She wanted to clamber onto his lap, to be pressed even closer to him, along the entire length of him. She wanted to loosen buttons, remove clothing, experience the warmth of his skin against her fingertips.
Had she really thought a condition designed to avoid anything personal developing between them was going to protect her from this overwhelming urge to keep nothing from him?
Every spinster should have a dalliance with a man who knows what he’s about.
Her aunt had offered that sage advice. Bishop certainly knew what he was about.
Holy hell! So much for that third condition. Her eagerness was burning right through it. Bishop wouldn’tbe surprised to look at their agreement and find that particular line scorched.
It seemed in the darkness of night, within the confines of his carriage, they could seldom travel without coming together. Was it the adventure of sleuthing, of sneaking about that made it seem acceptable to engage in the forbidden? Did it heighten senses and awareness? Did it make it impossible not to want?
Although he’d wanted her during dinner. Had wanted her in the library. Had wanted her earlier in the day when the sun had shone into the carriage. He wondered if a time would come when he wouldn’t want her, when he would be content to have only the memories of her.
But he wanted those memories to encompass the whole of her.
He trailed his mouth along her throat, taking immense satisfaction in her dropping her head back and moaning as though nothing had ever felt more sublime. For him, it hadn’t. Just having her back in his arms was heaven.
Taking her lobe between his teeth, he nipped and soothed. Then with his tongue, he outlined the delicate shell of her ear. “I don’t want to do this in the carriage. Come back to my residence with me.”
He could hear her breath sawing in and out, could feel the tension radiating through her.
“It would render me unprofessional.”
“You can’t be an inquiry agent twenty-four hours a day, surely. For a few hours, could you not be just a woman? With no mysteries to solve, no clues to collect. Only pleasure to be had?”
“You won’t sue me for breach of contract?”
Chuckling low, he took her mouth, hard and with purpose, but briefly. “No.”
Reaching up, he banged three times on the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Two knocks alerted the coachman to go to your place of business. Three means my residence. I needed to let him know there is a change in destination.”
“I won’t stay the entire night.”
“However long you stay, I shall make it enough.”
Chapter 18
She thought it unlikely that staying with him for the remainder of her life would be enough for her. That a few hours with her would be enough for him almost had her banging twice on the ceiling, signaling she’d changed her mind.
Only she hadn’t.
As complete honesty now existed between them, she was grateful to know there were limitations to what he would give. While she knew it was reckless of her to accompany him to his residence, to his bedchamber—because she was very much aware they weren’t going to sit in his parlor and drink tea—she couldn’t seem to find the strength to reverse her course.
Had her mother felt this way when her father had asked for her hand? Had she known it was an unwise decision to say yes but been powerless to utter any other word?
The truth was she wanted Bishop. She had for a while now. She didn’t know if there was a precise moment when she’d thoughtI want that man. Rather it had been a slow dawning, like a shadow creeping over the city when the sun set. One hardly noticed until it encompassed all and closed one within darkness.
Although she didn’t feel confined, but rather liberated. She was never going to marry, and if she was going to give her purity away, she wanted it taken by someone she admired. And she did admire him. To assist women in need, he risked censure and a lifetime of being alone. And presently a much worse fate. But it seemed he found it all worth the cost. So whatever price she paid to be with him, if later it demanded heartache, she would pay it without remorse or regret or bitterness.
He’d offered no promises except for now, uttered no words of love. Complete honesty. That was much more than her father had given her mother. A gift, really. To know precisely where she stood. Pleasure was on the horizon, and once they reached it, they would return to business. Keeping everything neat and tidy. Never mixing the two.
After their destination was altered, he took her mouth passionately but briefly before straightening and pulling her into the nook of his side, his arm circling her shoulders, his head resting against hers. As though now it was time to wait, to allow the anticipation to build.
She still had his coat draped around her. Didn’t want to relinquish it.
