Page 58 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
‘Men have the freedom. They just do not use it.’
‘No. You are wrong. If people went about willy nilly doing whatever they pleased there would be chaos.’
‘Why?’
‘Because—’
‘You do not believe people would choose to do the right thing?’
‘I know they wouldn’t.’ He rolled over on his side and gazed down into her face, blotting out her view of the stars.
His face was shadowed and she could not see his expression. She could feel the warmth of his body along her side and the heat of his breath on her face, her lips, her… She reached up and pulled his head down. Their lips touched lightly, then fiercely.
His kiss was heavenly.
His arm went around her back, his knee pressed between her thighs.
She groaned and kissed him back with ferocity.
On a gasp, he pulled away. ‘Do you see?’ he said hoarsely. ‘People left to their own devices do not do the right thing.’
‘This is not the right thing?’
‘What? Of course not. A gentleman is not supposed to take advantage of a lady, no matter the circumstances.’
‘Pish posh. Are you telling me you are not enjoying this?’
‘Enjoyment does not make it right,’ he said stiffly, pulling away.
‘It doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. Do you never do anything for the pleasure of it?’
He sat up with a jerk. The boat rocked wildly.
‘Madam, were I to do what I badly want to do for the pleasure of it right now, I would be bedding you in the bottom of a very unstable craft.’
‘Then why don’t you?’
She couldn’t put it any clearer than that, could she?
‘If you think to trap me into a marriage—’
She laughed out loud. ‘I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth. I have no wish to marry anyone. But that does not mean I do not want to have the pleasure of a man in my bed from time to time.’
‘I think your family might have to say something about that.’ He sounded utterly shocked.
‘My family might try. But no one can force me or you to marry if we do not wish it. Can they?’
‘By law they cannot. But Society—’
‘Society always blames the woman in such matters. So why would you care?’
‘I am not a blackguard, madam.’
‘I think you doprotest too much.’
‘I think you are far too bold to be considered a lady and certainly not proper wife material for a man in my position.’
Startled by his brusque honesty, she stared at him speechless and wide-eyed.
