Page 28 of A Rogue's Downfall
He lowered his head again, opening his mouth over hers, licking her lips until they parted, exploring hisway slowly inside. And he thought of the child she hadbeen, much adored as the only girl in the family ofmen, strictly trained and educated by a much-lovedgoverness. He thought of her in mourning for a coupleof years as her girlhood slipped past. He thought of herrefusing two offers of marriage just recently becauseshe wanted to both love and be loved by the man shewould marry. He thought of her wanting children. Hethought of her building their sand castle with energyand enthusiasm.
Caroline. He tested the name in his mind. She was Caroline.
She had her arms about his neck. She was sucking tentatively on his tongue and turning to set her breastsagainst his chest. He lifted his head and looked downat her again. She was gazing back with luminous eyes.What you began to do to me last night,she had said,isprobably very pleasurable, is it not?She had never experienced that pleasure. He could give it to her. All of it.Or enough of it to leave him free when she made heradmission the next morning.
He could make her love him. And she would be honest enough to admit it. But he would still be in no danger. She would not marry him unless he could saythe same. And so he would leave her hurt. Twenty-three-years old and as far from achieving her dream asever. And with a bruised heart.
He lay down beside her and stared up at the clouds.
Her hand nudged against his until he clasped it. “I am a dreadful novice, am I not?” she said. “I did notknow that people kissed like that.”
“You are supposed to be a novice,” he said. “That is what innocence is, Caroline.”
“Are you concerned for my innocence?” she asked, her voice curious. “Is that why you stopped? How veryout of character.”
He surged over onto his side and looked into a flushed face. She had sand in one eyebrow. “Hardly,”he said. “I have never corrupted innocence, Caroline.If I am a rake, I am not also a rogue. I have neverdeflowered a virgin. Yes, that is why I stopped.”
“How are you to make me fall in love with you,then?” she asked.
He cupped her cheek with one hand and smoothed his thumb over the sandy eyebrow. “By making youwant the rest of it—and me—for a lifetime,” he said.He watched her swallow. “And how are you to makeme fall in love with you, my innocent?”
“By making you want innocence and virginity—and me—for the rest of your life,” she said.
His heart did a handstand. And he lost the battle he had been fighting with some success for several minutes. He felt the familiar tightening in his groin.
And then her hand was cupping his cheek with exquisite lightness and her thumb was moving across his lips. “I know you are no rogue,” she said, her voice a merebreath of sound. “I know that you want the one thingyou have never had in your adult life—innocence.”
Lord God. Skilled courtesans had whispered marvelous eroticism into his ears to increase his pleasure. None of it had had one fraction of the power of herwords. The witch! His body and his heart respondedto them even as his mind knew that she was determinedly going about winning her wager.
And then he was kissing her again—her mouth, her eyelids, her ears, her throat. And spreading a hand overher breast, feeling the peaked nipple against his palm.And lowering his head to it, spreading his mouth wide,taking her nipple between his teeth until she whimpered, then licking it with his tongue through the thinmuslin of her dress. Her hands were in his hair andshe lifted her head to bury her face against the top ofhis head.
“Caroline.” He rubbed a palm over the wettened peak of her breast and moved his mouth to the other. Shewas breathing in audible gasps.
He could not wait. He could not take things slowly as he normally liked to do. Even the time it would taketo raise her dress and remove undergarments and torelease himself from his pantaloons was too long. Hewanted to be able to thrust deeply inside hernow.Inside Caroline. He wanted to touch her at her body’score. He wanted to be with her. Part of her. Joined toher. Once it had happened, of course, neither of themwould be left with any choice at all. There would bejust the special license and the rush to the altar.
To hell with choice, he thought, sliding his hand down over her flat abdomen, curving his fingers intothe increased warmth between her legs. He found hermouth with his again and was not sure which of themit was who moaned.
Innocence. She was an innocent. He was no corrupter of innocence, he had just claimed, no rogue. He sat up hastily and scrambled to his feet, ran one handthrough his hair, and turned without thinking to stoopover her and scoop her up into his arms. He began tostride away from their castle.
“Alistair?” She looked and sounded bewildered. She looked tousled and thoroughly well kissed. And altogether as aroused as he. “Where are you taking me?Our things. We cannot just leave them there. Where are we going?”
“To the only sensible place,” he said grimly.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, no,” she said, her arms clutching him more tightly about the neck.“No, Alistair, you wouldn’t. Put me down.Put medown."
“We are doubly hot,” he said, striding purposefully toward the sea, which was considerably closer than ithad been when they had first set foot on the beach.“With sun and with desire. It is time to cool off.”
“But we have no towels,” she said. “No change of clothes.”
His feet touched water. Cold water. He almost changed his mind. But he was still throbbing for herand her body was still heated with desire. It was eitherthis or take her back to the dry sand and tumble her.His experiences of the last several years had not taughthim a great deal of self-control. And clearly she hadlost hers.
She shrieked as she felt water splash against her bare arms and legs. And then laughed. And clung moretightly. And pleaded more desperately. He lookeddown into her face when he was waist deep in waterand saw terror and laughter mingled there. He droppedher.
She came up gasping and spluttering as he dived under.
“Can you swim?” he asked, shaking his head to clear the water from his eyes.
“My dress will be ruined,” she yelled at him. “My favorite dress.”
