She groaned even louder as he pulled down the material of the gown covering that fullness, followed by the intimacy of having one of her aching nipples sucked into the warmth of Magnus’s mouth. His hand moved to cup beneath the other breast, the swollen nipple squeezed between finger and thumb.

  Olivia’s knees buckled, and it was only her hands clinging about Magnus’s neck and his arm like a steel band about her waist that prevented her from falling.

  That pulling of Magnus’s lips and fingers on her nipples sent heat roiling through her body, until a bliss unlike anything Olivia had experienced before, or ever guessed existed, tore through her body with the force of a hurricane.

  That arousal was centered between her thighs, hot and aching, before it blossomed and then fractured into a kaleidoscope of colored lights behind her tightly closed eyelids.

  Magnus had never before known a woman to respond so readily and so hotly. For her to climax only from being kissed and having her nipples touched and pleasured, as Olivia just had.

  It was exhilarating.

  Thrilling to think that he had been able to give her that pleasure without so much as touching between her thighs.

  So much so, it had caused his cock to leak pre-cum inside his drawers.

  It was also affirmation that, with the right woman, his libido was as demanding and unrelenting as it had ever been—

  Except Olivia could not be that right woman!

  Too much stood between them.

  The difference in their ages.

  The past.

  Oh God, most of all the past!

  Magnus straightened his spine and stood tall before grasping the tops of Olivia’s arms and putting her firmly away from him.

  She looked up at him with dazed and slightly unfocused eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips slightly plump from their shared kisses. The front of her gown was still pulled down, her bare breasts spilling over the top of her chemise and gown. The nipples were both red and swollen from the ministrations of Magnus’s lips, teeth, and hands.

  And Magnus wanted nothing more than to rip the gown completely from Olivia’s body, along with the rest of her clothing, before plunging his throbbing cock into the wetness of her hot and quivering sheath.

  But first he wanted to taste her there. To revel in it. To push his fingers into the sticky nectar created by her arousal and climax, before raising them to his lips and licking and then swallowing that smooth honey down his throat. Over and over again, until his lips and tongue were saturated with her taste.

  From being a man who could take or leave a woman’s charms these past five years at least, his feelings of desire now seemed to be centered on and existed only for the stunningly beautiful woman standing before him.

  A woman who must be completely forbidden to him, although Olivia’s behavior said she obviously had no awareness of it.

  He released her to step back. “Tidy yourself before someone sees you,” he instructed harshly.

  Olivia blinked, but made no move to do as he asked.

  Magnus’s lips thinned. “I ordered that you cover your breasts, madam.”

  Olivia glanced down, as if only now becoming aware that her breasts were above rather than beneath the neckline of her clothing. She hastily pulled that material back in place, although the gaping of that material said the gown no longer fit across her breasts as snugly as it once had.

  * * *

  Olivia felt disorientated. Dazed. Slightly removed from events happening around her.

  Oh, she knew she was on Magnus’s ship.

  And alone with Magnus in his cabin.

  It was the events of the past few minutes which made her head swim and her body still tremble from the force of a release of pleasure so blissful, it seemed as if it must have happened in a dream.

  Except she knew it hadn’t.

  Nor, Olivia acknowledged with an inner wince, had she made any effort to prevent or stop the intimacy from happening.

  Her obvious wantonness now caused her cheeks to burn with an embarrassment that came far too late to save her modesty.

  One minute, she had been thrilled at being kissed by Magnus, and the next, his lips and fingers had been touching her breasts. The latter had gone beyond simple pleasure. It had sparked a reaction inside her which Olivia could only describe as cataclysmic as she had heard a tsunami once described in a book. One from which she feared she would never be the same again.

  While a single glance at Magnus from beneath her lashes showed, to her humiliation, he still appeared every inch the cold and haughty admiral of their first meeting.

  If that humiliation had been Magnus’s intent when he began to kiss her then he had succeeded. Olivia now wanted nothing more than to escape Magnus and the confines of this cabin. To go ashore with the other guests and do all in her power to never again set eyes on the object of her humiliation before he sailed away into the sunset in two days’ time.

  She avoided so much as looking at him as she glanced around the cabin for the matching lilac silk bonnet Magnus had removed before kissing her, finally spying it lying on the floor behind his desk. She hurried to pick it up and place it back over her tousled dark curls.

  “Olivia—” Magnus broke off when a knock sounded on the cabin door. He scowled as his gaze moved over her appearance from her head to her toes, no doubt reassuring himself of the return of her modesty before turning and striding across to open the door only wide enough that Olivia’s presence could not be seen in the cabin behind him. “What is it?” he demanded of the person standing outside.

  “There has been an…incident up on deck, Admiral.”

  “What sort of incident?”

  Olivia felt a shiver down her spine at the chill of Magnus’s tone. If he spoke to her like that, she believed she might wish to run away and hide. Which, as she had never run from anything in her life, spoke of how cold and withdrawn he sounded.

  “One of the young ladies has fainted, my lord,” the unhappy messenger reported.

  Magnus gave an impatient snort. “Then have the captain send for our doctor to attend her.”

  “The young lady is awake and asking for you, my lord.”

  “Is she, be damned.” Magnus turned to glower toward where Olivia stood near one of the windows before turning back to the man standing in the hallway. “Would this young lady be blonde and blue eyed and aged possibly one and twenty?”

  “That describes her exactly, my lord,” the other man confirmed brightly.

  Olivia knew, as obviously did Magnus, that it described her cousin exactly. Although quite what he was about knowing Cecelia had blue eyes, Olivia did not—

  Now was not the time for ridiculous feelings of jealousy because Magnus knew the color of Cecelia’s eyes.

  No, of prime concern was that Cecelia seemed to have guessed where Olivia had disappeared to shortly after they had both boarded the ship an hour or so ago; otherwise, why else would she have affected a faint and then requested to speak to Magnus directly?

  And if Cecelia had guessed Olivia was currently alone in Magnus’s cabin with him, then it followed that the older ladies in their visiting party, some of them close friends of her Aunt Franny, might also become aware of that fact and take delight in relaying it to her aunt.

  From the look of accusation Magnus directed at her, he was even less pleased by this realization than she was.

  Chapter Five

  “Please do sit down, Olivia, and I’ll pour us both some tea,” her aunt invited warmly from where she was presiding over the teapot, seated in one of the comfortable armchairs in her private sitting room.

  It seemed an innocent invitation, but Olivia was inclined to think otherwise. Primarily because Cecelia had not been included in the invitation to join her mother for afternoon tea. Leading Olivia to believe that her aunt might now be aware of her disappearance yesterday afternoon shortly after the visiting party had boarded Magnus Forsythe’s warship.

  Oh, she did not believe for a moment that Cecelia had betrayed Olivia to her mother. But those other ladies, the ones who had eyed Olivia so speculatively when she arrived back up on deck in Magnus’s company, would not have felt bound by the same loyalty.

  The last twenty-four hours of waiting to see if there would be any such repercussions from her behavior had felt a little like having the Sword of Damocles balanced above her head.

  In truth, she was glad the wait was over. Her mother, so informed, would not have hesitated to make her displeasure felt far sooner than this, and in a far less polite manner than over afternoon tea.

  Olivia had not seen Magnus since leaving his ship yesterday. There had been no entertainments organized for the island’s society the previous evening, the admiral having instead attended a private supper at Castle Mona with the lieutenant governor and his wife.

  Olivia could not say she was unhappy with the prospect of not having to face Magnus again quite so soon after their shared intimacy. Even now, merely thinking of the way his hair had appeared so dark and felt so silky soft against her creamy breasts as his lips and tongue pleasured her nipples was enough to cause her heart to falter, her cheeks to heat, and between her thighs to become uncomfortably damp.

  But that reaction was because she still could not believe the ecstasy she had experienced in his arms, not because she regretted what had happened. She had not known… Had not realized…

  Her mother had explained, when Olivia reached the age of sixteen, what to expect in the marriage bed. But she had not told Olivia of the complete loss of control and the absolute bliss which could take possession when a man touched and caressed a woman in certain places of her body.

  That had claimed Olivia completely as Magnus licked and sucked her nipples.

  Olivia had spent several fretful hours the previous night wondering whether her uncontrolled response had been normal, or if it was yet another thing which made her different to other Society women.

  Her mother wasn’t here to ask, and Olivia doubted Cecelia knew any more than she did on the subject. Olivia felt too embarrassed to question her Aunt Franny on such an intimate matter. Although she had certainly noticed a far greater warmth between Frances and Cormac Fitzgerald than she had ever seen between her own father and mother.

  Olivia’s lack of knowledge in sexual matters was yet another reason she had been pleased at not having to face Magnus again last night.

  This evening, they were all invited to go to Douglas beach and watch the fireworks display being sent up from the deck of one of the three ships anchored in the bay.

  After the fireworks, there would be refreshments served in Castle Mona, accompanied by a musical quartet. There would be no dancing, thank goodness.

  But Olivia was looking forward to attending the fireworks display. At least she had been. Now the embarrassment at the thought of seeing Magnus again was such that, after their intimacies the previous day, she could only hope she might avoid him altogether while at the governor’s residence.

  For now, she sat obediently on her aunt’s chaise, accepted the cup of tea poured for her, and took several sips before speaking. “I know what you are about to say, Aunt, and I assure you—”

  “I somehow doubt that very much, my dear.” The older woman gave a regretful sigh.

  Olivia eyed her sharply, but could read only sympathy in her aunt’s expression and not the gentle reproval she had been expecting. “In that case, please proceed,” she invited.

  Franny Fitzgerald drew in a long breath before speaking again. “I noticed at the governor’s ball that you were somewhat…taken with Admiral the Earl of Rockborne. I refrained from saying anything at the time, but I am informed that was again the case yesterday, when you and Cecelia were visitors aboard his ship. Oh, not from Cecelia,” she assured fondly. “I believe my darling girl would rather never speak again than ever betray you—and we both know how Cecelia loves to chatter.” They shared an affectionate smile before the older woman sobered. “No, one of my friends who was also on the visit commented to me on your preference. Not that I can blame you in your attraction to the admiral,” she continued with an understanding smile. “He is a very handsome gentleman.”

  “Very,” Olivia confirmed guardedly, not quite sure where this conversation was going.

  Her aunt’s smiled faded as she nodded. “I have to tell you that your mother would not approve of you having a romantic interest in the admiral.”

  Olivia could not see this as being of particular significance, when her mother approved of very little about her, most of all her behavior. It was especially unimportant when her mother was not actually on the island to approve or disapprove of anything Olivia did and Magnus would shortly be leaving in any case.

  She shrugged. “I acknowledge that he is several years older than me, but as far as I am aware, he is not betrothed or married.”

  “He is neither,” the older woman confirmed. “It isn’t that.” She released another heavy sigh. “There is a…history between our family and the admiral. As it was almost twenty years ago, I saw no reason to mention it before now. Your…interest in him now makes it necessary that I do so.”

  Her aunt’s expression was so grave that it caused Olivia to carefully place her cup and saucer down upon the low table beside the chaise rather than allow them to rattle together and reveal that her hands had begun to shake.

  This was not, as she had thought it might be, an intervention from her aunt in regard to Olivia deliberately seeking out Magnus’s company. “The admiral has acknowledged knowing my parents,” she said slowly.

  Her aunt frowned. “Is that all he said?”

  “Yes.”

  Franny looked deeply upset as she wrung her hands together. “Oh, how I wish your mama were here to have this conversation with you!”

  After the way mother and daughter had parted, Olivia felt no desire for her mother’s company, nor did she wish to have any sort of conversation with her. Least of all on the subject of her own attraction to Magnus Forsythe.

  Although, Olivia could not help but feel curious as to what that conversation would be. Magnus had previously only admitted to knowing her parents. Admittedly, his tone had told her he had no wish to become reacquainted with the Earl and Countess of Aldrich. But as Olivia currently felt the same way about her parents, her mother because of her unyielding nature and her father because of his lack of a will to stand up to his wife, she hadn’t felt any need to question Magnus as to the reason for his aversion to them.

  The seriousness of her aunt’s expression implied that perhaps she should have done. “Perhaps if you were to tell me the details of this history which exists between our family and Rockborne…?”

  Lady Franny stared down at the carpet for several long seconds before raising her head. “Before I do, I should like to say that I always liked the admiral, or midshipman, as he was then.”

  Olivia’s brows rose. Magnus had to have been very young to have held the rank of midshipman when this “history” with her family had occurred. “I like him too.” Although, perhaps like was too milksop a description of the way Magnus made Olivia feel.

  Even now, merely thinking about him was enough to make her cheeks warm and cause that same heat to spread throughout the rest of her body. Her nipples, as if in remembrance of Magnus’s lips and fingers upon them, now felt especially sensitive as they pressed, plump and engorged, against the material of her chemise.

  Her aunt nodded. “I should think, as he is both tall and handsome, that any young lady might do so. It is only… Do you remember your Aunt Emelia at all?”

  Olivia stared blankly at this sudden change of subject.

  What on earth could her deceased Aunt Emelia, her mother’s younger sister, have to do with this conversation?

  Olivia shook her head. “I have no memory of her. I believe I was only three when she died.”

  Lady Franny thought for a moment or two before nodding. “That is probably the case, yes.” She drew herself up straighter in the armchair. “What has your mother told you of her demise?”

  Olivia still felt thoroughly dumbfounded as to where this conversation could possibly be going. “I believe she said my aunt died of a fever.”

  Lady Franny gave a mirthless smile. “She did, yes. Several days after giving birth to a stillborn son.”

  Olivia gave a shocked gasp. “I might not remember her, but I do know from my mother that my Aunt Emelia lived with us for a year or so after the death of my grandparents in a fire. That she did so because she was unmarried,” she added pointedly.

  “Yes,” the older woman sighed. “Unfortunately, the lack of a marriage ceremony is not sufficient to prevent a pregnancy.”

  Olivia’s head was buzzing from this onslaught of information. And what it might imply in regard to Magnus.

  Surely he had not—

  He could not have—

  “Eighteen years ago, a nineteen-year-old midshipman, named Magnus Forsythe, noticeably spent most of the Season at your Aunt Emelia’s side,” Lady Franny continued quietly. “The announcement of a betrothal between the two of them was expected to be made any day.”

  Olivia recoiled in her seat, eyes wide as she took in the full implication of what that statement meant. “And was it?”

  Her aunt shook her head. “Apparently, Magnus Forsythe never approached Emelia’s guardians, your mother and father, to ask for their permission to marry her,” her aunt continued. “Instead, he suddenly ended their friendship and returned to his ship.”

  “You and Uncle Cormac were in London at the time?”

  The older woman shook her head. “We had been for several weeks prior to this, but then received word from Cecelia’s nursemaid that our darling girl was very unwell. We had left her on the island to protect her from the foul air and busyness of London, and then she became ill anyway. We, of course, returned to the island immediately. By that time, Cecelia, with the resilience of the young, had fully recovered from the chesty cough which had so troubled her nursemaid.” She chuckled at the memory.