lips against the sensitive juncture where her neck met her shoulder. “You smell incredible.” His warm breath sluiced over her skin, eliciting a barrage of heated shivers. “Like a flower garden.”
Summoning her strength, she pointed toward the brass tub set in the corner of the room. “I just finished bathing.”
He turned his head, looked toward the tub, then groaned. “Do you mean to say that if I’d arrived only minutes earlier, I’d have caught you in the bath?”
“I’m afraid so.”
His teeth lightly tugged on her earlobe. “I shall have to see about correcting my lamentable timing. Although, I don’t know that my heart could have withstood the sight of you in the bath. Do you have any idea how the sight of you, simply standing there in your robe, affected me?”
She leaned backed in the circle of his arms. Surely she meant to be demure. Coy. Instead, the simple truth rushed from her lips. “Yes. Because seeing you enter my bedchamber, with desire in your eyes, affected me the same way.” Warmth rushed into her cheeks at the admission. “Why are you here?”
“I needed to speak with you.” He hesitated, then said, “I’m afraid I must return to London. Today. As soon as possible.”
Dismay and disappointment filled her. “I see. Is something amiss?”
“A break-in and some vandalism at the museum. There was nothing there to steal, but apparently the building sustained considerable damage. I need to see how extensive the repairs will be, so I can report to Philip. I’ll also need to talk to the investors, allay any fears they may have. The last thing Philip and I need is nervous investors.”
She rested her palm against his cheek in a gesture of commiseration and sympathy. He looked so very grim. “How awful. I’m so sorry this has happened.”
“As am I. Not only for the obvious reasons regarding the museum, but also because I have no wish to leave here. I was very much looking forward to spending the day with you and Spencer.” His eyes darkened. “And the night with you.”
Desire fluttered through her veins, and she swallowed before asking, “Are you… planning to return to Little Longstone?”
“Yes.”
A breath she hadn’t realized she held pushed past her lips. “When?”
“I’m hoping tomorrow.”
“Please consider my stable at your disposal.”
“Thank you. The journey will be quicker if I travel on horseback rather than coach. I’ll do my best to arrive here by early evening, but I may be later.”
“I see. Will you… meet me tomorrow night?”
“When and where?”
She considered for a moment. “Midnight. At the springs. I want…”
He cradled her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to make love to me in the warm waters.”
Something that looked like fear, but surely wasn’t flickered in his eyes, but it vanished so quickly she decided she must have been mistaken. He brushed a soft kiss against her mouth. “It will be my very great pleasure to grant your wish, Catherine.”
His words caressed her lips, shooting want to her core. “Tomorrow might, the springs, at midnight,” she murmured in a breathless whisper. Passion, desire, lust, all so new, all so long denied, swamped her. “Andrew… I don’t want to wait until tomorrow night.”
He lifted his head, and the inferno burning in his gaze singed her. “Be careful what you wish for Catherine, because you are only seconds away from-”
“Being led astray?” Stepping back from his embrace, she unknotted the sash to her robe, then shrugged the satin from her shoulders, where it fell to a soft heap at her feet.
He watched her robe slither down her body, leaving her naked. His entire body tensed, filling her with a heady sense of feminine power and satisfaction.
“Led astray?” he repeated softly, taking a step closer to her. “Hmmm. Yes, that is definitely a possibility.”
“Only a possibility?” She made a
He erased the distance between them in one stride, then braced his hands on the wall on either side of her, bracketing her in. His heated gaze raked over her, a muscle ticking in his jaw, and her breath hitched.
“Is that what you want, Catherine? To be led astray?”
“I’m not certain precisely what that entails, but it sounds… tantalizing.”
“I’d be delighted to show you.”
She splayed her hands against his chest, further emboldened by the rapid pounding of his heart against her palms. Her entire body quickened in anticipation of his touch. “Excellent. I’m looking forward to a proper good- bye.”
“My darling Catherine, there is nothing the least bit proper about the good-bye you’re about to receive.”
His mouth covered hers in a searing, devouring kiss. She slid her hands inside his jacket to stroke his back, feeling a desperate, overwhelming need to touch, to be touched everywhere at once. With a ragged groan, he deepened their kiss, his tongue plunging and stroking while he filled his hands with her aching breasts, his fingers teasing her sensitive nipples, which begged for more. His lips left her mouth, and he pressed hot, fervent kisses across her jaw, down her neck, then skimmed over her chest. His tongue laved drugging swirls around her aroused nipples before drawing each aroused bud into the velvety heat of his mouth. Catherine arched her back in a silent plea to taste more of her, and he obliged, while she tangled her fingers in his thick, silky hair She squirmed against him, and in response he sank to his knees, trailing openmouthed kisses along her stomach. Her muscles quivered when he tasted the indentation of her navel. She sucked in a breath, filling her head with an erotic scent she recognized as her own feminine musk, combined with Andrew’s sandalwood.
“Spread your legs for me, Catherine,” he demanded in a raw rasp, the words vibrating against her stomach.
Feeling as if she were burning from the inside out, she obeyed, and he rewarded her by stroking the swollen, wet folds between her thighs. A gasp, followed by a long purr of pleasure rippled in her throat, and she gripped his shoulders.
He pressed his lips to the sensitive skin just below her navel, then his lips glided lower, lower, until his tongue caressed her as his fingers just had.
Amazing, shocking sensations ripped through her. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the wall, inflamed beyond reason as he cupped her bottom in his palms and made love to her with his mouth, worshiping, tormenting her with his lips and tongue until she thought she’d go mad from the pleasure. Her climax roared through her, flashes of all-consuming fire, dragging a harsh cry from her lips.
Her spasms had no sooner subsided than he stood and swiftly carried her to the bed, where he laid her upon the counterpane. With exquisite tremors still rippling through her, she held out her arms, silently beseeching him to come to her, desperate to feel his delicious weight, the thrust of his arousal inside her. The five seconds it required him to free his erection from his breeches seemed to her like an eternity. He loomed over her, settling himself between her splayed thighs, and entered her in one long, smooth, heart-stopping stroke.
Their gazes locked, and with every nuance of his intense expression visible in the soft sunlight filtering through the curtains, he moved slowly within her, penetrating deep, then almost withdrawing from her body, only to sink deep once again. Her hands strayed restlessly over his back, then gripped his shoulders. He quickened his strokes, and she moaned, meeting, accepting, savoring his every thrust. She arched her back, and her pleasure overtook once more. A masculine moan, sounding as if scraped from his throat, echoed in the room. He buried his head in the V of her shoulder and shuddered his release, murmuring her name over and over, like a prayer.
Breathing hard, Andrew rolled onto his side, bringing her with him, then closed his eyes and fought to regain control. Bloody hell, this woman, their lovemaking, rendered him vanquished. Vulnerable. More raw and exposed man he’d ever felt in his entire life. How would he bear it if she did not return his feelings? Didn’t want him to be part of her life permanently? She cared, he could tell she did. But did she care enough?
When the world righted itself again, he leaned back and brushed her tousled hair from her flushed face. She
