Page 91 of Courting Elizabeth

“An urgent family matter.”

His laugh vibrated against my throat.

I removed his cravat, then unfastened the buttons of his waistcoat. He tried to help; I pushed his hands away.

“Let me.”

“I am at your disposal.”

“That's a dangerous declaration.”

I removed his coat and let it fall onto a chair. His shirt followed. The sight of his chest awakened an impatience in me that I did not try to hide.

I pressed my lips to the center of his chest.

He inhaled.

Encouraged, I traced the line of his muscles with my mouth, the warm skin above his heart, the hollow beneath his ribs. His hands remained in my hair without directing my movements.

“Elizabeth.”

“You've shown me so much. It's my turn.”

I knelt before him.

His body tensed.

“You have nothing to prove.”

“I'm not proving anything.”

I took him in my hand with new confidence, observing the reactions he could no longer hide. Then I leaned forward and tasted him.

His groan passed through me like a caress.

I let his breathing and the pressure of his fingers against my cheek guide my movements. When his control began to slip, he stopped me and raised me up.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I want to keep enough control to join you.”

“You didn’t have such scruples a week ago.”

“A week ago, I hadn’t yet heard you say you loved me. Tonight, I don’t want to miss anything you’re giving me.”

“That’s an acceptable excuse.”

He kissed me with a hunger that drove me back toward the bed.

“You are a formidable woman,” he murmured.

“You chose her knowingly the second time.”

He unfastened my dress with far less patience than on our first night. The fastenings yielded beneath his fingers. He pushed the fabric from my shoulders, turned me around, and untied the laces of my stays, then stopped.

“Too fast?”

“Not fast enough.”