A Rogue to Ruin (The Pretenders #3) - Darcy Burke Page 0,70

“You’re going to marry me, Anne.”

Her eyes rounded as her hand dropped down to his shoulder where she squeezed him tightly. “What?”

“If I’m going to put my mouth on you and you’re going to perchance do the same to me, we will wed. If you accept that, we may continue.”

She put her hands on his, stilling his movement. “That doesn’t seem a reason to marry.”

“It’s more than you had with your former betrothed, is it not?”

“It is.”

He didn’t move despite his body demanding he do so. “I await your decision.”

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Chapter 12

Rafe kissed her with a blistering heat as his fingers continued to unbutton her spencer. He moved quickly, with wondrous precision, divesting her of the garment with ease. His tongue lashed against hers, claiming her in a torrent of sensation. It was as if something had been unleashed inside him, that he’d let himself free of whatever bound him.

She wasn’t going to be the only one undressed this time. Tugging at his cravat, she pulled the silk loose and tore it from his neck. He drew back slightly, not quite breaking the kiss, as he removed his coat. His lips played with hers and he nipped her flesh before looking down at the laces crossing over her chest. “This isn’t a typical garment.”

Her underdress had been constructed as a sort of full petticoat and wasn’t meant to be worn without the spencer over it. The laces in the bodice kept the garment snug and allowed her to don it without assistance. “It comes loose quite easily.” She untied the front, and it fell open, revealing her corset. He pushed the straps of the garment over her shoulders and down her arms. She slipped out of the dress and gave it over to him.

He carefully took the dress and the spencer he’d cast on the bed and draped them over a chair. Perching on the edge, he pulled his boots off and set them aside. “Come here,” he said, his eyes glittering with promise.

She went to the chair and stood between his parted legs.

“Your foot, please.” He reached down, and she placed her foot in his hand. Scooting back on the chair, he lifted her foot and placed it between his legs on the seat cushion. Her toes grazed him as he unfastened her half boot. When he’d removed the boot, he moved to perform the same task on her other foot, exchanging one for the other.

Except when he finished with that one, he didn’t let her go. Instead, he curled his hand around her ankle and pulled her foot around his thigh and set it on the cushion behind him. Though she still wore her corset, petticoat, chemise, and stockings, she felt incredibly, thrillingly exposed in this position.

His hand moved up her leg, pausing behind her bent knee. Shivers of anticipation danced along her flesh, and desire pooled in her sex. With his other hand, he pushed the skirt of her petticoat up, revealing the leg propped on the chair.

“Come closer,” he whispered, wrapping his palm around her thigh and sliding it up to her backside. He grasped the side of her clothing that fell against her standing leg. “Hold this side up at your waist.”

Unable to take a deep breath, she did as he said, clutching the fabric at her waist. This completely opened her sex to him.

He trailed his hand down her backside, his fingertips gliding along the crease between her cheeks. She inhaled sharply before he moved back up the side of her thigh and brought his hand around to her front. “Beautiful.”

He stroked along the edge of her folds, his thumb finding her clitoris. His other hand clasped the hip of her standing leg, urging her closer to him so that she could feel his breath against her.

She moaned softly as he gently massaged her flesh. He swept his finger inside her.

“So wet and ready. I could take you right now. But I want you wetter still.” He pumped into her, finding a spot that made her see white as she clenched her eyes closed. “Hold on to me, Anne. But don’t let go of your skirt.”

She switched the garment to her other hand and used her right to brace herself on his shoulder. His left hand slid from her thigh to her backside as he licked her sex. She was not prepared for the sensations that swept through her or the sudden quiver that overtook her legs. Now she understood why he’d