‘You would know of such things better than I!’ she accused in an attempt to regain some of her lost dignity.
‘Your insults do not bother me, Lisette,’ Christian dismissed derisively. ‘Not when I know they are made with the intention of annoying and distracting me.’
That had indeed been Lisette’s intention. But this arrogant duke was obviously not going to allow himself to be distracted.
‘Remove your hands, Lisette,’ Christian bit out between his clenched teeth; he could not decide which was throbbing the most—his injured thigh because of these physical exertions, or the hardness of him. He did know that the heady smell of Lisette’s arousal was causing him to fast lose all sense of control, let alone his usual veneer of civility. ‘Now, Lisette!’
Her back straightened, her chin rising defensively. ‘I am not a servant or a horse you may instruct to your will, Your Grace.’
‘No—you are about to become my lover, which requires even more instruction from me, it seems!’ Christian growled. ‘And do not “Your Grace” me, Lisette, when you obviously have little or no respect for the title.’
A frown creased her brow. ‘It is not my intention to be disrespectful.’
Christian sighed. ‘It is not my intention to behave with disrespect towards you either. I am simply a man pushed beyond his limits.’
She eyed him warily even as her hands slowly lowered back down to her sides.
Christian’s eyes had now completely adjusted to the dim light of the carriage, allowing him to see the soft fullness of Lisette’s naked breasts, tipped wi
th fully engorged and pouting nipples, her waist incredibly slender before curving out to luscious hips. She wore white stockings held up by pretty white garters decorated with rosebuds the same deep fuchsia colour as her nipples.
‘What do you instruct now, Christian?’ She held herself proudly, shoulders back, breasts thrust forward.
He should never have started this, should not have allowed Lisette to challenge him so much that it was now almost too late for him to pull back from the brink— Damn it; it was too late! ‘Help me to undress,’ he encouraged huskily as he reached up and deftly removed the neck cloth from about his throat before unfastening his shirt.
Her throat moved as she swallowed. ‘You intend to completely compromise me?’
He gave a hard, humourless grin. ‘If that bothers you then we can always say that it was you who compromised me.’
‘We will not need to say anything at all if you stop insisting upon this—this—’
‘Lovemaking,’ he supplied evenly.
‘Lovemaking takes place between two people when they are married.’
‘To each other?’
Another tirade of French insults—ones that Christian decided were best not translated—followed this remark.
‘If not married, then at least in love with each other,’ Lisette finally added primly.
Christian looked up at her through narrowed lids. ‘How do you feel when I touch you here?’ He reached out to push her ripped chemise completely aside before stroking his fingertips across the turgid tip of her breast, nodding his satisfaction as Lisette drew her breath in sharply, her back arching instinctively into that caress. ‘Or do this?’ He took her now fully erect nipple between his thumb and finger and gently squeezed, the scent of Lisette’s arousal now so strong in the heaviness of the air Christian could almost taste it.
He intended to taste it before they reached London.
‘I— That is—’ Lisette now moved restlessly at the unfamiliar sensations coursing through her body. Unfamiliar before she had met Christian, that was.
No matter how angry she became with him, how uncertain she was about her future, this man only had to touch her with intimacy to arouse her. Sometimes he did not need to even touch her!
‘Pleasurable,’ Christian purred as he now cupped both her breasts in his hands.
‘Yes...’
‘Sensual.’ The soft pads of his thumbs stroked across the swollen tips.
‘Oh, yes...’
‘Arousing.’ He now pinched both those ripe berries between his thumbs and fingers.