ThePleasureDevice by Regina Kammer Page A

with a rumbling growl, mewling her yearning approval. She was
an absolute natural at the game.
    He pulled back, panting, incredulous. “That was your first
time?”
    “Yes.” She was breathless. “I felt it.”
    “Felt what?”
    “Felt the kiss in…in other places.”
    Damn and blast! It was outright seduction. “Helena—Miss
Phillips, we mustn’t do that ever again—”
    “No,” she sighed.
    “We can’t. Two people in our positions—”
    “No.” It came out as a little moan.
    “You’re supposed to marry a duke.”
    “Or an earl.”
    She couldn’t possibly realize what those words meant to him.
He had to remind himself he was never going to be an earl, never going to have
the lovely Helena Phillips as his own.
    But right now she was his. He couldn’t stand it any longer.
He had to have her again.
    He reached for her, crushing his lips to hers in
desperation. This time she knew what to do and confidence gave her leave to
delve into her own cravings to touch and feel. Her hands wandered across his
waist, gliding along his chest, wrapping around his neck as he leaned her
against the crook of the old elm. He pressed his hips against her, and she
responded with a tilt of her own, rubbing along his painfully needful erection.
Their bodies undulated naturally, their mouths delighted in mutual cadence, she
met every one of his actions with an equally enthusiastic reaction.
    It would be this perfect when he made love to her.
    When, not if…
    He was a fool for harboring such fantasies.
    Still, she was in his arms at that moment…
    His hands spanned her back, her spine flexing and yielding
to his hold, arching to give him access to more of her. He trailed kisses down
her neck, along her shoulder, down to her heart thumping and pounding like his
own. Her perfume, heady with arousal, filled his senses. Her breaths were
ragged, each exhale intoned with a plaintive moan, her virgin body yearning for
some unknown fulfillment.
    It was wrong to lead her astray. He pulled back, still
entwined in their dangerous embrace. “Helena, darling, we can’t do this.”
    “I know.” She gasped for air. “But I want to.”
    “I very much want to as well.” He rested his forehead on
hers, feeling the heat radiate from her flushed face. “But we mustn’t.”
    She steadied her breath. “Nicholas, is it like that every
time?” Her smile, her eyes, her face glowed with contented wonder.
    “When you’re with someone you love, yes, it is.”
    She emitted a yearning hum.
    He shouldn’t have said that, damn it, he shouldn’t have. He
shouldn’t lead her to believe he was in love with her, even when he knew damn
well that he was futilely fighting the feeling every damn day. Against his body’s
wishes, Nicholas released her. “Helena, darling, you must return inside at
once.” He studied her in the moonlight. “You may need to fix your hair. And put
on your gloves.”
    “Yes, Nicholas.” She had regained some of her composure.
    “I’ll follow in a few minutes. It…it shouldn’t appear…obvious.”
He watched her go and heaved a sigh, not of regret but of relief. For one brief
moment in time, she had been his. It was the best he could possibly hope for.
    * * * * *
    Helena did not want to return to the ballroom. She was
already dancing on air.
    He had called her “darling”.
    He had gazed at her adoringly.
    He had kissed her.
    The handsomest man in the world had kissed her and made her
feel wonderful. The warmth of his lips had penetrated her very soul, as well as
other very intimate parts of her body. Her breasts still tingled and below,
where she touched herself sometimes, she felt sticky and swollen, starved of a
satisfaction she did not yet know but now had an inkling of.
    Until that moment, the moment when his arms enveloped her,
holding her steady as he assaulted her with pleasure, Helena had only imagined
such an act. She realized her imagination had been inadequate, lacking in
specifics, not knowing what