He was pulling his cravat from his neck when his valet came hurrying in. Franklin helped him undress, and Lucian pulled on the soft linen trousers he preferred to wear to bed before dismissing the servant.
But Lucian didn’t go to bed. And after pacing for the better part of half an hour, he knew why. He was sexually aroused, damn it. And, amazingly, he wanted…his wife.
That was a mad thought. But that kiss had done something to him. Specifically? It had given him a raging cockstand. One that he was still trying to tamp down. And that was confusing too because his wife was not his sort of woman. She was thin and tall and without curves. Her eyes were too large and her hair was too short and she, well, just wasn’t his sort. But there was something about her eyes, something intriguing, something compelling. And the way she’d been so forceful and determined. The way she’d delivered that diatribe… And then that kiss. It had been beyond passionate. And he wanted…more.
He’d already decided he would bed her before sending her off, hadn’t he? This would be in keeping with his plan. It didn’tmean anything. Being sexually aroused by her would only make it easier.
His decision made, Lucian stalked over to the adjoining door and knocked.
O
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The knock startled Gemma. She hadn’t been expecting it. Though, admittedly, after that kiss in the coach, she didn’t know what she had been expecting. In fact, she didn’t know much about anything after that kiss.
It was as if she’d been struck dumb by it. She’d somehow managed to make it out of the coach, up the stairs, into the town house, and into her bedchamber without remembering how she got there. Thank heavens, Anna had been there to help. She had a brief memory of her maid removing her gown, her shift, and then her stockings. A few words had been exchanged about the ripped sleeve, and then a new silky night rail had been slipped over her head, and somehow she was in bed and Anna was gone.
Gemma had been sitting there for several moments staring at the wall in awe. What in the world had happened in that coach? A kiss? She knew it was a kiss. It had all the indications of a kiss and yet…it had been something so much more. Something that had swept over her and made her entire body hot and achy and restless. One moment she’d been wanting to jump from the coach to escape that vile man. The next moment, she’d been melting in his arms, her fingers threaded through his soft hair as his mouth owned hers. It made no sense.
The knock made her heart jump into her throat.
“Come in.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She cleared her throat and was about to repeat herself when the door opened, and Lucian came striding inside.
She lifted her gaze and once again was confronted with the man’s bare chest. God save innocents from such a sight. Earlier she’d told him he was carved from stone. Marble was more like it, and at the hands of a master. Michelangelo himself could not have done more admirable work.
Lucian began pacing in front of the bed. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, mussing it in a way that made her want to touch it again. “I was wondering what you thought of that kiss?”
She blinked. She might as well be honest. “I… I have no words.”
He nodded. “I feel the same.”
“Is it normally like that?” Her brows knitted together. “I have nothing to compare it to.”
He continued his pacing. “No. It’snotnormally like that.”
Gemma gulped. “It had to be a mistake. Right?”
“It didn’t feel like a mistake.” He stopped pacing and strode over to her side. “In fact, I was wondering if we might…try it again.”
Her throat went dry. He wanted to kiss her again? “I suppose there is no harm in trying again.” She swallowed hard. “Just to confirm.”
“Yes, to confirm. Quite logical.”
He lowered himself to sit on the edge of the mattress facing her. His nearness made her suck in her breath. He reached out and wrapped a warm hand behind her neck. Their eyes met. An undeniable spark leaped between them. Gemma felt a shudder work its way through her body. His blue eyes were mesmerizing her.
He leaned forward, closer, closer.
His lips touched hers like a whisper, barely felt. Barely there. A hum moved through her body. When the tip of his tongue licked across the seam of her lips, coaxing them to open, the hum became louder. And when his tongue plunged into the heat of her mouth, possessing her, it turned into a full roar. She couldn’t hear anything anymore… She could only feel. The pressure of his mouth against hers, the heat of his hand behind her neck, the rasp of his skin against the softness of her chin.
Her hands went up to his hair again, just as they’d done in the coach. It was a mindless response. She’d longed to feel the soft thickness between her fingers, but this time she soon let her fingers move down along his rough cheeks, gliding down the thick muscles in his neck. She let them splay across his rock-hard bare shoulders and stay there. Her fingertips curved around his shoulders, and she pulled him toward her. He moved, down, down until he was atop her, the bedclothes between them inconvenient until she felt him fling them away. And then his weight settled atop her, and she clung to him, reveling in the welcome weight pressing into her, never wanting him to leave.
When his mouth moved to her ear and dipped inside the delicate shell, Gemma’s body bucked. She moaned. Then his mouth moved to nip at the lobe, then down the side of her neck, where he lightly sucked the skin there as if he were tasting it. She arched her neck to give him more access.
Her eyes rolled back in her head. How in the world did that feel as good as it did? She’d never imagined anything like it. He was nipping at her skin, licking her, lightly sucking. She let her hands venture from his shoulders to his chest, reveling in the feel of the muscles that jumped beneath his hot skin at her touch. She splayed her hands wide to feel as much as she could, and a tremor stole through her body. The man’s muscles had muscles. She pushed her hands back up to his shoulders andthen down his thick arms. The barely restrained power there made her shiver with delight.
His mouth moved down to the bodice of her night rail. “How much do you like this garment?” he asked in a husky voice that sent another shiver through her.
“Not much,” she breathed against his ear.
