“This is true, but I want to, so why do you seek to put distance between us? Have I done something to offend you?”
Fair questions. “I can’t have distractions in my life.” How could he explain to her when he couldn’t puzzle it out for himself? “The case—cases—I’m working are dissolving like sand beneath my feet, and every time I see you, my mind clouds.” At least that was the truth. “I don’t appreciate it.”
She rolled her eyes. Two red spots of high color decorated her cheeks, a sure indication she was incensed. “Why do you think that is, Inspector?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps I don’t want to.” When he tried to maneuver around her, she put pressure on his chest, effectively holding him captive between her hand and the wall. How had she done that without him being aware? Despite his annoyance, his respect for her grew. She’d come a long way since he’d met her.
“Well, I do.”
“Indeed? Enlighten me, pray tell.” He was acting the beast, but he couldn’t stop it. She set him at odds, had him so wound up it was all he could do not to kiss her right there.
Remarkably, in the face of his ire, the storm of his own making, she remained calm. How? Why would she tolerate him in this mood? Most women would have slapped his face and left the house in a huff. But here she was, staring him down, almost daring him to continue. The dark blue ring around her irises grew more prominent. “You like me.”
“How’s that?” What the devil was she on about? “Preposterous notion.” Though a tremor went down his spine, for she hit too close to the truth.
She scoffed and applied more pressure to his chest. “You care for me in more than the usual fashion of a friend or partner, but you don’t know what to do about it. In fact, the whole problem terrifies you.” The knowing grin she flashed proved the start of his undoing.
If he didn’t put distance between them, the consequences would be dire. “What utter rubbish. Good day, Miss Bancroft.” God, he had to get away lest she discover just how much he wanted her. Desire wasn’t the same as wishing for a wife, and he was much too confused to think that far ahead. William slipped past her and fairly loped down the corridor, with his heart pounding.
The slight tap-slide-tap of her heels on the floor behind him was damning evidence she followed at her slower pace due to her limp. “I never thought you were a coward, William.”
That brought him up short as did the sound of his name in her usually dulcet tones. Thank goodness the corridor was deserted. “I am many things, but a coward is not one of them.”
Or so he thought, until he’d met this petite marvel and his whole world was tipped upside down without his consent.
“No?” She snorted. “Then why have you turned tail to run from the possibility you might have feelings for a woman? For me? Enhanced by a couple of improper kisses that have affected you more than you’d anticipated.” Sadness glimmered in her eyes. She lowered her voice. “Or is it that you’re put off you have them for me, a woman who’s lame, a woman who hasn’t the looks or the charm most ton women should possess? A woman who labors under anxiety like you but has very little choice of outlet.”
Oh God.This was both a nightmare and a fantasy. Despite her magnificent discovery of her backbone, the beginnings of tears welling in her eyes nearly sent him to his knees to beg for her forgiveness. “I don’t… I can’t… I won’t… Aw, Christ.” He couldn’t find his way out of the fog of his thoughts. Perhaps he didn’t want to. The longer he looked at her, the more irritation mixed with the raw, inexplicable desire he had for her. It formed the perfect storm of instability and insanity.
And stark lust.
There was only so much a man could take before he broke, and this was that moment. With a curse beneath his breath, William closed the distance between them, pulled her into his arms, and crushed his mouth to hers. Francesca was as sweet as sin, her petal-soft lips eager, and she welcomed him with the tentative enthusiasm she had on the last two occasions he’d kissed her. The connection they shared, that invisible thread had strengthened between them tightened. No longer could he withstand the waves of need that battered him.
When she made tiny sounds of surrender or encouragement at the back of her throat, William was lost. He wrenched away, his breath labored, his heart hammering behind his ribcage as he took possession of her hand. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going? Are you throwing me out?” How she managed to twine fear and disappointment together in her voice was beyond him, but it drove him closer to the point of no return with alarming quickness.
“No.” He tugged her along the corridor to the next door, which was Andrew’s study, hardly having the patience to account for her limp. There was no chance of being overheard since the family was out on errands. When he urged her inside, he quickly closed the door behind them, took her once more into his embrace, and kissed her so forcefully they crashed against the wooden panel with her snugly trapped between him and the door.
And damn if she didn’t feel good—right—in his arms, as if she alone could prove the balm he’d needed for quite some time.
He couldn’t have enough.
William kissed her, drank from her again and again, dragged his lips along the silky side of her throat while she clung to his shoulders. Too far gone to give thought to what he was doing, he yanked down her bodice, and when the perfect globes of her breasts were bared, he took one in hand while taking the nipple of the other into his mouth.
“Oh.” A shuddering sigh escaped her. She arched her back, putting herself more securely into his care. “Oh, William, I…” Her words were lost to a moan as he pleasured those pebbled tips with tongue and teeth and fingers.
She was both a respite from the storm and the very eye of it, and no matter where she was located, he felt battered and safe just the same.
“I need more of you,” he whispered against the crook of her shoulder as he slid a hand down her side and then gathered handfuls of her skirting.
“I haven’t tried to beg off yet,” she responded in an equally soft and throaty voice.
He growled and kissed her again, shared breath with her, wanted to show his possession so she’d tell the viscount she didn’t want him. When he’d bunched a good bulk of her skirts between them, he eased his hands beneath the layers of fabric to clutch the rounded curves of her buttocks. A surprised squeal came from her, and the sound made him grin. Oh, she was an innocent, but tempting, indeed.
He desperately needed her. “Tell me you want me, Francesca, for I won’t have you crying foul that I took you against your will.” Already, his prick pulsed with pain-tipped pleasure. He’d explode soon and embarrass himself if she declined.
But the damned woman looked up at him with passion-drugged eyes and kiss-swollen lips, and he knew. The same need etched upon her features fired through his blood. “I want you, William. Right now, in this moment, show me what it’s like to have a man desire me so much he can’t control himself. Let me experience what other women take for granted.”