Page 51 of Temptress in Disguise
“I’ve been studying Mr Budworth’s journal.” Her nimble fingers slipped the last button. She met his gaze, holding him rigid as she tugged his shirt slowly from his trousers. Then the minx slid her dainty hands beneath the garment and touched his bare chest. “May I continue? I understand if it’s all too much.”
He hissed a breath, the distinction between pleasure and pain blurring. “I’ll say if I want you to stop.” His heart thumped harder than a blacksmith’s hammer. “There’s always an alternative. A caress with the mouth isn’t touching.”
“It’s good to know a lady has options.” Her fingers moved over his skin, light like the flutter of fairy wings. Her voice was smooth and warm, a balm to soothe his senses. “You’re so hot. I’m sure you won’t mind if I remove this.”
“Not at all. I’m at your command.”
She divested him of his waistcoat, her hands following the contour of his biceps. Drugged by desire, her blue eyes glazed as she untied his cravat. Her breathing quickened as she looked at his bare throat. “Is it always like this?”
“Like what?” Like he might come from her fumbling with his neckcloth? Like he couldn’t rouse a rational thought and doubted he’d last five minutes, let alone the next hour?
“Is it always so … so intense? So consuming?”
“Never.” This was a unique experience. He could see how logical men became enslaved by addiction. “I doubt we’ll get as far as using oil. Not tonight, at any rate.”
“We don’t have to rush.” Her velvet voice tugged at the muscles in his abdomen. Despite her claim, she dragged his shirt over his head and tossed the garment to the floor. Her fingertips found a home amid the dusting of dark hair on his chest. “We could talk about Lydia’s lovers and why Mr Budworth knew the names of all the gentlemen except one. One he referred to as the man with many faces. It seems my sister kept plenty of secrets from me.”
Not wanting to spoil the moment by discussing Lydia Fontaine, he slid his hands over Naomi’s hips and gripped her buttocks. They were soft and ripe and his for the taking. “Let’s talk about how I’m so hard for you I’m not sure how long I can endure this erotic teasing.” The fact he’d not burst his trouser seams was a testament to the expert tailoring.
Her eyelids fluttered as he fondled her. “Show me.”
“See for yourself.”
A coy grin touched her lips as she settled her hands on his solid thighs. “You have the most powerful legs.” Her shaky fingers edged higher and stopped an inch from his rigid cock. “Forgive my hesitance. I’ve coped with my nerves quite well until now.”
“Remarkably well.” He took hold of her hand, his breath hissing through his teeth as he moved her palm over his hard shaft. “This is what you do to me, Naomi. I need to be inside you like I need air to breathe.”
“I feared you’d find my inexperience tedious.”
“Nothing about you gives cause for complaint.”
“Good. I’m keen to explore our connection.”
“Then trust me and turn around.”
With one last stroke of his cock through his trousers, she turned to face the looking glass he’d moved five hours earlier.
He stood, watching her reactions in the glass as he removed his trousers and his erection sprang free.
She gulped. “You will be patient if it hurts?”
Blood filled the empty chambers of a heart he thought had perished. “I promise you, nothing about this will be painful.” He’d not hurt her for the world. “While it’s evident I want you, we don’t have to make love tonight. You don’t have to do this just because we’re married.”
Her heated gaze roamed over every inch of his engorged flesh. “Aramis, I’d want you even if we weren’t married. I can’t fight this. I’m like a moth drawn to your flame.”
“You’re a damn sight more beautiful than a moth. But I agree. Something unexplainable exists between us. Something so powerful we’re both slaves to its will.”
He stepped closer and untied the bow securing her braid. A hint of jasmine teased his nostrils as he combed his fingers through the golden strands.
“Does my scar bother you?” The question had never left his lips before tonight. He’d never cared what women thought of him. Yet she encouraged him to be a better man. “Do you find it abhorrent?”
“Not at all. It adds a certain ruggedness to your character I find appealing. We all have scars and blemishes.”
Yet he knew when he studied her naked body, he would find utter perfection. Theo was right. He had changed. He’d morphed into someone he hardly knew, one he might one day come to respect.
He brushed Naomi’s hair over her shoulder and kissed her nape. God, she was soft and warm and smelled divine. “Shall I remove your nightdress, or would you rather wait a while?”
She met his gaze in the looking glass. “What would you prefer?”
