“Go on.”
“Your lips.” Her voice was slightly breathless. “I like your lips.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “The way they look? Their shape?”
“The way they kiss.”
“What do you—”
“Shut up and kiss me now, Carlisle.”
Henry didn’t need to be told twice. He lowered his mouth to hers, and to his surprise and gratification, she met him halfway. Her lips sought his, her tongue met his, and her passion spurred his to new heights. He’d been playing a game of sorts when he began this, but now he forgot all about games and kissed her with real intention. One hand caught in her hair as he pulled her closer with the other. She made a soft sound of pleasure, and Henry felt a surge of desire. His brain went to mush. He moved forward, pushing her back on the couch and going down with her. She was half sitting, half lying, and he was on top, trying not to crush her.
“It occurs to me,” he said, “marriage might not be such a hardship.”
“There do seem to be benefits,” she said, arching her hips and making him clench his fist to keep from tossing her skirts up and doing what he wanted. “What are you doing?” she asked when he slid down her body and off the couch to kneel.
“Giving you something else to like about me.” He slid a hand under her skirts and pushed them up to her knees, revealing bare legs. “No garters?” he said in a teasing voice.
“I didn’t think I’d need them. Are you ruining me?”
“Not at all.”
He pushed the skirts higher, revealing her knees and then her thighs. The skin of her legs was soft, and she shivered as he ran his hand up her thighs, then moved between to prod them open. When she didn’t comply, he glanced up at her. She had a wary look on her face and was shaking her head.
“One taste, Katie,” he murmured. “I promise you’ll like it.”
“If I don’t?”
“You can throw me out of your bedchamber window.”
She smiled, and the muscles of her legs relaxed. He parted them, revealing the pink flesh of her sex. He couldn’t think now. He could only want. He tugged her forward so that she gave alittle squeal, and then he kissed the soft inside of her thigh. Her squeal turned to a moan. He wanted to moan too at her silky skin and the scent of woman. When he moved higher, she gasped and clutched at his hair. And when he kissed her in that intimate place, tasting the salty sweetness of her and surrounding himself with the intoxicating scent, she breathed his name in a tone that made him so hard it hurt.
He flicked his tongue out, teasing her until her hips bucked and she was crying out his name. He hadn’t realized he’d enjoy this so much, and he drew back, taking his time, letting the anticipation build, before pushing her higher. Quite suddenly, he wished they were in a bed. He wished she were naked, and he had all the time in the world to explore her and give her pleasure.
She clutched at his shoulder and shuddered, and then she was clenching at the finger he’d buried within her and making unintelligible sounds. When her body relaxed, he emerged from her skirts and peered up at her. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were so dark they looked almost black. She was so beautiful in her dishevelment that he wanted to do it all again. He wanted to hear her cry out his name again.
But the clock in the library chimed five, and he knew he was out of time. The servants would be up soon. Painful as it was to leave her, he tossed her skirts down, covering her. “I should go before we’re caught.”
She nodded, and he wasn’t entirely certain she understood what he was saying.
“Meet me at the dower house when you’re ready to go to the Robins’s farm. I’ll lend you the muscles you like so much.”
He rose and started away, only to pause when something large and soft hit him in the back. He turned around and saw that she’d thrown one of the pillows from the couch at him. He smiled and tossed it back, enjoying the debauched image of her sprawled on the couch all the way back to his mother’s house.
Chapter Thirteen
Somehow Katie madeit to her chamber and fell asleep after Carlisle had gone. She slept so well that Mrs. Murray came to check on her at noon to make sure she was not ill. Katie stretched and answered truthfully that she felt better than ever.
“You look a bit flushed,” Mrs. Murray said.
Katie didn’t doubt it, as she’d been thinking about Carlisle’s head between her legs, and that certainly made her feel overheated. “I’m fine. In fact, I want to go to the kitchen after I break my fast and ask the cook if she has anything I can bring to the Robins family. I told Molly to convey my intent to visit this afternoon.”
Mrs. Murray glanced at the window. “It looks like rain.”
It was indeed overcast with low-hanging gray clouds. “I’m not afraid of a little rain,” she said, dropping her legs over the side of the bed.
“Perhaps I will go with you,” Mrs. Murray said.
