To Tame a Dangerous Lord (Courtship Wars 5)

“I knew your body was incredibly lovely,” he murmured.

Then he stepped closer and reached up to lightly clasp her bare shoulders. Further surprising her, he guided her to the cheval glass in one corner of the bedchamber and turned her to face her reflection.

Rayne stood behind her, watching her in the mirror. “As I said, incredibly lovely.”

Madeline wished she could believe him. She wanted to be lovely and feminine and all the things she was not.

Without waiting for her contradiction, Rayne reached up to her hair and pulled out the pins from the tight knot she wore at her nape, then smoothed out the tresses so that they fell loose and shining around her shoulders.

“I have wanted to do this since the first time I met you,” Rayne asserted, his voice a deep, husky sound. “You should wear your hair down more often, sweeting. This style softens your features.”

Madeline had to agree with him. The luminous light in the bedchamber helped as well. The play of firelight caught the lighter strands of gold amid the brown of her hair and danced over her pale skin, giving it a rosy cast.

“You forget,” she replied her own voice a husky rasp, “that companions are in no position to indulge their vanity, nor are teachers for that matter. Nor can they risk being taken for lightskirts.”

“True. But countesses may do as they please in the privacy of their own bedchambers … and they should do as their husbands please.”

At his provocative declaration, Madeline arched an eyebrow. “Is pleasing you a requirement for being your wife?”

The slight gust of his laughter stirred the hair at her temple. “My first inclination is to say ‘yes,’ but I know better than to make any demands of you, sweet Madeline. And I have no doubt you will please me willingly all on your own.”

She felt Rayne’s hot gaze on her bare breasts at the same time he wrapped his arms around her from behind. When he cupped her fullness in his hands, her lips parted wordlessly.

As she watched, his knowing fingers fanned over the swelling mounds, then closed to tease the tight peaks, coaxing a response low in her belly and making her shiver with delight.

Yet it was Rayne’s look that left her unable to breathe. Under his intense gaze, she actually felt beautiful for the first time in her life.

Her pulse was pounding wildly by now. Even so, Madeline strove to school her own features, afraid all her emotions would be painfully obvious to Rayne. It was difficult to conceal that constant heart-in-the-throat feeling when she looked at him. But it was impossible to hide the desire that was written clearly on her face. Her body was already aching for his touch. She yearned to feel Rayne holding her in his strong arms, kissing her, taking her….

As if sensing her need, Rayne left off fondling her breasts. Instead of gratifying her silent wish, however, he seemed intent on merely tantalizing her further. Lifting her hair, he kissed her nape, then trailed his lips over every inch of her bare shoulders.

Languorous heat was flooding Madeline’s veins and suffusing her limbs with liquid heaviness by the time he brushed one last brief kiss on her shoulder. When he stepped back, she didn’t know whether she was more disappointed that he was no longer bent on arousing her, or excited that he was proceeding to the next step of the consummation.

Both, perhaps, she thought as he removed his coat. Yet excitement won out as Rayne locked gazes with her.

“You should help me undress, wife. I want you to become intimately familiar with my body.”

He never took his eyes off her as she obliged. With trembling fingers, Madeline helped him remove his waistcoat and cravat and shirt. Rayne sat in a chair to remove his pumps and breeches and stockings, but when he stood and turned to face her in all his naked splendor, Madeline could barely do more than breathe.

“You have beautiful eyes,” he murmured, breaking the rapt silence.

“So do you,” she replied truthfully if distractedly.

Indeed, Rayne was beautiful everywhere. Wantonly, irresistibly so. He was six feet and several inches of masculine perfection.

She was almost startled by his sheer maleness … the width of his shoulders, the breadth of his chest, the power and thickness of his thighs, the novelty of his bare loins. Madeline stared hungrily at Rayne as flames and shadows played upon his magnificent body, painfully aware of the urge to reach out and touch him.

With an indulgent smile, Rayne took the decision from her.

“Come to bed with me, love,” he urged, skimming his fingers down her arm to capture her hand.

Leading her to the high, canopied bed, he turned down the covers, then lay back among the pillows, holding out his hand in an invitation for her to join him. Madeline hesitated, though, admiring the lithe grace of his large body yet assaulted by a fresh attack of nerves.

Rayne’s expression was one of amused patience. He grasped her hand again and tugged her up onto the bed with him, so that she was kneeling beside him. “No

missishness allowed, remember?”

Reminding herself that he had promised her connubial bliss, Madeline found her voice. “What should I do?” she asked more steadily.