Page 24 of Brazen Rogue
"I want you," she admitted, voicing what she had so long denied herself, and he too, she supposed. "For as long as I'm here I want to be with you." She glanced down at their entwined fingers. "I know that I'm taking a risk, and I was hoping that you may know some ways to reduce that risk since you're more worldly than I, but I want to be with you. For as long as we can, in secret, a sweet sin that only you and I know of. My friend Lady Chilsten would guide me against doing such a thing, but I—"
His lips took hers, halting her words, and she reached for him, pulled him close, and let desire sweep her away. He was everything she had always wanted. The man she had once hoped to marry.
While life had not played fair and she had lost him to a scandalous woman, she could only assume by his kiss that he felt the same as she.
"Yes," he breathed against her lips. "For as long as we have, I want you too. But are you sure, really sure, Reign? This is a risk, and it is a lot to ask of you."
She shrugged, having long ago given up hope for such a sweet end, a completion that would conclude with her as his wife. Life was not always fair, but that did not mean one could not make the best of a bad situation.
"I'm sure. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
Deny her. Stop this madness.
The words slammed about in his mind, but he could not heed them. For so many years, he had lived without the one woman who had made him burn, and now, here she was, offering herself to him for as long as she stayed in Derbyshire, and he could not refuse her.
Devil take him, he could not say no.
He kissed her again, taking her lips. She kissed him back, eager for his touch, willing to feel him in ways she had never done before.
His body burned, his cock stood to attention, and he knew there was no turning back. Not now. Now, he had a glimpse of what the next few weeks or months could mean for them both—days of stolen kisses and nights of wicked touches—endless bliss and comfort in each other's arms.
Damn it all to hell. He wanted her so bad it physically hurt. And now, all he had ever wished for was within reach.
"Reign," he moaned, her tongue driving him to distraction. She pushed against him, her breasts free from restraints, her shift and robe barely enough to keep her modest.
Not that he intended to keep her modest for long. He would have her, make love to her, give her what they both wanted and pray that when judgment day came, God would forgive him.
"Tell me what you want. I will give you anything you ask for. You merely have to say it," he said.
She pulled from him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, her lips swollen from his kisses. She had never looked more beautiful and disheveled than she was.
"I want you to make love to me. I want to go with you to your room." She bit her lip, her eyes filled with trepidation.
He stood and pulled her to stand before leading her from the library. Thankfully the house remained quiet, the servants long to bed as he led her up the staircase toward his chambers.
He stopped at his door, turning the handle and swinging it open. Without a word, he scooped her up in his arms, kissing her quickly. "We should have had this, you and I. But tonight, and the days ahead, you are mine, and I am yours. Do you agree?"
She nodded, and without further ado, he crossed the threshold of his bedchamber, kicking the door closed with his foot—and the door on the judgemental, unfair world around them—wrapping them together in a place meant just for them.
ChapterFourteen
Reign shivered as Bellamy slid her down his hard, delicious body she had admired for so long that she could no longer remember when she had first noticed him.
London, of course, during her coming out. But now, she was allowed to touch and be with him as she had always dreamed. She was possibly going to Hades for her actions.
Even with his aversion to scandal and his honesty about trying to keep his daughter free from it ought to keep her away, but she could not. She would do all she could to keep their love affair from being known, but she would no longer stay away.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest as he stepped back, wrenching his shirt over his head. His stomach was all hard and chiseled planes, and without thought, she reached out and ran her hand over his form.
His eyes burned with need, and she shivered, biting her lip. His stomach rose and fell with each breath, and she could almost taste his desire in the air.
"I have always wondered what you looked like under your superfine suits. How well you do," she admitted, grinning.
His chuckle was gravelly and low. "Then that makes two of us, my darling, for I have always wondered what you look like, too, under your pretty gowns," he said, reaching for the little ribbons on her stays that protected her modesty. He untied them, a small grin playing about his lips before he pushed her robe from her shoulders.
It pooled at her feet, and she stepped out of it, wanting to be free from any restraints.
His eyes met hers, and she read the question in his. "Would you like to do the honors?" she teased, raising one questioning brow.
