Max was almost at the top of the stairs and barely heard his butler’s last words. He was too intent on his wife—and the way she was looking at him.
*~~*~~*
Welcome home.
Deery’s words rang in Kitty’s ears as her husband carried her upstairs and down the corridor to his rooms. She looked at him, his face so strong and determined, and yet—when he glanced down at her—an expression of something like hunger flickered in his eyes.
She felt desire sweep over her, followed by heat and a desperate need to touch him. To run her hands over his skin, to smell his fragrance, to learn every inch of him over and over again.
She licked her lips. “Hurry.”
He nearly tripped over the threshold to his bedchamber, and she laughed as he stumbled them both to the bed and dropped her on it with a grunt. “I am.”
She slid off the quilt and kicked her slippers off, reaching for the ties at her knees to release her stockings. He tore off his jacket and waistcoat, cursing when his cravat refused to unravel immediately.
Her stockings joined her slippers on the floor, next to Max’s boots. He threw his cravat on the bed and his shirt fell away in seconds.
Kitty purred at the sight, went to him and turned her back, lifting the heavy curls of hair away from her neck. She jumped at the sensation of his teeth grazing her skin as his fingers went to work on her lacings. In moments her dress was a pile of shot silk on the carpet, and his hands were on her body, pulling away the delicate silk undergarments, leaving her naked and breathless.
“My necklace,” she said, keeping her back to him.
“Just a second…”
She heard noises and realized he’d shed his breeches. Then the clasp of her necklace loosened and she reached up to catch it in her hands.
“Wait.”
She froze at the command, shivering a little as she recognized the sound. “All right.”
“Leave the necklace where it is for a minute. Put your hands behind you.”
Doing as she was bid, Kitty jumped as she felt his cravat—linking her wrists as he firmly tied them in place. “Max?”
“Sssh.” He tested the bonds and apparently found them to his satisfaction. “Now. Turn around.”
She did, eagerly, although frustrated that she could not touch him. She pulled a little at the fabric binding her wrists.
“Not too tight?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, but…”
He put a finger on her lips. “You promised to obey me, wife. Obey.”
Her head lowered in silent assent, and she waited for his command. It came quickly.
“Onto the bed, please. Head on the pillow, lying on your back.” He helped her mount the tall bed, and made sure her hands were as comfortable as possible, given her position. “Good. Good girl.” He leaned over and kissed her, a long deep mingling of tongues and lips and breaths.
Kitty’s heart swelled at the embrace, and she took a deep breath as he finally took off her necklace and held it up to the light.
“This could have been made for you. My grandmother would be proud.”
A sting of unshed tears made her blink, and then she jumped as the diamonds touched her nipple. He was dragging the gems over her skin, each one a cool, unyielding, sharp-edged bite of arousal. The moan crept from her throat and she could not hold it back. But it seemed to please him as he played with her nipples and her jewels with equal pleasure.
Each caress sent shivers of sensation darting low in her body and eventually she could no longer keep still. The moisture was dampening her thighs and she ached with the emptiness between them.
“You are needy, my sweet.”
She glared at him.
