An English Lord's Love Affair

Chapter 13.1.2. An Illicit Thrill

   He wanted her naked, at his feet, her blue eyes gazing up at him with adoration and sexual invitation. He guessed he could probably push his advantage. He could keep her here for only a minute more, a spark of light in his dark, ugly world. If he did not stop, he would be groveling and begging for her affection. He pulled her closer, crushing her curves against his hard body.

  It was tempting fate for him to bring her to his hiding place. He could endanger her in more ways than one. And Benedic at his most depraved and maddened worst would destroy himself before dragging Charlotte deeper into his private hell. This was not her battle. She was the reward at its end.

   "Damnation, Charlotte," he said in utter desperation. "Why did you have to come here?"

   She drew a breath. She seemed more sure of herself again, her instincts for survival reassuringly strong. She was certainly no hothouse flower to wither at the first frost. "How can you possibly hope to remain in this house undetected?" she asked him matter-of-factly.

   "Have you any idea of the danger you have placed  both of us in by coming here?"

   "Are you insane, Benedic? Am I being seduced by a lunatic?"

   "It is quite possible."

   "Hiding in your own home—"

   "Don't question me."

   "Don't kiss me then."

   "Do as I tell you, Charlotte."

   "Not until I understand."

   "You understand far too much. And I shall kiss you if I please."

   "You will ask me first—"

   As if to prove his point, he cupped her chin in his hands and helped himself to another slow, entrancing kiss. Charlotte did a wriggling dance with her hips and shoulders, not certain if she meant to get closer or to escape. Oh, the way this man kissed—an illicit thrill shivered down her spine. Her lips tingled as his tongue slowly traced their outline, licked a path to her earlobe. Benedic was holding her face as if she were made of the most fragile crystal, his thumbs gently stroking her cheekbones.

   But the feelings he stirred up inside her weren't fragile or gentle at all. The flurry of sensation erupted as fierce and unpredictable as a windstorm, raging through her. He seemed to know intuitively how to reduce her to trembling submission. He lowered his left hand and began rubbing his palm with teasing pleasure over her breasts. What a wicked sensation. She felt her knees buckle as sexual anticipation weakened her. Her nipples hardened achingly against her muslin bodice, and her head swam with drugged pleasure. The imprint of his body branded her like a hot iron. She was shivery again, with heat, with cold, with raw desire. Her fingers tightened around his strong neck.

   "Don't you dare touch me like that again," she whispered faintly.

   He stopped, his gaze narrowing, reminding her of a wolf who was reassessing its prey.

   She paused to draw another breath. "At least not until after you tell me more about what you're doing."

   In the dark his voice sounded even deeper, hinting at secrets she might not wish to know. "And if I satisfy your curiosity, may I touch you, Charlotte?"

   "Possibly." She hesitated. Dear God, listen to what she had just said, bargaining her virtue to satisfy her curiosity. "But only a little."

   He took her hand, not making any promises on that point, she noticed in alarm. "Be careful going down the steps. You do not mind if I put my arm around your waist to guide you, do you? The timber in this place is rotted in parts. Heaven forbid that you should take a fall and bruise your tender skin."

   His low, solicitous voice raised prickles on her nape. Heaven forbid that she should fall, indeed. And asking permission to hold her after what he'd just done. Down, deep, deeper, her dark lord led her into his underground lair, into the subterranean passages beneath the house. How much lower could a lady fall? She could practically feel the flames of Hades under her feet as her wicked prince gave her a tour of his stygian domain.

   Would this be the end of her? Would she return unchanged to dull life as a relatively decent young lady?

   Benedic would not let anything hurt her. Charlotte believed this or she would not have gone with him.

   But would she return as the same unworldly young woman she had been before her descent into Benedic's headquarters?

   She was not certain of that answer.

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