She faced him again. “And what if it is my choice? What if I wish to know what can be between a man and a woman just once?”
“You will wed, because no man can resist you.” His words came out a rasp as the hand on her shoulder slid to cup her cheek. So warm beneath his palm.
Her laugh held no humor. “I’m quite sure you’re the only man who believes that.”
“Then they are all fools.” The leash on his control snapped and Jamie slid his other hand around her waist, pulling her into his body. “Damn me to hell, because nothing but that would stop me from doing this now, and even then I would bargain with the devil for you.”
He took her mouth again, this time deeper, letting her know his words were the truth. Jamie let his hands travel along the line of her back to the tie of her braid. He tugged it loose with fingers not quite steady, and then eased it free. Her hair spilled warm and heavy into his palms. Jamie drew it forward over a shoulder, letting his fingers test the texture.
He knew this was wrong and that tomorrow there would be regrets, but for once his control had slipped.
She kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, the place below his ear that made heat shoot through him. He answered with his own explorations, tracing the clean line of her throat with his lips, then lower, where the nightgown’s ribbon tied. He caught the end of it between his teeth and tugged until it loosened. She made a sound that tightened every muscle he owned, but when he looked up, her eyes were steady.
“May I?” he asked, and the asking cost him more than any fight.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He drew the linen aside only enough to reveal the slope of her collarbone, and the delicate hollow between. He ran a finger down and over the curve of her breast, and her breath caught in her throat.
“I am not afraid of you,” she said.
“You should be,” he said, dragging his eyes from the swell of her breasts. “Not because I would harm you. Because I am not fit to keep. I have demons, Alice, and that is why I will never let another close.”
Her eyes held his for long heartbeats before she said, “One night, Jamie. That is all we will have, and it will be enough. Teach me what can be between a man and a woman.”
He could grant that and still be the man he must be tomorrow, but he knew that he would remember this night always, and with that memory would come a pain in the region of his heart.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jamie slid anarm around Alice and took her with him back to the bed. His ribs would protest, and his body would ache like the devil tomorrow, but right now he didn’t care. He turned her when they reached it and kissed her softly, swallowing the quiet sigh.
“Can we—will this hurt you, Jamie? Perhaps—”
“You will be gentle with me, I’m sure,” he replied, knowing she spoke from her own fear and worry for him. “If at any time you wish to stop, I will do so, Alice.
“I know you are a good man.”
This time it was he who snorted softly. “Not many would agree with you.”
“They are fools,” she whispered.
“I want to see you, Alice.”
She nodded, and his hands went to the hem of her nightdress. Alice raised her arms, allowing him to pull the garment up and off her body. Jamie then felt the breath leave his lungs as he stepped back to look at her. She didn’t shy away or hide herself, instead keeping her eyes on him.
She was a goddess. Silken pale skin, perfect breasts his fingers ached to cup, and nipples that he would taste. Jamie wanted to devour her. Run his hands and mouth down the planes of her stomach to the curls below, and further. Nothing would stop him now.
“Can I see you also?” The words weren’t weak; she spoke with strength and a need that matched his own.
Jamie bent to push off his breeches, the action making his ribs tug viciously, but he didn’t care. He wanted this as much as she did.
Alice’s eyes followed the movement of his hands, her breath catching when she took in his erection. Jamie straightened and kept his eyes on her as she had him.
“Jamie, I worry about your pain. You have suffered terribly already. Surely you—”
“I feel nothing when you are close.” It was a lie, but it would have taken five men to drag him from this room.
Her fingers moved beneath his, so he released them, and then inhaled as Alice traced the lines of his chest with whisper-soft strokes. When she leaned forward to press her lips to his heart, his control splintered.
