Page 68 of To Pleasure a Prince

“How’s that for an impertinence?” he growled.

“Marvelous,” she whispered, then groaned to hear her own blatant wantonness. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Why not, if it’s the truth?” His low voice was a smoky seduction in itself. “Never be ashamed of enjoying this. God knows I love watching you enjoy it.”

His labored breathing confirmed that. So did the bulge swelling beneath her bottom. That ought to have worried her, but she was beyond being worried about anything right now. Not when that same excitement she’d felt in the opera box was rising in her, higher, higher—

“Tell me the truth, Regina,” he commanded as his strokes grew faster and bolder. He slid another finger inside her and she groaned, arching up into his hand like a virgin rising toward the glory of the dragon’s flames. “When Foxmoor asked why you’d agreed to my bargain, did you tell him I was your charitable project?”

“No.” She groaned as she struggled toward the fiery breath. “I told you…no…”

“But you didn’t deny it whenheclaimed I was,” he prodded.

“No,” she whispered, her focus divided between his dratted questions and the heat building and building down low…

His strokes grew fiercer, rougher. “Why not?”

“I didn’t want…him to guess…the real reason I agreed.”

“What was that?”

“Because…in spite of the beard…and your churlish manner and your obstinacy…” She trailed off, hardly able to speak for the thrilling sensations coursing through her, fogging her brain, consuming her senses.

His motions abruptly turned teasing…too soft…too gentle.

“Marcus, please…” she begged him shamelessly, knowing instinctively that some release had lain just beyond her reach before he’d turned gentle.

“Answer the question,” he commanded. He stroked her hard, and a groan of pleasure erupted from her that turned to a moan of disappointment when he didn’t repeat the motion. “Despite my beard and all that,what?What was your real reason for agreeing?”

“Because I found you fascinating!” She pushed her hips up against his hand to urge him to continue. Her frustration grew acute when his hand continued to lie still, and she snapped, “I desired you, all right? Nowplease,Marcus, please…”

“All right, dearling,” he murmured, as her words at last sank in. He not only renewed his motions, but lowered his mouth to hers. “All right.”

Then there were no more questions and no more words, just his marvelous mouth plundering hers while his marvelous fingers caressed and fondled and thrust, stoking the flames, feeding the need until an explosion of light and color and white heat consumed her, body and soul. He swallowed her cry with a bold, hot kiss.

As she convulsed against him, clinging to his powerful arms, arching into his firm hand, he tore his mouth free of hers to rain kisses over her flaming cheeks and chin and neck.

“Ohh…Marcus…” she whispered when she could find her voice again. “That was…that was…”

“Sweet heaven?”

“Yes.” She fought to catch her breath as the flames died to a warm glow of contentment. “Is that…is it always…”

He nuzzled her neck. “Sometimes. Not always. Though it helps if the man knows what he’s doing, and the woman—”

“Behaves like a wanton?” Shame set in as she came back to earth, to the steady rumble of carriage wheels, the rush of air past the windows…the whisper of silk against silk as Marcus inched her skirts down past her stockings.

“Desires the man,” he corrected.

She opened her eyes hesitantly, half-afraid of what she might see in his face. If he’d wanted revenge for the dratted wager, he’d found the perfect way to take it…making her beg for her pleasure.

But no gloating showed on his face, just that ever-present hunger that never seemed to be assuaged.

She sat up on his lap, guilt assailing her when his bulge thickened beneath her squirming bottom. “Is there anything I can do to…well…” How did one ask such a thing? “To make you more comfortable? You know…down there?”

He uttered a strained laugh, then pressed a kiss to her temple. “Not unless you want to be ruined in truth.”

She drew back to stare at him. “Can’t a man find satisfaction from having a woman touch him the way you touched me?”