Page 66 of Nothing But a Rakehell
He pressed a kiss to her lips, quick and entirely unsatisfactory. “Wait a moment.” He stood and cast about, his gaze ranging from the field to the shore. He looked along the edge and set out, passing Poppy and investigating the stretched out clump of bushes she’d been hobbled near. He pushed into the thicket and disappeared.
She made her way over to her mare and hugged Poppy’s neck. “Have I gone mad?” she asked her friend.
Poppy’s ears swiveled and she nudged Glory for a pet. After a moment, Keswick popped out of the brush.
She stared as he approached. His coat and waistcoat were gone. Clad only in breeches, boots and linen, he looked . . . primitive, somehow. In the best way. Tall, and wide and utterly masculine.
“I’ve cleared a spot for us. We won’t be seen, there.” He looked down at his plain linen. “I spread them out on the ground. I didn’t want the damp to get to your gown.”
“There’s a blanket in my saddle bag. It’s small, but it might do.”
“Even better.” He chuckled. “That magic saddle bag. I should have thought to ask.” He fetched the woolen rug and disappeared again.
This time, she was ready when he peeked back out. He held aside a branch and beckoned her.
Holding her breath, she went to him.
It was a small space, surrounded by a fragrant mix of boxwood and yellow-berried daphne. The blanket covered the open area and he’d mounded his coat and waistcoat at one end. When he let the branch go, they were enclosed in the dim bower, with only the stars above for light.
She was glad of it. Although she’d like to see the look in his blue eyes, she would much rather not have to worry about him seeing the wreckage of her leg.
“Come and sit,” he invited. “There’s no hurry. We can look at the stars—”
Stepping close, she pulled him down and kissed him.
“Well, then.” He returned her kiss with tender finesse and then with increasing ardor. And she relaxed into it, into his arms, and allowed her tightly strung hunger to ease and become something more languorous.
With lips and tongue, he put the question to her. She opened to him.Yes, she answered silently. This was what she wanted, to be surrounded by his masculine heat and spellbound by the spine-tingling exploration of his tongue.
Almost without thought, she placed her hands upon him, climbing broad shoulders and exploring the heavy muscles in his back. Suddenly, he dipped down and lifted her in his arms. “Come and lie back,” he rasped. “You must tell me right away if you become frightened or do not wish to go on.”
Nodding, she rested her head against him and breathed in the fresh scent of his linen. “I’ll never smell bay again without thinking of you.”
“Tell your sister to change out the scents in my room, when I’m gone. Or I’ll be jealous of every man who stays there after me.”
She didn’t want to think about him leaving, so she kissed him again. He held the kiss while he laid her down with her head and shoulders resting against his piled clothing.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked.
Her only answer was to pull him down with her. She let her fingers trail along the edge of his jaw. “You have the profile of a Greek God,” she murmured.
He snorted.
“It’s true. Zeus sits on his throne atop Olympus and wishes for a jaw like this.”
“I’d trade him for a thunder bolt, but you’ve already sent them racing up and down my spine.”
“Don’t you dare think of trading it away.” Kissing her way along the edge, she let her hands wander up and into his thick, dark hair.
He groaned and she nearly did too, as he sent his lips traveling along the arch of her neck. She could feel her pulse beating against him when he paused at just the right spot. But then he moved on and kissed his way across the edge of her bodice.
“Sit up?” he asked. When she did, he reached around her. “No half measures this time,” he insisted. “We are going to do this the right way.”
In a shockingly quick amount of time, he had her bodice, stays and shift peeled away. She was bare from the waist up and his head bent towards her.
“I can barely see you,” he complained.
“Oh, dear.” She took one of his hands and placed it upon her. “Whatever shall you do about it?”
