“Why don’t you join me? There’s room enough for both, and I’m sure...” She trailed off when he shook his head, smiling to take the sting off his rejection of the offer.
“If I get into the tub with you, we will get involved in activities we have no time to indulge in.”
He grabbed the washcloth and, after lathering it up, he came to her, taking a seat at the wide edge of the tub. “I can wash your back if you want.”
As an answer, she leaned forward, hugging her legs and resting her head on her arms. And he rubbed the soft cloth over the creamy expanse of her back in wide, slow circles.
He continued washing her in silence, with unhurried movements. One arm, the other, her chest, giving an extra rub to her nipples, which turned to hard pebbles. He forced himself to not linger, or his resolve would falter. She reclined back and lifted a leg as he ran the cloth along the length of it. All the way to her pink tiny toes.
“Even your feet are beautiful,” he said as he closed his lips over her big toe and sucked.
She gasped, and her eyes widened. He saw surprise and reluctant arousal. Damn it, she was so responsive. He would bet she’d felt that tug all the way to her core.No. Stop it. With a kiss to her instep, he released her leg and stood, chagrined that his cock had decided to stand as well.
With a ruthless push, he suppressed it, walking towards the door on the far side of the bath.
“I’ll go get dressed now,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Finish washing and I’ll help you with your gown. Then we can leave.”
“WHAT TIME IS IT?” HANNAHwhispered as they approached her house in a small, one-horse cabriolet.
He had explained it was better this way as he tucked a warm carriage blanket around her and pulled the hood up. No point in waking his coachman. Gabriel sat next to her, driving the carriage with expert ease through the still, dark, and cold streets. They found little traffic in the few streets to her residence. The hour being too late for most night revelers and too early for working folk.
He checked his watch. “Almost five in the morning.”
“Good, then. My staff doesn’t wake until six.”
“Will there be a footman at the door?” he inquired.
“No. I told them not to wait for me. I have a key, and I’m perfectly able to let myself in.”
“And your maid?”
“Also abed, I imagine.”
“How will you disrobe?”
She looked at him sideways, remembering how adept his fingers had been at removing her clothes. “I can manage.”
They had arrived at the imposing facade of the ducal mansion. Six stories tall, it occupied the corner lot and boasted gardens on three sides. With its ornate stonework, intricate cornices and long rows of tall windows, it proclaimed the grandeur of the ducal status.
He jumped from the carriage and helped Hannah descend, accompanying her up the set of wide marble steps to the grand porticoed entrance supported by stately columns. There, in the shadows of the portico, he gave her a quick kiss and waited until she had crossed the door and locked it from inside.
Only then did he return to the cab, taking one long look at the house as he turned the corner. A lone light shone from one of the upstairs windows. Hannah was safe at home. But this situation was less than ideal. He had to find another method for their meetings.
CHAPTER 29
“YOU WANT US TO GO AWAYfrom London?” Hannah’s question held more enthusiasm than surprise, which boded well for his plans.
“Yes,” he said, kissing her bare shoulder as she reclined against his chest in the huge bath. “We could go somewhere quiet, where no one knows us. Have a holiday. Just the two of us.”
She turned around to face him, her slippery body rubbing against him with delicious results. He sucked in his breath to control another surge of lust.
“Where are you thinking of going?”
“A coastal town. Maybe near Weymouth? But smaller. With an inn near the beach. At this time of the year, it’s bound to be empty. We wouldn’t be able to bathe in the sea, of course. But we could walk along the beach. And take breakfast in bed. Forget about the rest of the world.”
“Hmm, that would be lovely. You don’t think people would recognize us?”
“Not outside the rarefied society we inhabit. We will travel under assumed names.”
