Page 56 of A Relentless Rake
A swirling heat pulled through her, from the throbbing ache between her legs out to the ends of her hair.
“You were never supposed to know I was here tonight,” he confessed with chagrin.
“I would know you anywhere,” she repeated his words in a breathless whisper.
He smiled, and she outlined his lips with her finger. They were firm but soft, so warm…so inviting…
Until they frowned. “Did you know your brother was meeting with Lady Rowland tonight?”
“Of course not.” The question startled her, and she dropped her hand to his chest. Which was a mistake, because she couldn’t help but curl her fingers into his waistcoat. Her traitorous body didn’t want to let go of him.
“Did they exchange anything—messages, papers, money?”
“Nothing. But I’ve told you before that my brother isn’t—” She realized what he was implying, and her mouth dropped open. “You think Lady Rowland is involved with a group of revolutionaries?” When his expression remained unchanged, she whispered incredulously, “It’s one thing to accuse Henry, buther… Heavens, she’s a baroness!”
“Cromwell was an MP, Napoleon a general, and Lafayette a marquis. Titles make no difference to revolutionaries.” His cold warning chilled her through to the bone. “This plot involves officials at the highest levels in the Court of St James’s and Whitehall. No one’s above suspicion.”
“Including me?”
When he didn’t immediately reply, a pang of betrayal pierced her, and she glanced away, back toward the path and the route home.
He took her chin and turned her face to meet his gaze. “Not you, Olivia. You intrigue me for completely different reasons.” He admitted with a heavy sigh, “Youfrighten me.”
Her chest tightened at that unexpected confession. “Because you think that I’m involved with those men, too.”
“Because you make it hard for me to keep you safe.”
She lifted a brow. “And who keeps me safe from you?”
“Exactly,” he answered soberly. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.
The sigh that left her lips at first contact turned into a soft moan as the kiss lingered on. His mouth possessed hers in a way she’d never been kissed before, both rough and sweet at the same time, both savoring and demanding. He ran his hands up and down her body in comforting caresses until she melted against him, boneless.
Then his touches changed. No longer soothing but seductive, he now took bold strokes over her shoulders, breasts, and hips. She slid her mouth away from his as she struggled to regain the air he’d just stripped from her.
She should have been running back to the safety of the box, fleeing as fast as she could from the temptation he posed. Yet she remained rooted within his embrace, deliciously engulfed by the heat and strength of his body.
He nuzzled her ear. “You like it when I kiss you.” He sucked at her earlobe, and the pull of his lips sparked out to the tips of her fingers and toes. “Admit it.”
With what little breath she could regain, she forced out, “No, I don’t.”
“Liar.” His deep chuckle reverberated into her chest and made her breasts grow heavy.
Itwasa lie. Yet she was torn over him, pulled between the need to satisfy the arousal quickening in her belly and the need to protect her heart by shoving him away.
“You like my kisses,” he murmured, doing just that to her earlobe. “And I sure as hell enjoying kissing you.”
“Of course you do,” she panted out as his mouth slid down to her neck. “You’re a rake.”
“I’m not a rake. I’m the exact opposite, in fact.” Before she could process that statement, he licked at her pulse as it throbbed wildly at the base of her throat, and her thoughts scattered like leaves in a storm. “But you like rakes.”
She shivered as liquid heat cascaded over her like a hot summer rain. “No, I don’t. I’m a respectable schoolmistress who—”
“Who likes rakes.”
Oh, the frustrating man! And even more frustrating with the way his hands roamed deliciously over her.
“Admit it. You like me.” He nuzzled the small stretch of bare shoulder between her neck and the sleeve cap of her dress. “You like mebecauseyou think I’m a rake.”
