Zane’s lips left hers, and he kissed over her jaw and down the length of her neck. Gently he pulled on the neckline of her dress and it easily fell off on her shoulder. Her head fell back, and he kissed the small rise of her breast while his hand caressed and fondled it.
They shared every gasp, every moan, and every breath that passed from their lips as they kissed long, deep, and savoring. It pleased her to feel him tremble beneath her searching hands. She loved the way his arms tightenedaround her possessively as they teased, tasted, and enjoyed this time of being alone with each other to give into and explore the passion between them.
The thrills that swept through Brina were shattering all remembered thoughts of how kisses and caresses in the past had made her feel. Surely if she’d ever experienced this kind of earthly, raw, and heated desire, she would have remembered it.
The pressure of their kisses and touches became harder, deeper, and longer. She pressed her lower body against his, wanting more of him. Zane answered by reaching down and gathering her skirts, pulling them up to her thigh. Her knee came up, knocking her bonnet and his gloves off the seat. With natural ease, his hand slid beneath the soft cotton of her underclothes and his palm outlined the shape of her hips, buttocks, and thighs as they kissed and kissed and kissed again. When his hand moved over to her most womanly part, shivers and sensations of exquisite pleasure soared through her as his light touch pleased her swiftly all the way to a climax.
A whispered moan, a breathy “Yes” escaped past her lips as her body fell, weak and satisfied, against his. She buried her face into his hot, pulsating neck, unable to move.
Zane let go of her dress and caught the back of her head in his hand. His breaths came as deep and hard as hers, though she knew he had not finished what they had started, even though she had. She looked down into his eyes, her heart still beating franticly as she stared at him.
Breathless. Stunned. And more than a little confused that he had not carried through. Her whole being cried out for him to make their union complete. The tension of the moment was still holding him rigid.
“Don’t ever think I don’t want you,” he whisperedhuskily, and then winced as he shifted his weight beneath her, proving his words to be true.
Raising her head, Brina swallowed hard. She’d wanted him too. Completely. Not just this brief act of consolation.
“What happened?”
His eyes focused intimately on hers. “I intend to make you mine, but the first time I make love to you, it won’t be in a carriage behind a tree.”
She wanted him. Didn’t he realize how distinct it made him? She hadn’t even looked at a man with desire in over five years. He was the first she’d ever considered for a lover. Her skin tingled and she shivered slightly. All of a sudden, he was the one being sensible and she, the reckless one.
She stared down into his dark, fathomless blue eyes. He neither blinked nor retreated from the issue between them. “But there won’t be many times we can be totally alone.”
“I want you too much to do this now,” he said earnestly, gripping her shoulders tightly to hold her against him.
Her heart continued to pound in her ears. Her pulse continued to beat in her chest. “It’s not an ideal situation. A carriage, but we can manage.”
Blacknight shook his head.
“Why?” she asked from a thick throat.
He reached up and brushed kisses across her bare shoulder, up her neck, to her lips for a deeper, longer kiss. Ripples of pleasure danced inside her and fed the hunger that hadn’t been sated. She hadn’t had enough of his touch, his kisses, and the thrill of his passion.
He pulled back from her but kept his gaze on her face. “If I am to make you mine for all time, I must not makeyou mine today. We have a bargain. Tempting though it is right now, I’m not going to break our pact.”
Brina suddenly realized what he was saying.
No women.
But that didn’t mean her. Did it? No, not her!
She struggled with what was between them as she continued to seek clarification from him. She supposed it did mean her. He was taking her at her word.
“Why do you all of a sudden have scruples?”
His brow and around his eyes wrinkled with concern. “I’m fighting for you,” he answered earnestly. “I told you I always play to win.”
But she didn’t want him to win their wager. She wanted him for a lover. But as a husband? Her heart started beating faster. No, no. She couldn’t go down that road again.
“I’ve never been so thoroughly seduced by anyone as I have by you,” he whispered. “You are an inviting mix of a proper, innocent lady and a sinfully tantalizing woman.” He gave her a faint smile. “And I want both. I was unbelievably tempted to disregard my promise to you. I was only one more kiss away from giving in to your desire for more and my yearning to make you mine. You must believe that.”
Yes, she did. She didn’t like it, and it shocked her. She averted her eyes and pushed at his chest. His hands tightened on her arms. He looked as if he wanted to say more but fell silent. Softening his grip, he slowly let go.
Pulling at her dress and cape, she straightened in the seat and moved away from him. She shouldn’t be upset with him, but she was. It didn’t matter that he was only followingherdictates. Rules she never expected him to take to heart and actually follow. Demands she never expected to haunt her.
Yet, she had no one to blame but herself. Now she had to be levelheaded and get over it. He wanted marriage. She only wanted him for a time.
