As the Devil Dares (Capturing the Carlisles #3)(72)
His chest clenched hollowly at the sight of her, so vulnerable and delicate, so undeniably alluring, even sitting in the middle of the floor. He remembered the spicy-sweet taste of her on his lips and the softness of her curves pressed against his hard body as much as he remembered the way she’d held and comforted Polly at the school, her concern for her sister, her affection for his mother and niece…He’d never met a more complicated and intriguing woman in his life.
He couldn’t hide the husky rasp of his voice as he answered, “Because I couldn’t help myself.”
From across the room, he felt her catch her breath, so connected was he to this woman and every move she made.
“When we were in the garden,” she whispered, her gaze not leaving his, “you said you wanted me.”
“Yes,” he admitted quietly. There was no point in denying it.
“But you don’t.”
His brow lifted. “Oh, I think I do.”
“No,” she argued in whispers. “You want the partnership.”
“So do you,” he countered quietly. “Why is that wrong?”
Her cheeks darkened self-consciously in the shadows, but she didn’t look away. Nor did she deny wanting him, and his heart thumped hopefully at that.
“Because you also want…tonight.”
“So do you,” he repeated in a low drawl.
She hesitated, and in that moment’s pause, she proved him correct, which pleased him far more than he wanted to admit.
“I do want the partnership,” he explained quietly, the resolve inside him to possess it as fierce as ever. “I will continue to pursue it no matter what happens between us.” His gaze held hers, refusing to let her look away. “But make no mistake, Mariah, about how much I also want you.”
Blinking, she asked with utter bewilderment, “Why?”
He bit back a tender laugh. Only Mariah would ask that question.
A grin he wasn’t able to quash tugged at his lips. “I shouldn’t. You’re the last woman in the world I should find alluring. Stubborn and challenging, far too intelligent for her own good, a woman who doesn’t know her place—”
“Thank you,” she drawled dryly with a peeved sniff.
“Yet I find myself drawn to you precisely because you’re that challenging and intelligent woman who doesn’t know her place.” His gaze dropped to her luscious mouth. “And I know you want me as much as I want you.”
Her lips parted delicately at his audacity, and she stared at him, for once speechless.
“I’m a rakehell, remember? I know women, and I know you most of all.” Sweet Lucifer, she was breathtaking as she stared up at him, stunned into flustered silence. Never…never had he seen a more beautiful woman. “I’ve held you in my arms and felt the way you’ve craved my kiss. I’ve felt your pulse race beneath my lips when I kissed your throat and the panting of your breath when you pressed against me. And when I dared to touch you in the garden, I felt how much you wanted me. That’s why I’m here, Mariah.” His gaze swept over her, greedily drinking in the enticing sight of her. She trembled beneath his boldness, and his gut burned at the desire he saw in her. “To finish what we started.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. They held each other’s gaze across the dimly lit room, and the silence around them was interrupted only by the pounding rush of blood through his ears. Outside, the snow continued to fall and blanket the city, further muting the noise of the night and cocooning them together in the soft shadows cast by the stove’s coals.
As he stared at her, his thoughts roiled in a mess of doubts and uncertainties. The affections he held for her went beyond the merely physical—they had become a longing to be with her in every way. He wanted Mariah in his arms, wanted to erase the confusion inside him with her kisses and soft touches. He wanted to take solace in wrapping her body around his and melding together, losing himself in her kindness and comfort.
He prayed to God that she wanted the same.
“Yes,” she whispered, the single word of permission tearing through him with the force of a lightning bolt.
He reached for the door and flipped the lock.
*
Mariah caught her breath as Robert stalked across the office toward her.
She scrambled to her feet. The tension between them was so strong that she found it impossible to sit still, and nervous excitement swept through her, making her tremble. But she didn’t back away, not when he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Not when his mouth descended upon hers in a kiss filled with such tenderness and heated promise that she whimpered beneath the intensity of it.
“If you don’t want this, say so now, Mariah.” He cupped her face against his palm. As his lips nibbled at her ear, his thumb traced over her bottom lip, already hot and moist from his mouth on hers. Each word flamed a primal longing inside her. “Stop me before I lose control completely over you.”
“I won’t stop you,” she breathed, her voice too full of desire and anticipation to speak any louder. “I want tonight…with you.”
He scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to a small room at the top of the building, where a simple, narrow bed waited.
With a thin mattress over an old rope-strung frame and scratchy wool blankets, the bed was used on those nights when her father or Mr. Ledford worked too late into the evening to travel home. But as Robert lowered her onto the bed and followed down over her, kissing her hungrily as she ran her trembling fingers anxiously through the soft hair at his nape, Mariah couldn’t imagine a more special place.