“And did you…?” She cleared her throat. She couldn’t ask him if he’d found a woman to keep him company. That would be beyond inappropriate. “Did you…enjoy yourself?” she asked instead, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear.
He set his glass on the desk, then walked around it and stood directly in front of her. “No,” he said. He scrubbed a hand through his hair and groaned.
She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m trying to decide whether I should tell you the truth or whether I should leave this room right now.”
“The truth, if you please,” she said, prompted by an invisible devil on her shoulder.
He leaned down and braced his knuckles atop the desk on either side of her hips.
Maddie’s breathing hitched, and warmth fizzed through her body down to her toes. She tipped up her chin. Their lips were scant inches apart. “I thought you were a rake?” she breathed.
He reached down and traced the line of her chin. “Do you know what that word means?”
She swallowed but forced herself to match his gaze. “I’ve half an idea. Why don’t you explain the rest to me? What exactly does a rake do?” She could hardly believe her own audacity, but his lovely, dangerous words echoed in her head, making her daring and bold.
A lazy smile quirked the side of his lips. “I can’t tell you that.” His eyes were lazily hooded. His lips were so inviting.
“Why not?” she persisted, still staring at his mouth. “Secret code of rakes?” Her heart hammered so rapidly it hurt.
He caressed her cheek with the back of one hand and Maddie thought she would go up in flames.
“It would be entirely inappropriate,” he whispered.
Her gaze didn’t falter. Excitement unfurled between her legs. She was playing this risky game and she would see it through. “I thought you knew I liked inappropriate things.”
He moved his head to the side of hers and whispered in her ear. “Do you?”
Her breath caught in her throat. She was about to melt into a puddle on the floor. “If you can’t tell me, show me.”
Justin was going to die. That was all there was to it. This woman was going to kill him. With her plump lips and entrancing blue eyes, she was an alluring combination of innocent beauty and bold temptress. She had no idea what she was offering him. But he knew he wanted it. He wanted her. He wanted to pull the pins and cap from her hair and run his fingers through the luxurious length of it. He wanted to kiss her throat and touch her until she was calling his name.
By God, she was an unholy temptation. And she’d come to him tonight. He had been strong. After going out last night and attempting to find a woman to suit his needs, he’d left the hell in disgust not an hour after he’d arrived. All the women there had done nothing but bore him. They seemed overly made up and far too jaded. A pair of cornflower blue eyes and the most alluring dimples he’d ever seen had haunted him until he’d been forced to take his leave from the dark-haired beauty he’d set his sights on.
How in the name of all that was holy was he expected to be strong if Madeline came looking for him in his study? He’d thought he’d be safe here. He hadn’t been in Eliza’s room or even the drawing room. He’d kept to himself, precisely as he’d vowed he would. But Madeline had pushed open the door and stepped inside as if delivering herself to him. He wanted to send her away. But then she’d started talking and now she was asking him to show her what a rake did, and he was only a bloody human after all, a mere mortal trying his damnedest to resist temptation. But when the temptation looked and sounded like Madeline, how could he possibly be expected to resist?
“A rake might do this.” He leaned over her. Her backside pushed up against the desk, and she grabbed the underside with both hands and leaned into him.
“And?” she prompted.
He closed his eyes. She was going to be his undoing. He knew it. Yet he still couldn’t stop himself.
He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly—so lightly—against hers. “He might do that,” he whispered.
“What else?” she begged, her eyes heavy-lidded with what he recognized as lust.
“If he were really bad, he would do something like this.” With one fell swoop of his arm, he sent everything atop his desk flying to the floor, then he picked her up and sat her atop it, pushing her back so she had to wrap her arms around his neck to keep from falling backward. He pushed up her skirts, impelled her knees apart with one leg, and stepped between them.
She gasped, clutching at his shoulders. Her wet lips parted and she was panting. The sound raked across his lower abdomen, making him rock-hard.
“Why? Wh-why would he do that?” she asked, her head tipped back, staring deeply into his eyes.
She was a siren, and he was helpless to stop his advance on her. He let his hands roam down her sides before pulling her hips tight against his. They both groaned. Her head fell back, leaving her throat exposed to his lips. He kissed her jaw before trailing his mouth down to the delectable spot just above her collarbone where he licked and nipped at her lilac-scented skin.
His mouth came back up to her ear. “Because he would want to convince her to let him touch her.”
“And what if she said yes? What if she said…touch me?”
