Page 238 of From Rakes to Riches

Her lips parted, and he wondered if she felt the same arousal as him, if that was even possible. For he was powerfully drawn to her and wanted nothing more than to lay her out on the settee, lift her skirts, and bury himself between her legs.

“What are you asking?” she whispered.

“I’m not really asking anything.” In his mind, he peeled her stocking away and kissed the backs of her knees before skimming his tongue along her thigh. Clearing the lust from his throat, he continued, “I’m merely pondering whether you had anything to do with it. Perhaps I am truly what my father and everyone else believes—a reprobate, a rogue, ascoundrel.”

“Of course you aren’t.”

“No? Then why is it that when I look at you, all I can think about is kissing you? And not just your mouth. In my mind, I strip away your clothing so I may kiss you everywhere. That is surely improper, for you are my ward. No, it’s beyond improper, it’s scandalous.” He straightened his arm and allowed his fingers to graze her shoulder—first the part that was covered with the sleeve of her gown, then her bare flesh as he moved toward her neck. “It’s positively shameless.”

“Would it be so bad if it was just one kiss?” the question was higher than her usual tone. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated with unmistakable desire.

“But what if it wasn’t?” He trailed his fingertips up the side of her neck to a spot behind her ear. He gently pressed his thumb to her jaw.

She leaned forward and put her mouth on his, shocking him, as she’d done that day in the garden. No, it wasn’t shocking like that. He’d never imagined they would share a kiss before that. But in every moment since, he’d hoped for the chance. Now, it was here.

Cupping the side of her head, he brought his other hand to her side where he splayed his fingers along her back and tuckedhis thumb beneath her breast. He slanted his lips over hers, rising slightly from the settee.

She curled one hand around his neck, clasping his nape. He brought his thumb forward and pressed against her chin. Pulling back for the barest moment, he whispered, “Open your mouth just a bit so I can show you?—”

Her lips parted, and once again she shocked him as her tongue met his. She gasped at the contact, and he lost himself in the wonder of her response. He forced himself to go slowly, to show her every divine progression of this ritual, of the sweet and dazzling moments when one first learns a lover’s terrain. Perhaps she would find it was like studying a new map. He hoped she found it that entrancing.

The kiss deepened, each of them exploring the other. Her fingers dug into his head and neck, and he thrust his hand into her hair, desperate to pull the pins away so he could bury himself in her softness.

He did not, however, because to do so would be to completely lose himself. That, he could not do. She was his ward, and while they were in a private place, the door to his study was not closed.

Despite that, he did not pull away. He didn’t want to interrupt this magnificent moment. Pressing her back into the corner of the settee, he brought his hand to her front where he cupped her breast. She gasped again but didn’t withdraw. In fact, she clutched him more tightly and arched up against him.

A deep growl rose in his throat as he tore his mouth from hers. Not to leave her, but to further survey the map before him. He kissed her chin, her jaw, then her mouth once more, eagerly devouring her. She tipped her head back and pulled on his hair as he trailed his lips down her throat. He clasped her breast more firmly and dragged his thumb across the bare skin above the neckline of her gown. How he longed to rip the garment, and those beneath it, away, to expose the landscape of her body.

“Oh yes.” She let out a delightfully dark and gritty moan followed by a whimper that made Tobias even harder. He licked along the edge of her bodice and suckled her flesh.

She cried out and he put his hand over her mouth. Looking up at her, he saw the stark desire etched into her features and nearly lost all control. He put his finger against her lips. “Shhh.”

“My lord,” she breathed before sucking the tip into her mouth.

“Tobias,” he hissed. “My name is Tobias.”

Her only response was a nod and the press of her hand against his neck. Tipping his head back down, he tried to make sense of her gown. It was the sort that gathered at the front, so he could loosen the tie tucked into the front of her bodice and the garment would open.

Testing his theory, he pulled the tie. The gown gaped, exposing the corset beneath. And beneath that was her infernal chemise. “I hate women’s clothing,” he muttered.

Undeterred, he reached down for the hem of her gown, lifting her skirt until he found it. Raising it farther, he exposed her leg until his fingertips found her bare thigh. She parted her legs, but instead of taking that as encouragement, he froze.

What on earth was he doing? She was still his bloody ward, and thiswasshameless.

Tobias released her and sat back, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, even though his pulse had finally begun to slow. Because it had to. This wasn’t just shameless, it was madness.

She stared at him, her gaze confused. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, I did. I never should have allowed any of that to happen.”

“You say that like you’re in charge. Why don’t you manage your body and your choices, and I’ll manage mine.” Giving him a look that was somehow both prim and enticing, she tied thelace of her dress, cinching the bodice back so it covered her undergarments. “I welcomed everything that just happened, and I enjoyed it.”

“Fiona, I am your guardian.”

“Thanks to your father.” She rose and smoothed her hands down her rumpled dress. “Now I think I may harbor a particular dislike for him too.”

What was she saying? “This can’t happen again.” The words came out low and harsh because he had difficulty summoning them.

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