She tried not to squirm in her chair as she watched the couple continuing to remove garments, caressing and kissing as theywent. Her mind wandered to Richford and thoughts of what it would be like to touch him so freely. To kiss him and take off his coat and shirt. To run her hands over his bare chest.
Her heart quickened.
“Have you done this before?” she asked him, unable to quell her curiosity, slanting a look toward his handsome profile. “Watched a couple like this, I mean?”
“Yes.”
His simple answer only left her wanting to know more.
She bit her lower lip, sure she shouldn’t ask the next question swirling through her mind and yet needing to know.
“And have you been watched before?”
He finally looked away from the viewing window, his emerald gaze searing her in a place she hadn’t realized existed, deep within. “You’re terribly interested in me suddenly, minx.”
She hadalwaysbeen interested in him. There was nothing sudden about it. Just as she had always admired him and longed for him from afar. What had begun as a girl’s foolish yearnings had never ended. But her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit that.
“I’m meant to have an education,” she reminded him instead.
“Yes,” he told her at last. “I have.”
Rhiannon hadn’t been prepared for his response. She had already guessed at the answer, of course, but somehow, hearing it from his lips had a whole new effect on her. The notion of Richford engaging in such debauchery at once thrilled and repelled her. Her body reacted with a mind all its own, a rush of instant desire tearing through her. But she was also painfully jealous of the lovers he’d known, of the mysterious observers who had been privileged to be his audience.
“Do you…do so often?”
He shrugged as if he hadn’t a care. “When the mood strikes me.”
There was nothing she could think of to say to his frank admission, so she looked away, eyes pinned to the viewing window once more. She was intensely aware of his regard, still on her, of his presence at her side, of everything about him, so potently masculine, so sinful and wicked, so tempting.
“Have I finally shocked you into silence?”
She licked her lips, staring at the couple without truly seeing them. “Not at all. Your reputation precedes you, Richford.”
“I can assure you, my dear, that my reputation doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what I’ve done,” he drawled.
She didn’t doubt that either. He was a voluptuary. Although the gossip concerning him was as plentiful as it was scandalous, she had never heard a thing about viewing windows or the observation of others engaged in sexual congress. She was doing her utmost to appear nonchalant and even bored for Richford’s sake, but she was secretly anything but.
“I’m sure you go about doing all manner of sinful things,” she said lightly.
“As does everyone within these walls, which is why you don’t belong here.”
She ignored him, watching the scene in the bedchamber continue to unfold. The lady was out of her undergarments now, clad in only a chemise. The gentleman was wearing his drawers, and the lady’s hand was cupping the front placket where…
“Oh my heavens,” she muttered before she could stop herself.
There, clearly outlined, was his manhood, thinly covered by the cotton of his drawers.
“We can return you to the haven of your room at any time,” Richford reminded her.
“I find this far too intriguing,” she informed him. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“As you prefer, minx.”
He was still watching her; she could see it from her peripheral vision, but she could also feel it, like a touch, sending fire licking through her body. She was flushed and overheated. The narrow room lacked sufficient air. Why hadn’t she thought to bring a fan with her?
The man pulled the woman’s chemise over her head in one graceful motion, leaving her standing there naked. Rhiannon gaped. She’d never seen a woman nude, except for herself. The redhead’s breasts were smaller than hers, but aside from that difference, they were much the same. What shocked her most was the other woman’s lack of hesitation or shyness in her nudity, even knowing she was being observed.
The man’s head dipped, and he took the woman’s nipple into his mouth.
