Page 24 of A Duke for Stealing (The Devil’s Masquerade #4)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“ O h, my darling Rose,” Everett murmured, pressing her body closer to his, “I do quite like this brazen side of you.”
He was not used to Rose flirting back with him, so when she’d said such bold words, his entire body hardened with desire. He’d even enjoyed the little jab she’d made at him for leaving her, even if it was a call out for his ungentlemanly behavior.
Rose continued to look at him with her vivid blue eyes, a wickedly seductive smile touching her lips.
“You are a bad influence,” she all but purred. “I blame you for this new brazenness.”
His movements were quick, as if his body was acting on its own accord, and before Everett could help himself, he was kissing her lips.
Heat swept through his body as the softest gasp left Rose’s lips as he kissed her, and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue possessively into her mouth.
He moaned with heady pleasure as he tasted honey and lemons.
For a moment, he became lost in the intensity of their kiss, in the way their bodies were suddenly fused together.
His hands around her waist; her arms locked around his neck.
As if they’d been drawn together by some great force.
Then a great clash of thunder erupted above them, and those few cool drops of rain turned into a downpour.
At once, they were both soaked through, but even then, it took effort to pull away.
“We should,” Rose panted, raindrops dancing on her face, “Get back to the others. Out of the storm.”
It was a good idea. It was a rational idea. They had made such a show earlier with his story that they would no doubt miss- and yet…
“Come with me,” he said, pulling her not toward the house, but further away.
“Where are we going?” Rose called through the growing noise of the storm. “The house is the other way!”
“Just trust me,” he called back, then pulled her into the shelter of his arm, doing his best to stymie the heavy fall of rain.
They ran through the garden, both of them laughing at the ridiculousness of their actions, until the small gardener’s cottage came into view. Everett hurried her inside, and once they were out of the rain, they looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter again.
“How did you know this was here?” She asked, rubbing her hands over her arms as she looked around the one-room cottage. It was not much. Just a single room with a bed, a hearth, a rather small wooden table, and an even smaller counter.
“I was chums with the Earl back when we were boys,” Everett explained, taking the cloak hanging from the single peg on the wall. He shook it out and then wrapped it around Rose.
“We used to steal his cigars and whiskey and bring them out here to enjoy.”
Rose attempted to chuckle, but her teeth began to chatter instead.
“You are freezing,” he told her, smoothing his hands up and down her arms. “Here, take a seat. I shall have us a fire in a moment.”
“You?” She laughed as he helped her take a seat on the floor. “You know how to start a fire? Do they teach that at Oxford?”
Enjoying her goading, Everett chuckled as he began to place the tinder and dried logs into the hearth.
“One of the benefits of having an absent mother and a father that did not care about what I did was that I had the freedom to be a little wild,” Everett explained, sparking the flint he’d found.
The little embers jumped from the two clashing rocks onto the dry straw and tinder he’d placed, and in seconds, it grew into small flames.
He turned back to her with an accomplished grin, but it faded as he saw the pitying look in her eyes.
“None of that,” he quickly chastised, taking a seat beside her, “We are done with our talk of serious matters, remember?”
“I did not know,” Rose replied, her tone soft, “I did not know your life was so vastly different than most.”
“We all have our burdens, Rose,” Everett replied, shrugging, “I just preferred to handle mine with humor and dalliances.”
Rose gave him another reluctant look as she began to shiver harder, and Everett could not help but laugh as he tugged her toward him.
“Let us focus on getting you warm,” he said, cupping her hands over his, “You’re going to shiver yourself into a mess.”
Rose let out a soft sigh as his warm breath blew over her hands. It further stirred the desire building within him, and he looked up at her. He found her eyes filled with a longing that matched his own.
“You know,” he said, his voice suddenly husky, “We would warm faster if we got out of these wet clothes.”
A virginal blush bloomed in Rose’s cheeks at his words. For a moment, he thought he had gone too far and was about to apologize when-
“I believe you are right,” she said, her eyes slowly wandering down his body. “Would you…Would you be so kind as to help me out of my dress?”
Despite the cold, Everett felt his manhood stir and harden beneath his trousers. He liked it when she was bold, but her demure tone and blush had an equal effect on him as her previous brazenness had.
“Of course,” he rasped.
Rose’s eyes moved up to him, showing the slightest timidness over what she was about to do, but then she drew the cloak away from her shoulders and turned her back to him. Everett’s fingers trembled- actually trembled as he began to unfasten the ties of her dress.
How long had it been since he’d been nervous with a woman?
Since his confidence was so far away that it caused his hands and breath to shake.
Rose was not just any other woman to be seduced or conquered, though.
She’d saved him from an unsavory marriage, and such a short time had made positive changes to not just his life, but the lives of his nieces.
Everett made gentle work of Rose’s gown, careful not to pull too hard or damage the delicate fabric of her beautiful dress or the corset beneath.
With every inch of flesh he exposed, he placed there a warm kiss until his lips had touched every small bone of her spine.
Every time he did so, Rose gave off a delicious shiver, though he was certain it had nothing to do with the cold.
When her dress and corset were finally loose enough to move down her hips, Everett took her hand and helped her step out of the soaking clothes. For a moment afterward, he just stood there in awe, taking in the expanse of creamy, bare flesh of her back and derrière.
Slowly, he sank to his knees as his eyes devoured the beautiful sight. With tentativeness, he reached out and stroked his fingertips over the curve of her waist and down to her hips, and was rewarded by a quick, sharp inhale of breath from Rose.
Everett’s mouth watered as he studied her perfect form, and he could not stop himself from leaning forward and placing his mouth on her left cheek. Rose let out another sharp inhale and shivered as she felt his gentle bite, and Everett moaned as he tasted her soft flesh.
There was an urge, a hidden inner need to sink his teeth and mark her pert derrière, but Everett refrained.
Instead, he forced himself to sit back on his heels and lower his hands to where her white stocking met her left knee.
Again, he resumed his gentle efforts, pulling the soaked fabric down her calf until it met her pink heel.
Rose lifted her foot as he did so, and he slipped the shoe from her foot and then the rest of the stocking.
He then repeated the same slow strip with her other leg until Rose was completely bare.
Once finished, Everett rose back up on his feet, feeling a strange wobble in his knees as Rose slowly turned to face him.
Her eyes were wide and shining with a mixture of lust and fear, and her arms were crossed protectively over her breasts.
Instantly, he wanted that fear gone. He never wanted to see it in her eyes again. Not with him.
“I will not hurt you, Rose,” he promised.
The fear in her eyes shifted to contemplation, and to his relief, a slow smile spread across her red lips.
“I think I am starting to believe you,” she replied.
Everett could not help but match her smile with his own, and he removed his jacket, letting it drop with a wet thump to the floor. He then moved his fingers to his cravat. He was about to untie it when Rose slowly began to reach for him, and she covered her much smaller fingers over his own.
“May I?” She asked.
Heady with growing arousal, Everett nodded and dropped his hands away.
As he had been with her, she was gentle, almost reverent, with the removal of his clothes.
Then, when she’d removed his shirt and her eyes fell to his muscled torso, satisfaction roared through him.
He wanted her to like how he looks. Wanted her approval.
“Touch what you like,” he said, his voice coming out strained.
Another sweet pink blush touched Rose’s cheeks, but even so, she still reached out. Her soft hands stroked over his muscled shoulders, his pectoral muscles, and when she reached his rigid rows of abdominal muscles, Everett couldn’t help but hiss in a breath and close his eyes to the pleasure.
Rose’s exploration of him was slow, gentle, and curious.
There was no fervor, no wicked words exchanged through heated kisses as he was used to and had thought he had liked.
No, this was far different than anything he had ever experienced- and it felt so devilishly wonderful that he feared he would lose his mind if he continued to stay still.
Yet he did. He did not rush her or move to help her with his clothes, even when she’d reached his trousers and briefs, and freed his aching manhood from its confines.
Instead, he kept his fists clenched at his sides, tried to ease his rapid breathing, as she took her time removing the rest of his clothes.
Rose was unraveling him with her softness- and she did not even realize it.