Page 29 of Gentlemen Prefer Heiresses
“I would disagree. It’s too large.”
His gaze dipped to her nude calves. “There is that.”
Her toes squirmed, and it was all she could do not to let the squirming travel upward. She was going to be bold and daring tonight, not at all dull.
Unexpectedly, he lifted her into his arms. With a squeak, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’re not going to stay in here?”
“A bed would serve us better.”
She nodded, and he began striding from the room. “I assume we won’t sit cross-legged on it and talk.”
“There may be some talking. Legs might get crossed.” He winked at her. “But it will be far different from what you experienced the other night.”
She ran a hand along his jaw. It was bristly and prickly. She liked the feel of it, the texture, the roughness. Before the night was done, it might abrade her skin. She was anticipating it with a headiness that made her realize she was somewhat wanton.
Up the stairs he went. She felt delicate and precious in his arms. While she knew it was wrong, might result in her downfall, she couldn’t seem to care.
At the landing, he turned down a short hallway and into a room with a massive four-poster bed. Not the room where she had bathed and changed. These were his chambers; she knew it without being told. It smelled of him. It reminded her of him.
While he was fair, the furniture was dark, spoke to a part of him that called to the darker elements: vices, addictions, wickedness. Yet there was hope here in the pastel green of the wallpaper, the forest green of the duvet.
He lowered her feet to the thick rug beside the bed, cradled her face between his palms. “We’re going to get very intimate, Gina, but I need you to know that I won’t dishonor you by taking your virginity.”
She wanted to tell him that he would only honor her if he did, but as though knowing she would object, he pressed his thumbs to her lips. “But when we are done here, you will have been well and truly pleasured.”
“What of you?”
He lowered his head. “I believe I will never know any greater satisfaction.” His lips met hers, and she tasted the whiskey he’d sipped earlier. Opening her mouth to him, she found herself drowning in the sensations of rich flavors, sharp fragrances, the heat of his skin, the roughness of his jaw. She scraped her nails up into his hair, loving the way the curls tangled themselves around her fingers. Groaning low, he pressed her flush against him, until her breasts were flattened against his chest.
He dragged his mouth along the underside of her chin and desire sluiced through her. After nibbling at the sensitive skin below her ear, he soothed it with little laps of his tongue. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he rasped.
“I’ve wanted you to. And I’ve yearned to do this.” Leaning in, rising up on her toes, she pressed her mouth to his throat, where the buttons he’d left undone revealed a narrow V of skin. He was salty on her tongue. His low growl sent shivers of pleasure coursing through her. It excited her to know she could elicit such a reaction from him, that he wasn’t immune to her touch.
Drawing back, he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. She felt a slight tug on her hair, realized he was unbraiding the strands she’d so meticulously woven together following her bath. When all the locks were free, he plowed his hands into her hair, massaged her scalp. With a sigh, she closed her eyes.
“So glorious,” he rasped. “Goes all the way down to your bum.”
“Gentlemen do not discuss that part of a woman’s anatomy.”
“You’re about to discover I’m no gentleman.”
She was very much looking forward to that.
Gathering up all the tresses, he draped them over her right shoulder. “Set the first button that is secured free,” he ordered. “But only the one.”
If he asked, she’d loosen them all. What a scandalous thought. She did as he instructed, and once her hands fell to her sides, he eased the opening of his shirt aside until it was almost off her shoulders. His open mouth landed against the nape of her neck, bringing with it heat and moisture. She couldn’t hold back her soft moan as he journeyed over her skin, along her spine. His hands closed around her arms as though he would hold her in place. Only she wasn’t going anywhere, except possibly to twist about and take possession of the luscious mouth that was doing such deliciously tantalizing things.
“Did you ever go to that room at the brothel where people could watch you?” she asked.
“No. What transpires between a lady and me is private, only for the two of us. I never discuss my encounters. You’re safe with me tonight, Gina. No one will ever learn that I know all the wickedly wonderful little sounds you make when lost in rapture.”
“And if I don’t become lost?”
“Oh, you will, sweetheart.”
And she couldn’t help but wonder if in becoming lost she might also become found.
Chapter 9
