Page 27 of Gentlemen Prefer Heiresses
“I don’t know why I did. I’ve never told anyone else.”
“And the things best left undone? What would they involve?”
His hand came around, cradled her cheek, tilted her head back slightly. Then his mouth blanketed hers. There was no longer any chill, any breeze, any rocking motion on the water. There was only him.
He didn’t know what had possessed him to blather on about something he’d fought so hard to forget, but she made him feel as though he could tell her anything, made him want to tell her everything—including the one thing he could never tell her: how much he’d come to care for her.
She was an heiress with a fortune, could have any man she wanted, deserved a titled gentleman with vast estates—not the second son who would never amount to anything. Although for her, he might be willing to put his playful ways behind him. For her, he didn’t want to contemplate all he might do. Or how difficult it might be.
Because at that very moment he was having to refrain from doing all he wanted to do. As his tongue swept through her mouth, as she welcomed him, as her fingers became entangled in his hair, he wanted to possess her fully, wanted to caress every aspect of her body. He wanted her to palm his bollocks, stroke his cock. He wanted to fill her—without a sheath. To have an experience with her that he’d never had with another. He wanted to feel the slickness of her muscles closing around him, coaxing his seed to burst forth.
Christ! He certainly couldn’t do that. He tore his mouth from hers, gazed into her limpid eyes. She was so beautiful, even when the night shadows prevented him from seeing her clearly.
“We should no doubt head back.” His voice was embarrassingly rough and raw. He hoped all her petticoats prevented her from being aware of his throbbing erection. Usually, he was better able to control his reaction to a woman. But she unmanned him.
“I suppose we should.”
He assisted her in returning to her bench, taking delight in her small squeal when the boat rocked unsteadily, but then he took delight in everything about her. Once he was settled, he grabbed the oars and began rowing. He had a great deal of pent-up energy to unleash.
They returned to shore in short order. He disembarked, pulled the skiff partway onto land, and held out his hand to her. She placed hers in it, rose. The boat wobbled.
“Easy now,” he cooed.
She moved forward, the skiff rocked more precariously. She screeched, released her hold on him, threw up her arms for balance—
And over she went.
Chapter 8
He rescued her.
She was a wicked, wicked girl because she’d known he would, and she’d wanted him to. As firm and steady as his hold on her had been, she could have easily made it to shore, but she wasn’t ready for her night with him to come to a close. She wasn’t ready to admit that nothing profound had transpired between them when he’d told his tale. She wasn’t ready to pretend she didn’t care for him.
And she’d known he couldn’t deliver her, looking like a drowned cat, to his parents’ home. What if they’d awakened and were roaming the hallways? What if a servant caught sight of her? Her reputation would be left in shambles.
She’d explained all this to him as she sat in his carriage with his coat draped over her shoulders.
“I can sneak you in,” he said to her now.
“If my clothing were dry, it would be so much easier. Wet, my shoes squeak when I walk.”
He gazed out the window as though the answer resided beyond the confines of the conveyance. “I don’t have a lady’s maid who could assist you.”
“You must have some female servant.”
“I never see them.”
“Is your home dusty? Are your floors unpolished? Is your bed each night exactly as unkempt as it was when you left it that morning?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you have at least one female servant. She will suffice to assist me in laying my clothes before a fire and tidying my hair.”
She thought she heard him mutter, “Dangerous.”
“It shouldn’t take long,” she persisted. “I’d be mortified for your parents to see me in such a state, to know I’m so clumsy.”
He blew out an audible breath, before shouting up instructions to the driver. They were going to his residence. She kept her smile small, hopefully invisible to him, but deep down inside her, where dreams resided, she was frolicking.
