“What are your intentions once you return home?” he asked, detesting the note of hopefulness that had crept into his voice. He wasnothopeful, damn it. “Will you submit to your brother’s desire to marr—”
“No,” Miss Smith interjected. “While the task might require subterfuge, I have no intention of giving up my fight.”
Another long moment of silence passed between them, in which Leo admired her. Not only did her beauty continue to stun him, but he found himself appreciating her intelligence, generosity of spirit, and, truthfully, countless other aspects of her personality even more.
Leo swallowed noisily, stepping closer, and admitted, “I felt something last night that I haven’t felt in a very long time.”
Gooseflesh spread across Miss Smith’s skin, and her throat moved convulsively.
“Fear,” he elaborated. “I’ve felt concern, worry, and trepidation, naturally, butfearI haven’t felt in quite some time. I feel—” He broke off and traced the backs of his fingers along her eyebrows. “I feel a compulsion to help you. To be with you.”
She searched his gaze, indecipherable emotions swimming in her eyes, and an answering jolt of awareness sizzled through him. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and Leo’s skin quivered with the need to embrace her.Christ, if he did not leave at that moment, he was liable to do something that he would very much regret.
You depraved sod,his inner thoughts chided.You want to stay, you wanther, and you would take every delight in having her, self-promises be damned.
The heat of shame warmed him just beneath the collar. If he did not take his leave, he would take his refusal back, and take her. He would pull her into his arms and tumble her back upon the bed, and bury himself in—
Christ, he needed to stop this. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Miss Smith closed the space between them. Her breasts pushed against his chest, the soft globes brushing against him as she lifted on her toes, making his cods draw up tight, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
CHAPTER14
Abewildering combination of arousal, need, and soul-crushing fear crashed through Leonard’s body, even while he clutched desperately at Juliana. He didn’t deserve touch, affection, or pleasure of any kind when the last time he’d experienced it with a woman, it had resulted in death. Inmurder.
What would happen once he’d been intimate with—had fucking despoiled—Juliana?
A helpless groan rumbled through his chest as his tongue found hers, hot and searching, and a jolt of pleasure travelled straight through his gut and filled his cock. Despite himself, his arms reflexively tightened around her, a groan vibrating through him.
“I want you,” she whispered against his lips.
Whomp.Guilt hit him square in the chest, and another groan was pulled from his throat.
“And I you,” he admitted, glancing ruefully down at the thick bulge of his erection pressing against his trousers. And he did want her. With an unparalleled need. But there was so much holding him back. “I desire you, Juliana. But I need to know that you—”
She shook her head. “I apologize for what I said. Losing my maidenhead was a goal only insofar as it might liberate me from my brother’s control and from the marriage in which he thought to confine me. I oughtn’t have intended to use you, and for that I am sincerely sorry.”
Sliding her palms up his chest and over his shoulders, she hummed in what he understood to be appreciation. “You must know how attractive I find you. I am aware of the potential risks of intimacies between us, and I do not care. I want you to take me.”
Eyes sliding closed, Leo swallowed back his moan. Thattake meundid him, and entirely unwound the tightly knotted hold on his reserve, his fear and guilt slipping easily to the back of his mind.
* * *
The musclein Mr. Notley’s jaw bulged, and for one humiliating moment, Juliana feared that she would be turned away. Again. She had very nearly begged the man to bed her, for heaven’s sake!
With a deep growl, his eyes opened, heavy-lidded and hungry, before he took her lips once more.
Relief and desire flared to life within her, sparking in her lips and igniting a flame that swept over her skin. A shiver wracked her, and she gripped him closer. She wanted to feel all of him, and whether or not she would find her behaviour embarrassing later, Juliana would take this for precisely what it was: a moment of honesty. A moment when their passions told truths that their mouths dared not.
Finally, she gave in to her needs and ran her hands through his long, tawny hair.Soft, thick, and stirring. Their lips and tongues explored and tantalized while she touched to her heart’s content. But soon, it wasn’t enough. Her body clamoured for more: more lips, more touching, and morefriction.
Mr. Notley’s hands fisted in the fabric at her hips, and he rutted once against her.Zing. The jolt of pleasure that flared in her core threatened to buckle her knees.Patience officially gone.
Her fingers trembling with nervousness and desire, Juliana gripped Mr. Notley’s lapels and shoved his coat back over his shoulders. Then, everything changed. His kiss grew deeper and increasingly fervent. His hands roamed her body, removing her fichu, loosening ties, undoing hooks, and fumbling with her stays.
Left in nothing but her chemise, she embraced the thrill that skittered up her spine. Nervousness and anticipation swarmed her. She’d never felt so…exposed. Mr. Notley’s intense, admiring gaze made her feel rather powerful.
The smooth buttons of Mr. Notley’s waistcoat slid easily through Juliana’s fingers, the fabric slackening on his muscular frame as she unfastened each one. His coat, waistcoat, and cravat followed her stays to the floor, and for a moment, Juliana simply took him in. Half of his body was in shadow, but even so, she could see the duskiness of his nipples through the light lawn of his shirt. She took in the sight of his exposed neck, admiring the muscles that bunched just under his skin and the angles of his collarbones above a dusting of blond chest hair.
Her pulse throbbed, the rush of it in her ears drowning out the crackle of the fire and their harsh breathing as she tugged his shirt from his trousers.
