Page 27 of Seducing the Knave

Seeing his sculpted physique covered by nothing but that narrow scrap of cloth around his hips made her feel like she was melting in a pool of lava. His form was everything she could have imagined. Not a bit of softness could be found anywhere on his muscled physique which appeared sculpted by a master hand. Muscled and lean. A perfect example of efficient strength and masculine grace. She’d never seen anything so...breath-stealing.

Why on earth hadn’t the man put on any clothes?

And why did the sight of his nearly nude body have such a dramatic effect on her?

Because he’s devastatingly, gorgeously, unrelentingly sensual, that’s why.

And despite his lack of clothing, he still moved with the predatory irreverence she’d noticed about him from her very first glimpse. It was a blatant display of cocksure arrogance and an unrelenting confidence in his physical nature. He moved as though he knew she was watching him and was fully aware that the sight of him made her hot and achy.

Alarm shot through her center.

He couldn’t know she was watching, could he?

Surely not.

If he did, he would never stride right up to her side of the bed in his current state of undress, stopping right in her field of vision as he bent to blow out the candle on the nightstand which cast their corner of the room into a hovering darkness that was suddenly far too intimate.

She should just close her eyes, but a part of her worried he might notice the infinitesimal movement. And another part of her didn’t want to miss the sight before her.

Don’t move. Just pretend to be asleep.

The deep shadows of the room cast every ripple and angle of his body into stark contrast. Water droplets still clung to his skin, which glowed bronze in the flickering firelight. In fascination, she watched one of those drops take a leisurely journey down over the ridges and valleys of his abdomen to soak into the towel beside the thin trail of hair that ran from his navel downward.

Oh God.

As soon as her attention lowered to that long bulge clearly evident beneath the damp cotton, she couldn’t look away. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think as her insides melted and liquid heat flooded her most private flesh.

Before she could fully grasp her reaction, he turned and strode away, circling the bed to the other side. She felt him pull the remaining blankets back. Then she heard what could only be the sound of the towel dropping to the floor before the mattress sank beneath his weight and he stretched out beside her.

He did not just get into bed beside her fully nude!

But she knew he had.

“What are you doing?” Her voice was high and tight, all thought of feigning sleep gone.

“Trying to sleep,” he mumbled.

“You’re...unclothed.”

“True.”

“You...” She struggled to find words appropriate for such a shockingly inappropriate situation. “You...cannot...you cannot seriously think to remain so!”

“There’s always the barn if me habits distress ye.”

She wanted to growl her frustration. The man was clearly doing this just to get a reaction out of her.

Biting her bottom lip, she forced herself to ignore him.

With a slow exhale, she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

It lasted about a minute before her eyes popped open again.

Was she really going to try to sleep beside a totally naked man who’d already proven himself to be a conscienceless cad?

Yes. It seemed she was, since she had no intention of sleeping in a pile of hay and even less inclination to let him know just how intensely he—and his stunning nakedness—bothered her.

She would ignore him.

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