Page 80 of Irresistible
He studied the planes of her face—the soft angle of her nose, the arch of her cheekbone, the plump sweep of her lower lip. The memory of her mouth and body were imprinted upon him.
“It isn’t that I don’t want to,” he said, his voice low as desire pulsed through him. “I fear I wouldn’t be able to stop with just a kiss.”
She inhaled, her gaze bonded with his. “That would be inconvenient given our location.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Then we shall have to find another location. And another time.”
Dougal looked up toward the upper floors of the house. The drawing room was on the front of the house, so no one would be looking down on them. Just the same, he jumped up. Taking her hand, he pulled her from the bench toward the house. Instead of going back inside, he tucked them between the door and the window, positioning her against the brick.
Before she could react, he kissed her. He pressed his body into hers, one hand clasping her hip while the other cupped her head. She responded in kind, putting her hands on his waist and shoulder.
Heat and wonder overtook him as he lost himself in their embrace. Her hand moved to the back of his head, holding him fiercely as she kissed him with a passion he’d never known.
He slid his hand up her rib cage until he found her breast. She pushed into him with a soft moan deep in her throat.
Dougal pulled back, breaking the kiss. Their frantic breaths filled the night air. “We need to go inside,” he rasped.
“What about this?” She brought her hand from his waist and stroked the front of his breeches along his rigid cock.
“Temptress,” he growled, unable to resist kissing her again.
She gasped as he stroked her flesh above the bodice of her gown. He forced himself to stop again.
“We must go inside. In a moment. But no more kissing.” He stepped back and took deep breaths.
She leaned against the house, her eyes slitted with lust as she perused him with a lazy sensuality that did nothing to calm his erection.
“You need to stop looking at me like that.” He turned from her. “Speak of something…unarousing.” He latched onto a topic about which he was interested but would hopefully not provoke him to touch her again. “Did you write a report about our mission?”
“I did. Did you?”
“Yes.” A cool breeze stirred around them, and he hoped it would chill his ardor. “It was bittersweet since it may be the last time I do so.” That was an excellent way to quash his desire. Think about how his life was about to change and that he didn’t want it to. He turned back to face her. “I imagine it will be the first of many reports for you.”
“Actually, I don’t know if that’s true.” She pushed away from the house, straightening. “I’m not sure I make a good spy. If I’m honest, it was stressful, despite your calm and expert tutelage.”
While he was thrilled to hear that she valued and appreciated him, he didn’t believe she wouldn’t be an asset to the Crown. “You’re the most capable, intelligent woman I’ve ever met. The Foreign Office would be fortunate to have you.”
“Perhaps if I had another partner as good as you,” she said with a smile.
On second thought, he didn’t want to contemplate her working with someone else. The thought of her pretending to be another man’s wife made him want to pound the other—as yet nonexistent—man into the ground.
“Jess?” Miss Shaughnessy’s voice carried out to the patio.
Jess sucked in a breath and pivoted toward the door. “I’ll go inside.”
“I’ll go with you. I’m fine now. Wouldn’t want you to face everyone alone.”
She took his arm, her eyes meeting his. “We aren’t finished.”
No, he didn’t think they were. And he was beginning to think they never would be.
Most shocking of all: he didn’t want to be.
Chapter18
The following afternoon, Jess walked in the park with Kat. Her brother and sister-in-law had escorted them, picking Jess up at her parents’ house on Cumberland Street, which was just across from Cumberland Gate. The Wexfords were talking with another couple near the Ring, leaving Kat and Jess to promenade.
