Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,114
tonight. If she was still awake. If not, he’d slip into her bed and just hold her.
When he reached the top floor, he glanced into the library. The room was dark, no fire upon the hearth to warm it. He missed the hours when they simply sat there and talked. Missed her.
At her door, he knocked softly. Waited. Heard no sounds from within, not even the creak of the bed as she rolled over. Another gentle rapping, the light touch he’d learned in his youth that woke no one other than the person who needed to wake. But still all was quiet on the other side, and her door remained closed. He flattened his palm against the mahogany as he considered going inside but didn’t want to disturb her unnecessarily, especially if she was sleeping soundly.
Turning for his bedchamber, he decided to prepare for bed, stripping down to his trousers and shirt, ridding himself of his boots, so he would barely make a sound as he joined her beneath the covers.
After opening his door, he stepped through and froze at the sight of her lounging on his bed like a contented cat, her hair loose and cascading down her back. She wore naught but a red corset that shoved up her breasts where black lace teased. Its length was such that the laced hem dipped down in the front to cover the blond curls that brought him such delight, but the way she’d positioned herself revealed the back of the corset riding high on her right cheek—no doubt on her left as well, although he couldn’t see it. The black piping running down the front accentuated her curves.
“Christ.” Was that rough rasp his voice?
“You might want to shut the door,” she said calmly as though he’d retained the ability to move at all.
Still, he somehow managed to do as she suggested without slamming it, without disturbing the rest of the household. “Is that the outfit for seduction I asked Beth to make for you?”
“I believe you ordered she make it.” In a sinewy move, she rolled off the bed, giving him a good view of all that it didn’t cover, and his body reacted as though his hands were already skimming over that bare flesh. “I told you she could have used a bit more fabric.”
“It’s only a corset.”
Stopping in front of him, she glanced up into his eyes. “It does come with a skirt, but I thought why make you go to all the bother of removing it when I could simply not put it on.” Reaching up, she curled her fingers along his jaw. “I wasn’t certain you were coming back tonight.”
“I’ll always come back.” If she wasn’t standing there looking so delectable, he would have shared with her all that had delayed him, but it now seemed insignificant. He most certainly wouldn’t be tardy again. He started to shrug out of his jacket. She flattened a hand against his chest.
“I want to do it. I want to remove everything from your person.”
“You’ll be the death of me.”
“But won’t it be a lovely way to go?”
With a growl he took possession of the mouth with the power to utter words that had the capability of dropping him to his knees. He would never get enough of the taste of her, the feel of her, the fragrance of her. The boldness of her. Ah, yes, especially the boldness of her.
Without separating her lips from his, she shoved his jacket off his shoulders, down his arms. It landed with a soft thud on the floor.
Cradling her head between his hands, he adjusted the angle of her mouth slightly and took the kiss deeper, their tongues twisting and twining as her fingers skimmed over his waistcoat buttons, setting them all free. He admired her patience. He’d have been content to hear the buttons pinging across the room as they were sent flying with the force of the fabric being torn.
The satin garment landed against his jacket with merely a whisper. His neck cloth quickly followed. When she began unfastening the buttons on his shirt, he went to work on the cuffs, even though he hated that he had to take his hands from her to do it. Ah, but what he was going to do to her with his hands once he was free of all the blasted clothing.
He had to separate himself from her completely in order to pull the shirt over his head.