Page 43 of A Remarkable Rogue

As they stepped backward up the dark path, Nate kept the knife in front of him, ready to kill Braxton if he made a move in their direction. The pounding of blood in her ears deafened her, and her lungs panted to catch her breath. All of her shook, terrified. Yet her grip on the back of his jacket remained as strong as a vise. She was desperate to keep in contact with him and assure herself that he wouldn’t leave her.

They reached the spot where the path emptied into the lawn near the terrace. The general remained hidden in the darkness of the rear garden. Behind them at the house, the party had grown busier and louder with even more people crowded inside and spilling out onto the terrace where they might see the two of them. Nate slipped the knife back into the sheath hidden up his left sleeve. Then he took her hand and laced his fingers securely through hers.

He ordered, “Come on.”

He led her inside the house and through the ballroom, forcing her to run to keep up with his long strides, but a man hurrying a woman from the room was such a common occurrence at the viscount’s parties that they drew no attention. They raced through the grand doors of the ballroom’s main entrance and out into the stair hall.

“That way!” She pointed toward the front door.

But Nate led her in the opposite direction. He hurried her down the hallway and into the first empty alcove they reached. He flung the curtain closed behind them, sealing them into shadowy darkness, then yanked off his mask to pull in deep breaths of air.

She sank back against the wall as her knees went boneless beneath her. Her hand pressed hard against her roiling stomach. Oh God—she was going to be sick!

He took her elbow to steady her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She choked out the lie even as a throbbing heat rose from her cheek where the general had struck her. To come so close to being seriously hurt, or worse—she shuddered.

Nate placed his hands on the wall on either side of her and rested his forehead against hers. He squeezed his eyes shut as his entire body shook, and he pulled in deep breaths to steady himself.

Fear and relief warred inside her. If he hadn’t appeared when he did, if he hadn’t been able to stop Braxton, if he hadn’t understood her summons tonight and not arrived at the party at all… She owed him her life.

“Nate,” she whispered. When he didn’t answer, she cupped his face in her hands and leaned up to touch her lips to his, to soothe and comfort both of them.

A groan tore from his throat, and he hungrily devoured her simple kiss. He swallowed her gasp of surprise as his lips molded against hers and claimed her mouth with a fierce heat that left her weak and throbbing.

Her arms encircled his neck, and she surrendered to the need to be close to this brave man who left her quivering at all he represented. Not just the breathtaking masculinity of him even as his large body pressed hard into hers and pinned her against the wall until she moaned with surrender, but also the goodness in him and the pain she so desperately wanted to ease.

Her fingers dug into the soft hair at his nape to clench his short curls in her fist and pull his head down closer to her. Even now, with his arms sliding down her body to her waist, he still wasn’t close enough. She increased the hungry ferocity of the kiss, then gasped with pleasured surprise when he yanked her hips forward against his.

Electricity sparked through her. This was what she’d wanted since the moment she saw him at Barton’s, when she first suspected how exquisite being in his arms could be. Now that she was in them, she didn’t want to stop.

With a whimpered invitation, she arched herself against him.

His tongue licked back and forth across the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth to welcome him, only for him to shove between her lips so quickly and greedily that she lost her breath. When she responded in kind and slid her tongue across his, his lips closed around hers and sucked. The sensation pulled up the heat from between her legs and flared it through her body, straight out the ends of her hair.

Never…neverhad she been kissed like this. And she never wanted it to stop.

Seemingly, neither did Nate. With one hand pressed at the small of her back to keep her hips tight against his, he slid the other up her side. He captured her breast and caressed her through her bodice until she moaned. But even that touch wasn’t enough to satisfy the need growing inside her. She wanted him to touch her everywhere, run his mouth across every inch of her body, and leave wet, hot tingles in his wake.

God help her, she wanted him inside her, stroking her body with his and possessing her completely.

With a shaking hand, she reached down to raise her skirt. “Nate,” she panted breathlessly, “touch me.”

He stiffened. Then he lowered his hands and shifted away.

No!She threw an arm around his neck, desperate to keep him from leaving her and to keep his hands on her body and his mouth on hers. She needed him too much to let go. She hadn’t felt this aroused since Michael—no, she’dneverfelt this alive, this electric, as she did with Nate. He made her want to shamelessly beg for the pleasures she knew only he was capable of giving her, pleasures in which they would both find comfort and release. If only they’d let themselves.

“I want you to touch me,” she whispered, and his gaze fell to her mouth when her tongue darted out to lick her lips. “Please, Nate.”

“I can’t.” His voice was a barely controlled rasp.

“Because the night we met you said you’d never accept a lady’s pleasure in an alcove?” When she freed a button on his waistcoat, she thrilled at the tremor that pulsed through him. “I want you, and I don’t care where it happens.” Another button loosened…and another… She wanted to do far more to him than just make him tremble. “But I do plan on holding you to your promise.”

Her hands opened his waistcoat, then drifted lower toward his trousers. His breath came ragged beneath her seeking fingers, but he made no move to stop her. “What promise was that?”

She smiled wickedly. “That it will last much longer than a few minutes.”

When she caressed her lips against his jaw, she prayed he couldn’t feel her nervousness. She never thought she’d have the courage to seduce a man like this, but with Nate, it came naturally. With him, she was free to be bold. Undressing him felt right and good. So very,verygood…