Lady Guinevere and the Rogue with a Brogue - Julie Johnstone Page 0,89

his wife’s incensed face. If she were guilty of sending her lady’s maid to give a message to Kilgore on her behalf, it certainly would have behooved her to let him believe that Kilgore and Ballenger had some sort of illicit relationship. Yet Guinevere had not done that. She had defended Ballenger. He didn’t know why the lady’s maid had gone to see Kilgore, but he would damn well not believe the worst of Guinevere unless he had proof. He’d move forward slowly and carefully, and reacquaint himself with Guinevere once again. And he couldn’t think of a better way to start than with a kiss.

“Point taken, Duchess,” he said as he leaned forward and covered her sweet mouth with his.

Her heart raced with worry, but when Asher claimed her mouth, desire chased it away. Surely, if he was vexed with her or if he doubted her, he would not be kissing her, would he? The slide of his tongue on the crease of her lips stole the questions from her head as her body responded. His tongue stroked her lips, then demanded entry, and with a groan of need, she parted her mouth, hungry for all of him. His hand skimmed up over her belly to her breasts, leaving a path of gooseflesh and causing a throbbing ache at the juncture of her thighs.

With an ease that shocked her, he slipped his fingers inside her gown and under the layers constraining her, and found her nipple. He teased her with his fingers, fanning the flames of desire that licked her insides and made her core tighten, and then he tormented her with his hot mouth. He suckled and pulled and lightly nipped until she thought she would go mad.

She threaded her fingers in his hair, needing him to do more, pushing him closer, desperate for the hot caverns of his mouth on her skin.

He pulled away and proceeded to do the same to her other breast, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to feel him, hot flesh to hot flesh, his hardness to her softness, and then she wanted him to enter her, take her, claim her as his wife. But she could not ask! Lord above, no! Instead, she gave a frustrated sigh, and a low chuckle emanated from him before he rose up to his knees, breaking all contact.

His lips curled wickedly, and the look on his face… Heaven above, he was as hungry and desperate for her as she was for him. It emboldened her that this man, this man, so beautiful, so honorable, wanted her, saw her, had chosen her.

“Tell me what ye want, lass.”

It was a command that she was suddenly more than willing to obey. “You,” she said, rising up to run her hands over his corded stomach, steel chest, and massive shoulders. She scrambled to her knees, heart pounding in her chest. “You,” she said again, pressing a kiss against his neck as she fumbled with his shirt, only just realizing all his outer layers were gone.

She drew it upward, exposing his skin, and the temptation to kiss him was too much. She leaned down and kissed his stomach, feeling his muscles tense beneath her touch. That she could cause such a reaction in him bolstered her even more. She pushed his shirt higher, kissing her way up his chest as she did so until he lifted his arms. She drew his shirt up, having to stand to do so. She threw it, losing her balance and starting to fall backward, but Asher’s arms came around her like bands of steel.

He caught her, his heart pounding against her through her thick gown. “Too many layers,” she murmured.

“Let me help ye with that,” he replied, somehow scooping up her legs and sending one arm under them before standing with them both. He set her on her feet and stared down at her, his eyes blazing with need. “Too many layers, ye say?” he asked, then bent his beautiful dark head to lick a wicked path across her chest at the edge of her bodice.

Her breasts became fuller than they already were, and the ache made her groan. “Yes,” she gasped. “Too many.”

“Then we shall rid ye of them.”

Suddenly, his hands were on the gleaming silk, and he rent it apart, fully exposing her breasts now. Her momentary shock disappeared as he cupped her breasts in his hands, then proceeded to flick his tongue over her left nipple, then her right. All the air