CHAPTER 10
Jane’s mind had been tangled with fear all day as they traveled, but Ripley so easily changed that. He gave her the space and permission to relax, to let go. Perhaps it was because he never minimized her fear, he never threatened to use it against her, so she knew he would still be there when she picked it all back up again.
That wasn’t how it normally was with lightskirts. Gentlemen, even those who took a lady as their officially protector, often didn’t want to see or hear anything but the good. The rest had to be pushed down. She’d done so all her life.
Except with the man standing before her now, his mouth brushing hers. She could feel his wicked smile against her lips, like this could be fun. She needed fun right now.
With a smile, she pushed back out of his arms. He released her with only the arch of his scarred brow. One more thing that made him singular. He never forced or pushed, even though he was so much bigger than she was, he could have taken anything he wanted. But he never did. He never would.
Lifting her hands to the buttons along the bodice of her simple gown, she met his eyes. Slowly, she unfastened herself, carefully parting the fabric of her dress to reveal the chemise beneath little by little. He smiled as he realized what she was doing and shifted his weight, putting his hands behind his back.
She lowered the gown from one shoulder. “Why do you put your hands back there?”
His chuckle was low and smoky. “Because if I don’t, I might not be able to control myself. And I’m very much enjoying the show.”
“Ahhh.” She lowered the other side of the gown and let it bunch around her hips. “That’s a good idea, because for what I have in mind, I very much want to be in control. In fact…”
She shoved the dress away, gave him a brief moment to look her up and down in her chemise, and then came toward him. She touched the cravat tied lazily at his throat. “Do you mind if I use that for a much more interesting purpose?”
He tilted his head. “I can only imagine what that wicked mind of yours has planned. Certainly. But only if you remove it yourself.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She stepped up, giving him her best coquettish look. The one she had perfected after years of being the lover of many a man. His smile remained and it reached his eyes, making them sparkle. For a moment she faltered, because to be this close to him when he shone was…remarkable.
“Or do you need help?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m just enjoying every moment.”
He inclined his head as if to encourage her to continue. She pressed her hands against his stomach and unfastened the few buttons on his coat. She slid her fingers inside, tracing the muscles she could feel even beneath his waistcoat and shirt. He shifted and his playful smile fell, but he still didn’t stop her or take her power.
She flattened her hands and slid them up his chest, memorizing every twitch of his body, every line of him. When she reached the cravat, she tangled her fingers in the fabric and gave a gentle tug so that he bent slight to allow her access.
His mouth was close to hers now, but she didn’t kiss him. She teased him though as she unknotted the cravat without even looking at it. She let her lips brush but never fully meet his, she let them whisper along his jawline.
His breath increased when she did and he shifted again. She would wager if she looked at his hands behind his back now they would be clenched tightly, locked in a fight to keep himself from touching her.
She drew the cravat around and around until it fell away from him, then she wrapped the long length around her palms before she moved around behind him, brushing his body with hers.
As she suspected, his hands were locked together, his wrists close, just as she wanted them. Gently she touched them, giving him a hint of what she would do in case he wanted to refuse her. He didn’t, though when she wrapped the cravat around them once, he sucked in a shaky breath.
She wrapped the fabric a few more times, loosely enough that it wouldn’t hurt him, then knotted the loops into place before she pressed herself to his back and kissed his shoulder through the layers of his clothes. “And now you’re mine.”
“I could rip that cravat in half, you know,” he said, his voice dark now. Erotic.
“You could,” she said as she moved around him, keeping her body flush to his. “Easily, I’m sure. But you won’t. Because you want what I’m going to do. So you’ll be very good and let me.”
“You’re a wicked one,” he said.
“Just like you like me, I think.” She pushed the jacket wide and unfastened the waistcoat beneath, then the shirt so that half his chest was revealed.
“Didn’t think that through, did you?” he teased. “I’ll have half my clothes on at least.”
“Oh no, I thought it through perfectly,” she insisted as she pushed him back toward the settee before the fire. “I want you to be undone, messy, wrinkled as you sprawl out on that settee.”
She shoved and he sat back, shifting to allow space for his tied hands. She grabbed for a pillow and dropped it between his feet on the rug.
“I want you to look down and see your cock in my mouth while you’re fully clothed.” She took to her knees on the cushion and pushed his thighs wider so that he was sprawled there. “There’s something so lewd about it, isn’t there? Something so wicked that you are almost proper except that you’re watching me do such a thing.”
