“I kept my distance because you drive me wild with want. Whenever I am around you, my self-control shatters, and I can barely keep my hands to myself. I fear that asking more of you—more than you have already given me—would be far too greedy.”
Nancy was silent for a moment, and he thought he had managed to discourage her, causing conflicting feelings to well up within him. But rather than turn away from him once and for all, as he had expected, she took a step closer to him.
“What is wrong with being greedy with your own wife?”
Richard clung to the last dregs of his patience just long enough to reply ask in a low, quiet voice, “Because once I start, I will not be able to stop.”
Nancy reached for his hand, her smaller fingers curling around his as she looked deep into his eyes, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
“What makes you think I would want you to stop?” she asked.
That was the last straw for him.
Without another word, he tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her into his room, slamming the door shut behind them.
ChapterFifteen
“Iwon’t let you go, even if you ask.”
Richard’s low voice sent shivers down Nancy’s spine, but she steeled her nerves, wanting nothing more than to satiate the burning thirst she had suffered for days now.
“I won’t ask,” she promised.
That seemed to convince him sufficiently because the next moment, his lips were on hers, sealing her fate.
This kiss was slower than the heated one they had shared in his study but no less passionate, his lips moving over hers at a leisurely pace that did little to keep the flames of desire from welling up within her.
Nancy clung to his sleeves as he pulled her closer, sighing as one of his hands came up to grip the side of her neck, tilting her face to an angle that would let him deepen the kiss. Her lips parted beneath his easily, and she found herself drowning in the wet licks and caresses of his tongue over hers and her lips.
“You taste… sweeter than anything I could have ever dreamed of. I’ve wanted more… ever since that night I had you in my study,” he muttered, trailing kisses down the column of her throat.
Nancy gasped as he nibbled on the crook of her neck, unable to think of anything other than the way his hands roamed over her body, the heat and weight of his touch still heavy through the fabric of her dress.
“I wanted more too. Now, you can do… whatever you want.”
Suddenly, she was turned around and pressed against the door, shivering as his breath hit her ear while he whispered, vaguely aware of the buttons on the back of her dress being undone.
“Do not worry, darling,” he said, pressing a kiss to her ear. “I plan to.”
Nancy tilted her head to the side slightly, giving him easy access to her neck, satisfied when he began to pepper it with kisses, momentarily satiating the flames within her.
She wanted more, needed all he was willing to give and then some.
It wasn’t ladylike, this impatience welling up within her, but she could barely keep her mind from crumbling in on itself.
“Richard—Richard, please,” she begged, not sure what for.
“Shhh,” he muttered, turning her back to face him, kissing her deeply once his gaze locked with hers once more.
His hands pushed the dress off her shoulders and tugged it down when it pooled around her hips, freeing her from the confines of the heavy fabric.
“I know, darling. Soon,” he promised.
Nancy’s hands slid up his chest as he kissed her again, gripping his shoulders as his hands found purchase on her buttocks and ground his hips against hers, letting her feel his hardening length.
“I want you,” he told her between kisses, his hands kneading her behind. “So much. I’ve dreamt of this countless times.”
Nancy wanted to feel him, too. She wanted to know if the entirety of his body ran hot or if it was just his touch. So, she tugged at his cravat, sighing when it came undone almost immediately, shifting what little focus she had to undo his buttons. Richard lent her a hand at some point, just as eager to rid himself of his clothes.
