“I have no illusions that flirting with a duke will ever lead anywhere.”
He reached across the table andtook her hand. “My dear Miss MacCallum—Davina—how very wrong you are.”
He was on his feet then, lifting her onto her wobbly legs. In the next second, she was in his arms.
“It leads here,” he said. “Twice now.”
“That first time was different. An impulse. This is . . .”
“Again an impulse.”
“It is not always wise to succumb to those. It could lead to insulting someone.”
“I assure you. I do not embrace women unless I know they welcome it.”
“Are you sure I do?”
“It appears so, because you are still here.” He lowered his head. “I think you were right and I should seek more passion in my life.”
He was going to kiss her again. Right here, in this little dining room, with the remnants of their meal awaiting a servant. With the less-privileged guests shouting and laughing on the other side of the wall. If anyone entered—
His lips touched hers carefully but decisively, and she no longer debated whether she might be ruined. The jig her heart had experienced for hours suddenly broke into a more primitive dance. It seemed she stopped breathing, yet she did not faint.
The kiss was delicious. The embrace firm, comforting and dangerous all at once. She let both continue and submitted to their power.Hispower. Wonderful sensations flooded her over and over, warming her, arousing her.
Even as her passion ascended and his own grew more aggressive, a corner of her awareness noted her physical changes with medical interest. The tipsy balance that forced her to embrace him too. The way she lost control of her physical reactions until they conquered her will. The sensitivity of her lips and mouth and all her skin, so that her body felt his through her garments and ached for more closeness.
He palmed her face, holding it while his tongue invaded her mouth. That startled her, but the intimacy caused new excitement to pour down her center and pool very low near her vulva, which now had a vitality that could not be ignored.
It was too wonderful to end it. She no longer heard the noise from the public room. She did not care that this was a terrible mistake. Even her mission and his opposition to it ceased to concern her. All of her, body, mind, blood and essence, only wanted to dwell in this pleasure.
He sat in her chair and drew her down onto his lap. Easier, then, to kiss without wobbling. The position gave him better purchase to her neck and ear and the skin atop her chest. He explored with hot kisses and bites. They remained close like that, but not as close as before, and her body ached for the contact it had lost, for the warmth and hard body and pressure against her breasts and hips. She placed her palm on his shirt, under his coat, but it was not the same.
He knew. His hand slid down her body to her knees, then up again in a caress that answered her desire for more contact. Each firm stroke created a path of new sensuality. Soon that was not enough either, and her need maddened her. She was helpless against the way her body urged her on.
Pleasure overwhelmed her. It enhanced her senses so she felt every touch and inhaled his scent and heard his heart beat. It blotted out her awareness of everything else. A new touch barely grazed her breast. A voice, low and quiet, barely broke the silence.May I?He asked for permission to—He wanted her to answer, to allow it, to put her frantic hunger into words. Yes, yes. Only she could not say it. She only tucked her face into the crook of his neck and nodded.
The first caress on her breast created a charge of pleasure that left her breathless. The next ones, subtler but more focused, devastated her. The power built in her until she was kissing him madly, trying to release it, dying from the torture but not wanting it to end.
Savage kisses, grasping holds, unbearable caresses. Their passion escalated until she almost cried from the way her body throbbed. More; there had to be more, her insane mind insisted.
That voice again merged into her mind. If it made a sound she did not hear it, but only absorbed the words.Come above with me.
Yes, yes. Only slowly, the meaning sank in and found a thread of rationality. Go above to a chamber, his or hers, and finish this. That was what he wanted. She wished he had not asked. She wished he had picked her up and carried her through the door and up the stairs and—
She buried her face in his neck again, trying to think. Why shouldn’t she? It was what she wanted. She had told him to find passion. Why shouldn’tshe?
“I suppose so,” she murmured.
He stopped caressing her breast, but those long strokes resumed on her side and hip. “You suppose?” He turned his head and kissed her cheek gently. “You are not sure?”
She turned her head too, so he might be able to kiss her lips, and so her voice would not be so muffled. “I should experience this at least once in my life. Now seems an excellent time.”
She expected him to rise, grab her hand and pull her to the door. Instead, those caresses and soft kisses continued. She wanted him to touch her breasts again. She almost reached for his hand and moved it there.
“You are still a virgin.” A long exhale.
“You thought I was not?”
