Page 53 of In the Prince's Bed

“Especially on you.” He finished fastening it, then swept his hand up along the smooth, silky skin of her collarbone. “You’re like damascene, you know—steel and gold entwined, strength softened by beauty.”

“I-I’m no beauty,” she said in a breathless whisper as he caressed the skin of her lovely neck, pressing his finger to the pulse that beat so frantically there.

“If I were a poet, I could tell you in pretty words how much I want you for my wife, and you might believe me.” He curved his fingers behind her neck. “But I can only show you.” Then he pulled her close for the kiss he’d craved for days.

For a moment, her mouth was pliant and responsive beneath his. Then she stiffened and pushed him away, a fiery blush staining her cheeks. “You aren’t supposed to kiss me.”

“I can’t help what I want, Katherine. It has nothing to do with my breaking rules, or your blasted Sydney, or your fears about my character. I want to marry you, and you can’t change that.”

He kissed her fiercely this time, demanding her response. And after a second’s hesitation she gave it, parting her lips to let him in.

By God, her mouth was everything he remembered and more, soft and eager and warm. He kissed her deeply, seeking proof that she still wanted him, too.

Then he heard footsteps in the hall and groaned.

Katherine wriggled from his arms. “Someone is coming.” She shifted her gaze to the door. “Why, hello, Mama.”

“Oh, Lord Iversley,” her mother exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you’d arrived. Um…you did arrive just now, didn’t you?”

“He saw Mr. Byrne out,” Katherine said flatly.

Her mother paled. Clearly, she hadn’t wanted Katherine’s suitor to know about the family debts. “I see.”

“He won’t bother you anymore,” Alec asserted. “I’ll make sure of that.”

Katherine’s shocked gaze swung to him, but he ignored it. Let her think he meant to pay the debt with his own funds. In a way, he did. Once they married.

And theywouldbe married. With Lovelace out of the picture, he finally had his chance. So no matter how thorny she got or how long it took to win her, he’d keep at it until she accepted his suit.

Chapter Thirteen

The soberest women are often the ones secretly longing for adventure.

—Anonymous,A Rake’s Rhetorick

Katherine didn’t know what to think of Alec’s astonishing insistence that he really was courting her. Could he be sincere? But if not, why had he made that lofty pronouncement about taking care of their debt to Mr. Byrne?

Then there was his gift. She couldn’t believe he’d noticed her taste in jewelry. And to give her something originally intended for his mother…Oh, what was she to think?

She slanted a glance across the carriage to where he lounged against the lavishly upholstered cushions that bespoke his wealth. His gaze locked with hers, smoldering with the same heat she’d felt in the parlor. When he dropped it to fix on her mouth, a delicious shiver swept along her spine. Goodness, but the man knew how to tempt a woman.

It wasn’t just his kisses and caresses, either—every day they spent together, she liked him more. Yet she still knew so little about him. He was so cursedly secretive. “You said you went to Spain. Wasn’t it dangerous for an Englishman to be there?”

“Not in 1805. Napoleon hadn’t yet set his brother on the Spanish throne.”

Katherine did some quick figuring. If Alec were about Sydney’s age…“So when you went there, you must have been about—”

“Eighteen, yes.”

The thought of a young Alec buying his mother a brooch, only to learn later that she was dead, tightened a knot in Katherine’s chest.

Then he added, “I went there with my uncle to buy horses.”

“You have an uncle?” Katherine said in surprise.

“By marriage. The husband of my father’s sister is a Portuguese count.” His gaze met hers. “Portugal was my home for my ten years abroad.”

More surprises. “But I thought…that is…everyone says…”