The Devil May Care (Brotherhood of Sinners #1) by Lara Archer Page B

he said, shaking his head. “No, truly, I never did.”
    “But she and I are identical.”
    He gave a quick, hoarse laugh. “No. No, sweetheart, you most certainly are not identical.”
    That alarmed her in a completely different way. “But . . . I look exactly like her. You told me so yourself. Mawbry and Helm and Jenny all said so. For this mission to succeed, I must look exactly like her.”
    “Calm yourself, love,” he said, running a soothing hand down her cheek. “You do look like her. In the eyes of other people, you’re quite indistinguishable. But I knew her. Better than anyone else did. And spending the time I’ve spent with you for the past few days . . . well, there are differences to my mind. Very distinct differences.”
    “What differences?”
    “Impossible to express. But trust me when I say . . . ” He wrapped his hands about her hips again and drew her tight against him, against his still hard-swollen flesh. “That this was not the reaction I had to Sal.”
    “Oh.”
    “And this ,” he said, pressing the softest of kisses to her lips, “is not something I ever wished to do with her.”
    “ Oh .”
    He pulled his head back from her, his expression almost sleepy now, his gaze unfocused. “So, if you have no further objections, I’d very much like to proceed with what we were doing before.”
    “Yes,” she said, trying to ignore the odd swell of joy that seemed to be rising through her. “Yes, please do.”
    His eyes found their focus again, their familiar charming sharpness, and he grinned. “I live to please.” His hands slid back to the closure of her bodice, to the stiff little panel sewn in to the fabric just beneath her shoulder blades. “These gowns of Sal’s are so cleverly engineered,” he said. “They lift the breasts enticingly when closed, even with no stays beneath, and yet are made to open easily to an ardent gentleman’s fingers. Thank goodness.”
    Her heart pounded dangerously hard, surely hard enough to burst the fastenings if Sebastian weren’t quick enough. But he was quick, very quick, his breathing roughening as he tugged the loosened sleeves down from her shoulders.
    “Lift your arms out,” he commanded, and the moment she complied, he tugged the whole bodice down, baring her to the waist. Her freed breasts tingled, her nipples hardened instantly to peaks.
    “Damnation,” he swore, taking in the sight of her. “Look at you. You are perfect.”
    She had to fight the impulse to cover herself, and gripped his upper arms to keep her hands from moving across her chest. The sensitive place between her legs still pressed the front of him, and she could have sworn she felt the hard bulge there pulse against her—or maybe that was her own flesh pulsing.
    The cool air around her should have left her chilled, but she felt warm everywhere, on the verge of bursting into flame.
    Suddenly, Sebastian’s hands didn’t seem quite as steady as before. He stroked his palms up her ribcage and molded them around her breasts, squeezing lightly. His thumbs and forefingers pressed in towards her nipples, almost pinching, and sending shocks of pleasure down her arms and down into her belly.
    His hands were large and strong, large enough so that the sides of them pressed against her ribcage, and one soft nudge from them was all it took to make her rise up higher on her knees. Just high enough to bring her breasts in line with his mouth.
    “This,” he said, brushing his lips to one breast, “is one of the ways a man can give pleasure to a woman. It is only one of ways, but . . . ” He drew her nipple into his mouth now, catching it lightly with his teeth before releasing it again, and she moaned. “It is one of the most mutually delightful.”
    “Sebastian,” she cried as he suckled again, more fervently this time, alternating that with laving of his tongue. Just when she thought the sensations were almost unbearable, he shifted his head and did the same things to her