She knew what he was doing. Using his physical size and strength—his brutish attributes—as a means of keeping her from looking beyond his rough, impenetrable exterior to what lay beneath.
“Your strength is evident,” she finally replied as she pressed her fingertips into the bulge of muscle covering his heart. The breathlessness of her voice revealed how intensely he was affecting her, but there was nothing she could do about that. There was no point in trying anyway. He already knew she desired him despite her denial. But desire wasn’t all she felt. Lifting her chin, she stared intently into his eyes. “But what of your gentleness? Your tenderness?” she asked in a low murmur.
His laugh was gravelly and hollow, yet somehow the sound of it reached deep inside her. Churning up new emotions.
“I have none,” he replied bluntly.
“That’s not true,” she argued. She’d seen him with his daughter and with Frederick and had felt his care when he’d tended her injuries and massaged her sore muscles.
His jaw clenched. “You don’t want me to prove it.”
Something inside her flared to life in response to his challenge. It possessed her then. And urged her to be bold. To test his limits as he did hers. Bracing herself, she met his glare full on. “Maybe I do.”
There was no mistaking the sound that rumbled from his chest for anything other than a growl. It was low and raw and frightening. Katherine sucked in a swift breath as he stepped into her, encircled one thick-muscled arm around her waist, and cupped his other hand to the back of her head. In one smooth, easy movement, he lifted her up against him and dropped his mouth to hers.
The kiss was an obvious attempt at convincing her he was everything he claimed to be and nothing more. Hard, brutish, an ignoble scoundrel. Katherine could feel his ferocity and intention in the way his hands gripped her body and his mouth crushed her lips.
But with the very first touch of his lips, she acknowledged how badly she’d been wanting exactly this. Sliding her hands up his chest, she looped her arms around his neck. As soon as she did, his kiss changed. A ragged hum rolled through his throat, making her body tingle and sigh. His fingers dug hard into her hip and fisted in her hair as he tilted his head.
Though the texture of his lips was surprisingly soft—like warm satin—his mouth moved firmly over hers. When his tongue swept against the seam of her lips, she opened with a catch of her breath. Taking advantage of her moment of surrender, he thrust his tongue into her mouth with demanding strokes that stoked the fires of passion burning in her core.
He was right. She lusted after him. She craved his strength and power and possession. The feel of his large, unforgiving hands on her body. But she sensed there was so much more to be explored. So much more to feel. That softness he denied was there...
With another heavy growl, he lifted her higher, setting her on the table behind her. Still kissing her with deep, demanding strokes of his tongue, he placed his hands on her knees and slid them up her thighs, dragging her skirts up to her hips. Stepping forward, he pressed his hips between her thighs until they parted around him. Then he tugged her forward, to the very edge of the table. To him. The sudden pressure of his hardness against her soft center shot a spear of sensation from deep in her core out to her fingertips and toes.
Arching her spine, she pulled back to claim a swift breath. When she opened her eyes, she became trapped by his heavy stare. There was a great deal to examine in the depths of that dark, mysterious green. But she didn’t have the wits to do more than stare in breathless fascination.
She watched as he narrowed his gaze, lowering his eyelids until only a hint of that shadowing, glittering depth remained. Then he shifted his hold to grab firmly to her hips, digging his fingers into the softness. With an unforgiving expression, he held her still as he rocked his hips, grinding his hardness against her aching core.
Katherine had never felt so vulnerable, so exposed, or so desperate. The sensations he created with the crude motion made her throat tighten and her low belly clench with uncertain need. Intuitively, she knew it was meant to punish, though she didn’t understand why.
“You want what I can give you, luv?” The gravel-roughness of his voice roused a tingling in her blood. He thrust his hips and a soft moan slid from her lips. “This is all I’ve got. I’m not a gentle man.” He thrust again. Harder. And the muscles in Katherine’s legs tensed, squeezing his hips in an attempt to draw him in closer.
“Fuck.” The word was gruff and raw, muttered in the space between them as he tensed sharply. “I’m a heartbeat away from taking you right here.”
The harshness in his voice managed to clear some of the sensual haze from her mind. She glanced to the side and realized the ballroom doors were still wide open. Anyone passing by would be able to see them with just a turn of their head, yet she struggled to bring herself to care.
Releasing her hips, he leaned forward to brace one hand on the wall behind her. Bringing his other hand beneath her chin, he turned her head back toward him and pressed the flat of his thumb to the center of her lower lip.
He stared intently down at her, his breath even and deep while hers felt erratic and far too shallow.
Meeting her gaze with a hard, seeking stare, he murmured thickly, “A bit more fun than arguing all the time, isn’t it?” Then he gave a soft chuckle as his attention slid down her throat, past the fluttering pulse at the base
