Page 59 of One Night with a Rake

“That was over too soon,” he murmured into her hair.

The last spurt escaped from him and his muscles went limp as a dead man.

“Well, you’re right about that,” she said as she stroked his head and neck. “It was over much too soon.”

Nate buried his nose in her hair and clutched her tight. He could scarcely believe his good fortune. She’d come to him. Now he only had to convince her to stay.

“That’s what you think,” he said, rising up to look down at her. “Give me a few minutes and we’ll start round two.”

Her laugh warmed him to his toes. Nate got up, wet a cloth at the small commode fitted with a ewer, and returned to wash her inner thighs gently. She’d given him more than her innocence. She’d given him her trust. He was determined to deserve it.

“Mmm, that feels nice,” she purred as he ran the cool cloth over her.

“I know lots of ways to make you feel nice.”

She grinned up at him. “Show me.”

He sank back down onto the bed, covering her with a hailstorm of kisses. There were so many variations on this randy theme. If he could only keep her here till dawn broke and the chambermaid came to clean the hearth for the start of a new day, she’d be his.

Permanently.

***

Georgette had dropped off to sleep at some point, sated and lethargic. She didn’t know what jerked her to full wakefulness, but suddenly her eyes were wide open and her ears pricked at any sound.

The moon that had brightened Nathaniel’s chamber earlier had set, throwing them into near total darkness. Only the soft glow from the banked fire allowed her to see the chest for his clothing along the far wall and the pair of chairs with a chess table arranged between them before the hearth.

Georgette turned to look at the man whose head rested on her pillow. Nathaniel’s face was in shadow, but she could imagine it in repose. The frown line between his brows would have relaxed. There’d be no tension in his jaw, and Nate would look far younger than his years.

She resisted the urge to stroke his cheek, to feel the stubble of his beard under her palm. The man had richly earned his rest. She wouldn’t disturb him now.

Instead she eased out from under the linens and went in search of her discarded night shift and wrapper. With an ear still cocked for sounds of others stirring in the great house, she dressed quickly.

Georgette supposed she ought to feel a bit saddened about losing her innocence, but instead a satisfied glow warmed her chest. She might still be facing a loveless match, but no matter what the future brought, she’d remember this night till she was dust. It was the night she’d come fully alive.

And she had Nathaniel to thank for it.

She padded toward the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

His voice seemed loud enough to wake the dead and she whirled to shush him, her warm feelings toward him dissipating in irritation.

“Do be quiet, Nate. What does it look like? I’m going back to my own room.”

He was out of bed and across the room to her in a couple heartbeats. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want to be found here, of course.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his warm nakedness. “Stay, Georgette. It’s hours till dawn.”

She doubted that. Her sleep had been so deep and restorative, she felt as if she’d slept the clock around. Surely the sky would begin to brighten to pearl between one breath and the next. “No, Nate. I need to leave now.”

The hardness of his groin against her belly was making it more difficult for her to keep her resolve by the moment. She’d thought that ache between her legs had been fully assuaged, but it flared to life again.

He brushed her lips with his. “Would it be so terrible if we were caught together?”

She blinked in surprise. “What happened to your promise not to see me shamed?”