Page 17 of The Tantalizing of a Scandalous Rake

That knowledge, however, did not stop the great chasm inside her. She’d spent so long fighting to survive, to thrive. She did not much feel like fighting any longer.

He shifted his hands up, curving around the bodice of her gown. The touch, so intimate, made her suck in a breath. He drew her closer still, remaining seated, and she curled her hands about his face, his skin damp and soapy beneath her fingers.

Swallowing the tangle in her throat, she dipped her head, bending until their lips were almost touching. His breaths were warm and ragged on her mouth.

“What are you doing?” she murmured.

“The same thing as you are doing,” he replied, his voice rough.

“Giving into madness...”

Adam kept his voice low. “You certainly drive me to the edge of insanity.”

He refused to close the gap, making the throb in her body grow in intensity. She ground her teeth together until she could hold out no longer.

Rosie pressed her lips hard and firm to his, releasing a sound that she could not quantify. Was it relief or frustration that she had given in? She did not much care. His lips were warm, his hands insistent, holding her close. Behind closed lids, she could only savor the feel of his mouth against hers.

When he opened his mouth to hers, she gave into the desperation governing her every move. She could blame his beauty, her loneliness and a dozen other things, but of all the men who had visited her, she had never wanted to kiss them so badly. She was not one to lie to herself. There was no doubting no one affected her like Adam.

His tongue tangled with hers, sweeping through the recesses of her mouth with a matched desperation. She gasped at the ferocity of it then gasped again when he wrapped his arms entirely around her and she gave into the inevitable, hauling up her skirts with one hand and straddling him.

His thighs were firm between hers, his arousal pressed hard against her core. She moaned and wrapped her hands back around his head, pressing them into his soft curls. Rosie met his gaze briefly.

“Good God.” His words were ragged and scarcely audible as she took his mouth once more.

As their lips clashed, he moved his hands around her waist, urging her as close as humanly possible. Her nipples chafed against her stays, her body tingled, her core ached. How easy it would be to go further—simply free him from his breeches and take all she craved.

She froze and broke the kiss.

“Rosie,” Adam protested.

She pressed a finger to his lips and twisted her head to listen. A knock at the door sounded. Through her desire-soaked mind, she must have heard the approaching footsteps. Glancing back at Adam, she sucked down a deep, cleansing breath and willed the heat and madness to disperse.

“Tell them we are busy.”

Need simmered through her and she doubted it would go, especially now she knew what it was like to have his lips upon hers and his hands desperately clawing at her body.

But she was right. She was busy. Too busy for a dalliance and too busy to have her heart shattered. Because with a man like Adam, how could one’s heart not get involved? As rakish and as bold as he was, she liked him far too much.

Lips tilted, she eased off him. “I have things to do, and you should be recovering.”

“What if that was helping my recovery?”

Rosie straightened her skirts, adjusted her bodice and quickly checked her hair in the mirror, shoving an errant strand back into the embrace of the simple comb then she set him with a look. “I am no fool, Adam. You cannot sway me into your arms with talk of it aiding you.”

“I do not believe I swayed you at all just then.” He grinned. “In fact, I do believe that was all your idea.”

“Yes, well, it was a foolish one, and one that shall not be repeated.”

“Shame.”

Another knock sounded. She hastened to the door and paused to lift a finger. “Tell no one of this.”

He lifted his hands. “Who should I tell?”

Lifting her gaze to the ceiling, she shook her head. More at herself than anything but also at his smug smile. A smile that hinted this would happen again and he well knew it.

Well, it would not. She had no time to get tangled up with a rakish gentleman far above her station. No time and no desire.

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