Page 41 of Wagering for Miss Blake (Lords and Ladies in Love 4)

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Suzanna took a deep breath of the night air, hoping a walk in the garden would ease her mind. And body. Thank heavens she would return to London tomorrow, to the safety of her cousin’s home. If she had to spend another night with Mr. Templeton under the same roof, without a doubt, her virtue would be in jeopardy.

He’d kept pulling her closer when they’d waltzed earlier in the evening, and she’d fought the urge to press herself against his hard chest. But what she should have done was shove him away and run. Run for her life—the life Mother wanted—and run from her own heart. She might as well admit it, even if only to herself.

She was falling in love with Mr. Giles Templeton.

He with the golden brown eyes that seemed to look into her very soul. His touch, no matter how innocent, brought shivers to her skin. His deep voice made her breath hitch, and his slow, easy smile wreaked havoc with her heartbeat. Either she had caught a serious case of the ague, or Mr. Templeton had crawled his way into her heart.

A wave of sadness swamped her. This was precisely what she had feared. She would be forced to marry one man while in love with another.

“Lovely evening for a stroll, is it not?” She startled at the familiar voice behind her.

She turned, her heart galloping like her favorite horse. “You frightened me!”

Mr. Templeton reached out and touched her cheek. “I’m sorry, Suzanna. I was trying to ease myself into sleep by enjoying a brandy in the library when I saw you pass by the window.”

She tugged the belt of her wrapper, aware that she had nothing under the garment but a nightgown. Why had she done something so foolish?

“It is not safe to be wandering around a dark garden by yourself at this hour.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, easing her forward, leaving only a couple of inches between them. “You never know whom you might encounter.”

She licked her dry lips. “Yes. I understand the danger. It stands right before me.”

“Ah. Smart woman.” He lowered his head and, bringing his hands up to frame her face, covered her mouth with his, immediately nudging her lips apart so he could sweep in, setting her body on fire.

His hand drifted to her shoulder, down her back to cup her bottom, urging her to move

closer, until they were touching. She felt his manhood pressed against her stomach, but instead of fearing for her virtue, she moved her hips back and forth against him. With a slight groan, he encircled her waist with his hands and lifted her.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he whispered.

She did as he asked, the cool night air bringing goose flesh to her now bare legs. He devoured her mouth, touching all the parts that set her body on fire. She caressed his neck, then played with the springy curls at the top of his chest, where his shirt lay open. He walked them slowly toward a folly at the end of the formal garden, well hidden from the house by shrubbery.

He sat, with her on his lap, her legs on either side of him. Her gown had ridden up to the top of her thighs, but the coolness felt good against her heated skin. One slipper fell from her foot, then the other. She threw her head back when he released her lips to kiss his way down her jaw, to her neck. “God, you’re so beautiful. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you. I think about us together all the time, naked, skin to skin.”

“Don’t say that,” she panted the words. “It’s not proper.”

She felt his smile against her skin, right above her gown’s neckline. When had she lost her wrapper?

“Oh, my love. Nothing I have in mind for us is proper. Naughty. Very naughty, indeed.” His busy hands had pushed her nightgown off her shoulders, the silky fabric pooling in her lap where the area between her legs sat snug against his hardness.

He leaned back and stared at her breasts, revealed in the pale moonlight. “Yes, beautiful. Plump, soft, with pale pink nipples, begging for my attention. You take the breath from my body.” His hands spanned her naked back as he dipped his head and took her breast into his mouth, suckling hard, eliciting a soft moan from her dry lips.

Everything surrounding them in the garden disappeared as all her focus centered on what he was doing with his mouth. He nipped, suckled, licked, then started over again, switching from one breast to the other. Heat traveled from her middle, where she had grown damp, to her neck, then her face. She expected to see flames shoot from the top of her head.

While one of his large hands remained on her back, keeping her from tumbling backward, the other hand moved between them until his fingers reached the ache between her legs. He slid his finger up and down, then in circles. “Yes.” He nipped at her earlobe. “You are ready for me.”

Tired of holding back and fighting what her body so recklessly wanted, and eager to explore him as well, Suzanna moved her hand to where his fingers played with her opening and rested her palm against his manhood.

Giles sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. “What are you doing?” The choked words made her grin. This time she was rattling him.

She gripped his erection and squeezed.

“Suzanna.” His groan left her with a feeling of control.

“What?” Amazed at her boldness, she continued to stroke him until the urge to feel him skin to skin was overwhelming. She began to fumble with the buttons on his fall front.

His hand immediately clamped over hers. “What are you doing?”