She waited with bated breath for what felt like hours before she heard footsteps approach the door, barely managing to keep herself from letting out a startled squeak as it swung open.
Richard marched inside slowly, closed the door behind him, and pulled the bolt to lock it.
“It seems I have found you,” he said, voice low and gruff.
“So you did,” Isobel replied, her voice trembling slightly.
Now that the moment was here, now that they were alone with nothing between them but desire and the inevitability of her improper request, she felt her nervousness grow to the point that she could barely breathe.
Tentatively, she asked, “What will you do with me now?”
Richard crossed the distance between them in three long strides, and then his hands were on her waist, pulling her flush against him.
“I told you there would be consequences for being caught so easily.” He murmured, leaning in.
His mouth found hers again, but this kiss was different from the one they had shared earlier in the garden. It was deeper, more demanding, coaxing sighs and moans from her as she positively melted against him. His tongue swept past her lips, claiming her mouth with a thoroughness that made her knees weak. Isobel clung to his shoulders, overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through her body.
They had barely begun, and she could feel herself slipping out of her mind, the desire within her growing greater and greater.
When Richard's lips left hers to trail down her neck, she gasped, tilting her head back to give him more room to ravish. He accepted her offering and took full advantage right away, pressing searing, open-mouthed kisses along the column of her throat, finding the sensitive spot just below her ear that made her whimper.
“Your grace –” she breathed.
“My name,” he demanded, sinking his teeth briefly into the juncture between her neck and shoulder. “Call me by my name. At least for tonight.”
“Richard,” she whispered, complying easily.
It seemed that he did not expect her to comply so easily, because he went stock still at the utterance of his name from her lips.
“Richard, please –” she whined, tugging at his jacket, and it seemed to unleash something in him.
He grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her deeply, his tongue dancing with hers. One of his hands dropped from her face, trailing down her neck, running down her back, and grabbing at her buttocks, pulling her flush against him as he groped her luscious flesh. Isobel leaned into his fiery touch, nearly overwhelmed but still yearning for more.
His hands moved up to the fastenings of her gown, and Isobel felt a moment of panic run through her. “Wait–”
“Do you want me to stop?” Richard asked immediately, pulling back to look at her.
His eyes were dark with desire, but there was concern there too, along with a question that needed answering. The swiftness with which he expressed his worry for her, respecting her hesitation, spoke volumes about him in great length.
Just when would this man stop being so good to her and bad for her?
Isobel shook her head. Slowly, then repeated the action to clear her head.
“No. I just – I have never...”
Understanding dawned in Richard's expression, followed by something that looked almost like reverence. He brought his hands back up to her face again, pressing a kiss to her forehead sweetly.
“I will be gentle,” he promised, his voice soft. “I will take care of you. But if at any point you wish to stop, you need only say so. Do you understand?”
Isobel nodded, her heart racing. “I understand.”
“Good girl,” Richard murmured, and the praise sent a bolt of heat straight through her core.
She wanted him to call her that again, wanted to be so good for him. She wanted him so much.
His hands returned to her gown, this time moving with deliberate slowness as he worked the fastenings free. The cool air hit her skin as the fabric parted, and Isobel shivered – though whether from cold or anticipation, she could not say.
Richard's hands were warm as they skimmed over her newly exposed skin, mapping the curves and dips of her body with reverent attention. He pressed chaste kisses to her lips, then trailed some more down to her jaw, then nibbled from her neck to her collarbone. Every touch made her gasp, every caress drew sounds from her throat that she had never made before, and each kiss added more kindling to the fire slowly spreading through her body.
