Page 45 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
She turned onto her stomach and buried her face inthe coverlet. The woodsy scent of him clung to the luxurious blue satin and made her belly flutter. The mattress dipped as he rested his knee beside her thigh, and she felt the tug on the laces that fastened her bodice at the back.
Her heart began to pound.
The constriction of the inbuilt stays loosened in tiny increments, and she sucked in a deep breath, glad to be released from the stylish imprisonment. The back of the dress opened fully, revealing her muslin chemise beneath, and his warm fingers traced the bumps of her spine through the sheer fabric.
“Turn over and sit up.”
Ellie did so, careful not to crush the delicate silk. She slid to the edge of the bed and stood, holding the loose fabric of the bodice to her chest as she looked up into his face.
“Dresses like this should be illegal.” He reached out and smoothed her hair back over her shoulder. “They’re a threat to public safety. They cause accidents in the street, make sane men lose their senses. Step out of it.”
She forced her fingers to release their grip, and the treacherous silk slid down her body like water. It caught momentarily on her hips, but a little wiggle freed it again, and the whole thing pooled at her feet like a mossy green puddle.
Heat scalded her cheeks. The chemise Madame Lefèvre had provided stopped just above her knees, and was scandalously transparent; her peaked nipples must be clearly visible to his roving gaze.
“Ready to turn in?”
His teasing growl bolstered her confidence. He wasn’t entirely unaffected, no matter how cool he pretended to be. She bit her lip, and was pleased to see a hungry look flash across his face.
“Not quite yet. Perhaps you could tell me a bedtime story?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Very well.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced up at him expectantly. He came to stand in front of her, his long fingers resting teasingly on the top button of his falls. “Once upon a time there lived a thief.”
“A handsome, wicked thief?”
He nodded and undid the first button. “Very. One day this thief met a studious female investigator, and, for the first time in his life, he got a taste of his own medicine.”
Ellie gave a fake gasp of shock. “Shestolesomething from him? Surely not!”
“I’m afraid so.” He popped the second button and sent her a look from beneath his brows. “She wasn’t nearly as innocent as she seemed.”
“What did she do?”
“She stole the breath from his lungs with a scandalous dress. And then she kissed him, and stole the wits from his head, as well.”
Her heart gave a joyous little flutter, even though she knew he was only being flippant. He’d probably used the same words on half a dozen women.
“Serves him right,” she said stoutly. “He probably deserved it.”
He released another button with a smirk. “Oh, don’t worry. He got his revenge.”
Ellie pressed her lips together to stifle her laugh. “How? By stealing her innocence?”
He shook his head, his mismatched eyes hooded and dark. “Oh, no.Thatshe gave willingly. There was no stealing involved.”
“What, then?”
“He stole something even better. Her heart.”
“The scoundrel!”
He leaned closer, deliciously menacing. “And he never, ever gave it back.”
Before Ellie could come up with a suitable retort, he released the fourth and final button. His cock sprung free, and she lost her train of thought, watching in fascination as he wrapped his fingers around it and gave it a gentle squeeze.
She’d never seen an aroused male before. Not in the flesh. Tess’s naughty engraving had shown an erect phallus, true, but it had been two-dimensional, black and white, merely theoretical, whereas Harry was right here in front of her, thick and long and very real.