Page 22 of Road Trip With a Rogue (Her Majesty’s Rebels #3)
Daisy could barely breathe.
Vaughan had collapsed on top of her, pressing her down into the mattress with a deliciously heavy weight, and she suppressed an incredulous laugh.
She’d never imagined she’d see him so uninhibited, and the fact that she’d made his body so thoroughly replete with pleasure felt like no small accomplishment.
He hadn’t forgotten his promise not to finish inside her, either, and her heart clenched with a traitorous little squeeze that he’d kept his word.
There were ways to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, even if he had forgotten. Tisanes like pennyroyal tea and the like, but she’d heard so many tales of unpleasant side effects and potential dangers that she never wanted to put them to the test.
She brushed his side with her fingertips, lightly tracing his ribs, and he rolled off her with a deep, satisfied groan. She turned her head to look at him, almost too tired to move, and found his eyes dark with satisfaction.
“ That was…” Her voice was a croak and she struggled to find the right words. Incredible? Extraordinary? He was arrogant enough as it was. He’d be obnoxious now.
“Five years overdue.” He let out a deep sigh and pushed one of her curls behind her ear. “God, Hamilton. It’s just as well we didn’t do that before I left for Portugal. I never would have gone.”
He was joking, of course, but her heart fluttered just the same.
“It wouldn’t have been like that five years ago,” she reminded him. “I was still a virgin.”
“Only in body. In spirit, you were a shameless wanton.”
She gasped, and he chuckled at her outrage.
“Don’t deny it. You practically undressed me with your eyes every time you saw me across a room.”
“I did not!” Her cheeks were definitely burning.
“You did. And I did exactly the same to you. You can’t imagine the filthy things we were doing in my mind. I swear, one time I was talking to Lord Castlereagh about some stupid law or other and you caught my eye and I got so hard I had to excuse myself.”
Daisy bit her lip, trying to quash a delighted smile. “Really?”
His eyes narrowed in mock-menace. “Really. You were the most provoking chit imaginable.”
“I’m sure you found another partner to deal with your… little problem.” Her spirits dropped at the thought of him sating himself with another woman, but she was determined to appear sophisticated.
“Nothing little about it,” he growled. “And for your information, no, I didn’t. I went and locked myself in a water closet and relieved myself with my hand, cursing you with every breath.”
His dark gaze pinned her as he reached out and traced the pad of his thumb over her lower lip, dragging it down to stroke the slick inner lining. Her stomach swooped. “And the whole time I imagined I had you there, on your knees, looking up at me, that wicked mouth of yours on my cock.”
Daisy swallowed. God, she could imagine it too. Her body heated again.
“I had no idea I affected you so strongly,” she managed.
He rolled over and slid off the bed, and she immediately felt the loss of his warmth.
“You affect me,” he said with a dark laugh. “You drive me bloody insane.”
Her heart warmed at the backhanded compliment. She’d take any reaction that wasn’t indifference.
He padded, gloriously naked, to the linen press that stood against one wall, opened it, and pulled out a clean bathing sheet, which he brought back to the bed.
Daisy reached out to take it, suddenly very conscious of her nakedness, but he ignored her outstretched hand and sat down next to her, using the cloth to wipe the evidence of his pleasure from her belly.
She forced herself not to wriggle under his ministrations, and when he’d finished, she sat up and pulled on her chemise. The flimsy barrier made her feel slightly less exposed. She wasn’t used to lolling about naked.
“We never made it to the desk,” she teased lightly.
He slanted her a look as he pulled on his shirt. “The night is still young.”
She glanced at the clock on the mantel and blinked in surprise. It was barely nine o’clock! Her cheeks heated. They hadn’t even locked the door. Finch, or any of the servants, could have interrupted them.
Vaughan was a menace. He made her forget herself.
He pulled on his breeches, jacket, and boots with swift efficiency. Two years in the army had clearly negated his need for a valet. “I’m going down to order some dinner. Shall I ask for a bath too?”
Visions of soaping his body, of him doing the same to her, filled her brain, but Daisy shook her head.
She could barely explain it, but to bathe together somehow seemed even more intimate than what they’d just done.
Losing herself in a white-hot passion was one thing.
Administering to one another in the bath suggested a tenderness, a playful affection, that would be dangerous to wish for. Or encourage.
They weren’t friends, merely lovers.
She had to remember that.
“I’m too tired to bathe. Just ask for some hot water so I can wash, please. And food. I’m famished.”
“Worked up an appetite?” he teased as he slipped out the door.
A maid carrying a bowl of hot water arrived a short while later, and Daisy washed, then pulled on her own shirt and breeches.
Vaughan had probably shared countless meals with scantily clad women, but she would feel at a distinct disadvantage if he was dressed and she was only in her chemise. Equality was important.
He reappeared just as she was starting to get bored, trailed by a servant with a tray of food, and her stomach rumbled as their meal was set on the table. She slid into her seat and attacked the steak pie and mashed potatoes with genuine pleasure.
Vaughan rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, but his lips curved as he watched her.
Was he regretting their liaison already? Wishing he’d asked for a second room so they didn’t have to share this one now that he’d sated his curiosity and lust? She couldn’t tell.
He settled in the seat opposite her and made a point of lifting his empty wineglass to the light to inspect it, and Daisy snorted when she realized what he was doing.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t tried to poison you tonight. I need you up bright and early tomorrow so we can catch Violet and Peregrine.”
He poured them each a glass of wine. “As if I could forget. Has anyone ever told you you’re relentless?”
“Many people,” Daisy grinned. “As well as stubborn, pigheaded, and far too independent.”
“You’re positively riddled with flaws.”
“Which is why I remain happily unwed.”
“Retaining your independence while taking a secret string of lovers to fulfil your physical needs?”
Daisy fought a flush. No need for him to know that he was the only man who’d pleasured her in over two years. “Exactly.”
“I must say, you’ve been extremely discreet. Or lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t heard a whisper about any of your previous paramours, and it’s almost impossible for an unmarried woman to take a lover without someone finding out. You’re running the risk of being disgraced socially.”
“So sweet of you to be concerned for my reputation.”
He ignored the irony in her tone. “Even if you don’t want a husband to provide financial security, or to improve your social standing, have you considered marrying for physical satisfaction?”
Daisy raised her brows. “Giving someone complete control over my life for the sake of a few moments of pleasure—however delightful they might be—seems like a bad bargain. What happens when my husband loses interest and finds his pleasure elsewhere? As my father did to my mother.”
“I can’t imagine any man losing interest in you.”
She rolled her eyes. “How many women have you said that to? A dozen? A hundred?”
He held her gaze. “You’re the first.”
Her heart gave a twist, but she ignored it. He wasn’t being serious.
“Are you offering me your hand in marriage?” she teased. “Or is this purely theoretical?”
His lips gave a sardonic curl. “You’ve seen my hand, Hamilton. What woman would want something so scarred and unsightly?”
“Oh, I can think of a hundred girls who’d jump at the chance to be called ‘Your Grace,’” she said with perfect honesty. “Scarred hand or no.”
“But not you.” He made it a statement, not a question.
She sent him a smile over the rim of her wineglass. “The only way I’d accept your hand, Vaughan, is if you put it between my legs.”
He laughed in appreciation of her wit. “With pleasure.”