An Unexpected Earl (Lords of the Armory #2) - Anna Harrington Page 0,64

fierce. Something that pulsed achingly and made goose bumps spring up across her wet skin, that longed to have his hands running all over her and hers over him. His skin would be just as wet and cold as hers, she knew, but he would also be warm beneath, with smooth skin over hard muscles. The young lad she’d once loved was still there, ready for her to make love to him—

She bit her lip to fight back a groan. Damn the man for making her want him!

“Do you need me?”

Did she need… Yearning pulsed through her, and she squeaked, “Pardon?”

“To remove the rest of your clothes.”

And that sent a wicked spiral of wanton desire shooting right out the top of her head.

Her hand tightened its hold on her bodice as she somehow remembered to keep breathing. “I–I can manage the rest on my own, thank you.”

“Including your corset?” His gaze scorched over her, as if he could see right through her dress.

“Yes,” she breathed out. Her confused brain swirled. Had she just answered his question…or given permission for him to remove even more of her clothing? To do more with her than simply look?

“All right.” But he didn’t turn his back to give her privacy. The rascal didn’t even look away. His eyes remained on her as she stood there in the firelight, her skirts clinging to her hips and legs. “Are you certain?”

“No.” She wasn’t certain about anything when it came to this man…except that he made her feel beautiful. Desirable. Alive.

Was it wrong to let him stir these feelings inside her, to luxuriate in them and the memories of how wonderful their friendship had once been? After all, it was only undressing, and only to keep her from catching cold. A completely practical, not at all sexual reason. As long as nothing intimate happened between them, there was no harm in removing her dress to warm herself, no harm in letting those feelings wash over her.

Apparently, she was now lying to herself.

And she simply didn’t care.

Pearce kept his distance, and she kept her gaze locked with his as her trembling fingers pulled at the cap sleeves of her dress and tugged them down her arms. The bodice came next, peeling down to her waist and then over her hips and thighs. She pushed the wet material to the floor, then stepped out of both it and her shoes. His eyes never left hers, even as she reached behind her back for her corset and tangled her shaking fingers in the lace. A tug untied the bow, and the lace came free, the stays falling loose around her. She removed the corset and let it fall to the floor, leaving her in nothing but her stockings and wet shift.

From several feet away, she saw the undulation of his throat as he swallowed. Hard. But his eyes stayed fixed on hers.

“Better?” Her voice emerged in a hoarse whisper.

A moment’s hesitation…then temptation won, and he dragged a deliberate gaze over her. The wet shift clung to her body, the material surely translucent in the firelight and revealing everything underneath. This time when she shivered, it wasn’t because she was cold.

He pulled in a breath so ragged that she could hear it shake into his lungs. “Much.”

That rasping murmur stirred a hot throbbing between her legs. But she wasn’t embarrassed to be standing in front of him like this, letting him look—encouraging his attentions, in fact, by making no attempt to cover herself. She simply stood there, her arms at her sides, the thin shift plastered over her breasts and hips. Having his gaze on her was too delicious to refuse.

“I think you have to agree,” she half whispered, “that a lot’s changed since I was nine.”

His eyes darted up to hers, and the raw desire she saw in their depths turned her insides molten.

He took a slow step toward her, and the smooth, stalking motion spiked her pulse. Now she knew what a gazelle felt like when faced with a lion.

“What I think, Amelia,” he admitted in a husky drawl that sparked across her flesh, “is that you’ve grown into a woman who knows her own mind and possesses the confidence not only to go after what she wants but also to know what to do with it once she has it.”

Standing close in front of her, he took another deliberate sweep of his gaze over her, this time not bothering to hide his desire as his eyes lingered shamelessly