Page 31 of A Virgin for the Rakish Marquess

“I am here, My Lady,” he whispered.

“You came.” She turned around slowly, thankful that he had kept some distance between them.

“There was no stopping me.”

It was true. As he stood a few inches away from her, he looked like an unstoppable force of nature. Even in the civilized restrictions they were meant to dwell, he emerged as an apex predator. Though this time, she didn’t feel like a poor prey. He was looking at her as if she were his sustenance.

He wasn’t just hungry for her. He wasachingfor her.

“So, My Lady, tell me, what do youneed?”

Her breath hitched. He had asked her to utter her desires. To speak them out loud. To shamelessly admit what she craved.

“If you do not tell me what you want, what you need, I can’t give it to you,” he said as he drew closer.

You, she wanted to scream. But she wasn’t ready to relent this easily.

She gathered the remnants of her self-control and lifted her chin. “There has to be terms. Rules.”

“Of course,” he taunted.

When he pushed her like that, she sparked. It was as if they were powder and fire.

“I want to know pleasure.” She looked him right in the eye.

His jaw twitched. He took one last step and closed the distance between them.

“But,” she continued, making him stop. “Our…lessonsare to last for the five promenades.”

“Five promenades? You’d put a time limit on passion?”

“I am sure a skilled teacher such as yourself will manage.”

His eyes flicked to her lips before meeting hers again. The challenge was accepted. Her fate was sealed. He was upon her now, latched on, and he wasn’t going to let go.

He leaned, his hands resting on the rail, trapping her. He was not touching her, not yet, and somehow that absence made everything more intense.

He tilted his head as he inhaled her scent.

“I will agree to your terms, My Lady.” His breath was hot against her cheeks. “But…” Now, he was blowing on her neck. “I need to you ask properly.”

Diana almost didn’t hear his demand, caught in the steamy cocoon he had encased her in. Her mind rushed to keep up, and she was proud she managed to talk.

“I… I thought I just did.”

“Ah, My Lady,” he said as he studied her face. “You said you want to know pleasure.”

“I do.”

“Say what you really want,” he ordered.

That tone made her heart skip a beat. It was unrefined, raw, primal. It made her skin crawl with fear and something deeper, something darker, something rooted in the core of her being.

She knew the answer he was seeking.

“I want…” she muttered.

“Come on, say it,” he coaxed, his breath tickling her ear.

---