Suddenly You(54)

“There must have been some part of Gemma’s book that you liked.” Removing her shoes, he dropped them to the carpeted floor. “Something that intrigued you…that excited you.”

She jumped a little as she felt his hands clasp her ankles and slide up to her garters. The bands were untied with a few deft twists. Jack rolled down her silk stockings one at a time, pausing to stroke the firm curves of her calves. His fingertips tickled the susceptive places behind her knees, causing her legs to twitch in pleasured reaction.

“I would hardly tell you such things,” she protested with a choked laugh. “Besides, I didn’t like any part of that dreadful book.”

“Oh, yes, you did,” he said softly. “And you are going to tell me, peaches. After all we’ve shared so far, a fantasy or two won’t be that difficult.”

She hedged. “You tell me yours first.”

He closed his hands around her ankles, pulling her toward him. “I have fantasies that involve every part of you. Your hair, your mouth and br**sts…even your feet.”

“My feet?” She jolted in reaction as she felt his thumbs stroke over her arches, soothing away little knots of tension. He placed her foot on the front of his trousers, right where a thick, heavy ridge strained against the blend of wool and broadcloth. The heat of his body saturated the fabric and seemed to scorch the sole of her foot, and her toes curled in automatic reaction.

Feeling embarrassed and aroused, Amanda peeked at him through her lashes, and saw the hint of playfulness in his devil-blue eyes. She snatched her foot away and heard him laugh. Then he removed the rest of his clothes and let them rustle to the floor. The room became quiet, except for the crackle of the little fire in the hearth. Amanda risked a shy glance at the bare male form in front of her, and her gaze was riveted by the sight. The interplay of darkness and firelight threw every detail of him into stark relief, all muscle and golden skin and intimate shadows, and long, sinewy lines that conveyed both elegance and power. She had not imagined that someone could be so comfortable with his own nakedness, and yet he stood before her as easily as if he were fully dressed. His body was aroused, a gloriously masculine flaunting of desire that he made no effort to conceal. As Amanda stared at him, a low, coursing pleasure filled her limbs. She had never wanted anything in her life as she did in this moment…to feel the heavy na**d weight of his body over hers, to feel his breath pelt her skin and his hands grasp and guide her.

“Now you’ve seen a completely na**d man,” Jack said. “What do you think?”

She moistened her dry lips with her tongue. “I think that thirty years is too long to have waited for this.”

He reached around her and unfastened the back of her gown. The smell of his skin, warm and slightly salty, gave her the same slightly dizzy feeling she sometimes had when she had drunk her wine too quickly. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, her fingertips tingling from the hard, satiny texture of him.

Gently he eased her to the floor and pushed the loosened dress downward until she stepped out of it. Left in her light corset and chemise and drawers, Amanda edged away from him with an abashed murmur.

“Jack…” She went to the washstand and poured some steaming water into a painted earthenware bowl. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting behind the dressing screen,” she said without looking at him, “I need a moment of privacy.”

He came up behind her, his hands settling at her waist. “Let me help you.”

“No, no,” she said in a sudden paroxysm of embarrassment. “If you’ll just go over there…I’ll manage by myself.”

But he hushed her with a kiss and ignored her protests while unfastening her corset and stripping away her undergarments. Flushing deeply, Amanda forced herself to hold still as he gazed at her body. She was well aware of her defects: legs that should have been longer, h*ps that were too wide, a stomach that was not quite flat. But as Jack stared at her, a visible pulse appeared in his throat, and his hand shook slightly when he touched the undercurve of her breast. One might have thought he were beholding a goddess instead of a thirty-year-old spinster. “Damn, how I want you,” he said, his voice rasping in his throat. “I could eat you alive.”

She puzzled over the baffling and somewhat alarming statement. “Please don’t try to claim that I am beautiful. We both know that is not the case.”

Jack soaked a linen cloth in the hot water and wrung it out, then gently cleansed her inner thighs. To her mortification, he bade her place a foot on a nearby chair, thereby exposing herself more fully to his ministrations. “Every man has his own preferences,” he said. The cloth was rinsed and soaked again, and he placed it directly between her thighs, so that the heat eased the soreness caused by their encounter in the carriage. “You happen to fulfill all of mine.”

Amanda leaned forward until her cheek rested against his bare shoulder, relaxing against his invitingly warm body. “You prefer short women with large hips?” she asked skeptically.

His free hand coasted over the generous shape of her bu**ocks, and she felt him smile against her cheek. “I prefer everything about you. The way you feel beneath my hands, the way you taste…every curve and valley. But as much as I desire your body, your most attractive feature is here.” He tapped her temple with his fingertip. “You fascinate me,” he murmured. “You always have. You are the most original, challenging woman I have ever encountered. I’ve wanted to take you to bed from the first moment I saw you on your front doorstep.”