When he lifted his head, he met that level gaze that always made his breath catch. “You don’t know how close you came to being ravished against the bookcases.”
He fumbled with her corset. His fervor made him all thumbs.
Another delightful gurgle. “I wish I’d known.”
“I thought you must have. Everything you did was so precisely calculated to send me into a frenzy.”
“Surely not,” she said, although he saw her satisfaction as she gradually accepted her power over him. “And you’ve known that I’m… I’m helpless against you since the night I came to your room.”
Leath gave up on the laces and ripped the corset in two. She gasped and raised her hands to her breasts, outlined against the chemise. Pink nipples pressed against the linen. The sight made him mad to see the rest of her. But her swift modesty reminded him what was at stake. He kissed her again, relishing her unfettered response. His hands tangled in her extravagant hair.
“Shall I help with your boots, my lord?” she whispered.
“Good God.” He sat back. He’d been so focused on arousing her that he’d forgotten that he’d come up here sweaty and tired from a day in the saddle. “You’ll think I’m a lout.”
“Hardly.” She smiled as she rose from the bed. In her shift and petticoat, she looked like a virgin sacrifice. His conscience pinched, but he gave it the cut direct.
“Are you wearing drawers?” he asked, astonished how raw he sounded.
He loved her blushes. “Yes.”
“Take them off.”
Leath expected protest. She’d been an unruly servant. He couldn’t imagine as a mistress she’d be much different.
That devilish alluring smile curved her ripe lips. Slowly and teasingly, she hitched up her petticoat, revealing pretty ankles. With a few deft movements that put his efforts with her corset to shame, white cotton slipped to her feet.
As she kicked her drawers away, he gulped with admiration and growing arousal. He’d been right about the fire in her soul.
Still smiling like a siren, she kneeled before him. His heart gave another great thump. He couldn’t resist picturing w
hat she might do from that position. On her knees with her hair in disarray, she was every man’s fantasy. Except that he didn’t deceive himself about her strength. If she bent to his will, it was because she wanted to.
He slid to the edge of the bed and extended one long leg. He relished the delicious jiggle of her breasts when she tugged at his muddy boot.
Once the boots were gone, he drew her up between his thighs to kiss her. He couldn’t get enough of that succulent plum of a mouth. Her taste would haunt him forever.
He untied her petticoat and tugged the frail shift over her head, tumbling her hair into wild ripples. Her hair was so thick that it concealed her from his starving gaze. The urge to see her body pounded like a huge hammer, but her eyes arrested his attention. She appeared uncertain and awkward, no longer the self-confident hussy who had kicked her drawers to perdition.
Gently, gently…
Carefully, he stood and drew her to her feet. “Let me look at you.”
Eleanor blushed a delightful pink and her gaze fluttered from his. She was an enchanting mixture of the brazen and the shy. Even as he hungered to take her, he savored this delicate surrender.
“I’ve never stood naked before a man,” she muttered.
He wanted to tell her that if he had his way, no other man would enjoy the privilege. Until with stabbing regret, he recalled that he could have no permanent call on a mistress’s loyalties.
He beat back the thought before it contaminated his happiness. Because despite his qualms, he was happy. Happier than he could ever recall in his dutiful, busy, useful existence.
All because he wanted a beautiful girl who wanted him too.
Such a simple solution to life’s mysteries. Perhaps he should propose it at the next sitting of parliament as the answer to the nation’s woes. That would make the opposition sit up and pay attention, by God.
He wanted to say something clever to disperse this choking cloud of emotion. But yet again simplicity won over false bravado. “You’re so beautiful.”
She must have heard his reverence because she looked him square in the eyes. He watched uncertainty melt into trust. And something he didn’t want to name. Because if he did, he’d have to name the same thing in himself.