“Alexander,” he murmured.
Her eyes widened slightly. “What?”
“I’m going to do things to you, Marianne. Things that will require that you call me Alexander.”
She swallowed hard, but didn’t resist as he dropped his lips to hers and kissed her. She went soft beneath him, her mouth opening to welcome him in. He smiled at the surrender. She was a quick learner and her shaky sigh told him she had enjoyed their previous encounter as much as he had.
He was going to make sure she enjoyed their next one even more. He deepened the kiss, angling his head so he could taste every inch of her sweet mouth. To his shock, she responded, darting her tongue out and brushing it across his own. His body lit on fire with that innocent passion bubbling below the surface. His cock throbbed, swelling and hardening to a painful degree.
He’d had plans for this woman. Plans that involved a bed in the inn they’d stop at along the way.
He wasn’t going to make it that long.
He pushed her back, pinning her against the wall of the carriage as he groaned into her open mouth. She slipped her arms around him, her fingers pressing hard into his shoulders as she kissed him back with passion that belied her trembling innocence.
He drew back, exploring her face in the dim light in the carriage. “Turn around.”
She blinked. “Your Grace?”
“Alexander,” he corrected again. “Turn around.”
She still looked questioning as she did so, placing her back toward him. He shivered as he lifted his hands, unfastening the buttons along her spine.
“What are you doing?” she murmured, but she didn’t draw away from him. In fact, she inched back a little, a small offering she might not have even realized she made.
Which made it all the better.
“I’m undressing you,” he said, pushing her gown forward. “I want to see you. Turn back around.”
She was slow to do so, but at last she faced him, her cheeks flaming red, her nipples hard against the flimsy fabric of her chemise. He reached out to slide his fingers beneath the straps and drew them down to tangle with the gown, revealing her from the waist up.
Her lips were trembling, but she didn’t refuse him as he stared at her body. Her beautiful body. She had full breasts, they would be heavy in his hands, and they were capped with dusty rose nipples that at present were swollen and hard with desire she likely didn’t even understand.
He bent his head and traced the tip of his tongue around one nipple. She gasped at the sensation, but quickly arched against him with a low moan.
“What is this?” she murmured.
He lifted his head, watching how her face was slack with sensation even as her eyes were wide with confusion. “Pleasure,” he said. “This is pleasure. And there is about to be a great deal more of it. Lift your skirts.”
“Alexander,” she said, her cheeks flaming.
“Do it,” he ordered.
She inched them up, barely to her knees, and he almost laughed at her defiance. He rather liked her spark. He didn’t want her to lose it—he just wanted her to use it on more…exciting matters.
He caught her hem and pushed the dress all the way up to her stomach. She was wearing drawers, which he reached down and caught, tearing the fabric open at the slit and baring her lower body.
“You won’t wear these anymore,” he said. “For the next month you will wear nothing beneath your gowns.”
She swallowed but nodded slowly. She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable at being so revealed. But he wasn’t finished yet.
“Put one foot on the step next to the door,” he said as he moved to kneel before her on the carriage floor. “And the other on the seat beside you.”
“But then I’ll be wide open and—”
“I want you wide open,” he interrupted, his mouth watering as she stared down at him.
She bit her lip. “Are you going to claim me?”
