She took command of herself with a firm hand, glaring at him boldly. "You're the one playing the ravishing barbarian. I thought he'd simply take what he wanted."
"Ah, ah, ah," he chided. "Say it. Will you let me kiss you there? And just so you are forewarned, my dear, it will be an exact reenactment of the one I bestowed upon your mouth."
Her clever little mind raced, but he could see the moment she capitulated. Or was it capitulation? For she looked at him with a boldness he'd not expected. "Never let it be said that I renege on the deals I make."
He barked a laugh. "No, never."
Under his touch, the slither of her silk skirts whispered up her thighs. The only thing she wore was her stockings, he saw immediately. White silk stockings with pretty pink garters. Ribbons and lace. Decedent and sensuous, in a place that only he would ever see.
"Were these for me?" He suddenly wanted the answer to be yes.
"Who else?"
But she swallowed and watched as he slowly, slowly slid her skirts higher. Pausing just before the apex of her thighs.
"Show me," he whispered, for the fun wasn't only in giving her pleasure, but making her concede.
Inch by inch her thighs widened, even as her breath caught in her chest. Adele closed her eyes at the last moment, the hem of her skirt hiding her from view.
"Wider," he whispered.
And, blushing prettily, she spread her thighs, revealing all.
He wanted to devour her.
He wanted to make her scream and beg, and concede this first round in the war between them.
Brushing his lips against her thigh, Malloryn breathed in her scent. A flinch went through her at the touch, but not one of denial. Instead, he heard her breathe in....
And then hold it.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered, his tongue darting out to taste her skin as he nudged her thighs wider.
He pressed a gentle, nuzzling kiss to her damp flesh.
"Malloryn." A single word. A moan.
Not quite a plea.
Not yet.
It would be.
Adele's spine arched, her thighs trembling as she clearly fought the urge to close them. Malloryn looked up the length of her body, delighted to see the heated flash of her green eyes upon him.
"Did you like the stroke of my tongue against yours?"
Her head thrashed back against the pillow, and she strained at his cravat. "Absolutely not. It was horrid."
Defiant until the end.
He laughed. "We'll see if you like this better then?"
Thumbs spreading her, he lowered his mouth and claimed her, his tongue plunging into the warm, wet heat of her. Adele cried out, her thighs clenching around his head, but there was no stopping him. Not now.
It was an echo of what they'd done with their mouths. A deep kiss, right at the heart of her, tongue lashing over the swollen, aching quiver of her clitoris as Adele gasped, and cursed, and writhed in her bonds.
Shock gave way to pleasure in her voice.
She was begging now, lifting to meet him, her hips arching. Splaying a hand over her abdomen, he pushed her down, and looked up the length of her body to see the damage he'd done written all over her expressive face.
Biting her lip, she threw her head from side to side. "Oh, my God."
Suckling her heated flesh, he gave himself over to the taste of her. Let himself take what he wanted in hungry, claiming caresses. Soft, helpless cries tore from her lips, urging him on.
He wanted her undone.
He wanted to punish her for going to Devoncourt last night after she'd challenged him in the garden.
He wanted to make her forget any other men who'd ever crossed her path....
His. She would belong to him and him only by the time he was through with her. Malloryn slowed, the rasp of his stubble branding her thighs as he pushed her right to the edge and felt it quiver within her.
Her fingers clenched and unclenched in their bonds, and her wrists strained white as she gasped and looked down, passion-drenched eyes bleeding a stormy, turbulent green.
Their gazes caught and held.
The shock of connection made him ache viciously as he nuzzled against her slick flesh. He wanted her to see him like this. Wanted her to know who brought such ruin upon her. Enemy agent or no enemy agent, he was suddenly determined to bring her to wrack and ruin.
But first....
"Say 'please,' Adele," he whispered, blowing cool air over her heated skin.
For a second he thought she wouldn't do it. Submitting wasn't in her nature. And he kissed her slowly, fingers sliding into her wet sheath as he tortured her with the promise of pleasure and never quite gave it to her.
"Please."
The word was torn from her.
"Oh, God. Please!"
Her release was just as wild and unfeigned as it had been in the carriage. Malloryn captured her hips, holding her spread beneath him as he licked and suckled and pushed her through a firestorm of passion.
A scream forced its way free of her as she came.
God, he wanted to tear his trousers open, free his straining erection, and plunge into her wet and willing body. He stayed with her through every ruinous moment, loving the helpless quakes her body made as he nuzzled her and ate at her.
And then she was collapsing back onto the mattress in a sprawl of sweat-dazed limbs and trembling aftermath.
Mine, he thought, with a dark smile.
He rose to his knees, ignoring the insistent press of his erection as he wiped his mouth. The musky taste of her stirred the darkness within him. His heart pounded, and all the blood rushed through his veins. Take her, whispered his hunger. She was right there, spread open like a flower beneath him.
But he hadn't won yet.
And he wanted her to know he'd beaten her at this little game.
"Delicious," Malloryn whispered as he tugged her skirts back down. "You make the prettiest noises."
"You bastard," Adele breathed, but it wasn't in fury. No, she looked soft and rumpled and delightfully undone.
It was difficult to see her as a ruthless spy while she lay on the bed like this.
Difficult to see her as anything more than a breathless wife just experiencing her first taste of passion. He very much wanted to explore further.