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CHAPTER THREE

Harrison Sinclair, Earl of Mulgrave, had lost himself in thought after he’d kissed the tempting angel who’d somehow captured his every thought.

It was a reaction to a woman he’d never experienced before and he wasn’t certain that he welcomed it.

He’d always lived a carefree life, doing as he pleased and moving from party to party or village to village, as long as there was a steady stream of merriment.

He’d found himself alone at the inn on a night of respite before attending a house party that was sure to include a variety of scandalous guests and intriguing bed partners. And he’d likely not remember a single one of their names by the time he moved on to the next entertainment.

Something about Lady Rebecca had intrigued him, made him imagine things he hadn’t before. She didn’t possess the same haughtiness as other women in their society. She wasn’t one for pretense and putting on airs, which he found refreshing.

But he’d promised himself after the pain of losing his mother and watching how it took the life out of his father’s eyes that notions of love and forever with a woman weren’t for him.

Never had he been tempted to imagine the life of a husband, or father for that matter, but the first time his angel smiled at him, with her kind, beautiful eyes, she hooked him in a way he hadn’t known was possible. As if their meeting had been a sign from the heavens.

He knew that kissing her was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself.

By morning, he would never see her again, and it would be a travesty to walk through the rest of his life without knowing what she tasted like.

To have a warm, tender memory to hold onto on sad, lonely nights when he allowed himself to admit that life had become monotonous and boring.

It was the reason he had been alone that evening. He had long become bored with all the meaningless affairs, but he hadn’t been certain how to change his life or what he’d even do with himself. And now he couldn’t get the perfect, beautiful Lady Rebecca out of his head.

He heard her sweet voice call out to him, and he thought he must have driven himself mad from staring at the flames, longing to repeat their kiss.

She called out to him again, and he jerked his head towards the door to see her standing there, bathed in the moonlight from the window, appearing every bit angelic.

“What are you doing here?” His tone was harsher than he intended it to be, but her, there in his chamber, would quickly cause the last scrap of his barely present gentlemanly honor to dissolve.

“I…well…I,” she stammered as she shifted on her bare feet.

His eyes were immediately drawn to her exposed toes and ankles, and he hadn’t felt that aroused in quite some time, perhaps ever. The want he had for her was something different, some foreign need to consume and brand her as his.

“What is it, Angel?” He didn’t dare to rise from the chair where he sat. If he did, he was certain she’d see the tent he’d pitched in his breeches, and he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t take her into his arms.

She took a small step closer and fiddled with the long braid over her shoulder. He’d be damned if her simple movements didn’t tempt him even more.

“I…what I mean to say is…I’d like to share this chamber with you, after all.”

His heart raced, and his cock throbbed. Surely she wasn’t implying the wicked thoughts that plagued his mind from her words.

“Your chamber isn’t satisfactory?” he asked, already imagining her beneath him and trying to force himself to stop.

Her lower lip jutted out, almost in a pout, and he wanted to sink his teeth into the tender flesh.

“It is,” she started. “But I would like to spend the evening with you. I have never…” Her voice trailed off, but he knew what she meant to say.

He swallowed hard, his resolve crumbling as he rose from his chair and moved to stand before her.

“There are things I can do to you that will feel quite good and won’t risk your virginity.

” He scolded himself as soon as he said the words.

But he wanted to hear her moan, even if it was nothing more than that and him spending by his own hand.

She bit into her lip again, and the action made his cock jump. She must cease doing so. “I want you to show me everything.”

And not speak of such things. “I don’t think?—”

“Harrison,” she said, interrupting him. “We both know I am a spinster. I shall live a quiet life in the country all alone. Just give me this. One night, with a perfect man, and no one but us need ever know.”

“So you think I’m perfect?” he teased, pulling at the sash holding her dressing robe closed, so it fell open to expose a silk night rail.

He could deny her nothing, and he was certain his body would revolt if he attempted to.

She placed her hands on his bare chest, and the feeling of her soft fingers touching his skin almost sent him aflame. “Perhaps not perfect, exactly. You still think too highly of yourself.”

He loved the way she relaxed, more of the clever woman he’d spent dinner entranced by. Harrison lowered his lips to meet hers and massaged her tongue with his as soon as she opened to him.

Cupping her bottom, he pulled her against his clothed erection, teasing them both as he intensified the kiss. He shifted to kiss along her jaw, then trailed his tongue until he reached her ear.

“Are you certain?” he whispered.

She nodded and swayed in his arms, so much so that he questioned if she would have been able to stand if he weren’t holding her.

“Say it, Angel,” he whispered again. “You must say what it is you want.”