“Will mine be as well?”
“No, we’re going to travel at a leisurely pace to ensure you’re ready for me.” He brought her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck. “I’m going to suck on your breasts.” He growled low, causing heat to swamp her. “I’m going to kiss my way down to the sweet valley between your thighs and feast there.”
“Oh, God.” She dropped her head back, lost in the images his words created. “Do it now.”
“No. I want you completely naked, spread out before me so I can worship you as you deserve.”
“You’ll be naked, too.”
“Absolutely.” He moved a hand down and wrapped it around her calf. “Everywhere, flesh against flesh, fire against fire. The flames will consume us, and just when you think you will die, you’ll soar into pleasure such as you’ve never known.”
Reaching up, she loosened two buttons on her nightdress. “I’m hot now.”
He lowered his mouth to the tiny V of flesh she’d revealed. “What you feel now is only a spark. I intend to turn you into a blaze and leave you naught but smoldering ashes.”
As though the spark had struck him as well, he was kissing her hungrily, their tongues clashing. She held tightly on to his hair, ensuring he couldn’t leave her, that his mouth remained on hers. This one was different from the others they’d shared. This one was a prelude to fulfillment. It was untamed, a wild and ferocious thing. He gripped her knee, and she suspected he held it with such purpose to prevent himself from traveling farther up her leg, because if he exploredwhat he had yet to touch, he might not be able to stop himself from keeping his promise of ensuring she was ready for him. She could sense the tension in him, the tightness coiled in his muscles. Against her hip was pressed the burgeoning evidence of his desire. It emboldened her, gratified her, empowered her.
“I’m going to suck on your nipple, kiss my way down your torso, and lick your cock,” she dared to whisper.
At her knee, his hand spasmed. His other hand knotted in her hair, pulling her head back so he could graze his mouth along her throat. “Christ, Reggie. You’re going to have me spilling my seed before we even get to the residence.”
She laughed lightly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been wanted like this.”
“I’ve wanted you like this since the first moment I set eyes on you.”
“I feel like you’re devouring me.”
“Soon, love, soon now.”
In spite of the fire growing hotter, they managed to limit their attentions to kissing. Deeply, greedily, all-consumingly. The first kiss he’d bestowed upon her—in the garden at the Wolfford ball—paled in comparison to what he was delivering now. It was a claiming, a vow. An admittance of an uncontrollable passion. She felt it from the tips of her toes to the crown of her head. Every inch of her was responding with need. She couldn’t stop her hands from moving over him—his shoulders, his arms, his chest. She wanted all of him. She’d never experienced such a driving force within herself.
She knew at that moment she’d do anything to have him. All of him.
The carriage came to a stop, and they lurched apart. So involved in each other, they’d not even noticed it slowing. The door opened. He leapt out into the pale light provided by the gas lamps along the drive. He looked a mess. His neckcloth halfway undone, his shirt partly out of his trousers on one side. His hair askew. She’d done that to him. She’d mussed him and was going to do it again. After tonight, she was going to do it every chance she got.
He extended his hand toward her and assisted her in climbing out of the carriage. Her feet had scarcely hit the drive before she was back in his arms and being carried up the steps. The door opened. He barely greeted his butler before heading up the stairs.
She buried her face against Knightly’s shirt, not certain if she wanted the servant to recognize her—because there was only one reason for her to be here this time of night. Although she supposed it was a bit late to worry over her reputation. The driver and footman knew who she was.
What did it matter anyway when he was going to marry her?
She’d been raised by a woman who didn’t believe pleasure required marriage vows to be enjoyed.When you love someone, Regina, it is natural to want to be joined with them. Never be ashamed of your body’s response. It’s a gift, really. Nature, perhaps, striving to make up for the pain we endure each month and during childbirth. Glory in it.
With him, she would.
He swept into his bedchamber and kicked the door closed behind him. His goal was obvious, his long strides making short work of crossing the distance.
When he reached the bed, he slowly lowered her onto it as though he feared hurting or scaring her. But nothing he did would frighten her.
Kneeling, he removed one slipper, and then the other, setting both aside before pulling her to her feet. He eased off her night wrap and then concentrated on releasing the buttons on her nightdress from their mooring. She watched his blue eyes darken as the sliver of skin revealed began to widen. When the last button was free, his breathing became harsh as he slid his hands beneath the material and flattened his palms against her collarbones. His skin was like fire against hers. Lifting his gaze, he captured and held her own. His contained a need that nearly made her sink down onto the bed in a molten pool of desire. She’d never before seen such hunger, as though she was essential to his continuing to exist. She was both flattered and terrified she could be so important.
He didn’t move and it suddenly occurred to her that he was waiting for permission, as though she hadn’t signaled in the coach all of her was his for the taking. “Yes.” Her voice was a rasp she’d not expected, as if the fire burning between them had scorched her throat.
His eyes darkened even more before he lowered them, slid his hands out over her shoulders and toward her arms, causing her nightdress to slither down her body. She was aware of his breath catching. “You’re so beautiful.”
“The way you watch me makes me feel so.”
“Lie down. Spread your arms and legs wide.”
