The kiss deepened, each of them exploring the other. Her fingers dug into his head and neck, and he thrust his hand into her hair, desperate to pull the pins away so he could bury himself in her softness.
He did not, however, because to do so would be to completely lose himself. That, he could not do. She was his ward, and while they were in a private place, the door to his study was not closed.
Despite that, he did not pull away. He didn’t want to interrupt this magnificent moment. Pressing her back into the corner of the settee, he brought his hand to her front where he cupped her breast. She gasped again but didn’t withdraw. In fact, she clutched him more tightly and arched up against him.
A deep growl rose in his throat as he tore his mouth from hers. Not to leave her, but to further survey the map before him. He kissed her chin, her jaw, then her mouth once more, eagerly devouring her. She tipped her head back and pulled on his hair as he trailed his lips down her throat. He clasped her breast more firmly and dragged his thumb across the bare skin above the neckline of her gown. How he longed to rip the garment, and those beneath it, away, to expose the landscape of her body.
“Oh yes.” She let out a delightfully dark and gritty moan followed by a whimper that made Tobias even harder. He licked along the edge of her bodice and suckled her flesh.
She cried out and he put his hand over her mouth. Looking up at her, he saw the stark desire etched into her features and nearly lost all control. He put his finger against her lips. “Shhh.”
“My lord,” she breathed before sucking the tip into her mouth.
“Tobias,” he hissed. “My name is Tobias.”
Her only response was a nod and the press of her hand against his neck. Tipping his head back down, he tried to make sense of her gown. It was the sort that gathered at the front, so he could loosen the tie tucked into the front of her bodice and the garment would open.
Testing his theory, he pulled the tie. The gown gaped, exposing the corset beneath. And beneath that was her infernal chemise. “I hate women’s clothing,” he muttered.
Undeterred, he reached down for the hem of her gown, lifting her skirt until he found it. Raising it farther, he exposed her leg until his fingertips found her bare thigh. She parted her legs, but instead of taking that as encouragement, he froze.
What on earth was he doing? She was still his bloody ward, and this was shameless.
Tobias released her and sat back, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, even though his pulse had finally begun to slow. Because it had to. This wasn’t just shameless, it was madness.
She stared at him, her gaze confused. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I did. I never should have allowed any of that to happen.”
“You say that like you’re in charge. Why don’t you manage your body and your choices, and I’ll manage mine.” Giving him a look that was somehow both prim and enticing, she tied the lace of her dress, cinching the bodice back so it covered her undergarments. “I welcomed everything that just happened, and I enjoyed it.”
“Fiona, I am your guardian.”
“Thanks to your father.” She rose and smoothed her hands down her rumpled dress. “Now I think I may harbor a particular dislike for him too.”
What was she saying? “This can’t happen again.” The words came out low and harsh because he had difficulty summoning them.
“You said that before, and yet here we are.”
Satisfied that he could stand without displaying the crux of his desire now that his erection had somewhat waned, he stood. “Please forgive my lapse in judgment. I shall resist temptation in the future. I told you what I am.”
Her gaze moved over him, stirring his cock once more. “A rogue. A rake. A scoundrel. A reprobate.” She spoke with soft deliberation, and it was sweet poetry. “Yes, I can see what you are, and contrary to what you may think, it isn’t bad.” With a flick of her skirts, she turned and left the study.
“Christ,” Tobias murmured as he sank back down onto the settee, his body deflating with unquenched lust.
Not only did he want his ward, but he was also now beginning to consider if he could actually marry her. The question was whether she would consider it too.
Chapter 16
After a night of sleep in which torrid dreams awakened her several times, Fiona spent the morning feeling agitated and uncertain. She’d managed to keep herself together while in Tobias’s presence, but as soon as she’d reached her room, she’d collapsed against the door in a quivering mass of unsatisfied desire.
As she lay in bed, she’d closed her eyes and recalled the book she’d found in her father’s library. Complete with detailed drawings, the treatise outlined ways in which men and women gave and received pleasure. She’d been horrified when she’d first found it, and then over the years, she’d returned to it as her curiosity had grown. If not for that book, she wouldn’t have had a clue about what might happen with Tobias. As it was, she knew what could have happened, and she was wholly disappointed when it hadn’t.
It also meant she knew how to provide herself with at least a modicum of relief.
He’d opened her eyes to what she was missing, to what marriage could bring. She’d been foolish not to consider this physical aspect and the fact that it was directly tied to the magnetic pull she felt toward him. It was desire, pure and
