We reach a stand of trees and a large rock that blocks the wind whipping in from the east. With a stunning view of the castle grounds and the spires of my ancestral home reaching toward the sky in the distance, it’s the perfect place for a talk. But I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to ruin this moment with words or tests or truths I don’t want to learn.
I just want to touch her.
Before I’ve made the conscious decision to move, I’m pulling her close, guiding her back against the warm stone and pressing my body closer to hers.
Her breath rushes out, and her eyes go dark with the same longing pumping through my veins. “Andrew, wait. We should—”
I cut her off with a kiss, a head-spinning, heart-wrenching kiss that is even hotter and sweeter than our first. My tongue parts her lips, and her arms go tight around my neck, and the rest of the world fades away until there is nothing but her taste, her touch, and the certainty that this is where I’m supposed to be.
With her.
No matter who she is.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sabrina
I can’t do this.
Not like this. Not yet.
I have to tell him the truth—now!
But every time I try to pull away, Andrew kisses me harder, deeper, his hands roaming over my body, setting fire to every place he touches until I’m humming and buzzing and needing so badly I forget why we have to stop.
It just feels so perfect to be with him like this, so close, so right.
“I’ve been dying to taste you again,” he murmurs against my lips as his fingers thread into my hair. “I love kissing you.”
“I love kissing you, too.” My breath catches as he cups my breast through my corset, the pressure of his hand threatening to send my barely contained flesh spilling over the top.
The knowledge that this is about to get way more serious than a kiss cuts through the lust haze, bringing me back to my senses.
I press my hands against his chest and turn my head, pulling my lips from his. “Andrew, we can’t. I—”
My words end in a gasp as he drags his teeth across the sensitive skin at my neck. A beat later, he’s magically spirited my breast over the top of my corset and captured my nipple through the thin linen of the shirt beneath. And then his hand is dipping beneath the linen, and his fingers are warm on my bare skin, and the world spins so hard and fast I have to hold onto his shoulders to stay on my feet.
He kisses his way down my throat, whispering about how beautiful I am and how much he wants me, and then his mouth closes around my nipple, and I forget everything but the incredible way he makes me feel. Driving my fingers into his thick hair, I cling to him as he frees my other breast and his other hand finds its way under my skirt.
Guilt and shame surface for a moment, sending a burst of cold clarity rushing through me, but Andrew banishes it as he drags my panties to one side and slides his fingers through the slick, swollen place between my legs.
“I want to taste you here, too,” he says, his breath coming faster as he kisses his way back up my neck and his fingers push inside me, making me moan. “I want you out of your mind and coming on my mouth.”
I make a hungry sound in response, already so out of my mind I can’t think of anything but how good it feels to touch him, to be touched, to feel my body tightening as his thumb glides over my clit and his fingers push deeper. He kisses me hard, and I answer him with equal urgency, bucking into his hand as our tongues thrust and swirl and stars burst behind my closed eyes.
“Lift your skirt,” he orders against my swollen lips. “And hold it up.”
I start to protest, conscious of how close we are to the rest of the wedding party and how likely it is that someone will come looking for us if we’re gone too long. But then he’s on his knees, shoving my skirt up to my waist. I clutch it instinctively, and before I can push the fabric down, he guides my leg over his shoulder, and I’m lost.
His mouth collides with where I ache, his tongue moving hungrily as he groans against my slickness, and the world turns upside down.
I’m dimly aware of the increasingly swift wind blowing against my burning nipples and Andrew’s hands cupping my ass, guiding me closer to his mouth as he devours me with a single-minded intensity that leaves his passion for the work in no doubt. Each second, my world narrows—to his mouth, his tongue, his voice telling me how sweet I am, how hot I make him, how much he wants me to come.
“Yes, baby,” he moans as I grind into his mouth, shamelessly seeking release from the sweet torture. “Come for me.”
Head dropping back against the stone behind me, I do, biting my lip to muffle the blissed-out sounds escaping my throat as pleasure pulses through me, roaring and churning like water boiling over on the stove. The waves radiate and retreat only to surge higher again as he continues to kiss me, soft and slow, but with enough pressure to make my pleasure-sensitive skin sing.
I come until I’m boneless, senseless, only slipping back into my skin as Andrew’s lips return to mine. He kisses me with the salty taste of my body still on his tongue, and I sigh, “My turn.” I cup his face in my hands, feeling so close to him I don’t want this stolen moment to end. “You, in my mouth, now.”
A hungry sound rumbles from his chest, and his hands tighten on my hips, but he shakes his head. “That’s a generous and tempting offer, but I’m dying to be inside you. Do you think—”
“Yes, I do, but I don’t want to think,” I say, reaching for the close of his pants. “I just want you closer.”
“Me, too. Let me get a condom. I’ll be right back.”
He tries to step away, but I tighten my arms around him. “No, stay. I’m on the pill.”
“I should still get a condom, just in case.” He kisses me again before whispering against my lips, “I have one in my wallet, but it’s in my saddlebag. I’ll be back in two minutes and make you come twice as hard for waiting. I promise.”
“But I—”
“Two minutes.” With a quick kiss to my forehead, he’s gone, jogging back the way we came, leaving his coat on the ground behind me.
I don’t remember him taking it off, but I have no doubt that running back to the picnic without it on is going to raise eyebrows.
Hair whipping around my face in the suddenly gusty wind, I reach for it, hoping I can catch him before he gets too far. But as I snatch it off the ground, something heavy falls out of the front pocket, thudding to the ground by my feet.
I squat down to collect a small, shiny blue flask from the grass.
What have we here?
Unscrewing the lid, I lift it and inhale, my nose burning at the sharply sweet smell of fruity rum drifting from inside. I don’t know why, but the fact that Andrew has secret hooch stashed in his pocket makes me smile.
Maybe I’m not the only one who was nervous tonight. And maybe it’s okay that things got out of hand before I had a chance to tell him the truth. There’s no denying we have combustible chemistry. Maybe having that fresh in his thoughts when I confess to being the wrong twin will make Andrew more inclined to listen to my explanation with an open mind.
Using sex to win him over? Classy, Sabrina.
“I’m not using sex,” I mutter. “I want to have sex with him, and he wants to have sex with me. That’s just more proof that we have things in common.”