Her chin came up. She slid to the edge of the bed and reached for the buttons on his breeches. As she unfastened them and shoved the fabric down, he pulled the shirt over his head and stood before her, bare-chested, eyes glowing with lust, breeches clinging to his hips. She met his gaze directly, boldly, almost challengingly, as she cupped his ballocks in both hands and lowered her head, looking away only as she closed her lips around the head of his erection.
His chest expanded with a sharp hiss, and his fingers tangled in her hair. He was pulsing with heat in her mouth, and she ran her tongue along the crest. With a muffled curse, he shoved her backward, sending her sprawling on the bed.
He leaned over her, and she lifted one foot to his chest to stay him. “Everything off,” she said softly.
He flipped off her shoe and ran his hand reverently down her calf, still in her white silk stocking. She gave a little push, even though his touch had sent a white-hot jolt of lust through her.
This time he obeyed with some speed. His clothing would be in a terrible state; his breeches were inside out, she was sure she’d heard ripping when he pulled off one stocking, and everything was crumpled on the floor. Then he stood there for her inspection, arms raised. “Like so, madam?”
Evangeline almost moaned with desire. Good Lord, he was a handsome man, and perfectly made, save for an inch-wide scar that ran just above his hip. He was lean but solid, his shoulders just the right width. His skin was as sun-bronzed as his hair, all the way down his lean hips. She pictured him swimming naked off some tropical shore. “Yes,” she whispered. “Like that.”
She caught a flash of feral smile, and then he was above her, his hands on her, then his mouth, then his weight. It made her gasp, to have a man like this again, and thenhemade her gasp, with his leisurely, relentless exploration of her body and how to make it sing.
He brought her to climax twice before he hooked her leg over his arm and slid inside her to take his own pleasure, riding her with hard, long thrusts that scrambled what was left of her brain. When he finally growled in his own release, her face was wet with tears from her unprecedented third ecstasy. Not even Court, who’d been a skillful and passionate lover—before their wedding, at least—had played her this well.
“Merciful God in heaven,” she gasped faintly.
He turned his head to press his lips to the inside of her knee where it curled around his neck. Evangeline hadn’t even known her body could still bend the ways he’d made it do. She hoped she could walk in the morning. “Ja, God is very good to us, is he not?” He uncoiled her from around him and held her close, full length, and kissed her. “You are spectacular.”
She laughed. “I must say the same to you!” On impulse she kissed him back, much harder. “Never have I benefited so much from one of Lord Allen’s parties!”
“Nor I.” He grinned lazily. “Who cares for a journey through Moscow when there are such wonders to be found in London?”
“I daresay you won’t think of it once you are besieged by the daughters of Russian Cossacks,” she replied in amusement.
He snorted softly. His hand was around her breast, just cupping it lovingly while his thumb stroked her nipple, and Evangeline thought she could become addicted to that simple pleasure alone. “I have no longer any desire to go to them. Not when you are here.”
She laughed. “Nonsense,” she said with a contented sigh. “You spoke so eagerly of it! I am astonished you haven’t already left.”
“No.” He kissed her shoulder, his mouth lingering. “I never want to leave this bed, let alone London. I am your conquest.”
A small chill went through her. She only wanted one night of pleasure from him—and oh my, had she ever got it. It had never occurred to her that he might want more.
Of course, a man said many things he didn’t mean when he was naked and still slick with sweat from making love. In the morning, they would both pretend he’d never said them.
“Nonsense.” She adopted a brisk tone. “I don’t need any flowery seduction. This is enough.” She gave a small laugh. “More than I expected, even! Of course you will go on your expedition, just as I will go on with my own life.” She twisted in his arms to press a kiss to his jaw. “And this night shall be a treasured memory for me,” she whispered with a smile, tracing the edge of his jaw with one fingertip. “As I hope it will be for you.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “This night only?”
She put her hand on his cheek. “Darling,” she said in surprise. “Of course.”
The thin line between his brows deepened into a frown. “No. I do not understand. Why?”
She blinked. “Why? Whynot? What else can you possibly want?”
“This.” His hand moved down her side to caress her hip. “You. Again and again. Do you not want me?”
“Well, I won’t deny that,” she admitted, unconsciously pressing into his hand. “But this is really all it can be, don’t you see?”
“No, I don’t see.” He sat up, looking more puzzled than angry. “Have you no interest in me other than lovemaking? You listened most attentively to my presentation and invited me to call. Was it a pretense?”
“No, of course not,” she protested, blushing a little. “I find your adventures fascinating.” She paused. “I findyoufascinating. But it’s tempting fate to spoil this... this one beautiful thing we shared.”
He stared at the lamp for a minute, the light gilding his sharply cut features with gold. Then he glanced at her, his expression easing. “I see. You do not trust me. That is understandable. You do not know me.” He rolled back over her, brushing the hair from her face tenderly. “I will prove myself to you,” he murmured. “I will be your friend as well as your lover. You will see.”
“Oh my,” she burst out a little uncomfortably even as her stomach leapt at the feel of him atop her again. “That’s not what I was trying to say...”
“No, no.” He smiled. “I will call on you. I will bring my journals and tell you about my journeys down the Nile, through Tripoli, into the Alps, and about Switzerland, my home. I willshow you my sketches and tell my stories. I will sip all the tea and eat all the dry biscuits, and we will talk for hours.”
