Page 20 of Seducing the Knave

His chuckle vibrated against her throat. “Just Max, remember.”

The hand propped beneath her chin slid down over her collarbone until the tip of his pinkie finger eased beneath the edge of her bodice. Her nipples tightened, as if in anticipation of his touch.

She couldn’t allow that.

Why not?

There had to be some reason.

She was losing her mind.

“You must stop,” she muttered.

A harsh sound rumbled in his throat, but he lifted his head and eased the possessive pressure of his hand over her belly. The textured weight of his voice was its own caress as he lowered his other hand from where it was resting above the frantic rise and fall of her breasts. “If that’s yer wish.”

Before she could change her mind, Elle launched herself from his lap, tumbling to the opposite seat. Quickly turning to face him, she was surprised to see he made no attempt to haul her back.

He stayed as he was, leaning back with his knees braced wide and his hands resting at his sides, looking completely unaffected by what had just occurred.

Well, maybe not completely...

She could see his chest expanding with deep breaths and his eyes glittered intensely as he stared back at her. And as she slid her gaze lower along his body, she couldn’t ignore the obvious bulge in his breeches.

Oh God, why did the sight of his arousal make her want to throw herself back into his arms?

She quickly glanced away, forcing herself to ignore the unignorable.

#

THE WOMAN WAS TREMBLING with desire. And it was all Max could do to keep himself still and watchful even though his body was so hard and heated he felt like a volcano about to erupt. He’d barely touched her; the few kisses he’d brushed across her silken skin had been ridiculously chaste. Yet, the experience had brought him shockingly close to the edge.

Her too, it would seem. Even in the darkness, he could see the flush of her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes. Her lips were glistening from the sweep of her tongue and her breath came swift and short.

She was too bloody innocent.

If she’d had even an ounce of experience in such things, he’d have had her bodice shoved down to her waist and her skirts gathered in her lap.

Instead, she’d thrown herself out of reach where she now stared back at him in haughty confusion. And though he was frustratingly disappointed, he wasn’t going to draw her back. He wanted her to return of her own volition—breathless and aching for him.

While he strained to get his lust back under control, she seemed to recover with disturbing ease. Straightening her posture, she smoothed her skirts before settling her gaze on him with a lifted chin. “My cloak, if you please.”

Her imperious tone made him smile, but then he realized it might have been more of a smirk as her eyes narrowed on his in obvious annoyance. The highborn lady was back.

“As ye wish, princess.”

After retrieving the cloak from where it had fallen to the floor of the carriage, he gave it a firm shake to free it of any dirt it might have gathered before offering it to her.

She snatched it from his hands without a word and quickly swept it around her shoulders.

His regret was very real as the edges closed over her gorgeous bosom, but at least she didn’t bother to pull the hood up to conceal her face.

For the next hour, she sat in a tense posture, her head turned to the side as she stared out the window into the darkness beyond.

Max spent the same hour staring at her, trying to determine what magic she possessed.

He preferred his lovers experienced and a bit jaded. He fucked for the pleasure of it and never made promises he had no intention of keeping.

Max couldn’t recall ever even being tempted by a female who might have expectations beyond his capabilities. Expectations that a young woman who’d been raised within the sheltered confines of an aristocratic family to anticipate nothing less than marriage to a worthy nobleman would likely have in abundance.

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