He wished he could trust her as fully as she trusted him.
Syd, for all her good intentions, would ignore his opinions if she thought she was protecting him. Having relied only on herself for so long, she did not know how to work together withhim as a team. Nothing and no one would stop her if she believed she was in the right.
The girl was stubborn, for certain. But what troubled him most was that she had a martyr streak and would not hesitate to sacrifice herself to keephimsafe.
Would she ever accept that it was his duty to protect her, and not the other way around?
He deepened the kiss, wrapping her fully in his embrace so that he could feel the pillowy softness of her breasts against his chest and knew the moment she went beyond mere pleasure to arousal.
Perhaps it was not fair that he knew how to tease her and stroke her near those intimate spots on her body that would arouse her, but he was not yet going to actually touch her anywhere sensitive.
She strained and purred like a kitten, urging him to do more as his hands slid just below her breasts but never actually touched them. He then ran a hand along her leg, sliding his fingers upward to her thigh and stroking the inside of her thigh but going no further.
He felt her frustration, one that he had every intention of easing tonight.
But not here and now.
He wanted her to think about this kiss, to let it wreak havoc on her senses.
He wanted her to love him and make their time together a promise of forever.
“Syd, your turn,” he said, his voice deep and raspy as he ended the kiss. “Take possession of me and do whatever you like.”
Her eyes were gleaming.
Her lips were deliciously pink and slightly puffed because of the pressure of his lips on hers. “Will you remove your jacket for me?”
“No, clothes do not come off.”
“Never?”
He grinned. “Oh, they will tonight. But not before we have our supper.”
“All right, then I will wait until tonight to have my turn.”
“As you please. Care to enlighten me as to what you are going to do?”
There was an impish gleam in her eyes as she said, “No, I prefer to keep it a surprise.”
Oh, Lord.
He hated surprises.
Especially when they had to do with Syd.
She was a lot to handle even when he knew what she was doing.
Just how wild was she going to get?
CHAPTER 7
“WE OUGHT TOset a few more rules,” Octavian said after supper was over and the inn’s staff had cleared the trays from their room. The rain was still coming down in torrents, but he and Syd were comfortably ensconced in their chamber. He wanted to take control of this evening’s activity…if one could call something just short of coupling a mere activity. Knowing how he felt about Syd, could he maintain his control?
He would do his best because Syd needed to be a virgin when she repeated her marriage vows. Perhaps he was a great fool for insisting on this, but it was important to him. He never wanted Syd to feel trapped by him.
Her family’s traps were bad enough.
Sir Henry’s trap was even worse.
