Her husband grinned. “He said if she were anyone else, he would have had her impressive breasts in his hands long before now. He even made a gesture to support his claim. He said if you wish for her to remain intact, you should do everything possible to discourage her in her present course.”
Good Lord!
Perhaps Sybil needed a chaperone on her outings about town. “If she were anyone else?” Cassandra repeated Mr Daventry’s comment aloud. “What did he mean?”
Benedict shrugged, drawing her gaze to his bare chest. “I suspect he dislikes ladies with red hair.”
“The man is a self-proclaimed scoundrel. Is one lady not the same as another when frolicking in the dark?”
“Be thankful Sybil isn’t his type, else she might lose something more important than her father’s possessions.”
“Nothing is more important to her than the return of Atticus Atwood’s journals and scientific equipment.” That’s what proved worrying. Sybil laughed in the face of danger, and with no family to offer protection, she was like a sitting duck to men with immoral intentions.
Lost in thought regarding Sybil’s troubling situation, Cassandra absently soaped her arms again.
“Why don’t you just ask me?” Benedict’s biceps bulged as he lounged back against the pillows and folded his arms behind his head. “You know you want to.”
“Ask you what? Are you speaking of Sybil and Mr Daventry?”
“No.” Mischief danced in his eyes. “Why don’t you ask me to squeeze into the bathtub so you may ride me in the wild way you love?”
Heat rose to her cheeks. She had spent half an hour trying to tempt a reaction only for him to come straight to the point. There was no use denying what she blatantly wanted. “Ladies are more discreet than gentlemen when it comes to seduction.”
He laughed. “Caressing your body in the tub is hardly considered discreet.”
“Washing and caressing are two entirely different things.”
“Indeed, you’ve washed your body once and teased me a handful of times.” Naked, he climbed out of bed and padded across the room. “Have you thought that I might like to hear you speak salaciously? That I might find it highly arousing to have my wife tell me she wants me to fill her full?”
She arched a coy brow while deliberately soaping her breasts. “You would rather that than me tell you I love you?”
“You’re the love of my life. Every second of the day, I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Making love is a natural way of letting me know that you need me, desire me, love me. You should never be afraid to ask.”
She drank in the sight of his glorious body. “I need you, desire you and love you. I never want to be without you. I love you so much I could burst. But some things are easier to say than others.”
“We’ve spent five years not saying what we mean. Don’t be shy. Not with me.” He moistened his lips and took himself in hand. “Now, what did you want to say?”
Love and lust burned in her veins. She swallowed deeply. “Join with me.”
“I need a little more than that.”
“Let me straddle you in the tub and take you into my body.”
“A little more.”
She moistened her lips. “I don’t think I can last another second without the feel of you thrusting inside me.”
“You see.” He palmed his growing erection and smiled. “Majestic things grow from small beginnings. You taught me that.”