What he had intended to be just a fast stolen kiss quickly became a slow, deep tasting. He knew she was innocent but the way she returned his kiss told him she was also a swift and eager learner. He was aching with his need for her by the time the kiss ended and he buried his face in the warm curve of her neck.
He wanted to make love to her, possibly for days without resting, but he was not sure how to take that next step. Primrose was a well-bred lady who could sit higher at the table than he did and was, without a doubt, a complete innocent. That was not the sort of woman he had ever dealt with before.
Primrose murmured her appreciation as he nuzzled her neck and warmed it with soft kisses. Although she had lost some much-needed sleep trying to make up her mind about him, the decision had come immediately upon waking up next to him, feeling his big, strong body next to her, and looking into his beautiful eyes. Reckless it might be, but she knew that, if she did not learn the secrets of passion in this man’s arms, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
She moved the hand she had rested on his taut stomach, lightly caressing that warm skin and tracing the trail of hair that went from it down to the top edge of the covers. And beyond, she thought, suddenly intensely curious about what was beneath the covers.
“Rose,” he murmured against her mouth as he brushed a kiss there, “I need to leave this bed or we will not be leaving it anytime soon.”
“Is that so?”
“Very much so. We might be spending the day in this bedchamber if I do not move and move quickly.”
“Do you want to move?” she asked as she continued to caress his stomach, slipping her hand closer and closer to the barrier of the blanket.
He groaned, picked up that tormenting little hand, and pressed a kiss into her palm. “No, I do not want to move but are you sure you know what will happen if I do not?”
“Mmm. Yes, I believe I do.”
“You are an innocent.”
“Yes.”
“And far above my touch.”
She looked at his big hand, which was moving up and down her arm in a slow caress. “Obviously not.”
He was surprised into laughing. “This is the point of no return, you know. What will happen ends your innocence and that can never be given back.”
“Do you truly want to keep discussing this and trying to talk me out of it, or just get on with it?”
“It is something you should think about.”
“I have been. I have discussed it with myself for most of the night. Discussion over.” She placed her mouth on his and was pleased when, after a brief hesitation, he kissed her.
As his mind clouded over with his need for her, Bened thought that if he did this, he could be affixing himself to her for life. That was often the result of bedding down with the innocent daughter of a titled man. She might not have any parents left but she did have a brother and an uncle. When no great fear of that reared its head, he ceased to think of anything save for the taste of her, the feel of her in his arms pressing her lithe body against his.
Primrose lost herself in the heat of his embrace. His strength surrounded her but did not threaten her in any way. She reveled in it. His kisses clouded her thoughts and made her ache for something more. Passion, she thought dazedly, was a powerful thing.
A brief check in her blind desire came when he began to tug off her nightclothes. She had never been naked in front of a man but she was now, before she could decide if she wished to. One glance at his face as he looked her over ended her unease, however. His appreciation was clear and she almost started to preen before him but he pulled her back into his arms. The feel of his warm skin against her cleared her mind of such thoughts in a heartbeat.
The gentle caress of his big hands moving over her body was so wonderful that it did not trouble her that he was touching what had never been touched by a man before. She just wanted him to keep touching her, wanted him to keep sparking the fire running through her veins with every stroke of his fingers. By the time he began to follow the caress of his hands with kisses, she was more than eager to enjoy that as well. She did not tense until he slid his hand between her legs. That much intimacy was a shock but that shock lasted only a short time for his touch began to build an ache in her that pushed aside all concern and embarrassment with greedy demand.