me…talking to Daya.”
“Well…”
There was a long pause and Eve fervently prayed to whatever God protected liars that Daya wasn’t currently standing at Sally’s side.
“Tell her to hurry with your toilet,” Sally said. “We need to be leaving soon or we’ll be late! Do you want help with your hair?”
“No, dear. I can manage.”
Sally had already helped her more than she knew. The madness was passing and Eve was thinking clearly once more.
Giving in to Captain Scott would have been just as weak as giving in to that cockney jailer at Newgate in exchange for a ration of unmoldy bread. She’d resisted then when her very survival hung in the balance.
Surely she could resist now, even though only her maidenhead was in jeopardy.
She glanced over at Nick, who still lounged full-length across her bed. He smiled lazily at her, but his eyes were lit from behind with a dark fire.
The cockney jailer had been missing several teeth and had sported a bad case of head lice, so even his appeal to her empty belly hadn’t made her succumb.
But Nicholas Scott was enough to tempt a nun.
Still, Nick was using her own body against her, too. He was just aiming a bit lower than her stomach to accomplish his seduction. Not only was he more devilishly handsome than any mortal had a right to be, his bed skills promised to be beyond her wildest imaginings. Was there anything more wicked than that man’s mouth on her—
Eve snipped off that thought before the memory of his tongue on her delicate private parts began to heat her blood once more. She leaned against the door.
“Why don’t you see if Mr. Higgs has brought around the coach?” Eve suggested to Sally. “I’ll be along directly.”
“All right. If you’re sure. But please hurry. This is my first ball and I don’t want to miss anything.”
Eve listened at the door till Sally’s footfalls faded away completely.
“Come back to bed, Eve,” Nick patted the space beside him. “Poor Miss Munroe. She doesn’t realize the party has already started right here.”
“No, Sally’s correct. I need to get dressed if we’re to arrive at the ball in a timely manner.”
Nick frowned. “I’m the host of that blasted ball. They’re not likely to start without us.”
She didn’t budge.
He sprang from the bed and closed the distance between them, pinning her between his body and the stout door with his long arms cutting off any escape.
“Eve, I want you.”
His words made her throb. She’d never felt so empty, so achingly needy. So sure he could still the madness coursing through her. All she had to do…
His hot gaze seemed to peek into her soul. “And I know you want me.”
“It’s not that simple.” She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer.
“It is if you let it be.” He cupped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “As I suspected, you’re a passionate woman, Eve Upshall. It’s wrong to deny your own nature.”
She laughed again, this time with no joy at all. “I don’t think I need look to someone like you to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“Pray tell, what do you mean by ‘someone like you’?”
He leaned close so she could feel his hard maleness pressed against her. Her belly clenched with renewed desire, but she tamped it down.
“A rogue, a smuggler, a drunkard, a scoundrel—”
“I see Higgs has been bragging about me again.” His ribs jiggled against hers with a deep chuckle. “Eve, this is simply about pleasure.”
His fingertips slid down her arms and found her hands. He brought one to his lips and placed a lover’s kiss in her palm. Then he hooked one of her fingers in his mouth and sucked. She closed her eyes as her body wept fresh dew between her legs.
“If you say I wasn’t giving you any pleasure, I’ll know you for a liar.”
Her body throbbed in response to his rumbling tone. He could make her entire being sing, but she had to stop before things moved past the prelude.
“Pleasure
“Well…”
There was a long pause and Eve fervently prayed to whatever God protected liars that Daya wasn’t currently standing at Sally’s side.
“Tell her to hurry with your toilet,” Sally said. “We need to be leaving soon or we’ll be late! Do you want help with your hair?”
“No, dear. I can manage.”
Sally had already helped her more than she knew. The madness was passing and Eve was thinking clearly once more.
Giving in to Captain Scott would have been just as weak as giving in to that cockney jailer at Newgate in exchange for a ration of unmoldy bread. She’d resisted then when her very survival hung in the balance.
Surely she could resist now, even though only her maidenhead was in jeopardy.
She glanced over at Nick, who still lounged full-length across her bed. He smiled lazily at her, but his eyes were lit from behind with a dark fire.
The cockney jailer had been missing several teeth and had sported a bad case of head lice, so even his appeal to her empty belly hadn’t made her succumb.
But Nicholas Scott was enough to tempt a nun.
Still, Nick was using her own body against her, too. He was just aiming a bit lower than her stomach to accomplish his seduction. Not only was he more devilishly handsome than any mortal had a right to be, his bed skills promised to be beyond her wildest imaginings. Was there anything more wicked than that man’s mouth on her—
Eve snipped off that thought before the memory of his tongue on her delicate private parts began to heat her blood once more. She leaned against the door.
“Why don’t you see if Mr. Higgs has brought around the coach?” Eve suggested to Sally. “I’ll be along directly.”
“All right. If you’re sure. But please hurry. This is my first ball and I don’t want to miss anything.”
Eve listened at the door till Sally’s footfalls faded away completely.
“Come back to bed, Eve,” Nick patted the space beside him. “Poor Miss Munroe. She doesn’t realize the party has already started right here.”
“No, Sally’s correct. I need to get dressed if we’re to arrive at the ball in a timely manner.”
Nick frowned. “I’m the host of that blasted ball. They’re not likely to start without us.”
She didn’t budge.
He sprang from the bed and closed the distance between them, pinning her between his body and the stout door with his long arms cutting off any escape.
“Eve, I want you.”
His words made her throb. She’d never felt so empty, so achingly needy. So sure he could still the madness coursing through her. All she had to do…
His hot gaze seemed to peek into her soul. “And I know you want me.”
“It’s not that simple.” She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer.
“It is if you let it be.” He cupped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “As I suspected, you’re a passionate woman, Eve Upshall. It’s wrong to deny your own nature.”
She laughed again, this time with no joy at all. “I don’t think I need look to someone like you to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“Pray tell, what do you mean by ‘someone like you’?”
He leaned close so she could feel his hard maleness pressed against her. Her belly clenched with renewed desire, but she tamped it down.
“A rogue, a smuggler, a drunkard, a scoundrel—”
“I see Higgs has been bragging about me again.” His ribs jiggled against hers with a deep chuckle. “Eve, this is simply about pleasure.”
His fingertips slid down her arms and found her hands. He brought one to his lips and placed a lover’s kiss in her palm. Then he hooked one of her fingers in his mouth and sucked. She closed her eyes as her body wept fresh dew between her legs.
“If you say I wasn’t giving you any pleasure, I’ll know you for a liar.”
Her body throbbed in response to his rumbling tone. He could make her entire being sing, but she had to stop before things moved past the prelude.
“Pleasure
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