“Are you cold?”he asked.
She shook her head, unable to form words.Whether that was from fear of being caught in a lie or distraction due to physical turmoil, she did not care to decide.
“Right, then.You owe me a forfeit for awakening me.”
“I did you a favor, sir.Your bed must be more comfortable than the settee.”Her forwardness, no matter what her position, in mentioning a man’s bed made her squirm.Or perhaps it was due to his naked forearms beneath rolled-up sleeves.
“That bed is ridiculously large.Especially when, for some reason, there is a separate set of rooms for the duchess.”
As much as she wanted to ask to see said bed, she needed to find a balance between flirting and sanity.She tried, “After sharing your thoughts of my accommodations—in your home, I might add—I don’t think ’tis very fair to complain about your bed being too large.”
He chuckled.
“Perhaps our forfeits negate one another?”she proposed hopefully.Worry over what her forfeit might be had begun to cloud her thoughts.They might be on totally different pages for what they’d like to explore this evening.
“I don’t think so.”
She swallowed through a tight throat.“What, then?”
“What do you suggest?”He frowned.“What do other households have as punishment?”
She’d heard her mother discussing such a thing with the housekeeper once, but with him so close, she could not pull the memory forward.Offering a few guesses, she said, “Docking their pay?Forfeiting their day off?”
His lips flattened.“Sounds harsh.What do the London ladies forfeit?”
It would be inexcusably forward of her, but no one had to know.Unable to resist his lure, she dropped her gaze to his hard jaw and lush lips and whispered, “Kisses.”
His nostrils flared on a sharp inhale, and he cupped her jaw with a broad work-roughened hand.“That seems more fair.”
Her eyelids fluttered, the heat of his hand searing a path from her cheek to between her legs.Oh my, he is potent.
His voice was rougher and lower than normal when he asked, “Do you agree?”
Her conscience and newly awakened desire were warring.You mustn’t.But—for husband research.Unable to resist his heat, his gaze, and his touch, she nodded against his hold.
Before her next breath, his lips were on hers.
Chapter Nine
Xander swooped in as soon as her head moved in the affirmative and set his lips to hers.Taking advantage of her open mouth, he ran his tongue over her bottom lip.As he did, North’s voice was shouting alarms in his head.She was in his employ.This was a terrible idea.
He’d fallen asleep on the settee, recalling their interplay of the past several days and wishing they’d met under different circumstances.
He’d woken to her silhouette in full definition, her nightwear all but invisible with the gas lamp backlighting her.Realizing it wasn’t a dream when she did not immediately draw close and drop to her knees to suck his iron-hard cock, he rose and prowled toward her, looking for an excuse to touch her.
She gave it to him.
But her response was passive, her lips tentatively mimicking his, and he had to tease at her tongue to get it to come out and play.
Never say she’s innocent.He’d never met a working-class girl who wasn’t already an expert kisser.Of course, he couldn’t speak to the majority, as most girls were married by the twenty-odd years Evie appeared to have lived.He never messed around with married women.But the single ones had had their share of experimenting with kisses, if not more.
A mental alarm pinged.Not about her innocence, but about her guilt.Regardless of her experience with men, he’d caught her snooping in his office, and he did not give any credit to her paltry excuse.
He shouldn’t be so attracted to this little liar.
Without breaking the kiss, he slid the hand holding her cheek around to cup her head and brought the other one to her hip.He stepped one foot between hers and pressed his hips inward, then groaned when her belly cushioned his cock.
She tore her mouth away, looking at him with wide eyes.“Your Grace!”
