Seduce(15)

That thought turned his stomach.

What sort of man was he becoming? Had everything his family bred into him brought him to this point, a man devoid of emotion, willing to use an innocent woman’s feelings against her and then discard her?

Or had this new dark side of him been birthed in the aftermath of that horrific night?

Antoine closed his eyes against the memory. When he opened them again, Sera stood before him, still gloriously nude. She leaned over so her wavy blonde hair fell forwards to conceal her breasts and settled one hand on the arm of his seat. The other came to rest against his chest. His eyes closed with the first brush of her lips over his cheek and he exhaled slowly, losing himself in the soft caress and the smell of her. Sweet like almonds and honeysuckle. It had been so long since a woman had been this close to him that he couldn’t remember how any of them had smelt, but he was sure that none of them had smelt as exotic and enticing as Sera.

She kissed down to his jaw and then onto his neck, teasing him with brief sweeps of her mouth. Antoine tipped his head back and stifled a groan. Her hand moved over him, feather light as it fluttered across his chest and then up to his throat. She grazed her fingers over it and then buried them into his hair. His groan escaped him this time, the feel of her nails against his scalp too good to contain. She sighed, her breath skimming hotly over his throat, and continued to kiss and suck it, driving him wild with the desire to feel her teeth pressing into his flesh.

Sera kissed under his jaw, his chin, the other side of his throat. Another moan slipped free when she sat sideways on his lap and ran her other hand firmly up his arm, tracing his muscles through his shirt while she continued to work at his throat, maddening him. She sucked and nibbled his right earlobe and he tensed, clawed at the seat arms and wanted to growl at her to make her kiss him. He needed to feel her mouth on his, cursed her for avoiding it as she kissed his cheek, his nose, and his chin. He tried to kiss her but she evaded him and clucked her tongue.

He was playing right into her hands.

A woman had done this to him before.

That instantly dampened his desire but it didn’t kill it. It rose from the ashes like a phoenix, reborn stronger than ever, given life by each brush of her hands over his chest and each sweep of her lips down his neck. She tugged at his black tie, slid the two sides free of each other, and then started on his shirt. Her fingers teased his chest as she popped each button and slowly parted it.

Antoine couldn’t take it.

He tensed right down to his soul, bracing himself as a desire to shove her away clawed at him. It was hard to deny that urge. He didn’t want to be weak again, was afraid that if he gave in to her that he was only going to end up broken all over again. His parents were right. Never involve yourself with those below your class. They had no breeding. They did as they pleased with no regard for others. Like animals. Sera was one of those beasts.

That cooled his desire for a heartbeat of time.

What extinguished it completely were her fingers pausing against his chest and the sense of astonishment that flowed into him through them.

He was old and powerful enough to feel her emotions and he knew what she was looking at.

“My God,” she whispered under her breath and touched one of the ridges of scar tissue that slashed across his chest. “What happened?”

Antoine didn’t want to talk about it, and he didn’t want to look down either. If he did, he wouldn’t see her hand on his body. He would see something horrific. He would see his own flesh cleaved open, bleeding profusely, and his life draining before his eyes. He relived that nightmare often enough during sleep. He didn’t need to see it while he was awake.

He grabbed her hand and shoved it off him, tugging his shirt closed at the same time.

“Nothing happened,” he snarled and tried to push her away but she tensed, going so rigid that it was impossible to get her off his lap without sending her crashing onto the floor and hurting her.

Sera was still a moment, watching him in silence, and then she leaned towards him and did something that tore at the barrier he had carefully constructed around his heart. She gently eased his hand away from his shirt, peeled it open to reveal his chest, and soothed each thick scar with soft warm kisses.

It was too much.

Antoine pushed the hand that grasped her wrist forwards, twisting it to an awkward position in an attempt to get her off him. She fought against him, still worshipping the scars of his past with kisses that eased his pain. It felt too good. Each kiss punched another hole in his defences.

“You don’t want to talk, that’s fine,” she murmured between kisses and he closed his eyes, his grip on her wrist tightening as he battled the temptation to wave a white flag and surrender to her. For the first time, he found words lining up on his tongue, words that would reveal something terrible. Words he had promised he would never speak. Who was this goddess on his lap? What power did she have over him to make him so easily forget his pain and want to confide everything in her?