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Trust me with yours.

He took a moment to consider the idea. Did he not have any friends whom he trusted implicitly? But there was no time to think on it further. No time to ask him. His expression changed in a moment.

“I want nothing more than to make you scream with pleasure,” he said, his voice husky.

He was going to do it.

“To watch your face,” he said, reaching for the ties that bound her gown together in the front, “and feel your soft flesh beneath my fingers.”

As the ties loosened, her chest felt unaccountably tighter rather than the opposite.

She’d changed into a simple undertunic and kirtle, which threatened to come undone at any moment.

At last, it was completely untied. The neckline, wide enough to fit over her shoulders, was easy prey for him. Garrick tugged with both hands, widening it even more. He guided her arms through the sleeves until the royal blue material lay in a puddle at her feet. She stepped over it as Garrick kicked the discarded kirtle to the side.

Wordlessly, he lifted the ivory undertunic over her head. She reached up her arms to assist him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Everything but Garrick ceased to exist.

Standing before him in nothing but a shift, Emma moved to cover her breasts, which peeked out behind the thin material. Garrick would have none of it. He grabbed her wrists and guided them behind her back. Still holding them there, he moved toward her.

He kissed her, first on the lips and then the neck, and moved lower, his lips trailing a path between her breasts, where the material dipped and allowed him access. When he stood and released her wrists, his movement was so sudden Emma didn’t have time to prepare.

And she definitely needed it.

He lifted his loose shirt up in one swift motion. Tossing the offending garment aside, he stood motionless, watching her with an intense gaze.

She’d imagined those muscles, had felt them beneath her fingertips, but she hadn’t spared a thought for the scars. An angry scar ran from his right shoulder to his collarbone. It was the most pronounced, but certainly not the only one. Each ridge was punctuated with battle scars, one precariously close to his heart.

He must have known she wanted to touch him. Garrick took her hand and guided it to his expansive chest, covering her sprawling fingers with his own. When his muscles twitched under her fingertips, she squeezed lightly, just enough to ensure he was quite real.

When Garrick released her hand, she explored, trailing her fingers down to his stomach. The sound that escaped his lips emboldened her.

He closed his eyes.

She grew bolder yet.

Wondering if she could arouse the same feelings in him that he’d stirred in her, Emma stepped forward and kissed the area just beneath his neck.

“Emma—” He pulled her against him, her chest slamming against his own. But this time, there was little to separate them, and when she wrapped her arms around him, it was flesh her fingers found.

His mouth lowered to hers, but this was nothing like the last kiss. This one was hard and insistent and filled with need. She opened for him, her body pressing against him—closer, closer, closer—of its own accord. When she felt his hand lifting the bottom of her shift, Emma welcomed the touch.

Still, her curious mind was a light, and she started to ask, “What are you . . . ,” only to stop, mesmerized by his expression. She momentarily forgot about his wandering fingers, focused instead on the corner of his mouth, where he bit his lip. But he didn’t let her forget for long. Without warning, his hand cupped that most intimate part of her. She met the question in his eyes with a slight nod.

She trusted him.

And then his fingers were inside her.

Emma didn’t have time to be shocked. She tried to hold his gaze but could not. She closed her eyes and tilted her back.

“Garrick . . .”

“You know what to do.”

She opened her eyes as the pressure increased between her legs. She held on to him, her knees weakening.

“I don’t.” The slow, sensual smile made her feel as if she were Garrick’s prey. Well, if he wished to consume her, she’d allow it.