“What does that have to do with me?”
“After a couple of months, I realized what I was doing and stopped. I was drinking with Adams and another friend when I decided it would be best if I didn’t have another woman until I married.”
“That was your vow?” she whispered incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you press me to become your mistress?”
“I thought you would be insulted and possibly scared off. That way you would go back to the estate.” He sighed. “It was a rather insane plan.”
“No more than me accepting, thinking you would back down.”
He turned and looked back at her. She had scampered back against the headboard and covered herself with a pillow. He hated the vulnerable look he saw in her amber eyes. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, Tia. I never wanted to do that.”
She nodded, but a lone tear fell down her cheek.
Staring back at her, he knew he had to make this right. But he had no idea what to do. “Can you forgive me?”
Again she nodded.
“Do you want me? Is that why you tried to seduce me?” This was a dangerous conversation.
“Yes,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her.
“Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?”
“Yes.”
“You do?”
A slow smile brought her lips upward. “Far more than you think I do. When you were in the throes of your fever, you also had a hallucination. A very erotic hallucination.”
He cringed. “Did I say some things I shouldn’t have in front of you?”
“You did far more than that.”
“Well, you must tell me,” he demanded.
“Very well. You reached for a certain hard part of your body and stroked yourself while imagining it was my mouth on you.”
“Hell,” he muttered. “Did I?”
“Yes, calling my name.”
“Bloody hell.” Her fingers skimmed up his back. God, when had she moved?
“So tell me, if I did that right now, would that be breaking your vow?”
She wanted to . . . Lord. “No,” he said before even considering the question. He wanted her mouth on him so badly he would have said anything.
She wrapped her arms around his chest and softly kissed his neck. She slid her hands down his chest to the buttons on his trousers. He should stop her. But the idea of her fingers or her mouth on his cock almost made him come. Once she had his trousers unbuttoned, she moved off the bed to face him.
“Please take that gown off,” he whispered. “I want to see all of you.”
“Very well.” She turned her back to him. “I will need some assistance.”
He rose off the bed and then unbuttoned her dress and skimmed it down over her body. With shaking hands, he untied her stays until they dropped to the floor. He was never going to be able to do this. Desire for her drummed through his body, making his shaft stiffen even more.