else we should do first.”
He searched her face. “What is it, my love?”
Her cheeks flamed. She cleared her throat and glanced away, plucking at each of her fingers. “I…suggest you…ravish me…just in case Mama objects to the engagement.”
He frowned. “You think she’ll object?”
“Let’s see, me marrying one of the most eligible men in the ton? I’m certain I can talk her into it, but I can’t say that being ravished doesn’t hold its own appeal.”
He arched a brow and allowed a wide grin to spread across his face. “Your wish is my command, my lady.”
When Lucas pulled her into his arms and kissed her once more, a shiver made its way down Frances’s spine. She’d been slightly worried that he wouldn’t do this. She thought perhaps he would insist upon doing the noble thing and refuse, but instead, he pulled her close and kissed her. Then he scooped her up into his arms and made his way over to the giant bed. He laid her carefully atop the mattress and then left her momentarily while he went to lock the bedchamber door.
As he returned to the bed, his gaze caught hers. He untied his cravat and another shudder went through her body. She was about to see him completely naked and there was nothing she wanted more. She sat up on the bed and pulled off both of her gloves, then kicked off both slippers. Next, she began plucking hair pins from her head. Unlike the gloves, which ended up on the floor, she laid the pins carefully on the bedside table. She would need those later if she ever hoped to leave this room with a modicum of dignity.
Grinning, Lucas sat on the edge of the bed. While he pulled off first one boot and then the other, Frances didn’t remain idle. She slid across the mattress until she was on her knees behind him. He’d already discarded his cravat and as he began unbuttoning his shirt, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and gently bit his earlobe as he had done to her once in the library. She slipped her tongue along the crevice of his ear. His powerful body trembled. She reveled in the feeling of power. To make this strong, capable man tremble was a heady sensation, indeed.
She helped him pull his shirt over his head. He tossed the garment on the floor before he turned toward her again and slowly pushed her back onto the bed. He was naked from the waist up, with only his breeches on. He kissed her again, deeply, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Soon, he pulled away from her and she let her eyes wander over his broad chest with its smattering of dark hair, and his muscled abdomen.
“What do you think?” he asked, nuzzling her collarbone.
“I think you’re magnificent,” she breathed.
His hands had traveled behind her back and were steadily undoing the long row of buttons on her gown. When they finally were free, she sat up and helped him pull the gown over her head. It, too, met the floor with haste and she was clad only in her stockings and shift.
“I’ve never done this before so I’m not entirely certain how to proceed,” she admitted, her cheeks burning. She felt it best to be honest even if it made her feel like a ninny.
“Don’t worry,” he said, biting his bottom lip in a way that made her want to kiss him again. “I have and I do.”
“Good then,” she said, nodding like a complete fool.
But when he kissed her again, lowering her onto her back once more before moving down her body to caress her breast through her shift with first his fingers, then his tongue, she was mindless. She moved against him, her hips rocking of their own accord.
“What would you have me do next, my lady?” he asked in a husky tone.
She lifted her head and looked down at him through lust-fogged eyes. “Is that Lucas, the footman, talking?”
He gave her a roguish smile that made her squirm. “Your wish is my command.”
A hundred thoughts raced through her mind, each one more tantalizing than the last one. He was at her service…in bed? What could possibly be better? She searched for the perfect response and finally breathed, “Pleasure me.”
His eyes flared and he inclined his head toward her, the roguish smile still on his lips. “As you wish.”
Frances sucked in her breath. Truthfully, she had little idea what she’d meant