Page 75 of Ruthless, But for Her

“If you must think on it so long,” she said finally, impatient for his answer, “then I think what happened between us yesterday must have been a mistake.”

“Say it plainly, Cassia,” Ashton said. “Stop speaking in riddles.”

“I would not wish for you to take me unless you willed it. I've been on the opposite side of that, and it is worse than death.”

She expected him to respond.

To say he wished to kiss her, or that he did not.

What she didn't expect was for him to shoot up from the bed and close the distance between them so quickly. Nor did she expect to find her cheeks cupped once again, but this time, not as tenderly. Ashton’s grip was firm, but not overpowering.

But his message was crystal clear.

His head lowered, and she opened for him immediately. He did want to kiss her. Did that mean he would be willing to show her more? But as his tongue swept inside her mouth, capturing her own, her thoughts scrambled. The dance that began between them yesterday continued, but this time, she knew the steps.

When he let out a low growl, she placed her hands over his to assure him she was not going anywhere. Cassia wanted this.

This lasted what seemed like all evening, until Ashton finally moved his hands. From her cheeks down to her shoulders, and then her waist, he let his hands wander, then pulled her closer until they were flush against each other. It was as if they were one and not two separate people. Cassia didn't believe they could get any closer.

Realizing the sounds she heard were coming from her lips unbidden, she gripped his linen shirt with both hands, her fists closing around the fabric, holding on.

“Did I misunderstand you?” he asked, removing his shirt in one fluid movement. She'd thought about his physique quite literally all throughout the day.

“You did not. I would know what it is between a man and a woman, if it is as I know it to be.”

His hands went to the laces at her side, working them loose without hurry. The overgown loosened at her ribs, at her hips, and he drew it from her shoulders slowly enough that she felt every inch of linen slide free before it pooled at her feet.

He didn't reach for the shift beneath it. Not yet. Instead, his hands returned to her shoulders, bare now, and he looked at her a long moment before he moved again.

“You're certain,” he said, giving her one more chance to stop this.

“I am.”

Only then did his fingers find the ties at her collar, loosening the shift enough that it slipped from one shoulder, then the other, until it hung loose above her breasts, held up by nothing but her own two hands crossed over herself.

“You would cover me?” she asked, her breasts peeking out from beneath her arm. Her womanhood did the same.

CHAPTER 43

Ashton

“Iwould. With my hands. My body. Or, if you're feeling particularly shy—” He lifted her before she could protest, her bare behind settling against him, taunting. But she was not his, yet, to take. He quickly lowered her to the bed and covered her with the extra coverlet folded at the bottom. The previous night's barrier was now hers for as long as she wished it.

“I'm not accustomed to being with a maiden,” he said, working the ties of his hose loose. “My pardon,” he added, the memory of her backside against him, of her naked form in his arms, nearly his undoing. “Of course, you are not one,” he added, realizing his mistake.

Ashton finished the rest without ceremony, hose and all, until there was nothing left between them but the coverlet. “I will join you, but will not remove that coverlet unless you ask it of me.” He paused, seeing her expression in the candlelight.

“I know you've seen the male form before?” he said.

“Aye, but not...not—” She pointed at him. “Like that.”

As compliments went, he'd had better, but Cassia's might be his favorite yet. Climbing onto the bed, he vowed to have her begging for him before he took her. This night would be hers to enjoy.

“How will you...will we...if I am covered?”

“Perhaps we will not,” he said, positioning himself beside her. “Turn to me,” he asked, pulling Cassia onto her side. Once there, he moved the strands of her hair to reveal her bare shoulder, and leaned forward to kiss it. From her shoulder, he moved to the base of her neck, trailing kisses down her collarbone. Her shiver was Ashton's first victory of the evening.

When her hand ran down his arm, Ashton kissed her finally, murmuring, “Explore at will, Cassia.”