Page 41 of Along Came a Rogue

His turn on top had ended an hour ago, and he’d gladly joined her inside, where she’d thanked him for her gift with a kiss that left his blood humming and his cock half-hard. Then she promptly set about drawing his portrait when what he wanted to do was introduce her to the pleasures of a rocking carriage. But since he’d used the excuse of wanting to prevent her boredom when he’d purchased the set for her, he couldn’t very well refuse.

Truly, he was glad he hadn’t. Sitting there across from him, she was lovely, as warm and golden as the sunlight slanting onto her shoulders though the window. The slight frown of concentration on her face as she carefully traced out his profile and the way she bit her bottom lip at particularly tricky lines only made her more appealing.

His chest lightened. When was the last time, if ever, that he’d felt this relaxed and satisfied? For once, he was perfectly content. And judging from the way she hummed softly as she sketched, so was she. And that pleased him more than he wanted to admit. He’d never cared before about a woman’s feelings the day after he’d bedded her, but with Emily, he did care. A great deal.

She looked up and beamed. Her glowing smile swept through him, and his gut clenched. Two days ago, she’d been living in terror and hunted in her own home, but now, she was safe and in high spirits, alive and free…The change in her was nothing short of an answer to his prayers. Her nightmare wasn’t over yet, he wasn’t that naïve. Once they reached London, he would have to ensure her protection however he could and hunt down the man who killed her husband and set fire to the house, but for now, she was happy. And Emily’s happiness was simply infectious.

“You know,” he commented, “people aren’t usually so happy to be bounced across the countryside for hours in a carriage with worn springs.”

She peered at him shyly through lowered lashes. “I know it sounds silly,” she began tentatively, as if testing the newly forged trust between them, “but I keep thinking that this is how it is with ordinary couples taking long trips together. Quiet conversations, stretches of silence that aren’t the least bit awkward, and…” Her lips sheepishly tugged upward.

And anticipating another night in each other’s arms. She’d left that bit unsaid, but he caught the underlying implication in her words and in the way her eyes sparkled wickedly at him. Clearly, she was looking forward to stopping at some filthy, cramped, rat-infested inn with scratchy bedding and lumpy mattresses as much as he was.

He didn’t understand it. He should have been tired of her by now, as he would have been with any other woman in whose company he’d been for this long. But he wasn’t. Puzzlingly, being with Emily only attracted him more. In fact, when he’d been on top of the carriage during his turn at the reins, all he could think about was how much he wanted to be inside the compartment with her. How much it irked him that on this morning of all mornings it was Hedley who rode with her instead.

When they reached London tomorrow, he would deliver her to her family, and everything would change between them. But he had today. Why waste a moment of it?

He reached up idly to brush his fingers against the window curtain, watching her slyly from the corner of his eye. “Do you know what else couples do in carriages when traveling long distances?”

“No,” she answered naïvely. “What else do they do?”

With a devilish grin, he pulled closed the curtain. “Oh, play little games to pass the time.”

“Games?” The disappearance of her smile indicated that she’d followed the sudden turn of conversation and suspected where he was headed. “What kind of games?”

“The best kind.” He reached across to close the other curtain, leaving them ensconced in the muted light filtering inside the compartment. He lowered his voice seductively. “Would you like to play with me, brat?”

At the obvious innuendo, her eyes locked onto his, and her cheeks pinked irresistibly. “Oh yes,” she breathed out quickly. When he crooked a brow at her eagerness, her cheeks deepened to a rosy red. “I mean—naturally, I wouldn’t want you to be bored.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” he murmured with earnest gratitude. Stripping off her clothes and licking his tongue over every luscious inch of her would certainly keep away the boredom.

As if sensing the wicked thoughts swirling through his mind, she inhaled tremulously in anticipation. “What shall we play, then?”

“I have an idea.” He flipped the lock on the door.

“Somehow I knew you would,” she muttered, which only made him smile more wickedly.

“The game is simple. We take turns giving commands to the other, and no matter what the command, you must do it. You cannot refuse, or you lose.”

Her breath came faster now. Arousal tantalizingly flushed her skin at her neckline. “How do I know if I’ve won?”

“Trust me,” he murmured. “You’ll know.”

Despite the heat of his gaze, or perhaps because of it, Emily shivered.

Games…They were playing games, and she had the titillating suspicion that the game he proposed was going to be scandalous, or he would never have drawn the curtains; intimate, or he wouldn’t be looking at her as if he wanted to ravish her; and oh so very wicked, or he wouldn’t have used that low, husky voice that wrapped around her like a spell. Already her heart pounded, and an ache flared between her legs just at the hint of doing something sinful.

And that was exactly what she wanted to do. Be very, very sinful with this man.

“You’ll go first, I presume?” she asked, suddenly nervous beneath his wolfish stare.

“Of course,” he answered, and a bit too gleefully, she thought, although she couldn’t help the responding goose bumps dotting her arms.

“Of course,” she echoed wryly. “However did I guess?”

His eyes gleamed at her sarcasm. “Remember, you have to do everything I say.”

“Until my turn, when you have to do whatever I say,” she reminded him. And how she was looking forward to that! To having this strong, powerful man under her command. “When will it be my turn?”