Page 55 of The Secret Life of a Lady
It wasn’t a question she was ready to answer.
‘I want you to take off your nightgown.’ His gravelled voice echoed in the quiet room. The fire popped behind her. A clock ticked the moments away.
Hannah’s nipples hardened into twin points of concentrated sensation as the thin fabric of her nightgown shifted over her skin. She pressed her lips together, savouring the sharp pressure of teeth cutting into her mouth.
He noticed. His eyes dilated, and he adjusted his position in the chair.
What a proud display of masculine power. His muscled thighs jutted toward her, thick and long. He rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, his index finger pressed along the sharp line of his cheekbone, his thumb braced against a jaw as solid as the cliffs of Dover. Killian’s middle finger rubbed over his full bottom lip. Butit was his hooded gaze that caused her body to grow hot and liquid.
Hannah had undressed in front of countless women. Her mother. Betty. Even Philippa. It never mattered because her body was just a sexless thing carrying her from one task to the next. But his gaze made this fundamentally different. She was something new in this moment. Something desired. Something inspired.
‘Last night, you didn’t ask to see me. We kissed and touched. The whole time, I kept on my nightgown. Why do you want to see me naked now?’ The idea that he could derive pleasure just from watching her undress was fascinating.
He leaned forward, resting both his elbows on his knees. ‘I want to see you naked because I want to be the only person who knows what Hannah Simmons looks like without her armour.’
It was a good answer. Honest. Flattering. Disconcerting.
She only stood a few feet from him. This close, he would see every detail. Standing fully naked in front of him, the firelight illuminating all her flaws, ugly scars, small breasts, muscular legs. He would see it all.
Hannah faltered. This was vulnerability on a scale she couldn’t measure.
His eyes convinced her. The earnest need. The unguarded desire.
She should have undressed slowly, seductively. But she didn’t know how. Instead, Hannah bent forward, grabbed the hem of her nightgown, and in one quick movement, whipped it over her head and let it drop behind her. Frightening tasks were best handled quickly.
Killian exhaled a whoosh of air. ‘Fuck me.’
Hannah giggled. She couldn’t help it. The fire warmed her back, but her nipples tightened in the cool air between them, turning her giggle into a gasp.
‘Look at yourself.’
‘Why?’ Hannah knew what she looked like naked.
‘Because I want you to see yourself the way I see you.’
Hannah glanced down. Her skin was shockingly pale in the dark room. Her nipples tilted up, puckering in the cold air. They were dark coral, contrasting against the swell of her shell-pink breasts. She had a long scar running down her right arm where she was cut in a brutal knife fight against a viscount who murdered his maid. The healed wound shone pearlescent in the muted light. Her ribs were still purple from a left elbow Philippa threw in their last sparring match. Her right leg was peppered with crescent scars from shotgun pellets.
How did he see her? Certainly not a blushing maid or a confident seductress.
‘I’m hardly a gently bred lady.’ Hannah wouldn’t break eye contact. He wanted to see her without her armour? Fine. He could look his fill at all her defects. She refused to be ashamed of her body. It might not be soft and lush. It might not be smooth and perfect. But she was strong and resilient and true.
Killian shook his head. ‘No. Warriors can’t be gentle. Do you want to know what I see?’
No.
Hannah swallowed her fear. ‘Yes.’
‘I see a fierce goddess with strength and scars borne from battle. I see a delicate woman who could destroy me with one swipe of her blade. I see someone meant to be free, who would fly on wings of light if she could.’
‘Don’t.’ His beautiful words ripped holes in her heart, making her bleed. He saw too much, but none of it was true. He described a stranger, a far cry from the woman she was. She fought to keep her voice steady. ‘I’m no goddess. I’m about as delicate as a steam train, and if I tried to fly, I would drop like a stone.Men say any number of pretty deceits to seduce women. Don’t lie to me.’
Killian’s lips tipped up at the corners. His teeth flashed white in the shadowed room. ‘I can’t lie to you. It’s a real problem.’ He pulled his shirt out from his pants. ‘You are full of treasures, Hannah. I won’t take your gifts unless you give them to me.’
Killian began unbuttoning his shirt.
Alarm thrilled through her as he revealed more of his torso. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m warm.’
