Miranda rolled off the bed and stood beside it. She thought for a moment, then reached up, unbuttoned her dress, and let it fall to the floor. Her undergarments followed, and Miranda felt a moment of panic as Daniel turned and looked up at her.
She thought he was going to change his mind. She thought that his willpower was stronger than his desire for her. She needn’t have worried. He moved over on the bed so she’d be against his uninjured side, flipped the covers back out of the way, and invited her to join him.
“I won’t make you any promises,” he said.
“I don’t remember asking for any,” she retorted.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked, allowing her another opportunity to change her mind.
Miranda nodded. “Are you?”
Daniel gave her a dazzling smile. “At this moment, I want to make love to you more than I want to breathe.”
“Then shut up and do it.”
He patted the mattress. “Won’t you come in?”
Miranda slipped between the sheets and Daniel enfolded her into his arms.
“I’m not sure what to do,” she admitted, staring into his face, meeting his gaze. “Where to begin …”
Daniel traced the contour of her bottom lip with the tip of his finger. “I generally start with kisses.” He followed his words with action, lightly covering her lips with his, teasing and tempting her to relax. “Why don’t we try a few kisses and see where they lead?”
“Lie back against the pillows,” Miranda suggested.
Daniel arched an eyebrow in query.
“And let me kiss you,” she finished, gently pushing him back against the pillows, leaning over to kiss him. “You’re quite good at it already. I need to practice.” She smiled a naughty little smile. “Besides, you’re an injured man. You need your rest.”
“Practice all you like.” Daniel followed her suggestion and made himself comfortable against the pillows while Miranda leaned over him and experimented with a wide variety of kissing techniques designed to drive him out of his mind.
Daniel groaned his pleasure against her mouth as Miranda knelt above him. He felt the brush of her bare breasts against his chest and shuddered with the effort it took to keep from rolling her onto her back and burying himself inside her, or to keep from framing her hips with his hands and guiding her down until she settled herself upon his hard length.
For all her experimentation, she was, as far as he knew, still very much a virgin who deserved tender consideration and gentlemanly restraint.
But Miranda was pushing him to the limits of his endurance. She nibbled his bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth before slowly releasing it in order to lave it with the tip of her tongue.
“Miranda.” He breathed her name.
She cradled his face between her hands. “Do you want me, Daniel?”
“Very much,” he answered.
“Then take what you want,” she offered. “But don’t make love to me as the Duke of Sussex. Make love to me as Daniel Sussex. Without holding back. Without restraint.”
For a moment, he thought she’d read his mind, but Daniel looked into her eyes, recognized the emotion shining in them, and realized Miranda was offering him an incredible gift of herself. He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulled her closer, and kissed her with a passion he hadn’t realized he possessed.
His desire for her seemed to engulf him until she was all he could see or hear, taste, touch, or smell. The scent of the soap she’d used in the bath enticed him to explore all her tiny nooks and crannies and learn all her secret places. He combed his fingers through her hair, over her shoulders, down her back, along the curve of her spine, to her hips.
The soft caress of his fingers on her skin sent shivers coursing through her, and Miranda warmed to his touch. When he placed his hands on her hips and guided her toward him, there was no holding back.
She followed, carefully straddling his lean hips, balking only when he urged her to move up his torso instead of down. “This can’t be right …” Miranda frowned down at him.
He laughed. “There are no rules, Miranda. No restraint. No holding back. We can do whatever gives us pleasure. And this will give us both great pleasure.”
She hesitated, still unsure. “If you’re certain …”
“I’m certain,” he said. “For I’m the man who has wanted to do this with you almost from the day I met you. Trust me.” Moving his hands from her hips, Daniel cupped her bottom and pulled her toward him, up his chest until his hot breath caressed the tight curls at the juncture of her thighs and her bottom rested against the front of his shoulders. He skimmed his hands over her thighs, spreading her legs a bit wider, pressing her forward, tilting her pelvis and adjusting the angle so that he might lie back amongst the pillows—as she’d suggested—and pleasure them both.