The innkeeper moved away.
Katie met his gaze. “There, now you do not need to enter the private room, and we can be on our way and see if Mr. Gillett is at the Wolf and Lion.”
She had a sound plan. That was exactly what they should do. But Henry didn’t want to do that. He wanted to go into that back room. His chest felt tight at the mere thought of walking away without playing at least one hand.
He started at a sound. Was that the rattle of the bones? He always had good luck when it came to dice.
Katie stood, and Henry followed. He moved toward the room, but she intercepted him. “Excuse me,” he said.
“I just need a quick word with you outside,” she said. “Then you may go and play.”
“We’ll talk later.”
Her hand closed on his arm and squeezed. “One word. Outside,” she said.
Henry blew out an annoyed breath, but he escorted her out of the inn, keeping one eye on the closed door of the private room until they’d passed through the door and gone outside.Lady Katherine looked about for a moment then tugged Henry past the boy watching Gawain, down the alley between the inn and the building beside it, and through a creaky gate that led to a yard behind the inn. A broken table, a few chairs, and some worn tack littered the area, as did discarded cheroots.
Katie closed the gate, and Henry put his hands on his hips. “What is it you need to say?” he asked, impatient with all the trouble she had gone to in order to be alone with him. Whatever she needed to say, she could have said it ten times over by now.
Perhaps if his mind hadn’t been on joining the card game as soon as possible, he might have guessed what would come next. But he was not thinking clearly, and before he knew it, Katie had pushed him against the wall of the inn and pressed her lips to his.
Henry did not react at first. His mind was so fixated on the private room with its wagers and cards and dice that to steer it in another direction was a Herculean feat. But his body was another matter. His body knew what to do, and it took over. Immediately, his arms went around her waist, and he pulled her hard against him. The kiss, which had begun light and uncertain, deepened as his mouth claimed hers with unrestrained need. All the tension and yearning and anticipation he’d been feeling toward the possibility of making a wager and winning a bet transferred to this melding of bodies and mouths.
He wanted.
He needed.
And if Katie desired to stand in place of the wagering, then he would accept her sacrifice.
You are not a beast, said the headmaster’s voice in his head. Henry fought his way up from the heavy pleasure of the kiss to pull apart and meet Katie’s eyes. He imagined his mirrored hers—dark and unfocused.
“This is the part where I beg your pardon,” he said, his voice sounding so raspy he hardly recognized himself. “I’m not behaving as a gentleman.”
“This is the part where I realize I don’t really care for gentlemen,” she said, cupping his face and bringing his lips back to within a breath of hers. “Kiss me like that again. My heart is racing.”
Henry didn’t need to be asked twice. His mouth met hers, and this time she gave as much as she took. Henry’s hands, which had been clutching her waist, slid down to test the curves of her hips and the firm roundness of her buttocks. He pulled her body flush against his erection, and she didn’t gasp in shock but made a small moan in the back of her throat.
The moan was what broke him.
*
Katie felt thechange in him, and instead of retreating from his rough hands and conquering lips, she leaned into them. Intohim. She’d never imagined being wanted like this, desired so fervently. And she hadn’t known she could feel such yearning. She wanted more of Carlisle’s lips, more of his body pressed against hers, more of his hands caressing and fondling and pressing her against the evidence of his arousal.
She knew what an erection meant. Carlisle wanted her.
He was the last man she thought she’d ever want touching her or kissing her, but she wanted him too. It wasn’t about preventing him from slipping back to his old habits in that gaming room. Not any longer. Now it was about absorbing every touch, every lick of his tongue, every breath and low moan that came from deep within him. She pressed harder against him, squirming a bit to ease the unfamiliar ache she felt between her legs.
The next thing she knew, Carlisle swore. But instead of thrusting her away from him and expressing shock at her wanton behavior, he swung her around so her back was to the inn. He pressed her against it then lifted her so that her legs straddled him. Katie had never been so scandalized or so aroused in her life.
She should protest.
She should demand to be put down.
She did neither.
Instead, she met his next kiss with an urgency she couldn’t understand, much less control.
Her skirts were between them, but she could feel the hard heat of him pressing against that soft, needy part of her body. And when one of his hands fumbled under her skirts and slid along her bare thigh, touching the skin above her garters, she shivered. He found her bare bottom and squeezed, then cupped it, spreading warmth through her body as he supported her so their kiss could continue.
