He tossed her gown aside and settled atop her even though she still had on her chemise. He had kept his trousers on. Did he think she needed to be treated as gently as an innocent?
It was true that she was not proficient in the sexual arts and would never be a proper courtesan. But she wasn’tcompletelyignorant. “Do not take it slow, Rob. I’ll panic and think too much if you do.”
“I was not planning to charge at you like a raging bull,” he said, regarding her quite lovingly. “Are you sure, Fiona? I don’t want to rush this first time between us. But the sight of you with your hair down and your gown slipping off your shoulders… Everything is flying out of my head, and all I want to do is devour you.”
“Then do so. I won’t stop you.”
He kissed her again, his mouth hot and persistent, while also running his hands over her body as though he needed to memorize each and every curve and hollow. She did the same with his, the recognition surprisingly profound even though she had never touched him like this before.
He rained kisses upon her lips, her chin, and then suckled the tender spot below her ear before moving lower and doing the same to her breast.
She gasped and arched beneath him as lightning bolts tore through her.
He looked up and studied her in surprise. “Dear Lord, Fiona. Is this your first time?”
That any man had touched her breast with his mouth? She was too humiliated to answer.
He eased back slightly, and then gently kissed the swell of her breast.
But she gasped again when he renewed his onslaught, closing his mouth once more over the taut bud through the thin fabric of her chemise and lightly suckling it. Ripples of pleasure tore through her, the delicious shock making her cry out.
His body tensed, his muscles coiled like that of a cobra, as he took his lips off her and looked up again.
“Don’t stop.” She drew his head back to her bosom. “I cried out because I liked it.”
His laugh was painful. “So did I…like it, that is. Then you are all right with what I am doing?”
At her nod, he tugged her chemise lower to expose her breast, then proceeded to tease and lick the creamy mound with exquisite care, now understanding no one had ever done this to her before.
Her head was in a spin, for relations with Shoreham had been nothing like this. Never passionate or set-flames-to-the-bed hot. Always discreet. Polite. Done.
However, with Rob, it was hearts blown wide open. Every touch of his mouth was a scorching demand for her surrender. His every kiss and smile was an ardent declaration of his love.
Well, she was going to let him declare that he loved her as often as he wished for these next seven days.
And then they would walk away from each other.
Theyhadto walk away. For his sake and to save his dukedom.
“I hear you thinking,” he said, his voice a soft growl, as he shifted lower down her body. She was not certain what he meant to do, but she trusted him.
It did not matter what he planned next. She was his for now and always, although she would never admit thealwayspart.
“I am not thinking at all.” She tugged on his hair, liking the soft, wavy feel of those dark-gold strands as she sank her fingers in them. “I cannot even recall my own name.”
He nudged the hem of her chemise upward so that the garment bunched around her waist. She wasn’t certain why he had tugged it down and now up, when he could have just slipped it off her and cast it aside with the other clothes now strewn on the carpet.
But there was a bit of prurient naughtiness in leaving it on and yet covering nothing.
“What are you going to do next?” she asked.
“Must I draw you a map?” His shoulders were now between her legs.Dear heaven.This was too, too shocking. “Do you really not know, Fiona?”
“I have my suspicions.” She had read books that went into some detail. Also, some of her women friends had whispered about the sort of things they did with their lovers. But she had listened only with half an ear, for these were not happily married women.
She had never considered herself to be in their situation. Indeed, she had been content with Shoreham and grown used to his no-frolic attitude. He may not have been exciting, but he had always been considerate when performing his marital duties.
Besides, she had taken her marriage vows seriously. How could she ever betray that kind man?
