“Half of society’s most ferocious gossips are a few feet away, Beth.”
“I know, but I don’t want us to stop.” She stepped back from him and into the wall, banging her head.
“Are you all right?” He reached for her, but she stopped him simply by tugging the sleeve of her dress down, then lowering the bodice. First one side and then the other.
She was exquisite; every lush, full inch of that pale flesh was mouthwatering. Her breasts were full, nipples tight begging him to touch.
“Beth.” Her name sounded strained, and even as he told himself to stop, he’d reached for her, his hand cupping the full flesh.
“We have to stop,” he said even as his head lowered. “Really.” His voice had no strength.
The first lick of his tongue on her breast had her moaning. He laved first one and then the other breast. She panted and arched into him, and he was in imminent danger of disgracing himself. He had to stop. He knew it, but how was he supposed to step back from this woman he’d loved for years? The woman he’d lusted and fantasized over.
“Oh.” Her moan went straight to his groin as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
The sound of laughter had him going motionless.Christ.
He quickly pulled up the bodice of her dress in case any other participants decided to use the shed for a rendezvous. He then gathered her in tight against his chest. She did not struggle. She trembled, and Nathan was pretty sure he did too.
He stroked her neck, kissed the top of her head, and slowly her tremors eased.
“I should not have done that, Beth. I’m sorry, but I’ve never been able to resist you.”
“And I should not have done what I did.” Her cheek rested on his chest. “We are both at fault.”
“Who is Bess?”
“No one of importance.”
“Your reaction would suggest otherwise. And the fact that she taught you how to arouse a man intrigues me. A maid, perhaps?”
Her palm flattened on his chest, and she pushed back. One look at the sultry heat still lingering in her eyes had him cursing silently.
“If we still wish to win the race, we must hurry.” Beth turned her face from his.
“I couldn’t give two figs about a bloody race, I want you to talk to me. What is going on with you? And no more lies.”
“Nothing.” She tried to back away, but as she was still attached to him, she didn’t go far. Nathan didn’t move an inch.
“Why were you on the floor where Lord Russell’s office is the night of his ball, the night papers went missing from his desk? Why were you pursuing Valentine if not to take that book, when I know you do not like him? Why did your father visit the Admiral of the Fleet and then use his desk in the early hours of the morning?”
The color in her cheeks drained away with each word he spoke.
“Talk to me.” He reached for her, but she stepped back, pressing her spine to the shed wall. “What danger are you in?”
“I-I have no idea what you speak of.” But she did know; he saw it. Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking again.
“Stop lying to me!” Nathan thundered. “Why were you interested in Valentine?”
“My bag!” She dropped to the floor before him and began to search in the dark for something. He held her fingers in a tight grip and tugged, but she would not rise.
“What are you doing?”
“I found it.”
He helped her regain her feet. Looking at the bag she clutched, he could see there was something with hard edges in there. He reached for it. She snatched it away.
“That belongs to me!”
