, the shadows seemed longer and the chill in the air felt more pronounced. Jess rubbed her elbows to dispel her melancholia.

It didn’t work. She needed more distraction and something to subdue the riot of her thoughts and the herd of reindeer galloping through her stomach. When she’d taken control in the wardrobe everything had slowed to the speed of molasses. Perhaps if she demanded he finish what they’d begun in the library, she could finally have a restful night.

Jess decided she’d pay a visit to Cadoc Morgan once the rest of the house was snug in their beds.