Page 15 of Joy to the Earl
“I find you delicious,” she admitted.“No one has ever kissed me like you do.”
“Not even your attentive former maid?”
“Are you jealous of Eirlys?”
“Not jealous, exactly.But I will admit that the image of you two together in your bed is one that I would happily contemplate.I wish I’d known about it last night, when I was forced to attend to myself on my narrow couch.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to know how difficult it was to leave you alone in your bed last night.Just because it was the right thing to do doesn’t mean that I wasn’t dreaming of doing something else entirely.The thought of you beneath me in an anonymous bed at an anonymous inn…I was so hard, I’m surprised I didn’t wake the whole inn when I finished.”
“Am I supposed to feel guilty for your state?”she asked, raising one brow.
“Not guilty.But I do want you to know that when I think of you, it’s almost always in an entirely inappropriate way.There are so many things I want to do with you in bed.And now the list is growing longer.I’ll need to hear all the things that your Eirlys taught you, and all the things you asked of her, so that I can make sure that I know what pleases you best.If she used her tongue, you must tell me where and how.If she used her fingers, I want to know.”
Her heartbeat tripled at his words, at being so wanted.“Douglas.”
“I will probably be very tedious in my desire to exceed whatever pleasure you felt with her.I must remind you that I was thefirstperson to kiss you with the aim of stirring your baser desires.And I want to be the last.I want to drive into dust all the memories of all the years that we were not together.I want to leave you with only the sweetest and richest memories of me.”
Joy heard all his words and waited to be shocked or offended or resentful of his proposition.But all she felt was a deep yearning to know exactly how it would feel to move together in the most intimate way two people could.She said, “We can’t continue this, ah, discussion here.It’s cold, and it will get colder.”
“I don’t know that we can continue it inside either,” he muttered.“I’m extremely frustrated by the sleeping arrangements at the Boar’s Head.Your maid…?”
“Was so apologetic that she wasn’t in the room last night, and she promised not to abandon me tonight,” Joy told him.
“Damn.”
“Indeed.I wish there was a way we could be together tonight,” she admitted.“But if this meeting was fated, Fate is terrible at booking rooms.”
He laughed, nodding in agreement.Then he held her close, his attention shifting from arousing to something more protective.He kissed her softly, his lips warm and firm in contrast to the sharp air of the afternoon.“What if I found a way?”
“Tonight?”Joy asked, hope blooming in her chest.
“Yes.”
“Then I would invite you to share my bed.”
“Just to hear you say that is almost enough for me.”He kissed her again, more intently.Then he gave a very low chuckle.“Though it’s not actually enough.I’m greedy, and I want everything.”
“I’ll give you everything.One night, everything.”
“It’s sweet to hear you say those words.But I won’t make any assumptions about what you will actually do tonight until—if—I can make it a reality.Then you may issue your invitation.I’ve dealt with the imaginary for too long.I want you to know what you’re asking for when you ask for me in truth.”
A sudden breeze sprang up, carrying sharpened snowflakes with it.It stung her bare cheek and she shivered.
Douglas pulled her cloak more tightly around her, and looked at the sky with a level of annoyance that he’d never shown before.
“Fuck, why could we not have been stranded at an inn in the middle of summer?I’m sure there are many places in these woods a couple could find some privacy.”
“But not an excuse to stay, considering the lack of snowstorms in summer.”
“A thunderstorm would be perfectly acceptable.All right, it’s time to return.I won’t be accused of allowing the woman I want most in the world to freeze to death because I was too randy to stop myself in the middle of a blizzard.”He groaned as he stepped back, and it was obvious that his arousal was at its maximum.
“Will you be able to walk?”she asked with sympathy, but also genuine amusement.
He shot her a look of annoyance almost equal to what he had shown the weather.“I’m a grown man, and I have overcome situations more dire than this.But by God, if I have the chance, I will pay you back for that remark.It would be justice to leave you wanting and on the edge.”
The bolt of desire that shot through her at those words made her gasp, and his eyes widened.
