The Mistress Contract, page 18
‘Remember me, Sephy?’
It was said with confidence, but as Sephy glanced up for a moment it was clear she had no idea who he was, and then Conrad had whisked her away to the gleaming white Rolls-Royce he had hired to take them to the most exclusive hotel in the district where he had arranged a reception for family and friends and half the village.
David Bainbridge’s eyes followed the car as it left the village green and his eyes, already bloodshot with the alcohol he’d consumed in large quantities daily since his father had lost all the family wealth on the Stock Exchange, were puzzled. That wasn’t the girl he remembered; this one was a beauty. And she’d ignored him! Damn it, she hadn’t even recognised him. And everyone had seen it.
But Sephy wasn’t thinking about David Bainbridge, or anyone else but Conrad, as the rest of the day unfolded hour by entrancing hour. After a wonderful meal they danced the evening away, and Conrad was mean enough not to share her with anyone. Which suited the new Mrs Quentin just fine.
And then the evening drew to a close, all the guests were gone, and it was just the two of them alone in the magnificent bridal suite the hotel boasted.
They undressed each other slowly, and Sephy was surprised to find she felt no shyness as she stood naked before him. Perhaps the wonder and love in his eyes had something to do with it.
His passion was restrained at first, sensuous and coaxing as he held her close to him and stroked and petted her, his lips covering her face in tiny burning kisses before moving to her throat and then her breasts, teasing their peaks into taut hardness with his mouth and tongue.
When he finally lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the huge four-poster bed she was trembling and moist, her hands roaming over the hard-muscled wall of his chest as he leant above her for a moment, his blue eyes open and loving as he allowed her to look into his soul. ‘I love you, my sweet wife,’ he whispered softly. ‘More than you could ever know.’
‘Oh, Conrad…’ She gripped his shoulders, pulling him down on her as she took his mouth with touchingly inexpert hunger.
‘Shush, my darling, slowly, slowly,’ he murmured with a faint touch of laughter in his voice. ‘This has to be right for you.’
And then he took her into a time of pure enchantment, his lips warm as they kissed every inch of her body and his tongue entering all the secret places until she was crying out with abandoned pleasure, her body surging against his hands and mouth as she arched and pleaded for the release only he could give.
But still his control held, even though his body was betraying the fact that his desire was white-hot, as he continued to bring her to the very brink of fulfilment time and time again, only to draw back at the crucial moment and then begin the passionate ritual again.
When he finally possessed her he had brought her to fever-pitch, and the feel of him inside her, the knowledge that she was joined body and body to the man she loved with all her heart, made the exquisite physical pleasure unbearable.
As she felt his body convulsing with hers in perfect unity Sephy found herself transported to the outer spaces of time, a place where there was no tomorrow and no past, just a consuming present that utterly possessed her.
It was much later when she stirred in his arms, turning her head to open heavy-lidded eyes as she looked at him. And the devastating blue eyes were waiting for her, his voice slightly uneven as he said, ‘Thank you, my darling. Thank you for giving yourself to me so completely.’
‘I never guessed it was so…’ She could find no words to describe the ecstasy. ‘Is it always like that?’ she asked dazedly.
‘Never before. Not for me,’ he whispered against the silky skin of her cheek before taking her mouth in a kiss that was tender beyond description. ‘But I promise you, my darling, it will be like that for both of us from this night on.’
And Conrad Quentin had never been a man to break a promise.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0457-7
THE MISTRESS CONTRACT
First North American Publication 2001.
Copyright © 2000 by Helen Brooks.
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Helen Brooks, The Mistress Contract
