He didn’t die.
Dear God, he didn’t die. His heart was still racing as though the devil were on his heels, but he was still alive. That was something, at least. More than something was the woman in his arms. In all his rakish life, he had never let a woman take the top position, and yet it came so naturally with Leonora. The way she moved with such seductive confidence, it was as if she had always meant to be there.
He gathered her close but was unwilling to dwell too much on that thought. Even so, he didn’t want to let go, hated that their time here would end soon, and that this might be all there would ever be between them. Yet Dare couldn’t say he felt any regret. He didn’t like to entertain that emotion, anyway, and they had promised not to. But something, call it a feeling, some foreign sort of nagging, or perhaps something in between, tugged at him relentlessly.
He decided not to dwell on that either.
Leonora wiggled against him, snuggling closer. “Shall we just stay here forever?”
“Of course.” He’d just find a way to bolt the door shut.
A chuckle was her only answer.
His fingers itched to undo her hair.
“Have I ruined you according to your wishes?” He promptly grimaced. What a thing to ask a woman. To askher, an innocent. No. Not an innocent any longer.
“Oh, yes,” she said, her voice soft with satisfaction. “You’ve exceeded my expectations.”
Dear Christ, Dare.
Did you truly take a woman’s innocence?He stared at Leonora, who nestled in her arms.
Yes. He had.
And he would ravage her all night long if they weren’t in a secret space in someone else’s house. It struck him then—itwas the first time in his life he hadn’t left the minute after his pleasure had been taken. There was no rush to leave. Instead, a strange sense of contentment, unfamiliar yet indisputable, settled within him. It was a refreshing change, to say the least.
“They couldn’t have been that high, then,” Dare said after a moment.
She laughed. “Are you fishing for a compliment?”
He trailed a finger over her jaw. Such a beautiful face. Such sparkling eyes. “Only if you are the fish.”
“You know, I do feel like a fish at the moment, a lazy fish.” She settled deeper, nudging against him with a playful shift of her hips.
“Don’t get too comfortable.” His hands gripped her hips to keep her steady. Christ, shedidwant to kill him, didn’t she?
She wiggled again, a teasing smirk curling on her lips. “Says the man who got comfortable.”
“Don’t move,” Dare groaned, his grip tightening. “Or we won’t leave tonight.”
“Is that a threat?” she teased, her voice a breathy challenge.
No. Minx. “A promise.”
She reared back to look at him, the sudden shift in her posture leaving him both aching with loss and in torment down below. “Tell me, have I reformed you?”
“God, no.” She’d corrupted him. “Do you wish to?”
She shook her head. “Such ghastly business.”
He laughed. “Seduction is ghastly business?”
“Are you saying I can reform you with seduction? How cheap you are.”
“Well, if such a thing could be done, it would be you who could do it.” He leaned up just enough to kiss the curve of her neck lightly, his lips trailing over her skin. Bloody heaven.
“Your faith in me is remarkable.”
