Page 63 of Indecently Daring

She stared up at him, and he noticed the way her eyes had grown dark, her breath coming quicker. Harry watched as she licked her lips, and the sight made his entire body light up with desire.

“Alana, you should probably—” he began, knowing it would not look good if her family discovered her here, but she kissed him before he could force himself to speak the rest of the words and all good intentions went out the window.

Staying sober was one thing, but denying the woman in his arms a kiss if she asked for one was something else entirely. So, he gave her what she asked for, but the more he gave, the more she demanded as the kiss grew deeper and hotter and desperately wicked. She undid the clasp on her cloak, and the heavy material slumped to the floor as she pressed against him. He groaned. “Harry,” she gasped as he trailed a path of kisses down her neck.

Dazed, he stared at the line of buttons before him, every one of them undone. He hadn’t done that, so she…. He swallowed as Alana drew the fabric aside, so he could see a delicately embroidered corset in shades of pastel pink, the lacy edge of her chemise, and the lush, plump mounds of her breasts above. With his heart beating in his ears, he trailed the backs of his fingers across her satiny skin, delighted when he heard her breath hitch.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, giddy with want. “Lovely Artemis.”

“Artemis?” she repeated, giving him a curious smile.

Harry nodded. “That’s what I thought, the first time I laid eyes on you. I knew you were trouble: Artemis, goddess of the wild hunt.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “You didn’t like me! I could tell at once. You looked all cross and disapproving.”

Harry shook his head, smiling ruefully. “That was because I liked you a deal too much, foolish creature. I was cross with you for unsettling me so thoroughly. I knew very well that you would turn my well-ordered life upside down, and so you did.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I’m not,” he said, and kissed her again.

He ought to stop this now. She needed to go back to Holbrook, but… but she tasted like innocence and sin all tangled up together and he wanted more, needed more. It had been so long since he had touched a woman. More than five long, lonely years, and now… and now she had burst into his life and made him feel again, made him want again and it was like she had opened a tap and life was surging through him. He was alight with the joy of it, fizzing with happiness and desire and so many feelings he had denied himself because he did not believe he deserved them.

Her hands moved over him, lingering on his bare forearms where he had rolled up his sleeves before moving to the buttons on his black waistcoat. They gave way under her nimble fingers, and she pushed it from his shoulders. Harry gasped as she tugged his shirt free, her cool hands finding his skin and setting fires wherever they went as they slid over his chest.

“Alana,” he croaked. “They’ll come to get me… to….”

She kissed him again, and he forgot what he’d been saying. Her fingers toyed with his nipples, pinching lightly. Harry gasped, staring down at her to see a knowing look glinting in her eyes that made his breath catch.

“Take the shirt off,” she commanded.

He did as he was told, though he doubted it was wise, but he could deny her nothing, and when she looked at him with hunger in her gaze, he knew he was lost.

She smoothed her hands over his torso, studying him, tangling her fingers in the dark hair. “Harry?”

“Yes, love?” he managed, unsurprised when his voice sounded rough and uneven.

“I’m not a virgin.”

He nodded. “I assumed as much.”

She glanced up at him, uncertainty in her eyes. “Do you mind very much?”

He considered this for a moment. “Alana, I have made more mistakes in my life than one man has a right to. Do you seriously think I’d judge you for that? You believed you were going to be married and, whilst I’ll admit, I’d rather not think on it too much, I don’t give a damn. So long as you’re mine now.”

“Entirely yours,” she agreed. “And I know it’s right this time, Harry. It wasn’t before, but this…. You….”

She sighed, and there was so much want in that sigh she did not need to say another word. He kissed her again and his breath caught as her passion consumed him. He had to stop this, he knew. Not only did they need to be ready to face her parents, but he was not about to make love to her before they were married. He’d spoken truly. He didn’t care that she wasn’t a virgin. She had been so young, and had mistaken feelings of affection and friendship for love, and he was not a hot-headed young fool who would let feelings of jealousy spoil everything they had together. But he had begun his life anew, and now Alana was a part of that, and he wanted to do things right, as they should be, so they would wait until they were married and….

His breath caught as her hand coasted down over his trousers and settled upon his arousal, giving a firm squeeze. She caressed him through the material and her touch suspended all thought, holding him captive as pleasure rolled through him. Harry’s eyes closed, and he held his breath. Warm lips pressed against the underside of his jaw, and he shivered.

“Do you like that?” she whispered, her cool breath sending more shivers cascading over him. She laughed softly as he nodded, too enthralled by her touch to say a word. Dimly, he registered the buttons on his falls coming undone, and then her hand was on him, skin to skin, caressing, and he couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, could only be as desire filled him up. In the back of his mind, a little voice warned him he ought to stop this, and he tried to heed it.

“Alana,” he managed, but now his voice was a breathless whisper. “Love… perhaps… perhaps….”

“Perhaps?” she repeated, a smile behind the word. “Perhaps there’s something else you’d like?”

Her slender fingers tightened around him, and he groaned.