She’d never known his hair to be so unruly with curls and wondered if the matter had involved washing up. If so, his hair must have been quite wet when he began the journey here. She was certain he’d taken a razor to his face. This time of night, his jaw should have been shadowed by whiskers. She couldn’t have been more delighted that he’d gone to the extra bother if he’d handed her a diamond. “I hope my... request didn’t inconvenience you.”
“Not at all. I was in residence, reading.”
“What were you reading?”
“To be honest, I can’t remember a word of it because my thoughts continually drifted elsewhere.” His gaze took a long, lingering journey over her, from head to toe, leaving her with the conviction that she had been theelsewhere. “Does it matter?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been contemplating your... suggestion regarding what couples can do... without doing.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the door. “Have you?”
Curiosity marked his tone, along with a measure of approval. But no arrogance or conceit. NoHow could you have not?While he appeared completely relaxed, a muscle ticking in his jaw gave away his tension as he awaited her reply.
She nodded. At the moment, it seemed only her head was capable of movement. “I am curious regarding how one cannot lose one’s virtue while engaged in the unvirtuous.”
A hint of amusement shone in his eyes, and something darker, more compelling, more dangerous. She’d tiptoed up to a line and hovered on the side of safety,and he was considering pulling her across into a place that could lead her to peril. She was a fool to even consider it, to have brought him here when he was so hard to resist. “I could provide you with a recitation but since you confessed to understanding things better when you can take them apart, a demonstration might be best in order to ensure you can examine it in exquisite detail later.”
She couldn’t imagine that his recitation would bore her—that anything he did would bore her. But she hadn’t requested his presence for talk; she’d requested it for action. “Yes, I think you’re right that a demonstra—”
He shoved himself away from the door with such swiftness that she barely had time to note it before his arms were locked around her and his mouth was on hers, hungrily devouring, and she was left with the realization that perhaps he wanted this as much as she did. That his relaxed state had been a ruse to ensure she didn’t feel pressured into asking for what she might not be fully ready to receive.
But she was ready. She felt as if she’d been waiting for this precise moment her entire life because it seemed the most natural thing in the world to be pressed so firmly against his hard body. She’d also accurately surmised that he’d tidied up before coming to her because his tangy orange-lemon scent was brisk and clean. Not a single whisker abraded her skin.
Pulling back, he smiled at her fondly, and it caused her heart to trip over itself. “No absinthe tonight.”
She supposed he’d tasted it before; it had no doubt left a lingering flavor on her tongue. “I didn’t want to fall asleep.”
His grin grew. “You may afterward—if I do it properly.”
Only she didn’t want to, didn’t want to miss a single moment with him. She glanced over at the clock resting on the mantel. Far too many minutes had already ticked by, leaving them with barely three quarters of an hour. “I suppose we should get to it. We haven’t much time left.”
“We have all night.”
“I reserved the room for only two hours.”
He tucked his thumb into the curve of her cheek where it met her mouth. “Thanks to my brother, I have some influence. I’ve arranged for it to be ours until it isn’t needed any longer.” He stroked her lower lip. “I’ll have you back at the hotel before anyone is stirring.”
He’d apparently given a good deal of thought to this encounter. She had as well, but her musings were influenced by books she read, horses and dogs she’d seen rutting, and a general notion of what was involved when two people came together. He, on the other hand, she had little doubt, knew the details, had indulged his fantasies with other women. She would not be jealous of his time with them. Instead, she would view it as giving him the knowledge to make tonight one she’d never forget.
His thumb once more took up residence in that little nook at her mouth he seemed to favor. “We’ll go only as far as you’re comfortable with—and under no circumstances will I actually be pushing my cock inside you.”
Her breath caught and held, almost painfully. Cock. He said that word with such ease, as comfortable with it as she was withbonnet. And the image his statementbrought to mind—she had little doubt her cheeks were flaming red. What was she to say to that?Thank you for the reassurance?He’d already told her that he wouldn’t defile her, that they could do all this without leaving any evidence—her loss of virginity—to indicate that they had. Her head barely nodded. Again, it seemed the only part of her that could move.
“All right then. Remember, all you have to say is stop.” He moved his hands up, his fingers threading through her hair.
“Stop.”
He stilled immediately, his eyes drifting down to hers, a question in his. Concern, not anger or impatience. He simply waited, a heartbeat, two. “Changed your mind?”
“No, just testing that I retain the ability to speak.”
“You might lose it after a while. But by the time that happens, you won’t want to stop. You’ll think you’ll die if we do.”
“Will you feel the same?”
“I suspect so. But I will stop if you wish it. You are in absolute control. If you’re agreeable, I’m simply going to remove your pins. Then your buttons, your laces, your bows.”
She dared to flatten her palm against his chest, could feel the hard and heavy thudding of his heart. “Your clothing?”
