Page 64 of The Earl’s Forbidden Temptation

Even as he spoke, the image of Miss Darcy Whitley rose unbidden in his mind, her smile bright and unguarded, her gaze meeting his with a candor that lingered far longer than it should have. The thought sat uneasily beside his declaration.

Rebecca watched him for a moment, something thoughtful passing through her expression, though she did not press the matter.

Instead, she inclined her head. “Very well,” she said simply, before turning and walking away.

Sebastian closed the door and turned back into the room. The sight that met him drew his steps to a halt. Red sat at the center of the bed with the elaborate wig cast aside. A cascade of rich brown hair fell unbound about her shoulders, luminous in the firelight and framing her masked face with a natural beauty that struck him with quiet force.

For a moment, he said nothing. She regarded him steadily, a softness in her expression that had not been there before.

“I know how curious you are.” Red tucked a loose wisp of hair behind her ear. “I wished to give you one small piece of the woman beneath the disguise,” she said gently.

Sebastian moved toward her, slow and deliberate, his gaze never leaving her masked face. “Your hair is beautiful,” he said quietly. “Thank you.”

She smiled, almost shyly, and when he reached for her, she came into his arms with a softness and eagerness that captivated him entirely.

I am falling into something I scarcely understand, he admitted silently as his lover slipped a hand around his nape, drew him down, and captured his mouth in a sensual kiss, her tongue sliding against his.

When their mouths parted, she remained close enough that her breath warmed his lips.

“I know whatever this is between us…it is not permanent. And while I understand it is considered the privilege of gentlemen to take several lovers, whether they keep a mistress or even possess a wife, I would demand…fidelity.”

Her words settled heavily within Sebastian. No lover had ever asked such a thing of him. Fidelity was an expectation reserved for marriage vows, and even then, too many gentlemen of his acquaintance regarded those vows with remarkable flexibility.

An affair carried no such obligation. Neither he nor Red had promised the other permanence. By every rule governing such arrangements, she had no claim upon his fidelity.

Yet the demand did not offend him. More troublingly, he discovered that he wanted the same from her.

“If you do not agree to my outrageous demand,” she said, the slightest curve touching her mouth, “you must not blame me if I take another lover.”

Sebastian’s gut tightened. The reaction was immediate and wholly unreasonable. Everything in him recoiled at the thought of another man touching her, learning the secrets of her body, hearing those soft sounds she made when pleasure overcame her. The very notion awakened something dark and possessive within him that had no business existing in an affair they had already acknowledged must end.

“So you know your demand is outrageous.”

“Entirely,” she said with a low, sensual chuckle before kissing his chin and then his mouth.

Sebastian caught her there, holding her close for another lingering kiss before murmuring against her lips, “Then we shall be outrageous together. While you are mine, Red, I am yours. There will be no one else.”

Her eyes widened, as though she had not expected his agreement. “Truly?”

“Yes.” Sebastian smiled. “I shall not cease being my charming, flirtatious self. I fear the shock of such a transformation might prove too much for my heart.”

“Libertine,” she murmured with such tenderness that the word sounded almost like an endearment.

Then her mouth curved, and whatever remained of Sebastian’s restraint vanished. He caught Red against him and tumbled with her onto the bed, kissing her with a fierce, consuming passion as he tucked his already hardened cock against her softness. She slipped her arms around his neck and lifted her hips in instinctive want, pressing herself closer. He drove his cock deep in one smooth glide, a groan tearing from him at the impossibly tight fit of pussy around him.

The night of loving was far from over. Sebastian wanted to imprint every detail of her upon his senses, to learn every response and commit it to memory: the taste of her mouth, the scent of her skin, the sounds she made when pleasure stripped away her restraint, the feel of her body yielding beneath his. For whatever ending awaited them, he wanted the memory of Red seared so deeply into him that time could never diminish it.

She was not a woman he ever wanted to forget.

Several hours later, Sebastian stared at the printed words, the scandal sheet held loosely in his hand, as a cold weight settled in his chest. He had been damned careless.

Dearest readers, the elusive Earl of R, whom many ambitious mothers have long wished to see allied with their families, has, for several seasons, been celebrated as a rake with no inclination toward matrimony. It seems, however, that our earl has at last been caught, and by a lady entirely unknown to the ton. A Mrs. D. W., whose origins remain as mysterious as her sudden rise into notice.

Your devoted author has observed that His Lordship danced no fewer than four times with the lady at a recent ball, a display already bordering on the scandalous, and has since been seen in her company at Vauxhall Gardens and in Kensington Gardens. Such attentions cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence. Does this mean our elusive earl is finally caught? Is it a love match, or an arrangement of another sort? Rest assured, dear readers, this author shall endeavor to uncover the truth and will provide an update most promptly.

“Bloody hell.”

The words fell from Sebastian in a low mutter as he lowered the sheet, his jaw tightening. It had been more than a week since the midnight ball, and while he’d called upon Darcy and his sisters for several outings, he’d believed those attentions had gone largely unnoticed by those who made a profession of prying into the affairs of others. Darcy and his sisters possessed neither the rank nor social standing that ordinarily invited such scrutiny.