Pocketing the lock picks, Richard took her hand, silently leading her back toward the library. They hadn’t made it all the way back before she heard moans and grunts that indicated that the room was still occupied.
“Trapped at both ends.” Richard’s breath tickled her ear. “We’ll have to wait it out.”
She nodded, a shiver of awareness going through her.
He set the lamp down and took her into his arms. Tucking her cheek against his chest, he stroked her back. “No need to be afraid, sweetheart. We’ll be out of here soon.”
Clearly, he misunderstood her reaction. She didn’t know if it was his nearness or their extraordinary adventures this night, but it wasn’t fear she was feeling—it was arousal of a different nature. And while he no doubt meant his touch to be soothing, it instead fed the need simmering inside her.
To distract herself, she whispered the first thing that came to mind. “So those items we found in Monique’s box… what were they for?”
His hand stilled mid-stroke. “I’m not certain that is something we ought to discuss.”
If anything piqued her curiosity, it was something that shouldn’t be talked about.
She tipped her head back. “Why would Monique have a statue of a man’s you-know-what?”
“His you-know-what?” Laughter glinted in Richard’s eyes.
“You know, his… thingamabob.”
He began to shake silently against her.
“What’s so funny? You know perfectly well what I’m referring to…”
His wide shoulders were quaking in earnest, to the degree that she worried that he might give them away. So she covered his mouth with her hand. Gasped when he nipped her fingers lightly.
In the next instant, he had her back against the wall, towering over her. It was a tight fit in the tunnel. He filled her vision and senses completely, crowding out everything else.
“Discussion of you-know-whats and thingamabobs aren’t going to get us very far. If you want to know what those items are for, then we’ll have to improve your vocabulary. Are you up for it, love?”
Mesmerized by his low, husky tone, she nodded.
“Let’s start with the gold chain. The one with the jeweled clamps.”
Her pulse took off in a sprint when he ran a fingertip along the edge of her low-cut bodice. His finger dipped beneath the pink silk, rubbing against the tip of her right breast. She had to bite back a moan as he stimulated the stiff, throbbing peak.
“One of the clamps would fit here on your lovely nipple, just so”—he pinched the tip lightly, and her eyes widened in surprise—“while the other would attach to its equally lovely twin.” He trapped her other nipple between thumb and forefinger, tweaking the pulsing peak. The pleasure, with its slight tingle of pain, melted her center.
“Wouldn’t that… hurt?” she said, her cheeks warming.
“Aye, a little. But doesn’t it also feel good?”
She couldn’t deny that. Could barely breathe for the excitement.
“Imagine a little tug on the chain in between,” he murmured, causing her nipples to throb even more forcefully. “Would you enjoy that, lass?”
“I don’t know. That’s awfully wicked,” she managed.
“Aye. But not as wicked as the balls you were playing with.”
She wetted her lips. “Wh-what are those for?”
Instead of answering, he took her mouth in a hot, fiercely possessive kiss. Her fingers crushed his cravat as she pulled him closer. She couldn’t get enough of his taste, the aggressive thrust of his tongue into her moist cove. When he suddenly withdrew, she moaned in protest.
Panting, pressed against the wall, she stared up into his bluntly masculine features, those heated-iron eyes, and knew the truth: any man she met in the future would be compared to Richard… and found lacking. Because he was all that she’d ever wanted.
And she’d fallen head over slippers in love with him.
