Yes, he did, Trevor realized, to his united astonishment and dismay. He wanted Virtue for himself alone. He was selfish and greedy and he wanted to claim her and keep her and kiss her and pleasure her and…
And…
No, he would not allow himself to think the last aberrant, wholly unwanted thought.
Notmarryher. Surely?
She kissed him, and the madly whirling contemplations scattered instantly, swept away by a rush of pure, animal lust. It seemed that the more he kissed and touched Virtue, the greater the effect she had upon him. One touch of her mouth to his, and he was lost.
With a growl—yes, like a wolf intent upon devouring his prey—he deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into the welcoming wet warmth of her mouth. She tasted of sweetness as she always did, and he couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Virtue responded in kind, clawing at his shoulders, thrusting those delicious breasts of hers against him so that he swore he could feel her nipples poking into his chest. No stays, he thought again. Scarcely any barriers to keep his hands and lips and tongue from what they wanted most.
This was going to end badly.
Or wonderfully.
Either way, he couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to.
He closed his eyes and surrendered to the potent lure of Virtue’s mouth answering his.
CHAPTER11
Virtue clung to Ridgely and returned his fierce kisses with all the mounting hunger within her. Anger and frustration were dashed by desire. His admission had left her feeling strangely giddy and wanton all at once. She could hear it again, echoing in her mind as his mouth ravished hers.I want to be the only man who kisses you.
Yes, please.
Ruin me, she thought as his tongue tangled with hers, and to her shame, she wasn’t thinking of Greycote Abbey or the events her shredded reputation would likely set in motion. No, she was thinking only of herself just now. Of what she wanted.
Ruin meas he kissed a path to her jaw, tongued the whorl of her ear.
Ruin meas he dragged his lips down her throat and then found a particularly sensitive place in the crook of her shoulder where he sank his teeth into her for a nip that she felt between her legs.
“Oh,” she gasped, clinging to him, head falling back. “My.” Trevor sucked on her neck. “Heavens.”
“God, I could eat you up.”
His low, guttural words made the pulsing and heaviness of her sex increasingly pronounced. She ached more than she had that day on the divan, and he had scarcely even touched her yet.
He found the tapes on her gown and undid them. Her bodice sagged, and he pulled down the little cap sleeves, taking her chemise with them. The sound of threads popping and tearing mingled with the harshness of their breaths. Her chemise would need to be mended. Perhaps her gown as well.
She didn’t care.
He dragged handfuls of fabric down to her waist, and the cool air of the music room, which had no fire lit, kissed her bare skin and made her already stiff nipples pucker. Her breasts were large, she knew. Embarrassingly so, she’d thought since she had grown into them a few years before. And yet, there was no shame when Ridgely took them in his palms, his thumbs unerringly finding the sensitive peaks and rubbing.
“Sweet Christ above, you’re perfect,” he said, voice hushed. “May I?”
She didn’t know what he was asking permission for—he was already touching her, and the only problem they would have was if he stopped, as far as she was concerned. He gave her breasts a gentle squeeze, and oh how she loved the sight of his big, capable hands kneading her flesh. Of his thumbs teasing her nipples, then catching them in his forefingers and rolling them until sparks of pleasure shot through her.
“Yes,” she managed to say. “Yes to everything. Do anything.”
He cast her the devil’s own grin, and the wicked intent there made her knees nearly give in. “You mustn’t give mecarte blanche, darling. There’s no telling what I’ll do.”
“It matters not,” she said with brutal honestly. “Whatever you do, I will like it. Love it, in fact. Of this, I have no doubt. Just as surely as I know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.”
“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” He kissed the curve of her breast.
Oh, yes. His kisses on her there seemed a fine plan indeed. His query possessed a familiarity. She’d heard those words, strung together in such lovely fashion, before.
She searched her lust-addled mind and found the answer she’d been seeking. “Shakespeare.”
