Page 52

“Prediction: 100%, Yes. Yes.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jonas’s chest was rough with hair, corded with muscle. A working man’s body, a soldier’s body.

Bea took in a shaky breath and reached out to touch him, learning that his body jerked if she touched his nipple, that his lips parted in a groan if she stroked her fingers down to his waistband.

The carriage was a warm nest, one that swayed gently. It felt natural to pull down her bodice, to allow Jonah to undo her stays.

Jonah’s wild eyes when he saw her breasts? She would never again feel shame or embarrassment at their size. To him, to her future husband, they were perfect. His huge palms could indeed have been made for the express purpose of caressing her, shaping her, delighting her.

Rough thumbs, used to manual labor, rubbed her nipples, and Bea dropped all pretense of ladylike behavior, squirming toward him, desperate for his touch, for his weight.

“I want you,” Jonah said, voice hoarse. “Bea, may I have you?”

Bea had only one worry. “What if we reach your uncle’s house, and the footman opens the door, and there we are?”

A smile curled her duke’s lips. “I told my coachman to drive about until I banged on the roof and gave him further directions.”

Bea laughed, the sound hanging in the air as Jonah pulled back and stood up, bracing one hand against the roof as he toed off his shoes, pulled down his breeches and stockings. Then he stood over her, one hand still above his head, and let her look her fill.

She was aching at the sight, her blood racing, aroused in a way that she had never experienced before. The feeling smothered any qualm she had about supposedly maidenly behavior. She reached out and let her fingers sweep down the hard, thick length of his tool.

His eyes were hot and longing, looking at her.

At her.

She had to stop ogling the heavy planes of his muscled chest and pay attention. “Is this real?” she whispered.

Jonah bent over, kissed her hard on the lips, and then crouched beside the bench, hands shaping her waist, pulling gently at her gown. She lifted her hips and her skirts slid away. Her chemise followed.

“From the moment I first saw you, I pictured this moment,” Jonah said, hoarsely, his hands caressing the tender skin above her garters. His eyes were devouring her every curve, and there was nothing in them but desire. “I’m not sure this is real. I imagined your legs, your thighs, but I couldn’t have known how plush they were, how soft your skin, the way your garters … And then there’s this.”

His fingers slipped up the curve of her thigh to the silky tangle of hair. “I never pictured how miraculous you are, Bea. Not just you, your body, but the way your eyes are laughing at me.”

He closed his eyes and took a breath before saying, “I feel greedy and selfish. It’s as if everything I ever wanted in life is here, in the carriage.”

“Come here.” She tugged at him. He came up on the wide seat, knees braced on either side of her. “You don’t think I’m too plump?” She hated saying the words, but she forced herself to ask.

His eyes showed frank disbelief. “Look at me, Bea.”

She giggled. “I am. I have been.”

“Do I look like a man who wants to make love to a woman with legs like a dragonfly?”

“A dragonfly?” She choked and started laughing.

“You know what I mean.” His hands were all over her, adoring her, sliding beneath her and squeezing the curve of her arse. “I can worship every inch of you, without worrying whether you’ll break like a twig.” He lowered his voice to a growl. “I’m going to go hard, Bea, and you—you’ll love it. You’ll be with me every inch of the way.”

Bea swallowed because she didn’t know exactly what he meant, but she instinctively welcomed it. The ragged tone in his voice told her that the curves of her belly and breasts and thighs set him on fire.

“I imagined this.” His growl stilled as his hands swept again over her breasts, her middle, her generous hips, her curving thighs, a thumb dipping between them. “You’re so wet, so luscious … What man wouldn’t? But I want you even more.”

Bea was dizzy with joy. And desire. A wild mixture of both things at once. “Let’s make love,” she whispered, eyes on his. “Now. I’m seduced. I promise I am.”

“As am I,” he whispered, his voice rumbling in her ear. Finally, finally, he moved so that his warm body came down on hers.

Bea’s legs naturally slipped around his hips, and she gasped. His weight settled on her. He was right: they were perfect together.