“Yes.” She moved closer. “I want that… all of it.”
“Thank God.” He cupped her face and kissed her, softly this time. “I shouldn’t ask this of you…shouldn’t even be contemplating—”
“Anthony, I want this. I know what happens, and I want that now with you—”
“It will only ever be with me, Evangeline.”
“Only you,” she whispered.
He moved away from her toward the door, and then she heard the key turn in the lock.
“Lord Hampton does not like to be disturbed when he is in here, for which I will be forever grateful.”
She didn’t speak, just watched him prowl back to her. He shrugged out of his jacket and dropped it on the floor. Then he had his hands on her again.
She rose to her toes to take his kisses, eager to feel more with this man she would spend her life with. Anthony would be her husband. She’d think about that more later, but not now.
“Evie, what are you doing to me?”
She loved the sound of her name on his lips.
“No woman has ever made me want her like you have.”
“I’ve never known the touch of a man, so I can’t—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. There will be no other man as I believe I’ve already explained.”
His hands went to the buttons at her back, and she felt them pushing each through its hole. The rush of cool air told her he’d parted her gown. One warm hand slid inside, his fingers touching the skin above her chemise. She could do nothing to stop the moan.
“You are so beautiful.” Anthony stepped back and looked at her. “Take off your dress now, Evie.”
She did, pushing it from her shoulders so she stood only in her chemise. His eyes ran over her, from the top of her head to her toes, and she felt everywhere his gaze landed.
“And you. Will you remove your… ah, boots,” she said suddenly nervous for no other reason than she’d never seen a naked man.
“I will remove my, ah, boots,” he teased her.
She watched as he tugged them off and then he closed the inches between them. His fingers trailed down her neck, to her chest, and then he was touching her breast.
“Oh my,” she whispered as he stroked her nipple, and delicious heat shot through her body.
“Oh my, indeed,” he whispered against her lips before kissing her. As his mouth tormented hers, one hand eased under the hem of her chemise. Seconds later, he pulled it up and off her body.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, “but then I knew you would be.”
“Anthony!” She gasped as he licked one of her breasts, and the tension building inside her rose higher.
“I want to see you.” Evie shuddered as his tongue swept across her taut nipple.
He released her to tear off his necktie and pull the shirt over his head. Needing to touch him, as he had her, Evie placed a hand on his chest and felt him shudder. She stroked the slopes and plains of skin over hard muscle. His was a beautiful body, and she was awed that he would be hers to touch from this day forth.
“More,” he said, his voice strained. “I want you to keep touching me, Evie. Only you can make the cold go away.”
She ran her hands over every inch of him that was exposed to her. Then she pressed her lips to the place above his heart.
“Evie.” The whisper of her name sounded broken.
Chapter Thirty
