Page 24 of The Rake is Taken
He rose, his pulse doing a fiendish dance beneath his skin. Her voice held a rough thread of longing if he was not mistaken. Because he stole thoughts to confirm his suspicions, he usually wasn’t. But not this time, no hints for him—and Victoria’s face showed only serene vacancy. Talk about gambits. Without question, he followed her directives, shrugging out of his coat, one arm, then the next, giving it a neat fold and setting it on the desk. When he went to sit in the chair, she halted him with a light touch that was pure torture, spirals of pleasure racing down his arm and out his fingertips. “Perch on the edge. Back to me. I’m tall enough, and the height should serve well.”
Serve well for whathe wanted to ask more than he’d wanted to ask anything. In. His. Life. Did she realize you could command someone like this in bed and have them eating from your hand? Have thembegging.
Higher, lower, faster, harder…more.
Arousal flooded his body, his cock digging painfully against the bone buttons running the length of his trouser close. He dropped his arm to cover it and breathed hard through his nose. Then he remembered. A memory propelled by the fingers dipping into the hair framing his nape and skimming his scalp, the teasing, cinnamon-scented breath streaking past his cheek and diving into his senses.
The haircut.
His lids slipped low as the scissors made a metallic hiss next to his ear. She would do this when they’d agreed to friendship? Agreed to a denial of their attraction?
When she knew who andwhathe was?
My God, she was a reckless bit of baggage. Or mad. Or both.
He’d not consented to touching. Standing so close he could almost taste her. Feeling enticement of this magnitude without his gift tainting it, turning his feelings in upon themselves until they were a twisted mess. Emotion, honest and pure, and overwhelming, with nothing to suck the life from it.
“Don’t be alarmed. I used to do this for my brother. And some of the household staff when funds got ridiculously tight, and we had to reduce wages.” She tugged on his hair, pulling the strands taut as she snipped, and he barely contained a groan of delight. Goosebumps erupted along his arms. His chest constricted. His heartbeat raced. “I’m quite proficient. Steady hand and all that.”
“What?” he asked breathlessly, his concentration held captive by a raging erection and the air trapped in his lungs. She thought he feared thehaircut? That he cared if she had a steady hand? A jolt of humility hit him, the Blue Bastard brought gutter-low. He wasn’t sure how experienced she was, what with the hasty kisses she tossed out like torn stockings, but this effort pointed to it being less than he’d assumed. Much less.
Because her touch was setting him on fire.
She went on talking like nothing momentous was occurring. Although the chatter did somewhat diminish the impact of her hands roving all over him. “How is the Duke of Ashcroft involved with the League? I believe the giant called him Fireball.”
Finn suppressed the shiver that pleaded for the opportunity to work its way up to his spine as bits of hair fluttered to his lap. “Um…” He struggled as another sweet breath blasted past his ear. Why did she always smell like biscuits? “This stays within the confines of this estate, but he has a rather unusual talent for shooting fire from his fingertips. Rather, he can start fires at will. It’s quite extraordinary. Or bloody frightening, take your pick. Because his control has not always been tip-top. It’s why he’s known to favor pyrotechnics. A solid excuse for the accidents at his estates.”
The scissors snapped shut as her gasp circled the room.
“It’s true. I have the singed clothing to prove it.”
“He’s part of the League,” she whispered.
“For years. Since he helped us resolve a kidnapping incident with Piper before she and Julian were married.”
“Kidnapping?”
“We have enemies. I tried to tell you.” He suppressed a shiver, curling his hands into fists to keep from running his fingers through his newly-shorn hair. “Ashcroft’s contacts have broadened our reach in ways we’d never have without him, while Piper has helped him gain modest control. An equitable trade. Also, he’s a former soldier with mercenaries on his payroll, ones Julian likes to plant like shrubs around the estate. You’ve seen them, the ones with stern expressions and scarred faces. Julian’s increasing them around the perimeter, with you here. In the future…” Finn clenched his jaw to keep the sentiment from spilling free.
The Grape couldn’t protect her.
But the Duke of Ashcroft could.
And he had the funds to save her family, save a thousand families. A destitute aristocrat, the duke was not. Although Finn made no mention of it, thanks to Julian’s sounds investments and his own of late, he could save a few families himself. But money could not changefact. Finn would never be more than a noble byblow—and the actual truth, which he’d want his wife to know—was even less palatable.
He would never be a suitable choice for an earl’s daughter.
Despite the challenge his body was issuing with one standing behind him smelling of sodding flowers and sweets just pulled from the oven, her attentive little breaths racing past his ear, her fingers having stilled to rest lightly on his shoulder. He’d never before felt like he might, with an innocent, grazing touch, spill in his trousers like a randy adolescent.
Christ, being this close to her was torment of a variety he was unaccustomed to.
Because he usually took what he wanted. Wasofferedwhat he wanted.
Following a blind impulse, he swiveled to face her. Her gaze was the glazed, cavernous color of a forest at midnight, her bottom lip swollen as if she’d been assaulting it. As he watched, holding himself as steady as he had in his life, her cheeks lit, a vivid wash followed by an unsteady exhalation.
So, he wasn’t the only one affected by the haircut.
“I didn’t enjoy the kisses,” she whispered. “Three to be exact. March, Lyle, Somerset. Oh, well, four counting Rossby. Although his was painful. Bruised my lip. I dare say I’m not looking forward to that again.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “That will make having offspring rather a problem, won’t it?”