She rolled her eyes, and he chuckled.She was adorable when she pretended to be vexed.He casually rolled the sleeves of his shirt to the elbow.A delicate swallow rippled down her swanlike neck, and heat sank heavy in his groin.Yes, his minx would love if he shed more layers.Bloody hell, he wanted to touch her.But she was too good at refusing him the minute he laid a finger on her.
He cracked his neck from side to side.“You were impressive tonight.”His low murmur rumbled through the carriage.He lifted a hand, still ungloved, and casually rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb.She locked onto the movement.Trailed down his forearm.“Brillant,” he added softly.She bit her lip.His clever girl liked the praise.All praise?Or the fact that he’d praised her intelligence?
“I think I could watch you do calculations in that head of yours all night long.”
Her gaze flew to his, wide, shocked.
“It’s amazing, really,” he whispered.And it was.His breath sped up, and he had to force his voice to remain steady.“I can see your brain working just looking at those big blue eyes of yours, the way they flicker as you get lost in the computations.They glow brightest when you’re working through one.I had initially thought it was the atmosphere of the gaming hell, but it wasn’t, was it?It was the thrill of keeping track of the deck, tallying what had been played, the probability of what card would come next.”
Her chest rose and fell in small, rapid movements.He’d wager his entire fortune she was flushed, cheeks to chest.
“And your lips.You silently mouth the problems you’re working on.Did you know that?Those lips of yours are sinful, Miss Forester.And they curve around numbers in a way that would bring men to their knees.”
Moonlight shimmered over her gaze—still frozen wide, lips parted in a soft moue.His cock throbbed.A perfect, small, pillowy place to land.And then she licked them.He fisted his thighs until pain bloomed over his skin.
“Do you know why?”he asked, his voice so low he barely recognized it.She nodded almost imperceptibly, and his brows flew to his hairline.Fuck.She knew?Lust surged through him at the same time a rabid jealousy ripped through his gut.
“What a surprise,” he rasped.Desire coated his throat, threatening to choke him.“You’re not innocent at all, are you, Miss Forester?I thought it when you introduced me to your battle plans against the ton.You’re a force.The world looks at you and sees someone delicate.But I’d bet money you’re a warrior.Not one to back down from a challenge.”
She lifted her chin.She probably didn’t even realize she’d done it.But it was all he needed to know he was correct.The juxtaposition had him aching.In so many ways, she was sweet, innocent, at times almost a little awkward.But she was intelligent, determined, and—his gaze traced over those lips—ruthless.
“Those lips… Every time they part over a sharp inhale, all I can think of is sinking between them.”
A sharp inhale sliced through the carriage.
An answering pang of need shot down his spine.“Just like that.I have no doubt that’s something you’d excel at too, minx.And do you want to know what else I think?”
She watched him, nostrils flaring, chest lifting in a steady, brisk rhythm.
“I think you’d be a tease.I think you know the power you hold on your knees.You’d like that, wouldn’t you?Having power over a man like me?Wrapping those lips around me gently, barely giving me what I want.Running those lips down me, learning my taste while you trailed that smart tongue over me.Driving me crazy when all I desperately want is to sink inside.”
She squirmed on her seat, and his pulse kicked up.
“I have a feeling you’d only be able to tease me for so long.You’d crave the stretch too much to wait.The feel of me heavy on your tongue.Thechallenge.Seeing if you can take me all the way to the back of your throat.”
A soft whimper fled her, and a shaky breath left him.His cock was impossibly hard.He pushed down on it, attempted to slightly relieve the ache, and couldn’t hold back his groan.Her attention dropped to his hand, and he gave his shaft an extra stroke.She wanted a show?He’d gladly give her one.Her mouth went slack, and even in the dimness of the carriage, he could see the glaze of lust darkening her eyes.
“You would.”His voice was strained, painfully tight, just like his breeches.“Take me all the way, engulfing me in heat, like the good, talented girl you are.You’re already stunning, Miss Forester, but seeing you like that?”He traced a finger over his own lips.“Lips curling around me, just like they do your numbers.”Fuck, he wished he could trace over hers while he was sinking inside, feel them stretch.“I don’t know if my heart would be able to handle how beautiful you’d look.And I’d tell you over and over again, because, my clever girl, you should never doubt how magnificent you truly are.”
Her fists were clenched over the apex of her thighs, eyes squeezed shut, her body strung taut.Tight, tight,tight.As if she were desperately trying not to move, not to give her body any of the friction it screamed for.
He slipped over to her bench, his thigh brushing up against hers, and a whisper of a moan fled her.Fuck.
He leaned in, lips brushing over the shell of her ear.The only touch he’d allow himself.“Are you aching, my clever girl?Are you wet?”He licked his lips, swallowing down the desperation that thought caused.“Do you feel that persistent, demanding pulse between your thighs?As you think about me sinking between those pretty lips of yours.”
He gently grazed his nose over her ear.“It’s building, isn’t it?The need.The heat.I feel it too.You have no idea what it did to me back there.You matching me card for card,bestingme.I was keeping track of the deck too, love.And knowing you were right there with me, equal in wit.”He groaned against her neck, and she shivered.
Bloody hell, he’d wanted to bend her over the baize and fuck her right there in a room full of people.Except for the fact that then he’d have to kill them all for laying eyes on her.Miss Forester washis.
The carriage slowed to a stop.They both sat unmoving; their ragged breaths the only sound in the conveyance.
He couldn’t not touch her.Just once.Hecouldn’t not.
Lifting his hand, he gently curled his fingers under her chin and drew her gaze to his.And was met with a sea of lust, dangerous waters for mere mortals.
“When we finally come together,” he whispered, never dropping her gaze.“It will be incendiary.Equal force, equal fire.Just like back in the gaming room.Mind and body working in perfect tandem.”
A barely audible whimper danced around them.
