Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels #7) by Lisa Kleypas

Undressing with deliberate slowness, Keir let her look her fill, allowing her plenty of time to change her mind. When he was fully naked, he turned to face her.

Merritt’s gaze traveled over him from head to toe, lingering briefly at his groin. Her eyes widened, and a tide of deep pink swept over her face.

Keir regarded her with a faint, wry smile as he approached her. “Merry … you’ve already given me the best night of my life. I could ask for nothing more.” He lifted a hand to caress her cheek. “If you’ve second thoughts, I’ll go now with a blessing on my lips.”

She turned her face to nudge a smile into his palm, and said, “Don’t even think of leaving. I’m only a little nervous, that’s all.”

Keir was almost shocked by the rush of tenderness he felt. “No, dinna be nervous with me.” He took her against him, nestling her to his chest. “I would never harm you. You’re safer in my arms than anywhere outside them.” He caressed her shining dark hair, and ran his fingertips over her cheek and the neat curve of her ear. Her skin gleamed like a pearl in the light. “We dinna have to rush at it headlong,” he murmured. “There’s time enough to take it slow.”

Merritt was still blushing, but to his delight, she glanced up at him with a little flirting grin. “You just said you were going to throw a leg over and start the bed to banging.”

“I was trying to scare you off,” he admitted. “For your own good.”

“You could never scare me. I know what kind of man you are.”

“Do you, now?” Keir asked, his breath shortening as he felt her small hands beginning to wander over him.

“You’d never use your strength to take advantage of someone weaker. And you’re more of a romantic than you’d like to admit, which is why you feel guilty for sleeping with me. But you’re going to do it anyway, because it’s been a long time since you shared a bed with anyone … and you want me.”

God, how he wanted her. It was the most delicious sensation of Keir’s life, standing there naked with her inquisitive fingers traveling shyly over him. He could barely think over the thumping of his heart. “What makes you say it’s been a long time?”

“Just a guess.” Merritt glanced up at him, her eyes sparkling. “Am I wrong?”

Keir’s breath caught as she drew her palms over his backside.

“No’ about that,” he admitted, his eyes half closing. Her touch was almost too pleasurable to bear. “I live on an island, ye ken, where gossip never closes its wings. If there were a lass I tried to sneak up to a hayloft I’d soon find myself at the end of her father’s twenty-bore.” He paused as he felt her chuckle into the mat of hair on his chest. “But there is something you’re wrong about.”

“Oh?”

“I dinna feel guilty about bedding you.” He bent to her lips, shaping them with a long, searing kiss until they clung and trembled. His voice thickened slightly as he continued. “I wouldnae bide the night with you just because I’ve gone lang without a lass. I’ll stay because for the rest of my life, I want a memory of you to keep me warm on a cold night.” He took her sweet mouth again, his fingers spreading over her back, her hips, as he molded her closer against him. The feel of her—all those deep feminine curves contained in stays and laces and layers of cotton—nearly drove him mad. As he sent his tongue deeper, the silky warmth of her was so satisfying he couldn’t restrain a groan of pleasure.

He lifted her to the bed and climbed in after her. A fine bed it was, made of cast iron and brass, with posts as thick as his wrist. It was so sturdy, it didn’t creak beneath his weight. Experimentally he stretched out on it full-length.

Merritt propped up on her elbows and glanced over him. “You have very large …” She hesitated. “… feet.”

Keir turned on his side to face her, a smile tugging at his lips. “That I do.” He reached out to play with the lace trim at the neckline of her bodice. “Do you like a man with large feet?”

Her blush deepened until even her ears were red. “I’m not sure,” she said, flustered, and his smile deepened.

“I’ll be gentle,” he promised, “every moment. As if you were a wee dove resting in my hands.” He let his fingertips follow the lace to her shoulder. “What kind of shirt is this?”

“It’s not a shirt, it’s … a corset cover. To keep things smooth beneath the dress. It’s difficult to unfasten, there’s a—”

“No, dinna tell me. I’d rather find out for myself.”

Keir found a row of tiny hooks that started beneath her arm and went down her side to her waist, and he undid them one by one. Eventually he eased the garment over her head and tossed it aside. He continued to undress her, gently rolling her body this way and that as he hunted for miniature unseen fastenings. Merritt was quiet except for an occasional gasp as Keir paused to caress newly revealed places … the curve of a knee … the taut shape of a calf … little pink toes.

He eased her drawers down, revealing smoothly muscled thighs and a firm, round bottom. From years of horseback riding, he guessed, recalling she’d grown up on a hunting estate. The thought of how it might feel to have her straddle him, the grip of her thighs as she rode him, made him dizzy with lust. He caressed her legs, fondling his way up to the small triangle of neatly trimmed curls. Although he was dying to play with them, he continued to browse over her, marveling at the beautiful curves, the fine skin. Everywhere, her body was sweet from bath soap and touches of perfume.