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Ravencroft took a deep breath. Instead of calming Noel back to sleep, he told her a story filled with bitterness and strife. When she didn’t respond, he thought she might have fallen back asleep or thought harshly of him.
Then her soft voice filled the cottage with her own heartache. “I hated my father and found joy when he died. Does that make me a horrible person?”
His arms squeezed around her. “No, my love. It only shows the depth of your emotions toward someone who caused you pain. You hold the freedom to express your own feelings about others. And no one holds the right to tell you differently.”
“I never told another soul that before.”
Ravencroft kissed the top of her head. “I will carry your secret to the grave and beyond.”
She kissed his heart again before rolling on top of him. “You, my lord, must work on your bedtime stories. They are most depressing and will give our children nightmares.”
Gregory stilled at her comment. When he noticed the smirk around her lips and how her eyes crinkled in amusement, he reacted with his heart’s urgings. His hand curved around her cheek as he pressed his lips against hers. He wanted to steal her smile with his kiss. His tongue licked the upward slope of her lips. Noel’s soft sigh urged him to deepen the kiss. Gregory slid his hands into her tresses, while his tongue dived inside and slid against hers.
Noel only meant to tease him with her comment to help lighten the mood. She never expected him to ravish her like a man starving for a taste of her lips. He never so much as responded when she undid his shirt and kissed his chest. But she learned he held himself back, when she only wanted him to kiss her senseless. She no longer desired the perfect gentleman; she desired a man who took what he wanted. She wanted him to succumb to their desires. Because Noel needed Gregory more than she needed to breathe.
Her hands trailed down his chest and wrapped around his waist, her fingers digging into his back as he claimed her as his. She wanted to wrap herself around him and absorb his heat. His security. His love.
Noel set his body aflame with her touch. He grew hotter with each caress of her nimble fingers. He rolled them over and pulled his lips away. When she whimpered, he smiled with amusement. “Our children?”
Noel pulled his shirt up to slide over his head. “Well, yes, Lord Ravencroft. How else will you fulfill your dream if we do not have any?”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “Noel, we must stop.”
“Why?” she asked, sliding her hands over his chest and down to his stomach. Her fingers slid inside the waistband of his trousers.
He had no reasonable explanation for her other than her innocence and how he must act like a gentleman and protect her virtue. But his excuse only sounded weak to him and it would to Noel, too. When her fingers dipped lower, he sucked in his breath. For an innocent, she learned quickly.
Noel wanted to chuckle at Ravencroft’s indecision when he only had himself to blame. If he hadn’t awakened her desires, she never would have known the pleasure of his touch. It would appear he needed a little more persuasion.
She slid her leg up and wrapped it around his waist, pressing against him intimately. His hardness pressed into her core, heightening her need for Gregory to pleasure her.
“I do not see any reason why we must stop.” Her lips kissed a path along his neck. “We are alone.” Her teeth tugged at his earlobe. “And I am most eager for you to teach me the propositions you made the other evening.”
Gregory pulled her hands off him and held them above her head. Each breath he drew in reflected how his resistance crumbled. The desire in her gaze pulled at him to fall and worry about the circumstances later. When her leg slid up and down his, and her tongue struck out to lick her lips, it was his downfall.
He tightened his grip on her wrists, which only earned him a moan of pleasure. “You have no clue what you have awakened.”
Her smile was seduction itself. “Perhaps not, but I am excited to learn.”
His other arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her against his chest. “After this, I will no longer be your meek fiancé who you pet in affection.”
“If I wanted a pet, I would have one,” Noel purred. “I want you.”
“You are foolish, but I am powerless to resist you. You are a temptress the devil sent to distract me.”
Noel leaned forward to steal a kiss, but Ravencroft pulled away. “Distract you from what?”
“From redeeming myself,” Gregory whispered before devouring her lips with one passionate kiss after another, leaving her no time to ask for an explanation. His kisses were relentless as they heightened her desire to where she was powerless to respond.
“Do not fight it, temptress, let it wash over you,” Gregory demanded.
Gregory’s hand skated up her shirt and cupped her breast, teasing her nipple with a soft pinch. His exquisite torture was far from over. His hand trailed down her stomach and sank into her curls, drawing forth a moan filled with a need only he could satisfy. Her body came alive with every touch he bestowed on her.
“Tell me to stop, Noel,” Gregory begged.
“Never,” Noel promised.
Gregory growled, releasing her hands and stripping her bare. His eyes raked her in a breathtaking perusal, lingering on every curve and dip. His hands drew her legs apart, and his gaze fastened on her cunny. The darkness couldn’t hide her desire from him. Her scent filled the air, drawing him deeper into her web.
