"Then why hold back?" she whispered.
Robert’s restraint cracked, and his mouth crashed against hers, hard, brutal, and consuming.
She gasped, but he swallowed it, his tongue slid against hers, taking what he’d denied himself for nights. Her fingers clutched at his arms, nails biting through the fabric and desperate.
The chair scraped as he dragged her closer and her body pressed flush to his. She could feel him, hard and hot, straining against her belly through his trousers. A moan slipped from her throat before she could stop it.
He growled into her mouth. “God’s blood, Scarlett…”
Her lips broke from his only to whisper raggedly against his jaw, “Ye waited too long.”
He kissed down her throat, biting lightly, leaving a mark that made her whimper. “Aye. And now I’ll pay for it.”
Her head fell back, baring her neck to him with her gown slipping from one shoulder. “Robert…”
His hands gripped her waist, dragging her half up from the chair into his chest. His mouth caught hers again, slower now but deeper and hungrier.
She trembled with her thighs squeezing together and her voice breaking in a gasp. “Please?—”
He pulled back just enough to look at her, and his forehead pressed to hers. “This is me night, Scarlett. I’ll take it slow or I’ll take it rough, but I will take it. Do ye understand?”
Her answer came without hesitation though her breath was ragged. “Aye.”
Robert’s lips twitched, almost a smile, before he kissed her again, fierce and claiming.
Scarlett’s breath hitched when Robert’s lips brushed the curve of her throat, heat spilling straight to her belly. His body loomed behind her, solid and overwhelming, and though he hadn’t yet touched her anywhere else, she felt caged in, trembling with anticipation.
She forced a whisper. “Robert…”
Her fingers gripped the edge of the vanity, and her knuckles turned white. “Take me,” she breathed though her voice wavered, betraying the storm inside her.
Robert chuckled darkly. “So eager, lass. But daenae mistake eagerness for control. Ye’ll learn quick enough—I set the pace.”
He tugged her hair free of its fall, dragging the long strands over one shoulder. The sight of it spilling down her front in the mirror made her pulse leap. His hand followed, and rough palms grazed the side of her neck before settling on her collarbone.
Scarlett opened her mouth. “Robert?—”
“Quiet.” His mouth caught the shell of her ear, his voice a growl. “I’ll hear ye soon enough, and it willnae be with words.”
Then his hand slid lower, cupping her breast through the sheer nightdress. Scarlett gasped, the sound sharp in her throat. He squeezed, thumb brushing the taut peak that strained against the fabric. Heat coiled in her core, a moan tearing out before she could stop it.
“Hmm…”
Her own reflection startled her, cheeks flushed, lips parted, eyes heavy with want. She had never looked like that before, never imagined she could.
“Ye see yerself?” he rasped, rolling her nipple between his fingers until her knees weakened. “Aye, that’s what I do to ye. That’s what me touch makes of ye.”
Her moan was low and desperate. “Robert, please?—”
“Please what, lass?” His hand left her breast only to gather the hem of her nightdress. He dragged it up, inch by inch, until the cool air kissed her thighs. She clenched them together instinctively, but he forced them apart with his knee. “Say it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Please touch me.”
That earned her a dark sound, half-laugh, half-growl. “There’s honesty.”
His hand slid between her thighs, and his fingers found the slick heat waiting for him. Scarlett cried out, her hips jerking against his touch.
“Saints!”
