She shook her head, her gaze never wavering from his. “No, my lord. Your fingers grazed my skin, and the oddest sensation careened through me.”
Lord. Had he made her wet by his mere touch? He could not wait to find out.
“Desire,” he clipped, attempting to keep a sharp rein upon his raging lust. “It is called desire.”
“Yes.” She swallowed, her gaze lowering to his mouth. “I suppose that must be the word for it. If I am to conduct this experiment with proper care, I ought to know the lexicon.”
For some reason, Alexandra’s continued references to her scientific pursuits made a swift bolt of lust pound through him. She was enchanting and so very rare in her lack of affectation. But the desire to undo her surged, reckless and eager within him.
“If you wish to know the lexicon, let us begin here.” He dragged her gown to her waist and freed her arms from the sleeves before taking her hand in his and pressing it to the part of him that longed for her attention the most. “Cock.”
“Oh.” If possible, those copper-lash-studded eyes went wider.
“Say it,” he commanded, guiding her fingers over him.
“Cock,” she whispered.
Holy hell. He was trapped in a fantasy of his own making. Or of her making. It little mattered. All that did matter was that she sat before him in her chemise and corset, her full breasts cinched into an erotic offering, her fingers studiously exploring the length of his engorged prick.
She gripped him, and the breath hissed from his lungs.
Alexandra released him and jerked away, startled. Apologetic. “Oh dear. Did I do something wrong?”
“You did everything right.” He ground his jaw and fought once more for control. He began reciting parliamentary bills in his head. There. That quelled the ardor a bit. Not enough, damn it all. “I want to go slowly, however. To take my time and make certain that you find your pleasure.”
“Pleasure,” she repeated slowly. “What has that to do with sexual congress?”
He almost swallowed his tongue. “Good Lord, woman. It has everything to do with it. Come, let me show you.”
Clasping her hands in his, he stood, drawing her to her feet as well. The book she had been reading fell from its abandoned nest beneath her skirts. He wouldn’t have noted it but for the fact that it hit him square on the toe and flipped open. He glanced down, and the tinted illustration upon the page at his feet made him pause.
“Is that…”
“Nothing!” her startled exclamation rang through the stone walls of the tower room, echoing. “It is nothing.” She nudged the book with the tip of her shoe, snapping it closed.
But not before he had seen the undeniable image of a man on his knees before a woman’s spread legs, his head bowed to feast upon her cunny. Shock mingled with a fresh assault of arousal. Had Alexandra been reading a bawdy book, poring over the licentious illustrations? Had she been thinking of him? He had to know.
“I wouldn’t refer to your reading material as nothing, sweet.” His lips twitched. “I would call it quite edifying.”
Her chin raised. “I was conducting research, if you must know.”
“Precisely,” he agreed, the smirk he’d been attempting to suppress curving his lips at last. “Edifying. What did you learn?”
Her cheeks flamed. She tried to wrest her hands from his grip, but he held firm. “Precious little, I’m afraid. I had only just begun when you interrupted me. Do you wish to continue with our experiment or not, my lord?”
“Harry.” Leaving the illicit volume where it lay, he moved toward the fur pelt, tugging her along with him. “Come with me. Where did you come by your naughty book, sweet?”
“A friend.”
He stopped and turned back, an unfamiliar, unwelcome spear of jealousy striking his gut. Harry frowned down at her, their hands still entwined. “A male friend?”
“A female friend,” she grumbled, her flush heightening until she was red straight to the roots of her glorious hair. “None of your concern.”
“Boadicea,” he guessed, and he supposed he ought not to have been shocked, but he nevertheless was.
He knew his brother’s wife was a rebellious spirit, but he had not realized they shared an interest in the prurient. He owned a rare copy of the illegal, bawdy book that Alexandra had been reading as well. Here was further proof that gently bred ladies were capable of passion and curiosity just as surely as any gentleman. How intriguing.
And how bloody arousing.
