Free Seducing Mr Storm by Poppy Summers

sighed. ‘Time will heal her troubles.’
    ‘She would no more have me in the family now than Lucifer himself,’ Elijah suggested.
    ‘And you once suggested you’d rather wed a plump-bottomed stable hand than marry into my family,’ she said smartly.
    Elijah grinned, his pearly teeth blinding. ‘Surely it’s a man’s prerogative to change his mind?’
    ‘No, it’s a woman’s.’
    Elijah dipped her low and almost dropped her, pulling her upright with the blood rushing to her head. She clung to his neck, glaring.
    He smiled again. He lowered his voice to a seductive murmur with his lips pressed right against her ear. ‘Having already proved yourself my match, I am hoping you will now admit that I am your match, sweet Susanna.’
    She stared up into his mesmerising eyes with her skin tingling all over and her body ablaze with passion for him. She swallowed, afraid of the words that wanted to spill out. And then the dance ended and he strode off the dance floor, tugging her after him. Mindless of the people who saw them go, he led her out onto a misty, cold balcony, and there descended steps into the dark garden.
    Susanna hurried to keep up with the strides from his long legs. When she shivered, he stripped off his frock coat hurriedly and wrapped it around her shoulders. He steered her into a maze of trees, pressing her up against the massive trunk of a beech.
    ‘Susanna,’ he said softly, cupping her cheek. ‘You’re going to drive me out of my mind with desire.’
    She trembled, lifting her chin with determination, aware of the silent solitude of the garden. Would she really be able to stop any nefarious plans on his part and, more to the point, did she want to? ‘As I’ve probably already said, Mr Storm, you think with your prick.’
    His expression darkened. He pressed her closer against the rough bark, his hard cock jutting into her hip. ‘Nay,’ he said. ‘When it comes to you, I think with both my prick and my heart. The two are entangled. I want you in all ways. Not just the bedroom.’ In the darkness, the fire in his eyes was subdued, but she knew it was there.
    She licked her lips nervously and immediately he swooped in, devouring her, his mouth soft and seeking. She opened her lips with a sigh, found his tongue and they stood lip-locked against the tree, his body sinking into hers, moulding her curves to his. She slid her arms around his neck. He scooped her closer, lifting her under her backside, grinding against her, and she gasped, gown constricting her desperately when she wanted nothing more than to be bared to him. His hand found her breast, squeezed through her corset, her nipple standing stiff before it was touched.
    He drew back suddenly, letting her slide down the tree. Before she could react, Elijah had slipped to one knee and was fumbling in the pocket of the frock coat that lay discarded on the ground.
    ‘Susanna, I beseech you,’ he said as he opened a small box to reveal a ring which sparked like fire under the pale moonlight.
    Susanna’s jaw dropped. She looked from the ring, to his eyes, and back again. ‘Elijah,’ she said softly and she saw by his triumphant look that he knew her answer before she did.
    He took her hand in a palm that was damp and unsteady, and slipped the ring onto her finger. ‘Marry me,’ he said urgently.
    She touched the soft contour of his cheek and was suddenly sure. ‘Yes,’ she said.
    Elijah rose swiftly to his feet. He lifted her, laughing, off the ground and into his arms and held her close, face pressed into her cleavage.

Chapter Ten
    The wedding was the event of the year. People came from all over the country to Elijah’s country mansion. Edward walked his elder daughter proudly down the aisle, while Elizabeth sat on the front row of guests looking like she was sucking lemons, Lucy sobbing softly by her side. Elijah’s mother, although frail, looked much recovered and sat smiling on the opposite side.
    At the top of the room stood