“You are in mybedchamber, Benedict!How did you get here?”
Rotating his shoulder, he collapsed beside her.“Through the window.I used to climb into your bedchamber all the time.”
“We werechildrenwhen you did that.”
“And now we are adults.”His eyes darkened.“El, I have thought of a lesson.”
Instantly, indignation retreated and heat curled low in her belly.“You have?”
The curve of his mouth wicked, he nodded.
“That does not mean you can sneak into my bedchamber,” she said, ignoring both her desire and his.
The wickedness died as he scowled.“How else was I to tell you?You did not come to tonight’s ball.”
“And so climbing into my bedchamber is an acceptable alternative?”
He folded his arm behind his head, his bicep bulging against his coat.“Are you truly aggrieved I have come?”
Her gaze wandered down his sprawled body.He still wore his dress clothes, though he’d removed his boots.Her heart clenched at the sight of his stocking feet.“No,” she whispered.She looked from the temptation of his long body sprawled beside her to the darkness of her bedchamber.“But we should not do it here, should we?What if someone hears?”
His eyes lit.Rising over her, he caged her with his arms.“We shall have to be quiet,” he murmured.“Can you be quiet?”
Her breath strangled in her chest.She nodded.
That wicked grin curved his mouth again as he glanced toward her bedchamber door.Returning his gaze to her, he said soberly, “I would never risk you, El.”
Raising her hand, she cupped his cheek.He would not.She knew this in her bones.“What lesson have you come up with?”
He turned into her touch, kissing her palm.“It’s called,let’s undress for El.”
Her mouth dried.Over the past week, she and Benedict had taken every opportunity to be together, and he had provided her a lesson in her sitting room, the carriage on the way to an evening at Vauxhall Gardens, and again in his townhouse.She had seen him in various states of undress, but she’d never had the opportunity to look her fill.“Please, proceed.”
Giving her a quick kiss, he pushed up and straddled her hips.Shrugging out of his jacket, he tossed it casually to the floor before starting on the buttons of his waistcoat.He flicked each one open as he smirked down at her.
Well, she couldn’t let that cocky grin slide.“Is this it?”she said tartly.
“Patience, El.That has always been something you have struggled with.”Opening his waistcoat, he stripped it from himself and treated it in the same manner as his jacket.
Her gaze fell to his chest.The glowing coals from the fire threw enough light to make the shirt translucent, the material billowing around his strong arms, his broad chest, his trim waist.
Her heart pounded as he started on his cravat.He picked apart the knot, his eyes burning into hers as he unwound the fabric, revealing taut, golden skin.His valet must have shaved him before he’d departed that evening, his jaw sharp and clean.His strong throat worked, and she wanted to lick the movement.
He pulled his shirt over his head and she just about swallowed her tongue.She’d seen his chest, had felt it against her, but she’d not seen him on display.Not like this.
Strong collarbones winged shoulders rounded with muscle, his broad chest lightly sprinkled with dark hair.Faint ridges defined his abdomen, the delineation leading to his navel and a dusting of hair which disappeared into his breeches.She knew he attended a gymnasium, rode every day, and the delicious sight displayed before her lay proof to that knowledge.
Taking her hand, he placed it against him.His skin was hot and the muscles underneath hard, his heart an erratic beat.Her own heart sped at the proof he was just as affected by this as she was.She traced a path down his chest, the rough sprinkle of dark hair over smooth muscle His stomach muscles jumped as she continued down the ridges of his abdomen, following the line of each before tracing the flesh that met the band of his breeches.She stopped, her fingers resting on the fabric.
“Do you want to undo them, El?”he rasped.
“Yes.”She couldn’t tear her gaze from the sweep of her hand, bank and forth, back and forth.
Sliding his hands under hers, he showed her the closure.Biting her lip, she undid the first button, feeling his hot gaze upon her as she undid the second, and then the third.The fabric fell open and her hands froze.
“El?”
She shook her head, her cheeks ablaze.She wanted to be bold, she truly did, but… Honestly, what was wrong with her?She had done this before, why was she now hesitant?
