Mastering the Marquess Read Online Free PDF Page B

staring down at her, as if such a thing were possible through the thick mask. “I am not being paid. Ruby asked me for a favor and I agreed—no, don’t move your hand. It was a favor I am delighted to fulfill. I am not doing this for any reason except that I want to. And I do not deflower virgins. Never have. Well, maybe once, but I was barely more than a boy, and never trusted that she spoke the truth.”
    “Oh.” Her voice was very small. She moved her fingers down to his wrist and then up to his shoulder. His arms were so different from her own. The lower part, the forearm, was covered with those rough but soft dark hairs. They grew sparser as she proceeded up his arm, until near the shoulder there were hardly any. And his upper arm. It looked almost as if he’d stuffed a largish ball beneath the skin. She could not even reach about it with both her hands. She formed an almost-meeting cuff about his arm and then stroked downward. His body shook as she passed the tender skin of his inner elbow, then moved down to his wrist. Here she could shackle him, wrap her fingers tight. And up again and down. She loved how his flesh moved beneath her, how his whole body responded to her every move.
    She pulled his arm up, rested his palm upon her shoulder and laid her cheek against his wrist, and then his forearm. The hair here was softer than on his chest, although the skin was less like velvet. Not in a bad way. It was merely a little rougher, had seen the elements of a few more days. She liked the feel of it.
    She turned her face into his arm, rubbing her lips against him. She moved upward, stopping at the inner fold of elbow. The skin was slightly damp, salty. She let her tongue slip out. Tasted. Nipped.
    He jerked back. “God, woman.”
    “Did I do something wrong? I thought … I am sorry.” Her chin dropped, just when she’d thought she understood.
    He reached out, and after missing once by inches, laid his palm upon her cheek. “No, I should be sorry. You did nothing wrong. In fact you did things very right. I was just not expecting … Let us leave it at that I was not expecting you to do that. But it was all right. In fact, it was very all right. I liked it. It brought me pleasure. It was merely unexpected.”
    “Oh.” She looked at the slight mark her teeth had left upon his skin, barely visible. With care she reached out and touched his skin, running her fingers over the slight redness. “Then can I kiss it better? Taste you again?”
    “Be careful or you will unman me. I fear Ruby knew me better than I know myself.”
    “I don’t know what you mean, but is that a yes?”
    He held his arm out to her, waiting for her to bring her lips to it again.
    She complied, tasting, licking, rubbing her cheek, her lips against him, delighting in how different this was from anything that she had ever experienced.
    Madame had been so right about the mask. With nobody watching it meant she was free. She could do whatever she liked and nobody would ever know. Well, he would—but somehow it was different without his eyes upon her.
    And that brought a thought to her mind. “Can I see your …”
    “You can see whatever you desire, my sweet.” His arms dropped, his thumbs hooking over the low waistband of his loose trousers.
    She found her courage. “Can I see your—your back?”
    “My back. Of course—she wants to see my back.” A long, deep laugh filled the room.

Chapter Four
    The woman wanted to see his back. God, this was torture. How slowly did she expect him to go? He wanted her hands on him—on all of him. And her lips. When she’d nipped his inner elbow he’d almost lost his composure. And she’d had no idea, no idea what thoughts lips on flesh put in a man’s mind. And the nip. The feel of her teeth. A single bite and he’d been ready to let go.
    And she hadn’t understood at all, thought she’d displeased him.
    When the truth was so different.
    He had to watch every word he said, every action he