her, he appeared surprised that she was keeping up, but she could run miles at a time.
When they finally slowed, he released her hand to hail a cab, freeing her to flee. Yet she found herself unable to leave him, as if she'd been moored to his side by an invisible force.
Why was she wavering? She needed to be escaping him, not sizing him up and wondering what his skin would feel like….
Maddy loved to touch—cool silks made her shiver, velvets awed her fingertips, gloves plagued her—and he'dinvited her to touch his body. Daily, she saw women stroke men, but she had never been able to imagine what hard, masculine flesh would feel like flexing beneath her hands. She loved beautiful men; she loved to touch.
He was offering her both to enjoy.
'You doona seem verra frightened,' he commented over his shoulder.
'It takes more than this to set me on edge.' Tonight was tame compared to her life in La Marais. She'd survived a multi-building fire there at eleven, and she'd lived throughtwo cholera epidemics, a feat few in La Marais could claim; violence erupted in the streets daily.
Besides, she felt utterly safe with this Scot.
'Brave as well as bonny?' he murmured in that rumbling voice.
With that, Maddy knew her plan to renege had just gasped its last rattling breath.
Chapter Five
As soon as the carriage started off, the Scot yanked the curtains closed, reaching over Maddy to draw them shut on her side. Once he'd cast them into darkness, he peremptorily dragged her over the bench and onto his lap.
'Wait! What are you…? You can't just…'When he flicked his tongue against her earlobe, pleasure rippled through her, quelling her need to put distance between them. She sighed, 'Ohhh.'
'I fulfilled my end of the bargain,' he began, his words rough. 'You'll fulfill yours now.'
'Where do you think you're taking me?'
'To my home.'
'Yourhome ?' She shook herself. 'As much as I'd like to be one of the many strange women to be entertained in your bachelor apartments—'
'Again, you'd be the first,' he interrupted.
'Am I supposed to believe that?'
'Believe it or no'. It's the truth.'
'What is it about me that has wrought such changes?'
He leaned back, seeming aggravated—at her or the situation? 'I'd bloody like to know.'
He wasn't feigning these things. Maybe he felt with her the same awareness, the same sense of familiarity, that she felt with him. Her attraction to him had been instantaneous and furious, so strong she felt as if she'd been plowed down by a locomotive.
Could he possibly be experiencing the same?
This was all madness anyway—she hadn't even seen his face. 'Scot, if it's any consolation, I'm behaving completely out of character as well.'
'Then what do you say we figure this out afterward?' He curled his fingers under her chin. 'There's no reason for me no' to be kissin' you senseless right now.'
Senseless?Part of her wanted him to render her senseless, to make her pant, while another part of her still couldn't believe any of this was happening. As he drew in, her eyelids eased closed….
His lips were warm and firm as he grazed them against hers, and that mere coaxing contact made heat race through her. When she parted her lips for him, he slipped his tongue in to slowly stroke hers. Never had she experienced anything so blatantly erotic as how his tongue flicked and teased.
Never had she felt such an awareness that kissing like this was meant to be a prelude to sex.
She found herself lapping back—which doubled the sensations. He clutched her closer, groaning into the kiss, deepening it. She squeezed his shoulders, reveling in the power she felt in his muscles. She craved it, wanted his strength, wanted his arms around her.
Their tongues twined again and again, sending her to heights of need she'd never imagined. He must be feeling it, too—he adjusted her on his lap, groaning when his thick erection pressed fully against her bottom. She swore she felt the heat of it even through their clothes and couldn't help but imagine stroking it in her palm. In all her fantasies, she'd never dreamed of howhot it would be. She wriggled in his lap….
He drew back, gazing down at her as though in shock, his lips parted, breaths ragged.
'I-I never much liked kissing before,' she whispered, aware that she was, indeed, panting.
Brows drawn, he rasped, 'Aye, me neither.'
She whimpered, needing more. He cursed in answer. They both set in again.
He leaned her back against his unyielding arm so he could take her more thoroughly, slanting his lips over and over until she felt boneless and unguarded.Senseless… She moaned against his lips.
But he broke away again, appearing wary. 'That was…that…'His eyes narrowed. 'You keep kissing me like that, and this night will be over before it begins.'
He was obviously so worldly and experienced, and yet she'd still pleased him. He continued to please her. She was excited, for some reason happier than she'd been in months. 'Scot,' she murmured, threading her fingers into his thick hair, 'I'm glad I invited you on my escape.'
'Already, I'm verra glad to be here.'
It suddenly struck her as miserably unfair that her husband wouldn't be someone like this god who held her, who set her afire with every clever flick of his tongue.
But what if she could gethim to marry her?
True, she still hadn't seen his face—and she didn't know his name. But to be fair, she could probably go out on a limb and guess that the Scot hadn't been widowed three times. And to be fair, shehad seen the count's face.
Between this man's fierce kisses, her irresistible attraction to him—and a good deal of the decidedly potent punch—this struck her as abrilliant solution to her problem. 'Scot, I don't suppose you're rich and looking for a wife?'
'One out of two. I'll never marry.'
'Never, never? Or do you mean not until after a few years more of bachelorhood?'
'Never.' He was emphatic, seeming irritated by the mere subject.
'Oh. Well, I really can't be going home with you,' she said, just as the carriage rolled to a stop. He set her on the bench and opened his door—in front of an imposing red-brick mansion.
'Where are we?' she asked in confusion.
'In Grosvenor Square.'
'Thisis your home?' she said, without looking away. It was grand and bigger even than Quin's! White columns proudly stood sentinel alongside wide marble steps. Pristine gardens were generously illuminated with hidden gaslights.
'Aye, my home.'
She quirked an eyebrow. She could easily imagine herself as mistress of it.
When he reached for her hand, she said, 'Wait! I can't just go in with you like this!' Though she was dying to see the inside.
'We had a deal.'
'But not to go home with you!' They weren't that far from the Weylands'. What if someone saw her?
'This idea really bothers you?' When she nodded, he leaned out and commanded, 'Drive,' before shutting his door. The carriage rolled on once more. 'Matters naught. I can take you in here as well as I can in a bed.'
'Take me?' Her eyes went wide. 'I thought the bargain was only to touch.'
He pulled her into his lap again, his big hand resting on her hip with casual familiarity, as if they'd sat like this
