“Which is it?” he asked.
“I suppose I had a few hurried pecks, but yours was the first real kiss. With any passion,” she added. “Or tongue.”
He nearly laughed when she said that, but was glad he didn’t when she continued confessing.
“And you were the first to touch meanywhereelse for that matter.”
“I see.” His independent French woman was as innocent as any protected lady of theton.How marvelously unexpected!And yet, it didn’t make him love her any more than he already had.
Yet her quiet words had been a gift. He lay beside a woman who had just told himnotto behave, and she wasn’t saying such a thing because she already knew the joys of coital pleasure. She was saying it because she wanted him.
He recalled his garret and how quickly he’d pounced, assuming she’d known what it was to kiss and be caressed and to climax. Then he’d intimated she would want to do it again on a casual basis. No wonder she’d been annoyed at him.
“I’m sorry for my previous assumptions. I thought a female with as much freedom as you seemed to exercise would also be free in other areas.”
“Quite incorrect,” she assured him.
“Yet we’ve ended up lying here in bed together, and I was determined not to compromise you further, despite not knowing I’d been the sole compromiser.”
In fact, he ought to be given angel wings for his extraordinarily good behavior.
“I confess, Malcolm,” she tried out his name, and frankly, it thrilled him to hear it from her lips. “I know it’s wrong to desire you outside of marriage, but you’re the only man I’ve ever met who has made me feel both safe and in danger at the same time.”
He thought about her putting such trust in him and sat up. “I had best find somewhere else to sleep.”
She put an arm on his. “What will the Defleurs think?”
“I don’t give a damn what they think. I only care what you think of me at this point.”
She paused, and despite the darkness, he knew she was staring at him. Then she sat up and put her arms around him.
“I think you should stay with me.”
Malcolm closed his eyes. He was being sorely tested. On the other hand, he wanted to marry her, so he was already shedding his rakish ways. That should count for something.
“Serena, I think we should—”
She planted a kiss on his mouth, and his arms went around her almost of their own volition. Embracing this warm woman, there was no way he could leave her side now.
“I know we will be separated soon,” she said, nibbling her way to his earlobe. She seemed as clever at love-making as every other thing he admired about her. “Let’s pretend this night is all we have.”
Malcolm was certain no female had ever offered him that before, except for the ones he’d paid. The rest inevitably hoped for a promise of marriage, even when he told them ahead of time that wasn’t in the cards.
Pulling away, he drew her shift over her head and then quickly yanked off his shirt before pressing her back onto the sheets.
“If you’re sure,” he said.
She nodded.
“Wait,” he said, jumping up to draw open the curtains and let the moonlight stream in. He’d been desperate for weeks to see her bare beauty, and it had been worth waiting for. As the white light touched her skin, she appeared radiant. Perhaps she was a goddess after all.If not Pandora, then Venus!
Bending low, he kissed her, intending to take it slowly. To that end, after ravaging her mouth, he trailed kisses down her neck and between her breasts, stopping to satisfy his urgent need to lavish attention on each of her beautiful hills.
As he did, she gasped and moaned, every little sound spurring him on and heating his blood.
When he swirled his tongue around each of her pert nipples before plucking at them gently with his teeth, she arched against him, and then he began his journey down to her essence.
Licking her flat stomach, dipping his tongue into her navel, feeling her hands grip his hair, he eventually made it to the apex of her thighs, and went right past. He nibbled the soft skin of her left thigh, stopping only to blow a warm breath upon her gingery curls, which he could see were dampening for him.
