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Lachlan shook his head, his lips curled in a soft smile. “I suppose I wouldn’t have met you if you hadn’t taken that leap.”

“I am not certain if I took it or whether I was forced.” Minerva was blinking now, becoming fully awake. “But I am grateful, regardless.” She peered around the room. “Thank you for carrying me in.”

“It was no trouble,” he said. He stood and pulled open a bedside drawer, where extra sheets were kept. He shook them out, feeling the clean fabric under his fingers. Minerva watched as he stood, draping the sheets over a long, cushioned couch near the fire.

“What are you doing?” she drawled, sitting up. Her long gown splayed out behind her on the bed.

“Making up a bed,” Lachlan said. He noticed the defiant clench in her jaw and spoke before she had a chance to. “I know,I know. We have shared a bed before. But it is time I behaved correctly.”

Minerva stood, silent. Then she wandered behind the privacy screen.

Lachlan borrowed a few pillows from the bed and placed them on the sofa, then stood and admired his handiwork.

He tried not to think of her behind the screen, splashing water over her skin. Naked skin. Bare skin. Skin that he wished to touch. He bit back a groan and swallowed, readjusting the corner of his bed covers.

She stepped out from behind the screen, and Lachlan turned at the sound of the floorboards creaking. When he saw her, heat flooded his body, the blood pounding hot and fast.

She had her chemise on—the one that covered her from head to toe. However, with the glow of an oil lamp lit behind her, it made it almost translucent, revealing the shadow shape of her. The fabric rippled softly as she walked, the dark centers of her breasts visible beneath the airy fabric.

“Lachlan?”

“I think it’s best we get some sleep,” he said. His voice was gruff, even to his own ears. The blood had rushed to his cock, which had responded violently upon seeing her.

“Come to bed with me,” she said, her voice lilting with mischief.

Lachlan shook his head, refusing to look at her. He shed his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair beside the door. He was glad Minerva was finding her courage, but this was getting to be too much.

He heard her soft footsteps as she approached him. His skin tingled when she touched his arm, coming up behind him and pressing her slender body against his. “Will you keep denying me?” she whispered in his ear, the wisp of her breath tantalizing. “I want you, and I think you want me.”

Lachlan groaned, tilting his head to the ceiling. He didn’t know where she’d found this sudden determination, but it was making her impossible to resist. “I want you,” he admitted.

Her arms snaked around his waist, locking around his stomach. “Lachlan, please…there can be no shame in this. I am convinced of it.”

Still, he shook his head. “Minerva…” he warned.

She paid him no heed. Her hands had lowered, unpopping a button. He sucked in a breath as his cock hardened. “I’ve never lain with a man before,” she said, her mouth hot on his neck. She had to be on her tiptoes for her lips to be so close. He was a full foot taller than her, and then some.

He snatched at her hand just as it dipped underneath his breeches. “Minerva,” he gasped. “I do not know what has happened to make you so bold but think carefully about what you’re doing.”

Her fingers brushed his firm cock. Her eyes widened, and that innocence that always seemed to draw him in sent a dart straight to his heart. God, he wanted her. The pulse of desire had reached a wild heat. He turned, facing her, and grasped her warm face in his hands. He crushed his lips against hers, relishing her pliable, unbelievably soft lips.

A small gasp sounded at the back of her throat with his sudden action, but she melded into him, arching her back. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. His cock pressed against her hip. He knew she could feel it but didn’t care. He wanted her to feel his desire for her.

She responded eagerly, her arms locking around his neck and pulling him close as they kissed, the heat building between them. She removed his hand from her face and lowered it, pressing his palm against a supple breast. He felt the hard nub of her nipple against the thin fabric of her nightdress.

Lachlan lifted her, carrying her to the bed and pressing himself on top of her, devouring her lips. Her breathing became irregular, loud in his ears. He moved his lips down to the nape of her neck, kissing the soft flesh there.

With his hand still on one of her breasts, he let his other hand wander, searching for the hem of her nightdress. He quickly slipped his hand under the thin fabric, grabbing at her knee, then running his large hand up to her thigh, gently rubbing.

Minerva sucked in a surprised gasp when he squeezed her breast, massaging it as he bit at her collarbone.

He longed for her body, for the sweet release he knew she could give him. Abandoning all decorum, he moved his hand from her thigh up to the soft, downy hair between her legs, gently stroking. With a low grunt, he inserted two fingers, slipping between her silky folds.

Minerva arched with a high-pitched gasp, her eyes closing, full lips parted in pleasure. Lachlan took his time, giving her long, slow strokes with his fingers. The area quickly became wet, intoxicatingly desirable.

He drew his lips from her neck, watching her with mounting pleasure as she lay prone on the bed, writhing in response to his deft fingers. “Lachlan,” she moaned. “Do not stop.”

He added a third finger, inserting them deep inside her and finding the perfect pressure point—her hips bucked and twisted when he found it. Unable to stand the teasing nightdress any longer, he pulled it up and over her head, finally exposing her perfectly curved and naked body, pale as the moon.