Should he receive the slightest encouragement, a clear sign of her affection, he would break his oath to Sebastian in a heartbeat.
Did that make him a terrible friend?
No, just a man who couldn’t lie to himself anymore.
“Might I ask something of you?” he said when her sobs subsided and the longing reached unbearable heights. “Had you not spoken so boldly in the tower last night, I would not ask.”
She looked up at him with watery eyes. Tears still clung to her lashes, and he knew he lacked the strength to keep his cravings at bay.
“You may ask anything of me, Nicholas.”
He swallowed past the faint flicker of guilt. Her husband deserved her first kiss, not a man whose future lay in tatters. Not a man walking a fine line between life and death.
“Might I take the pins from your hair?”
She blinked in confusion, but nodded as if it were the last request of a dying man. “If it pleases you.”
He pushed his fingers into the silky curls, removing each pin until the golden tendrils fell in waves about her shoulders.
She looked so beautiful it hurt.
“Each hair is like a strand of pure gold. Priceless and breathtaking in its own right.” In those moments before sleep, he had pictured her feathering kisses across his abdomen, her hair tickling his chest.
“You’ve never said so before.”
I’ve told you every time we’ve made love.
Every time he’d imagined plunging into her wetness.
A hundred times or more.
“I’m saying so now.” He captured a curl, and it slipped like silk through his fingers. “I’ve seen it splayed across my pillow many times in my dreams.” The words tumbled heedlessly from his lips.
She sucked in a breath. “You have?”
“As I said last night, I’m more than aware of your assets.”
“Assets?” Her tentative hands came to rest on his chest. “You mean there’s something else you like about me besides my hair?”
He nodded. “Your mouth is equally captivating.” Though one taste of her rosebud lips would never be enough.
They stared at each other.
“As the time for honesty is nigh, and we’re discussing what we find attractive, may I ask something of you?” she said, her voice rich and sensuous.
“I am yours to command.”
He was but a slave to her wants and desires.
She batted her long lashes, but pushed past her obvious nerves. “I’ve spent many nights imagining what you look like beneath your impeccable exterior. Might you satisfy a curiosity? Might you take off your shirt? Just for a moment.”
Though stunned and flattered in equal measure, he didn’t question her logic or complain about the cold. He raised his hands. “Perhaps you might oblige me.”
A slow smile curled her lips. She tugged the fine lawn from his breeches, her fingertips grazing the hard planes of his abdomen as she gathered the material and dragged the garment over his head.
She was bold in her assessment of his physique. “It’s not good to have high expectations, but you’ve never disappointed, Nicholas.” The wonder in her voice mirrored the admiration in her eyes as she splayed her hands on his chest. “You’re so warm, so hard.”
The same might be said for the current state of his cock.