Page 59 of Beguiling the Baron

Had he? She hadn’t noticed, aware only of the searing heat emanating from his naked torso.

Her skin burned in the places his hands had touched. She gulped.

“After you.” He stood back to let her past him into the cloisters, and she enjoyed the image of a half-naked peer of the realm bowing politely to her. Her feet seemed to have no weight as she glided along the passageway with him at her side, and even though they hadn’t a lamp, the shadows no longer menaced her.

Soon she was in the dressing room, settled in Hal’s chair, every nerve alive with excitement.

He reached for a towel and applied it to the still-dripping ends of her hair. Once satisfied, he ran his fingers through it, deftly removing the tangles, but occasionally becoming distracted and placing kisses on the side of her face, her neck, and the top of her head.

Avidly, she watched his reflection in the glass, loving the way the lamplight in the room sent shadows rippling like silk across the smoothness of his shoulders and the mounded muscles of his chest. She longed to turn around and bury her face there, taste his skin, luxuriate in the sensation of the light down of hair rubbing against her cheek. But that would be too wanton.

Wouldn’t it?

Once order had been restored to her hair, he gave her neck further attention. First, he applied his lips to the task, then his teeth, creating a languid desire in her limbs. When he gently bit her earlobe and tugged on it, she knew him to be a master of the art. His hot tongue dipped in and out, sending a delicious shiver chasing across her skin.

She tilted her head back, hoping for a kiss, but instead, he took advantage of her exposed neckline and delved brazenly.

Her body jerked as his warm hand took the weight of her breast, but the cloth was stretched too tightly for much activity. Hoping he wouldn’t be too shocked, but desperate to give him full access to her now-aching breasts, she asked huskily, “Shall I help, my lord?”

“Mmm?” He nuzzled a roughened cheek against her temple.

“I said, can I—oh, never mind.” She applied her fingers to the row of tiny buttons at the front of her nightgown and soon had them undone. This admitted his other hand, and she discovered the exquisite pleasure of having both breasts stroked at once, while her neck and shoulder continued to be nibbled and kissed.

He caught her rigid nipples between his fingers and started rubbing the tips with his thumbs. The merciless friction had her gasping for breath and craning back to expose her bosom more fully to his expertise.

Blessedly, his mouth found hers, offering reassurance that her actions, her emotions, were acceptable to him. An arrow of intense pleasure darted straight to the tiny nub of flesh between her legs, and she squeezed them together, desperate to increase the sensation.

Hal groaned against her mouth and slid his hands lower until her gown creaked at the seams.

“I think this needs to come off,” she whispered as soon as his lips released her.

“Shameless hussy. You are, however, correct, but we can’t do it while you’re sitting down, can we?”

The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, being carried through to his bedchamber—again—and being laid down on his bed—again. Was he going to make love to her once more?

I can think of no reason for him not to.