Page 135 of A Perilous Passion

As his fingers and lips lulled her into a sensuous daze, her hands stole up his body of their own volition, under his jacket, grazing his muscled rib cage beneath the thin linen of his shirt. The shirt was loose—he must have changed in a hurry.

Dare she caress the flesh beneath? What response would it provoke?

She soon found out.

“Little witch!” he exclaimed, releasing her earlobe, only to plunder the exposed skin below her throat.

Her head went back as she arched her neck, reveling in the soft brush of his mouth across her skin. Her breasts pushed shamelessly against his chest.

As he kissed his way up her throat and nipped at her lower lip, his hand slid her shawl down, then hooked itself in the shoulder of her gown.

Too beguiled by the teasing movements of his lips over hers, it was a moment before she realized he’d skillfully freed one breast and cupped it in the warmth of his palm.

Her heart flew to her throat, and stopped. Her whole body stilled, all her attention centered on his hand.

She should pull away, slap him, scream for help! His mouth had left hers, so she was free to call out, and she was free to move away, but her traitorous fingers dug into the expanse of his back and refused to let go.

A deep sigh escaped her as his lips touched her breast and roved over the skin. Oh, what delicious wickedness! Her other breast felt the touch of the cool night air, too, and she marveled at his skill, at the way he had, in a few brief moments, dared more with her than Justin ever had.

His fingers gently pinched one nipple, his teeth the erect bud of the other. Pleasure surged through her, like a huge wave crashing on the strand. Her knees buckled, and she flung her hands behind his neck to stop herself from crumpling to the ground.

After teasing and suckling her into a frenzy of expectation, his lips met hers again. She kissed him back ravenously until her tongue was saturated with the taste of him. Her body felt as if it were no longer her own. He was now its master, and like a child’s stringed puppet, she responded to every skillful touch, every movement of his practiced fingers.

Just when she felt her surrender was complete, he abruptly drew away and pinched the bridge of his nose. It looked like self-rebuke.

Clearly, he regretted what had just happened.

“Sir, you make a mockery of me,” she said, her heart squeezing as she wrestled her gown back over her shoulders.

“No, I assure you,” he said. “I was obliged to hire a horse tonight, so it’s not one I’ve had time to get used to. Just a moment’s unpleasantness. It will soon pass.”

Which reminded her. “Rafe,” she said, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing the small bottle, “I brought this for you.”

He twirled it between his fingers. “What is it? I can’t read the label in the dark.”

“It’s the visiting doctor’s remedy against summer rheum. I thought it might work against a sensitivity to horses, too.”

He chuckled softly. “Thank you. I’ll try anything that stops me sneezing at an inopportune moment. Trust me, I’ve no wish to rouse the entire Allston household while I’m seducing you.”

Her eyes widened. “Is that what you’re doing? Seducing me? Then it’s true, you are a rake.”

He tucked the nostrum away and took her by the shoulders, his face so close she could see the moon reflected in his eyes. “No longer,” he said. “If I were, I’d have already found my way into your bed and made you mine. Believe me when I say I simply meant to talk with you, but having you so close drove out all rational thought.”

“Such arrogance, to assume I’d have let you! You quite clearly are still a rake.”

To her irritation, he chuckled softly. “So you would deny me? When a minute ago you were swooning in my arms? You felt it just as I did—the irresistible attraction between us that’s been there from the first. Don’t try to refute it.”

She straightened indignantly. “I was perfectly in control of myself. I was just…experimenting.” Her hand itched to slap him, but that would be too much like the reaction of an outraged young miss, not the considered response of a grown woman.

And she very much wished to appear to him as a woman, not a girl; though, she couldn’t have explained why it mattered so much.

He smiled and caught her gently beneath the chin. “If you were truly in control just now, then you’d make any man a splendid mistress. Keep your pride, Charlotte—I would never wish to hurt it. Forgive me if you can—I couldn’t help myself. It’s been an absolute pleasure meeting you, and I regret more than words can say that this will probably be the last time. I’ll make one last attempt to secure my present quarry, then, alas, I’ll be reassigned.”

Her head reeled. No. This was all wrong. She was meant to be bidding him good-bye, not the other way round.

She blurted out, “Will you not just return to your estates and take up your old life again?”

“Not until this wretched war is over, and who can say when that will be? For now, I am not my own man and must follow orders. But before I go, let me tell you, that callow youth you wanted to run away with wasn’t worthy of you. You need an experienced hand to hold your ribbons, not that of a novice. Good night, my sweet.”