“I’m not done looking at what’s mine yet,” she told him, allowing a provoking smile to play at her lips.
He made a sound low in his throat. “Isthatwhat you’re doing?”
She nodded, reaching for his shirt and tugging it from the waistband of his trousers. “Yes. So hold still. I’ll tell you when I’m done.”
“And then?”
Alice glanced back at him, preoccupied with pushing up acres of linen to expose his taut belly and an intriguing line of dark hair that disappeared beneath the line of his trousers.
“And then I shall kiss you,” she said, returning her attention to his stomach. She placed one hand upon it, and he sucked in a breath, goosebumps prickling over his skin. Well, her handswererather cold, though his skin was warm, so very warm, and silken too. Somehow, she had not expected that.
“And then?”
The way he repeated the question made her heart skip, but she tried to appear nonchalant all the same. Her fingers trailed across his belly, and she watched as the muscles twitched and flickered. “Another kiss?”
She slanted a look at him, seeing amusement glinting in his eyes.
“Allyour kisses are mine.”
Alice quirked an eyebrow at him. “No. Allyourkisses aremine,” she amended, making him snort with laughter.
“Very well, but it’s not enough. What else?”
This conversation had suddenly taken a turn for the dangerous.Nonsense, she scolded herself. It was still Aubrey. Aubrey wasnotdangerous. Except there was a dark gleam in his eyes that made her pulse leap and her insides quiver with anticipation.
“What else?” she repeated, playing for time.
“Mmm.”
Alice regarded him curiously, wondering what he wanted her to say.
“Shall I tell you what I want?”
“Um…” Alice hesitated, wondering if this was a more or less dangerous option. Either way, she was too curious to hear what he wanted. “Yes.”
“I want,” he began, his voice a low throb of sound that seemed to pulse in all her intimate places. “To kneel between your legs, to push your skirts to your hips, and your thighs wide, and prove to you thatallyour kisses are mine.”
Alice opened her mouth and closed it again. Really, there was no answer to that. None that she could voice, at any rate.“Er… well. All right, then.”Oh, nice, Alice, very articulate, she thought crossly.
He grinned at her, a wolfish expression of the kind she had never expected to see upon his face. She wondered then about the opera dancer and just how many others like her there had been. Aubrey pulled her closer, kissing her again, and those thoughts scattered, replaced with sensation, the softness of his lips, the urgency of his tongue as he teased and tantalised her. His big hands roamed, caressing, mapping her body until she was half mad with frustration at the many layers of fabric that kept them apart.
“Go on then,” she said, daring herself as much as him. “Prove it to me.”
Aubrey flashed her a grin and shifted, lifting her from his lap and sitting her down on the seat. In one fluid movement he got to his knees before her, just as he’d suggested, and Alice’s heart gathered speed. Oh good heavens.
Warm hands encircled her ankles, making her shiver, her pulse hammering in her ears as they glided up her stockinged calves, lingering to stroke the delicate skin behind her knees. As his hands moved up, so did her skirts, until the seat impeded their upward trajectory. Feeling utterly abandoned, Alice lifted her behind, allowing him to push the skirts higher, past her hips where they bunched awkwardly and the touch of icy air upon her bare thighs made her senses leap with anticipation.
“You can tell me to stop.” His voice was low and silken in the darkness, the voice of a man intent on seduction, but not at any cost.You’re still in control.She had known it, known he would never push her or ignore her, but that he would tell her again, reassure her in this moment, oh, he was ridiculously perfect.
“You must be mad.” The words were breathless, and he laughed, reassured she was not afraid or in the least bit uncertain.
Gently, he pushed at her knees until she widened her stance, and he moved closer. His palms touched bare skin, and she let out a shaky breath as her blood rioted in her veins. She was not cold now, not in the least. Heat blazed beneath her skin, as though his touch had ignited a flame inside her and set fire to her soul.
He pushed at the fabric of her skirts again, and in the swaying lamplight, his gaze fell upon the dark triangle of curls. Alice felt a jolt of shocked desire at the look in his eyes. How dark they grew, something like hunger sharpening his handsome features.
“You’re so beautiful. I want you, Alice. So much. Say we can get married quickly.Please.”
She gave a startled laugh at his desperate request. “Fine by me,” she replied, wishing the words had not sounded so squeaky and high-pitched, but he didn’t seem to notice.
