‘I see,’ she said, though clearly she did not, for she added, ‘Like currying the horses.’
‘Yes. Rather.’ He was thrown momentarily off his stride.
‘And you would do that for me.’
He regained his balance and lowered his voice again. ‘If you wished.’ Again, he waited for the outraged dismissal.
And again it did not come. Instead, she said, very softly, ‘Perhaps you could demonstrate.’
So he stepped behind her, letting his fingers caress her shoulders as he moved, and eased the heavy coat from her body. He began, very innocently, by rubbing her neck and shoulders, stroking his hands down her back. She wore nothing beneath the shirt, having discarded her stays with her dress. It allowed him to enjoy the delicious feel of firm, smooth flesh under the linen, and the way the knots in her muscles seemed to melt at his touch.
It would be wrong of him to do more than this. And it was not as if he could pretend there was mutual seduction in play. Despite her forward nature, Lady Drusilla was considerably more innocent than the girl in the carriage had been. But he told himself that he was performing a service. She was tense and tired, and would sleep better after his ministrations.
She swayed against him; he heard her sigh and imagined her lips parted for a kiss.
So he put his arms around her waist and laid his cheek against her hair. No point in pretending that he was soothing her aching back. He was holding her for his own enjoyment, his lips resting an inch from the skin of her throat.
She did not move or tense, but stayed comfortably in his grip. And then, suddenly, she spoke, blunt and alert. ‘Why did you kiss Charlotte?’
He started, but did not release her. It had not occurred to him that she had seen the kiss. But she could not have missed it. He just had not thought it would bother her.
And this sounded almost like jealousy. It was really quite flattering and a very good sign that further action on his part would be welcomed. So he pretended for a moment that he had room in his head for thoughts about the silly chit in the carriage they’d robbed. ‘I knew she would be much less likely to send the law after us if I left her in a good humour. And she seemed to wish me to kiss her, did she not? When a woman makes such an effort to fall all over a man, it is cruel not to oblige her with a kiss.’
‘So you knew she was shamming her faint?’
‘Of course.’ But what are you are fishing for, in asking me these questions? Dru was naïve, of course. But surprisingly savvy, when she had a need to be. There must be a purpose to this. And her movements against his body seemed almost an invitation. If she wanted to be aroused by a detailed description of the event, he was happy to oblige her.
‘The kiss was pleasant for me as well,’ he admitted. Then he could not resist goading her. ‘Your friend is a very pretty girl, is she not?’
‘I suppose.’ He could feel Dru’s shoulders tighten, as though he had struck her. ‘And she is not my friend,’ she added. Then she lifted her head again, rubbing her hair against his cheek as a cat might rub against its owner. ‘I expect she will tell everyone who will listen that she was forced into submission by a wicked stranger, while revelling in the details of the experience.’
He felt his body tighten in response to her words and wondered how much of the discomfort she was feeling had to do with the sight of that kiss, and the hunger it had raised in her. ‘Well, I expect that a well-bred young girl would find it an unusual and exciting thing to be kissed by a highwayman.’
Dru made a sound of displeasure and he imagined the bow of her lips, moist and waiting for him. ‘She is not so young, come to that. She has been out for two years, already. Nor do I find her particularly well-bred. She really is the most appalling gossip.’
‘And not too innocent,’ he supplied, slipping his hands around her waist. ‘It was quite clear to me, as I kissed her, that she knew exactly what to do with herself, from previous experience.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
So she wanted the details, did she? He smiled and obliged her, shifting his lips so they touched her ear. ‘She pressed close against me as I held her, to make sure that I could feel her breasts against my own body. She opened her mouth at the first touch of my lips, and took my tongue into it as though she could not get enough of me.’
Under his hands, he could feel the slight hitch in her breath as she listened. It had nothing to do with hisses of disapproval, and everything to do with salacious curiosity.
‘But she is a blonde. And fair-haired women are not to my taste.’ And he stroked up over her ribs and took her breasts in his hands.
She started. ‘That is not the area which was affected by riding.’
He stilled, but did not remove them. ‘One cannot treat one area of the body without seeing to the others, any more than one grooms just one leg of a horse.’ It was a most unromantic analogy, but she was not a particularly romantic female.
Her shoulders pressed into his chest and then relaxed. ‘I suppose that makes sense.’
‘You will find it quite satisfying, I promise.’
‘Well, then,’ she said again, ‘carry on with your story.’
‘Of course, Lady Drusilla.’ He stopped to wet his lips, allowing the tip of his tongue to accidentally stroke the shell of her ear and felt her hips settle against his in reward. She could feel him now, he was sure, for she was pressing herself against the growing desire he had for her. But she did not pull away from him, so he continued their game. ‘I meant to be gentle with her. Just a light touch of the lips and then I would be gone. But when a woman is willing, it is hard to resist.’
And the woman in his arms was giving her evidence of that, right enough. Her hands reached behind her to steady herself and gripped his thighs, sending another surge of desire through him.
‘So I held her firmly and thrust my tongue deep into her mouth over and over, until she was quite weak with it.’
And it had felt nothing like this. Drusilla was heavy in his hands, warm and round, and he thanked God to his very soul for the wonder of her, massaging gently, and then more vigorously until the nipples stood out hard against his palms. He pinched them easily between his fingers and felt her gasp in pleasure at his touch.
‘Oh.’ The word was little better than a moan, as she writhed against his body, and a cue that he must stop before things got out of hand.
‘Are you feeling better?’ he asked.
‘Somewhat.’ Her head was lolling back, now, against his shoulder. ‘But I do not wish you to stop, just yet.’ She turned enough so he could see her eyes half-closed in the moonlight and her lips relaxed and parted. ‘It was very wrong of Char to behave in that way,’ she said, pursing her lips and wetting them with her tongue.
He threw caution to the winds. ‘Perhaps you had best show me how a proper girl ought to react,’ he offered.
‘I do not know—if that is wise …’ she said, slowly and deliberately, as though she had over-imbibed and were trying to remember why it was that she should not agree. But even as she said it, she turned in his arms and lifted her face for a kiss.
‘For the purposes of edification, if nothing else,’ he whispered, and gathered her close to him, one hand around her waist, the other sinking his fingers into her hair. It was heavy, as he’d imagined it to be, still smelling faintly of soap, even after three days on the road. Her lips, when he touched them, were perfect. As soft and full as her breasts and with that same pucker to them.
If he stopped to look at them, they might seem to be set in disapproval. But on closer inspection, they were open slightly, ready and waiting, as the other girl’s had been. More hopeful than demanding, his Drusilla wanted a kiss as much as he longed to give her one.
And