Part 16 (1/2)

Her eyes widened as comprehension dawned: Marcus meant her to view his naked loins.

Her breath went shallow as he drew out his long member. Thick and darkly rigid, it jutted out from a sprinkling of crisp black hair at his groin. The sight of that huge, swollen arousal caused her throat to go dry, her stomach to contract.

”I presume you have never seen a naked man before,” Marcus remarked.

”No,” Arabella rasped.

”Are you shocked?”

Not shocked exactly, she thought dazedly. Despite her genteel upbringing, regardless of the dictates of modesty, she was captivated by the sight of him. Indeed, she would have liked to see all of Marcus naked. She suspected his body was far more beautiful than any other man's. Virile, masculine, hard, corded with lean muscle.

While she stared, he cradled his shaft, running his thumb over the blunt, velvety head. The casually erotic *

caress made her breath catch.

”You should watch as I pleasure myself,” he suggested.

Fascinated, she could do nothing else. Her eyes fixed on his loins, unable to look away, as he cupped the heavy sacs beneath his phallus.

”Of course this would be much more pleasurable with you,” Marcus said, curling his hand around his turgid length and squeezing.

Arabella inhaled a sharp breath when he began moving his hand slowly up and down, stroking himself.

”I'm imagining making love to you right now, sweet Arabella. It's very arousing.”

She swallowed hard. It was indeed arousing. She felt a shameful thrill at the intimate picture Marcus painted.

”Can you imagine having me inside you?” he asked as he gripped his heavy shaft harder. When she didn't reply, he raised his head. ”I would like very much to be inside you, Arabella.”

He met her eyes, held them intently, as deliberately he increased the pace of his strokes. Shortly his face became tense with control, the skin flushed, Arabella saw. The teasing glint in the blue depths darkened into something both primitive and powerful.

Her heart began to pound while an aching tightness coiled throughout her body. She could almost feel Marcus's lengthy shaft gliding slickly between her feminine folds...

His jaw locked as his fingers kneaded harder, sweeping up and down his tumescence in swift jerky motions. His breath was harsh and uneven...until his climax came abruptly.

Clenching his teeth, Marcus shut his eyes and arched against the explosive release. A low groan escaped him, but as his pulsing seed shot out, he captured the spurting milky liquid in his cupped palm.

Arabella watched, her heart thundering in her ears. Her body felt as if it had suddenly burst into flames with him.

When a moment later Marcus opened his eyes, he smiled. ”Regrettably, my little exercise in self-satisfaction is only a temporary solace. I still want you as fiercely as before.”

Arabella couldn't find the voice to respond. She was still staring at him, her lips parted, her breath shallow.

He took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his hand clean, then quite calmly refastened his breeches. She remained speechless even when he sat up and fastened his gaze on her still bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Then he reached up to brush her nipples with his thumbs, making her gasp again. ”Now that you know the kind of pleasure you can feel,” Marcus murmured, ”you will be antic.i.p.ating our lovemaking with relish.”

Before she could deny his prediction, he drew up her chemise and then her muslin bodice to cover her *

b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”However, we don't need to debate the issue now. Finish your wine, sweetheart, so I may take you home. You have another cla.s.s to give this afternoon, remember?”

”Y-yes...I remember.”

Arabella shook herself. She did have a cla.s.s later today, yet her dazed mind had trouble concentrating on such mundane matters when she could still feel the erotic stroke of his hands and mouth on her body, still imagine his hard flesh moving inside her. Marcus had given her a stunning experience she would never, ever forget....

Arabella felt herself frowning as she readjusted her clothing into some semblance of decency. It wasn't his lovemaking that was so troubling, she suddenly realized. It was that for the first time in her life, she could begin to understand her mother...why her mother had succ.u.mbed to the incredible pleasure an attentive lover could bring.

Of course, she would never fall in love and lose her head over a man the way her mother had done, Arabella vowed. She would never destroy her family for the sake of her own amorous gratification, no matter how rapturous.

Her gaze went to Marcus as he gathered up the remains of their picnic.

But at least now, however, she could wholly understand the temptation.

Chapter Eight.

I must concede I was mistaken about the earl. He has some redeeming qualities after all.

-Arabella to f.a.n.n.y ”Roslyn, Lily...whatever are you doing here?” Arabella asked when she found her sisters waiting in the academy's reception office where she and the headmistress conducted the business of running the school.

”You are not scheduled to teach any cla.s.ses this afternoon.”

”We came to discover how you are faring,” Roslyn replied, a look of concern on her lovely face, ”and to see if you need our help. Since we couldn't very well visit you at home, we thought this would be the best place. Tess told us the alarming news, Arabella-that Lord Danvers actually proposed to you.”

”Yes,” Lily agreed, her expression even more troubled. ”How in heaven's name did that happen, Belle?

The earl has only been here for four days and already you are making outrageous wagers with him?”

Had Marcus only been here for four days? Arabella reflected in amazement. It seemed like far longer.

Debating on how much to reveal, she settled in a wing chair opposite her sisters. ”Did Tess also tell you *

the stakes involved? Lord Danvers promised to grant us our legal and financial freedom if I can manage to resist his courts.h.i.+p for a fortnight. The prospect was too enticing to pa.s.s up.”

”She told us,” Roslyn said. ”And we appreciate the sacrifice you are making for us-”

”But we are worried for you,” Lily interrupted. There was none of the usual laughter in her warm brown eyes. ”Tess says his lords.h.i.+p is sinfully handsome and charming.”

And enchanting and irresistible, Arabella thought.

Aloud, she sighed. ”Regrettably, he is. But I agreed to give him a fair chance to woo me.”

She proceeded to give her sisters an edited account of what had happened between them the past few days, leaving out entirely Marcus's lessons in pa.s.sion.

”This is our opportunity to win emanc.i.p.ation from his guardians.h.i.+p for good,” Arabella concluded.