Dangerous Masquerade (Regency Masquerade)

Ria wasn’t sure what to say to that. She shifted slightly, and he let her go. She looked at him, then frowned, still not sure how to interpret the expression on his face.

“Even before I read them, I’d realized I was a fool. That you were honest, generous, and courageous and that you’d have very good reasons for your behavior.”

Stunned into silence, Ria could only look at him. Then, unsure what to say, and feeling unaccountably nervous, she finished clearing up. Now silent, Luc helped her.

Just as they’d finished, Ria inhaled sharply and raised a hand to her lips to stifle her gasp. She hadn’t considered where Luc was to sleep. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before. They were alone in the cottage. She darted a quick glance at him, remembering the expression on his face earlier. Surely he wouldn’t expect to sleep with her?

Once again his smooth, deep voice caused her to start as he asked, a small smile on his lips, “Have you thought about where I am to sleep tonight?”

He obviously had. And he must have realized what she’d been thinking.

“If you wish, I can sleep down here. The chaise lounge looks comfortable. Or…” Luc held out his hand. Ria looked at it, then at him. There was now no trace of the smile on his lips. He was very serious. Almost beseeching.

She still didn’t know what he wanted. Were they still to be married? She should have asked him before but hadn’t dared. Despite what he’d said, she didn’t know what his answer would be. Nothing he’d said indicated that he loved her.

But she might never have this opportunity again…

Ria was reminded of the masquerade, when she’d made a conscious choice to walk over a threshold. Her life had been changed forever.

If she made that choice again, what effect would it have? Dare she take the chance? A question he’d asked her once before echoed in her mind—what is the harm? She didn’t know the answer to that question, but she did know that this is what she wanted.

Ria took his hand in hers and led him upstairs.

32

In the flickering light of the bedchamber fire, they silently undressed each other. Luc helped her with her gown, and Ria undid his shirt.

The snow had created a cocoon of silence, broken only by the occasional crackle and spit of wood in the hearth and the sound of their breathing.

He picked her up in his arms and laid her down on the bed, treating her as if she was the most precious, fragile object in the world.

As her back made contact with the bed, she relaxed and closed her eyes. With her eyes shut, her other senses were intensified. The room smelt of the beeswax she had used to polish the wooden floorboards and the dried lavender and rosemary the freshly laundered linen had been stored with.

He covered her with his warm body, bringing with him the aroma of citrus. His hands as he caressed h

er body were warm and soft. His touch on her skin brought the sparks back to life. They began to sizzle and dance along her nerves.

He gently nibbled her lips. When he sucked her bottom lip, Ria melted.

Reaching up, she stroked his broad shoulders. Even more intoxicating than the kiss itself was the effect her touch had on him. As she caressed him, she could feel his whole body shivering. Pulling him to her, she urged him to deepen the kiss.

She sighed as he began to stroke her breasts, then gasped when he turned his attention to her nipples. For an age he focused on her breasts and then began to nibble and lick his way down her body. Then back up again.

She whimpered and her leg jumped when he licked a particularly sensitive spot near her knee.

As he parted her legs and settled between them, she arched up to meet him, and when he penetrated she almost purred with pleasure.

Breathing deeply to gain control, she slowly lifted her knees higher. She suppressed a sob at the intensity of the feeling this change in position caused.

His slow, deeper strokes, his pressing against her, increased the intimacy, and that made the pleasure so much greater. The sensations evoked were the most powerful yet, and she couldn’t stop from crying out.

Ria felt her body quicken, then the sparks inside her danced and shattered, stronger, longer, more intensely than ever before.

As Ria drifted back down to earth, her arms crept around his back.

“I love you,” she whispered. “And I will never let you go.”

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