Bridal Favors - Engaged in Wickedness by Jade Lee Read Free Book Online

was nothing to him.
    He landed upon her, his groin pushed deep and hard against hers. Her night rail was askew, enough for him to see the curve of her breast and the darkened areola of her nipple, but not enough to grab hold. Not unless he ripped it.
    Her pulse was beating franticly in her throat, her cheeks were flushed bright red, and her lips were open on a gasp. But her eyes were shining bright and steady. She was frightened but she was also excited.
    His reason latched onto that fact, forced him to study her face and her reactions. He had made a study of her long before he'd purposely spilled lemonade on her gown. There was meaning here. Something he needed to understand. But only if she stopped moving beneath him. Only if she stopped wiggling her hips such that she set his blood on fire.
    "Stop moving!" he ground out.
    She froze everything but her face, which shifted into wariness. He closed his eyes, fighting with all his might to regain sense. He started to win. His body continued to burn, but his mind began to clear. He was in the wrong here. The very, very dishonorable wrong. He needed to—
    She shifted her hips, pulsing once up into him. Primal hunger shot through him, a need that had him pushing into her over and over. Thank God there was fabric between them. Thank God the sensations were muted otherwise nothing would have stopped him from taking her.
    He groaned, his left hand tightening on her wrists, high above her head. When had he trapped her like that? When had he shifted to put his right hand down to the buttons of his trousers?
    He looked into her eyes, saw wonder and horror burning there. "Why do you tempt me like this? Why do you play with fire?"
    Her eyes widened in shock. He saw a sheen of tears flood her beautiful eyes. And then she bit her lip, riveting his attention to her tiny teeth and the hot, wet recess of her mouth.
    He groaned again and shut his eyes. "Do you understand what is happening here? Do you know how easily I could destroy you? You should have screamed when you first saw me in your window!"
    She snorted. The sound was short and lacked all humor, and he felt the ripple of the movement throughout his whole body. "Who would come to my rescue? My father and brothers are out. My mother is insensate from laudanum. And even the servants are gone. After my father's last drunken rampage through the house, no maid will stay the night."
    He opened his eyes, searching her face for the truth. Was it possible? Did no one protect her? "What about the footman? The butler?"
    "The footmen never stay. That was Mama's decree. Our butler is in his bed on the far side of the house. I do not know that he would hear me scream."
    He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers. "You should not be telling me this. You should be screaming for your life."
    "Why? If you were going to hurt me, you would have done so already."
    Such naive logic. She did not know how quickly a man could change. Or how close he was to madness. Even now the open twist of her gown called to him. It would be the work of a moment to rip the thing apart and give him access to all of her.
    "May I ask you something, Edward?"
    He nearly laughed. She sounded as if they were at a tea party discussing the latest opera. But it tweaked his humor enough that he responded in kind.
    "Of course, Gwen. What would you like to know?"
    "Is it too dangerous to do what we did before?"
    He head was going to explode. The pressure of what she wanted, of her inviting him to do such things to her again, pounded through his body and brain. She wanted it. She wanted him. No man could be expected to stop when she asked such things.
    "Much too dangerous," he finally managed. Though it took all of his strength to say it.
    "Oh," she said softly, and he could feel her disappointment as her body sagged into the mattress.
    He started to laugh. "You will be the death of me."
    She lifted her chin, thrusting it forward in annoyance. "I hardly think you can say that,