Page 46 of An Innocent Bride for the Duke

“Sir Benedict,” he mused aloud and looked up to see Louisa’s face blushing furiously. “Now, there’s a coincidence…”

“It is my book. Please give it to me.”

Compelled to continue reading after finding his own name, he scanned the first paragraphs and smiled at the naive style and scene-setting, in which this Sir Benedict was set up as the most honorable knight who ever lived and devoted to some unattainable beauty called Lady Elizabeth, whose father had sworn she should never marry until the last dragons were driven from the land…

How ridiculous! Benedict could not hold back a small laugh, the sound of which seemed to spark something like fury on Lady Louisa’s calm face. A moment ago, he had been inclined to hand the book over without further ado, but now a dangerous fire had been lit within his veins and they were both at risk of being burned.

How beautiful Louisa looked in her nightclothes with her hair unbound about her face and her eyes flashing fire at him! He had never before been seized with such lust for an innocent young woman. Such sensations as currently stabbed Benedict’s belly and groin were only aroused by ladies of considerable experience, and very consciously done. Louisa, in contrast, probably did not even realize her effect upon him.

Benedict had seen Louisa in her nightdress once before and could not now help imagining that thin white cotton garment beneath the dressing gown, pressing against all her curves. More than that, he imagined gently removing all her clothing, kissing away all doubts and fears and then carrying Louisa over to that soft sheepskin rug before the fireplace.

Those sweet pink lips would be soft and yielding beneath his, and then animated and questing as her body responded to his caresses. His hands would cover Louisa’s shapely breasts and his lips incite her to touch him in return. Soon, lost in passion, their bodies would meld desperately and joyfully…

“Give it to me!” Louisa said again, more insistently, her eyes fixed on the book.

“Come and get it,” Benedict challenged her, hearing the dangerous roughening of his own voice. “If you want it that much.”

Stepping close to him, Louisa reached out to grab it but he held it easily out of reach.

“Why do you want it so much?” he demanded and saw her blushes and fury both increase very becomingly.

“Because it is mine,” Louisa replied, making another fruitless attempt to take it from his hand.

“It must be something very special,” he remarked. “I want to know more about it now.”

“You are impossible!” Louisa retorted angrily. “Why will you not give me my book?”

This time she stood on her toes as she attempted to grab it and when Benedict pulled it back again, she had to reach out a hand to steady herself on his shoulder. Immediately and instinctively, Benedict raised his own free hand to hold her fingers there, the warmth of her touch surging through him.

“Tell me why you want it so much, Louisa. Or is it not only the book you want tonight?”

“Your Grace! Benedict, please…”

Please? Good God, Louisa could have no idea of the effect she was having on him. Combined with her words, the pleading of her eyes was almost irresistible. Whether she knew it or not, she wanted to be taken in his arms and kissed, and would soon be ready for more than that. While unworldly, Louisa was a mature woman and her body ripe for pleasure, if still untouched.

“You should not look at me like that, Louisa,” Benedict warned her, his breathing growing unsteady. “You should not be here with me at all.”

“Why?” she asked softly and Benedict released her hand only so that he could caress her face and stroke back a curl from her soft, warm cheek.

“Because I am trying very hard not to think of undressing you and doing the most delightful but improper things to your beautiful body,” he told Louisa in a low voice, holding her gaze.

Was he trying to frighten her away? This answer he gave to her question was certainly that of a rake rather than a gentleman. Still, they were betrothed, and regardless of what his conscience ordered, Benedict was already beginning to feel an unfamiliar right to possess her.

“Oh!” Louisa gasped, her lips parting and her wide eyes looking at him more in wonder than fear. “Benedict, I…”

Very slowly now, giving Louisa every chance to pull away, Benedict lowered his head and kissed her, finding her lips every bit as yielding and sweet as he had known they would be. Once her tongue found his, the book was forgotten and tossed aside, both of his hands needed to hold and caress the young woman in his arms.

Unwrapping Louisa’s dressing gown, Benedict cupped one of her perfect breasts and kissed her again, even more deeply. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, she was panting wildly, aroused and unnerved, her hardening nipple pressing into his palm.

“I shall give you such pleasure as you have never dreamed, Louisa,” he whispered into her ear, his other hand dipping lower to caress her hip and the curve of her bottom. “I promise you will scream my name before I am done…”

Her passionate response to the kiss that followed was all that Benedict could have hoped. Louisa might know little of the pleasures of the flesh yet but all the signs were that she would prove an adept pupil to his teaching. She whimpered and quivered as his hand lingered at her bottom, pressing lightly at the backs of her thighs, toward the damp crevice between them.

“Oh!” Louisa moaned again, jerking slightly, although pressing into Benedict’s touch rather than away from him.

Her golden-haired face was a picture of desire, confusion and awe, beautifully overwhelmed by only these partial and preliminary caresses.

“Yes,” breathed Benedict, intruding his hand just a little further between her thighs so that the thin fabric pressed inward and his fingertips could just detect the texture of her womanly hair and the wet heat he was drawing from her. “Just like that.”