AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The room they entered was obviously his, decorated in masculine tones of blue and green. The walnut bedroom set was massive, the bed at least twice as wide as the one she’d had at Allison’s. She drifted around the room, letting her fingers trail across the crushed velvet counterpane and shiny wood, glad that he hadn’t taken her somewhere frilly and pink, a room that had been decorated by his last mistress. She had no doubt that such a room existed somewhere in this house, but it seemed significant to her that he’d taken her here instead.
“Do you like it?” he asked quietly, still standing near the doorway, looking oddly vulnerable with his hands in his pockets.
“I love it,” she assured him, leaning against the foot of the bed, wishing she knew the proper way to seduce him. Some women seemed to be natural temptresses, but she’d never felt that she was one of them. But this man made her yearn to be a seductress. She wanted to keep him enthralled with her. She never wanted him to walk away.
He prowled across the room to her side, pulling her into his arms and just holding her tightly. “What do you want right now, darling? Would you like to just go to sleep in my arms?”
Heat stained her cheeks as she realized he was going to make her be the one to say it. Though she appreciated that he was giving her the option, she’d rather hoped that he’d want her so badly that he’d start stripping off her clothes the moment they walked into the room.
“I do want to sleep,” she admitted. “But first I want to make love. I want to know what it’s like to be completely naked with you. To fall asleep in each other’s arms afterward.”
He put a fingertip beneath her chin and tilted her face up so he could stare down into her eyes. In his, she saw unmistakable desire. For now, for this moment at least, he was as captivated by her as she was with him.
“I want that too, Heather.” He gave a rueful little laugh. “I want you so desperately, more than I ever expected to want anyone. It scares me a little.”
“It scares me too,” she said, stunned that he’d admitted any weakness to her. But perhaps that was why she cared about him so very much. He was a strong, powerful man, but when he was with her, he allowed himself to show his tender side. That sort of trust didn’t come easy to him, she knew, and she hated that eventually, he was going to learn that it was misplaced.
Releasing her, he gestured to a door across the room. “I have a bathtub big enough for two. Would you like to join me?”
“Yes,” she murmured shyly, even though the thought of bathing with him seemed very intimate. Perhaps even more intimate than making love.
He once again led the way to the bathroom, which was bigger than her entire suite of rooms at Allison’s had been. The sunken tub with porcelain tile in shades of blue was indeed big enough for two, so deep that she could probably swim in it.
He leaned down and plugged the tub, then turned on the faucet. It came to life with a startling explosion of water, which popped and gurgled for a moment before it became a steady stream.
“I’m still not quite used to the luxury of having hot water whenever you want it. For too many years, footmen hauled huge pots of hot water up and down the stairs for Allison, and it took forever.” Allison’s new house had wonderful plumbing, but as a servant, she was still only allowed one hot bath a week.
“No more waiting for water to be hauled,” he said with a smile, shrugging out of his jacket. “Do you need some help undressing?”
The heat in her cheeks intensified if that was even possible. “Yes, please.” Usually, she wore clothes that she could easily get in and out of herself, but the dress she was wearing was one of Allison’s, loaned to her for dinner tonight, and she’d have a hard time taking it off herself.
Removing his waistcoat and unbuttoning his shirt, he tossed them on the vanity chair with his jacket, and then walked toward her bare-chested, giving her a fantastic view of rippling muscle with a dark patch of hair in the center that she couldn’t wait to run her fingers through.
“Turn around,” he murmured, his voice husky with desire.
Shivering, she did as he asked, then caught a glimpse of them in the mirror on the other side of the room. They looked good together, she decided, her eyes half-closed as he proceeded to unfasten her dress, pressing his lips tenderly to each inch of skin he revealed.
He let the gown fall off her shoulders to pool at her feet, then released her petticoats and drawers, removed her corset cover and corset, at last leaving her in nothing but her chemise and the sparkling amethyst necklace that Allison had gifted her tonight, insisting that she needed some jewelry of her own. She took a few deep breaths, having been laced tighter than she was used to all night.
“I don’t know how you ladies wear such torture devices,” he said, running his hands over the sensitive skin under her breasts where the corset had created deep ridges.
“I don’t either,” she said with a hoarse laugh, reveling in his gentle touch. “I live for the moment each night I can take it all off.” She couldn’t even imagine how nice it would be to have a man do this for her every night. No, not just any man.Thisman. The thought was almost too painfully beautiful to bear.
Bending down, he lifted the edges of her chemise and slowly pulled it over her head. Then he gently brushed her hair aside and removed her necklace, placing it carefully with the rest of her things and leaving her standing there as bare as the day she was born.
Her first instinct was to cover herself with her hands, but when she met his gaze in the mirror, she found him staring at her with such rapt adoration that she forced herself to leave her hands at her sides.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, still behind her, holding her gaze in the mirror as he cupped her full breasts, his hands dark against her pale skin. “I think this is the first time I’ve really gotten a good look at you.”
She endured his gaze for as long as she could, but then turned in his arms, still feeling shy and vulnerable. “This isn’t fair,” she said, trying to sound cheeky instead of terrified. “You’ve still got clothes on.”
He laughed and stepped away, his hands going to his falls. “Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”
He shoved his trousers and underclothes down his legs and then kicked them away, this time not bothering to fold them neatly but just leaving them on the floor.
She’d never had the chance to really look at him either, and what she saw now took her breath away. He was tall and broad, heavily muscled, his skin bronzed and free of blemishes. And between his legs...
She looked once, then gasped and looked away, then looked back again, unable to help herself. Sothatwas what it looked like. Strange to think that she’d engaged in the sex act three times already, yet she’d not really gotten a good look at... She was embarrassed that she didn’t even know what to call it.
