Through the thin linen of her night rail, she felt every inch of his muscled thigh, pressing intimately into her. And heaven help her, but a twinge of raw pleasure arced through her at the contact.
“Like that,” he muttered, then rubbed his cheek along hers. There was the slightest abrasion of his neatly shorn whiskers over her skin. His lips were on her ear then, grazing the shell as he spoke. “It wasn’t wise to attempt to unman me, Lady Deering.”
His warning words should have incited more fear within her, and yet, all she felt was his mouth on her ear, his breath falling like hot silk on her suddenly sensitized flesh. All she knew was an ache deep in her core. But that was wrong, so wrong. Her mind spun with questions as her body grappled with all the sensations filling her head with fire.
“What are you about, sir, taking such liberties?” she asked, struggling to free herself of his hold.
But it was fruitless, for Beast was incredibly strong. The fingers on her wrist remained tight, keeping her arm restrained to the wall at her side. And when she used the palm of her free hand to push at his shoulder, attempting to shove him away, he caught that wrist as well. All that her movements had succeeded in doing was dragging the hem of her night rail higher. Cool air kissed her bare feet, her calves, and even her knees.
“What do you think I’m about?” His voice was deep and mesmerizing. A taunt in the darkness.
Oh, she reckoned it didn’t matterwhathe was about. All that did matter was freeing herself.
Pamela shifted again but his thigh remained wedged between her legs, the warmth of him searing her through their meager combined layers. Her breath hitched, her nipples going hard and tight. The part of her which had long lain dormant had burst forth to vibrant life.
But how could it be so? How could she know such all-consuming desire for a stranger, for a man who had captured her and then stolen her lips as if they belonged to him? Shame burned through her, mingling hot and dangerous with vexing yearning. She had to put a stop to this.
“If you don’t let me go, I’ll scream again,” she warned him, breathless from her exertion and her reaction to him both. “I’ll set the entire household upon you. But if you release me, I promise I’ll not utter a word to my brother about your transgressions.”
Or her own.
“How do I know I can trust you?” he asked. “How can I be sure you’ll not try something foolish again?”
His wicked lips suddenly found a place she had not previously known to be so very sensitive. A place just behind her ear. He kissed her there. Such a strangely intimate spot, and its effect upon her was molten.
Another noise fled her lips before she could stop it.
“What…what are you doing?” she managed weakly.
Whatever it was, the wickedest part of her didn’t want him to cease. She never wanted it to end.
“Trying to calm you.” He kissed her neck next. “Showing you that you needn’t attempt to murder me with that fire iron.”
Oh, he had an interesting notion indeed of producing a calming effect upon a woman. Her heart was positively galloping. Quite the opposite of what he claimed was his intent.
“Or trying to trick me.” She had to keep her wits about her, which was growing increasingly impossible with this man touching her, his lips on her.
She should scream again, she thought frantically. He was trying to seduce her into releasing her weapon. Trying to render her mindless with his knowing mouth and manly heat. She couldn’t allow it.
“Does it feel like I’m trying to trick you, my lady?” His thumb rubbed over her inner wrist, taking some of the sting from his tight grip. “Now hush, and give me the poker, and I’ll release you.”
She didn’t believe him.
Pamela opened her mouth and began to scream.
With a guttural curse, his mouth returned to hers.
CHAPTER3
He was kissing her.
Again.
But this time with more masterful insistence. Using those lips of his against her, opening her to him so that his tongue could slide sinuously into her mouth. And then she tasted him. He tasted sweet, like tea. And like sin. Danger, too.
And something else she hadn’t tasted in so very long: man. Man and desire and blatant, erotic, carnal yearning.
The things it did to her. His tongue, the way he tasted, the way he kissed. Every part of her was suddenly, exquisitely alive and so very aware. Desires she’d believed long dead throbbed to life, slid through her veins. Danced hot up and down her spine.
