A hoarse moan vibrated in his throat.He took control of the kiss from her, leaned her head back for better access, and covered her lips with exquisite care.His mouth slanted over hers, moved slowly back and forth, and sent ripples of pleasure through her.
When he began to press at the closed line of her lips, she anticipated him.She knew now that he urged her to open for him, and she savored it.His tongue slid slowly into her—exploring, tasting, caressing—and she rejoiced when heat spread up her thighs and into her belly.The weakness of desire no longer frightened her; she sought it.
She slid her hands up his chest and into his thick black hair, savoring the changes in texture of the softness of his linen, the rough skin of his mangled face, and the coarseness of his hair.She needed to touch him, to feel him.She felt him gasp when her hand slid down his neck to explore the front of his shirt.
When he pushed her slightly away, she groaned in protest.One arm held her securely, however, and his face hovered inches from hers.“Open it.Untie it.”
She had never unfastened a man’s clothes before.She tugged at the shirt with trembling hands and pulled it loose from his waist.She yanked the ties open and ran her hands under the linen and over his chest.Another glorious mix of textures—hard muscles, harder scars, soft hair, tight nipples, and silky skin met her eager hands.Each one fascinated her in its way.She tried to push his shirt up to see what her exploring hands felt, but he was too impatient.He yanked the shirt over his head and tossed it aside to give her better access.
She stood fixated, one hand on each side of his ribs, and traced the path of first one scar and then another with her eyes as though taking stock of the damage.Jamie said shrapnel had hit him.Was shrapnel the reason for these small uneven gouges?She found one long ridge.This must be a saber cut,she thought, and not shrapnel.His body was damaged but beautiful, the lines of muscle and bone even and strong beneath the scars.
A sudden instinct startled her.He might fear her reaction to his body.She looked up at him directly and willed him to see how beautiful he was to her, to know that his scars were precious.The black eyes were unreadable.She struggled for words to express what she meant but found none.She could only bend her head and kiss the damaged places one by one, allowing her mouth to linger on each.
His head dropped to hers, forehead resting on the top of her head.“Georgie.Oh my darling, Georgie, how you humble me.”
His hand cupped her chin to raise her face to his.He kissed her deeply again and again, moaning her name against her mouth.His hands restlessly massaged her back before sliding upward to undo the laces of her dress.
She marveled at his concentration, centered on his own hands, while he unlaced her dress and slid it off her shoulders.The fire in his black eyes engulfed her when he finally allowed the dress to drop to the floor.She wore neither petticoats nor corset, just a cotton shift and pantalets trimmed with simple lace put on in haste an hour ago.
Sudden shyness overwhelmed her.Her body had never been tiny, and it was no longer young.Her long frame had begun to thicken with age.A profound longing to be beautiful for him struck her and, yet, with her newly found wisdom, she knew she couldn’t shrink from his eyes any more than she allowed him to hide his damaged body from hers.She took a step into the circle of light next to the chair, stood before him, and forced her eyes to his face.
Andrew wasn’t looking at her face.The ravenous look of a starving man devoured her from her feet, still clothed in stockings, up her calves and thighs, to her belly.She thought she could feel the hunger in his eyes as they roamed to her breasts.She felt it there, across her shoulders to her neck.She flushed hotly when at last his eyes met hers.He must have seen her uncertainty then because he smiled his crooked smile and said, “You are the most beautiful sight I’ve ever beheld.”Just then, in that moment, she believed him.
He put out his hand.“Come,” he said.She did.
