He let out a pained grunt and tried to pull away. “We can’t,” he said, his breath short as he caught both her hands in his and tried to hold her away from him.
“Why?” she whispered.
“You know bloody well why,” he said, his tone raising and his face twisting in frustration. “Iknowyou do. Don’t make me say it.”
“Because once you take my virginity, I’ll be ruined,” she said, providing the words he refused to say.
“Yes,” he hissed out, but she could hear the sharpness of need in his tone and feel it in his touch.
She pushed back against him, testing his control by lifting on her tiptoes to brush her lips along his jawline. “I. Don’t. Care,” she whispered. “I want you.You. Tonight. Because we both know it’s the only chance we have and I don’t want to regret not taking this moment.”
He turned his mouth into hers and claimed her lips, shaking off her hands to cup her cheeks. He drew her in, sucking her tongue, tasting her all over as if he couldn’t get enough. But once again, he broke away.
“You’ll regret doing this and I would hate that,” he panted.
She shook her head. “I won’t.”
She said nothing else, but began to unbutton his jacket. She held his gaze as she slid the fabric apart and then pushed it from his shoulders. He squeezed his eyes shut, only grunting when she moved her hands to his cravat and slowly unlooped the intricate knots and folds.
“Don’t do this,” he murmured.
She ignored the plea and moved to unfasten his shirt. He didn’t fight her, he didn’t move, he just let her undress him. It wasn’t easy. She had never served as valet for a man before. His buttons felt stiff, the fabric unruly, but at last she tugged his shirt tails free and parted the cotton to reveal a bare, tanned, thickly muscled chest.
Her breath hitched at the sight of him half-undressed. Her hands shook as she reached out to trace the planes of muscle that corded his stomach. He hissed out a breath and she lifted her wide gaze to his.
“You are determined?” he asked.
She nodded. “Iwillseduce you, no matter how poorly I manage it. I want you. I want this. I want tonight. And ifyouwant to make up to me all the lies and manipulations, you’ll give that to me. If you want to gift me something to make all this worthwhile, you’ll allow me what I desire.”
He pressed his lips together hard and she could see him pondering her words. Probably trying to find a way to deny them both what they wanted so much.
But in the end, she knew he wanted her. His hard body betrayed him. His hitched breath betrayed him. His dilated pupils betrayed him.
He drew back and held out a hand. She stared at it, uncertain what the offering meant.
“Come, Celia,” he said. “A parlor is no place for you to surrender something so dear.”
Her lips parted. He was yielding?
“Then where?” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“My room,” he said as he drew her from the parlor and into the foyer. She followed him up the stairs, down a short hall and to a door. He sighed heavily before he threw it open and beckoned her inside.
A fire burned within and he took a moment to light a few lamps. She looked around. Like the rest of the house, there was nothing in this room that said Aiden. At least not the Aiden she knew. Everything was crisp and metal and hard edges. It wasn’t inviting.
Well,almostnothing was inviting. There was a bed facing the fire, a big bed that was inviting, indeed. She was taking a step toward it when he turned back to her and shook his head.
“Oh no, not so fast.”
She blinked. “Why? Isn’t this…I mean, I know I don’t have much experience in these things, but isn’t it traditional to do this on a bed?”
“We’re going to do a great many things on that bed,” he reassured her, crossing back to her and placing his warm hands on her shoulders. “But if tonight is all we have, we’re taking our time. I want to remember this when I’m—”
He cut himself off abruptly and she frowned. “When you’re gone. When you’re no longermyAiden.”
He nodded as he slid a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “No more thoughts about that. I want to give you pleasure, Celia. I want us both to forget tomorrow, at least for now.”
She drew in a long breath to calm herself and nodded. “Forget tomorrow. I can do that. Especially since I want tonight so very much.”
