Page 94 of Affair

He put his thumbs beneath her delicate jaw and raised her head. The warm laughter danced in her eyes.

He did not require Hamilton to point out the obvious. No man who possessed even a spark of romantic sensibility would have wasted time complaining about the inconveniences of the situation at a moment such as this.

“I’m delighted that you find it so amusing,” he muttered.

“I find it fascinating. Thrilling. Unbearably exciting.” She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Hard and very enthusiastically.

He silently consigned his own glaring lack of a romantic soul and the assorted inconveniences of the situation to the devil.

The feverish need returned in a tidal wave that flooded his senses. “Why is it,” he said against her mouth, “that I cannot seem to get enough of you?”

Charlotte did not respond. She was too busy unknotting his cravat and peeling off his shirt and coat. In a moment he was bare to the waist.

Her fingers brushed against the old acid scars. She pressed her lips to his savaged shoulder and kissed him gently. Baxter had to close his eyes against the deep longing that welled up within him.

He drew a breath, steadied himself, and then unfastened the tapes of her gown. Slowly he lowered the bodice and watched as the firelight turned her elegant breasts to gold.

She touched the corner of his mouth. “When you look at me in that manner, you make me feel quite beautiful.”

He shook his head, dazed by the storm of emotion that pounded through him. Reverently, he brushed his thumbs across her nipples. “You are beautiful.”

“And you, sir,” she said in a soft, husky voice, “are quite wonderful.”

He groaned and lowered his head to kiss the high curve of one rounded breast. She gripped his shoulders very tightly. Her head fell back. Clinging to him with both hands, she slid the sole of her slippered foot slowly up along the length of his calf When she started to move it back down to the floor, he closed one hand around her thigh and held her pressed warmly against him. The skirts of her gown swirled around his breeches.

He could not wait another moment. He lifted her into his arms and settled her on the sofa. He stood back long enough to unfasten the front of his breeches and then he leaned down to push her skirts up to her waist.

Very deliberately he parted her thighs until her left foot was on the floor. She gasped when she realized how completely open she was to his gaze. Belatedly she tried to close her legs.

“No. Please. I want to see you.” He went down on one knee beside the sofa. He felt her leg tremble against his ribs.

He put his palm against the warm, pink flesh of her sex. She shivered. On the floor beside him, her foot arched in response to the caress.

“Baxter?” The tip of her tongue appeared at the corner of her parted lips. It disappeared again when she moaned softly.

He leaned forward to inhale the exotic perfume of her body. She glistened in the firelight. He parted the soft folds of skin to reveal the tiny bud.

He bent his head and kissed her intimately with exquisite appreciation.

“Baxter.”Her fingers tightened in his hair. “Good heavens, what are you doing?”

He ignored her breathless query and all the disjointed demands for an explanation that followed. He used his tongue to arouse the small nubbin until it was taut and full. He did not pause until she was speechless.

When she screamed softly and dug her nails into his scalp he rose quickly and settled himself on top of her. He licked the taste of her from his lips as he plunged into the tight, hot core of her body.

She convulsed around him, drawing him so deeply inside that he thought he might somehow become a part of her. In the alchemy of that union he was no longer alone.

Everything within him went rigid. In the next moment his climax roared through him, a searing, cleansing fire that somehow left him free in a way that he had never known.

The incense smoldered on the brazier.

He inhaled slowly, deeply, savoring the heightened level of awareness. The power would soon be his to command.

He was ready.

“Read the cards, my love,” he whispered.

The fortune-teller turned over three cards. She studied them for a long moment.

---