There was another reason Regina couldn’t sleep. The man she was falling in love with was only a few doors down the corridor. Daffin was in one of the guest rooms. Mark had insisted he spend the night at the town house so they all could leave as soon as the sun rose. Regina straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. This was it. She might not have another such opportunity.
She wrapped her dressing gown tightly around her and, steeling her resolve, marched to her door. She had pulled it open to step into the corridor when Daffin’s large frame filled the doorway.
His shoulder against the frame, he was barefoot and had a sinful grin on his face. “May I come in?”
A slow smile spread across her lips before she silently grabbed him by the lapel and pulled him into her bedchamber. “Why are you here?” she asked, closing the door solidly behind him.
“I realized how much I missed you while you were gone.”
“Did you?” She trailed her hands up around his neck.
“Yes, that, and… Nicole mentioned you might be interested in my handcuffs?” He pulled them from behind his back and dangled them in front of her face on one finger.
Regina’s eyes widened. “Ooh, you have no idea how much.”
He backed her up to the bed and lowered her to it, tossing the handcuffs onto the mattress. When he moved atop her, she rose up to meet his lips. They kissed for long minutes, their bodies straining together through their clothing, yet neither could be bothered to shed a single garment until they drank their fill of each other.
At last Daffin lifted his head and stared down at her, his heavy-lidded gaze searching hers. Whatever he was looking for in her eyes, he found, for a warm smile softened his features. He scrambled to his knees to wrestle off his coat, then he unwound his cravat and ripped off his vest. With a jolt of delight, she noted his slightly shaking hands. Finally, hereached back, grabbed the neck of his shirt, and whisked it over his head, leaving his blond hair rumpled. He looked unruly and dangerous as his hands slid to the fall of his breeches.
Regina pushed herself up on her knees to help him undo the buttons. Their fingers tangled. When the breeches hung open, she put her hands on his hips and helped push them down until they were bundled at his feet. She gasped, sitting back to take in the sight of him. His body was perfection. His scarred shoulder, his flat abdomen, his long, lean legs… and his manhood that jutted out, thick and strong. All for her.
“Is that your final scar?” she asked, pointing to his thigh.
“It’s a scar,” he replied. “I’m not yet certain it’s the final one.”
She shook her head while he moved to the edge of the bed to pull off his breeches. Then she leaned forward and nibbled at his neck as he had hers earlier.
“If you keep doing that, love, I won’t be able to rid myself of these.”
“I’m not going to stop,” she teased.
He ripped the breeches from his feet and tossed them aside, then fully, finally naked, he flipped her onto her back again and crawled up her body, slow, playfully predatory, at last letting his hips settle against hers. All that separated his flesh from hers was the thin muslin of her nightclothes.
“What about my clothes?” she asked, biting her lip.
“Your clothes?” He glanced down at them as if considering, then met her gaze again with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “The truth is I want to rip them off you.”
“Do it,” she breathed. “I challenge you.”
The sensual smile on his face told her he would. He untied her dressing gown and pushed it over her shoulders,then used both hands to grasp the neckline of her night rail. In one solid movement, he ripped the garment in two. “I hope you didn’t particularly like that one,” he whispered against her ear.
Regina giggled. “I can only guess what Genevieve is going to think in the morning.”
At last she was as naked as he and it was his turn to stare at her body. His gaze began at her face and traveled slowly down, reverently taking in each part of her.
She waited for him to look his fill before she said, “I want you.” She reached her arms around his shoulders and tried to pull him against her.
He kissed the space where her neck and shoulder met. “I want to make this good for you.”
She crossed her wrists together and offered them to him. “Aren’t you going to use your handcuffs, Mr. Oakleaf?”
His eyes widened before he schooled his expression and kissed her. “Regina, you’re a virgin. I thought we might do it the, ahem, more customary way first.”
She pushed herself up on her palms, her breasts jutting out toward him, shamefully, delightedly naked and free and offering herself into his hands. “Daffin, nothing has ever been customary between us. I want our lovemaking to be the same. I’ve been fantasizing about your handcuffs since July.”
He gave a disbelieving laugh, studied her for a moment with his eyes shining, then seemed to make a decision, and deftly grabbed the handcuffs from where they lay on the mattress while he kissed her. She offered her arms again, and he clapped a metal ring over her wrist. “Does it hurt?” he said, knowing she still had sores from the ropes Knowles had used.
“A little,” she replied. “But in averygood way.” She grinned at him and offered her other wrist.
