Page 18 of The Winter Rogue
He had to know what she tasted like.
It was all he would ever have of her, but the need to know won out over any manners.
Polly called him a rogue all the time.Now he was beginning to think she might be right.He seemed to fall on Charlie like a slavering beast every time he was alone with her.
Drew glanced out the window behind his desk.The snow still fell in a thick veil of white that offered no hint of respite.If he didn't escape this house soon, he would do something irrevocably foolish; he knew it as surely as he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself.
The woman was a siren who called to him.
Perhaps he should look to avoid her for the next few days.No more breakfasts together.No private chats.He needed to steer very clear of the overly desirable Lady Charlene.
Chapter Nine
Charleneslippedfromherbed fully dressed, having waited until the house was completely silent.It was time for retribution for Drew ruining her meals.She'd been hungry all morning and had purposefully not come down for luncheon after what had happened in his study.
She couldn't explain it, but she had no self-control when it came to him.The way he looked at her with his smoldering blue gaze; the way his hard, muscular body felt when she touched him.Clearly, the man frequently helped his sailors with hard work.He was no soft peer of the realm.No, he was a man that understood manual labor and had the body to prove it.
She had been held by lords who'd courted her, not to mention a few stolen kisses from other more ardent admirers—and not a one of them had felt like Drew did.They'd all been stronger than her, certainly.But there was a softness to their embrace, a doughiness that hadn't bothered her in the least.
That is, until she'd felt Drew's arms wrapped around her.
Charlene sighed as she crept out into the hallway.Now all future men would pale in comparison, which was a blasted shame.
Regardless of his fine physique, the man still had a lesson to learn.She was not a woman to be trifled with.Salt her food, would he?Oh, she'd show him.
As quiet as a mouse—dear heavens, she hoped there were no mice about!—she crept downstairs.There she found a warm cloak near the side door that led outside and toward the stable.She peeked out and saw the fates were on her side.The snow had eased up a bit.Slipping the cloak on over her wool dress, she stepped outside remembering where the stable was and heading that way.Fortunately, there was a path somewhat trampled, presumably by Billy and Polly, who she knew lived over the stables.She found the door and slid it open just enough to squeeze through.Inside, she found a lantern and lit it as the horses snorted softly and stamped their feet.She found a nearly empty bag of feed and dumped it in a bucket, then slipped into the first stall she found.Inside, she found a sweet mare who barely noticed she was there as she munched some of the hay she'd been given.Charlene then found just what she'd come there in search of.
Horse manure.A nice steaming pile of it.
She used the sack to collect her prize and eased back out of the stall, double checking to ensure the door latched behind her so the horse wouldn't wander out, before retracing her steps back to the house.Determined to make Drew regret messing with her food—really, that should be sacred territory—she crept into his study and found the coals laid for the morning.With an evil little smirk, she dumped the dung into the fireplace and rearranged the coals to hide it, tucking the now smelly bag behind some books.
Let him have fun finding that later!
Satisfied with her little plot, Charlene headed back upstairs.She was nearly to her bedchamber when the silence of the house was shattered.
“Well, well, well.What have we here?”Drew leaned against the door to his chamber in nothing but a shirt and trousers.His bare feet stood out to her, drawing her attention for the utter intimacy of seeing them.It was something a wife or lover would see.Not a guest—certainly not an unwanted guest such as herself, though it was becoming difficult to ignore the chemistry that sparked between them.
“I was still hungry.I slipped down to the kitchen for a midnight snack,” she offered as she tried to reach her bedchamber.
Drew strolled over to her door and pressed a forearm against the frame as she arrived at the entrance.He sniffed.“You smell of cold, fresh air.Did someone leave a window open downstairs?”
Her heart lurched.No!He couldn't have worked it out already.
Charlene bit her lip in frustration.She looked up at him and had to resist the urge to melt against him yet again.For a man she found so annoying, she far too frequently found herself in his arms.“No, but it was chilly down there with no fire.”
He shook his head.“You really must be more careful, Charlie.I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was a poor host.”
She cursed his use of that stupid nickname, but clearly he would not cease using it.“It's fine, Drew.I think I'll head to bed now.”
“I don't know.I feel you've been up to something.”He inhaled a deep breath.“I can't quite put my finger on what, but I don't believe you were merely snacking.”
Damn, the man was too perceptive.She rolled her eyes behind closed lids.She had to do something to distract him.Desperate, she made a snap decision that she refused—absolutely positively, refused—to scrutinize.She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.
Drew went rigid beneath her touch.As she tentatively traced the seam of his lips with her tongue, a shudder racked his body before he opened to her kiss as his free arm wrapped around her.
Charlene’s breath stalled in her chest as he lazily swept his tongue into her mouth and met her shy caress.As he held her tightly to him, she responded by sliding her tongue deeper into his mouth, exploring his taste more boldly.
And heavens, did he taste good.There was a hint of sweet from dessert at dinner and the smokiness of the scotch he had clearly imbibed in.She wanted more.More of him.More of his touch.More of the delicious things he'd done to her that morning in his study.She wanted to know what it felt like when a man brought her to release.
