unpleasant speculation.
A rather explicit image popped into his head. Him covering her, thrusting into her, while she held him tight against her naked body.
Good God. Had he gone mad?
“And yet, not family.” She adjusted her shawl.
“If not family, then fast friends.” Dane had the oddest conviction that he’d somehow stepped out of time and that now nothing was familiar to him.
Not his childhood home. Not this terrace or the garden he’d grown up with. Not even Philippa, who he admired as a friend.
“Yes,” she said, tightening her hand on his arm. “We are friends, aren’t we? Lifelong friends.” They stopped at the furthest edge of the terrace. She took a deep breath of the night air.
Dane who, by coincidence, happened to be looking down, saw the swell of her breasts against her neckline. In his out-of-place mood, he thought of sex.
With Philippa. And that sent another jolt of heat through him.
Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 8
CHAPTER 2
Jesus. He’d gone mad. Thank God she had her eyes closed because he was still looking and thinking thoughts that ought not be in his head.
She lifted her hands toward the night sky. “It is lovely out, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He clasped his hands behind his back and tried to ignore his so awkward awareness of her as a woman instead of as Philippa, who, in the pages of her letters to him, had often possessed no gender at all.
The bodice of her gown was green satin with a matching bow beneath her bosom and two wide, tasseled ribbons hanging down to nearly to the hem of her white muslin skirts. Her slippers matched the green. The hue complemented her hair and eyes. As for the bare skin on display, well, in London he’d learned he was a man who admired a woman’s bosom. Maybe that explained his plunge into madness. Long legs were nice, of course, but to have one’s eyes and hands and mouth engaged with a woman’s breasts, there was his particular notion of sensual paradise.
What he could see of Philippa’s breasts was very nice.
“My lord?”
“Mm?”
She tapped his arm with her fan. “Gathering wool, Alec?” Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 9
He tore his gaze from her chest and his thoughts from the bedroom in which he had privately ensconced them while he undressed her. She was too polite to let on if she’d noticed him leering at her like some satyr from the forest deep. “I beg your pardon.” He cleared his throat. “Lost in the clouds, I suppose.”
“Did I see you speaking to Captain Bancroft earlier?” The crack of her fan opening startled him.
Captain Bancroft was the man she was going to marry. “Yes,” he said carefully. “We did speak.”
Inside, the servants were putting out the candles and lamps that had made the ballroom blaze, so their spot on the terrace was slowly receding into darkness. She glanced toward the roses. “To think I held you in my arms when you were hardly three weeks old. I was six, and so proud to be allowed to hold the baby.”
Yes, he thought with immense relief. This was exactly the direction their conversation needed to take. Talk of him in nappies and his hair all curls. “Did you ever imagine I would turn out as I have?” She faced him, her expression serious. Composed. How had he never noticed her mouth before? Such a lovely, soft mouth. “I’ve loved you since that day,” she said. She was so sure of herself. So certain that her opinion held weight and consequence. She was right, of course. He cared very much what she thought.
He found that attractive, this confidence of hers. In fact, he’d sought that very quality in the lovers he’d taken. The few there’d been. Dane was certain Philippa would be confident in his arms. She would do exactly as she wished, convinced she was entitled to her pleasure, too. God save him from women who merely accepted.
Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 10
Her shawl slid off her shoulders, and she brought the ends forward so more of the material hung from the
A rather explicit image popped into his head. Him covering her, thrusting into her, while she held him tight against her naked body.
Good God. Had he gone mad?
“And yet, not family.” She adjusted her shawl.
“If not family, then fast friends.” Dane had the oddest conviction that he’d somehow stepped out of time and that now nothing was familiar to him.
Not his childhood home. Not this terrace or the garden he’d grown up with. Not even Philippa, who he admired as a friend.
“Yes,” she said, tightening her hand on his arm. “We are friends, aren’t we? Lifelong friends.” They stopped at the furthest edge of the terrace. She took a deep breath of the night air.
Dane who, by coincidence, happened to be looking down, saw the swell of her breasts against her neckline. In his out-of-place mood, he thought of sex.
With Philippa. And that sent another jolt of heat through him.
Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 8
CHAPTER 2
Jesus. He’d gone mad. Thank God she had her eyes closed because he was still looking and thinking thoughts that ought not be in his head.
She lifted her hands toward the night sky. “It is lovely out, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He clasped his hands behind his back and tried to ignore his so awkward awareness of her as a woman instead of as Philippa, who, in the pages of her letters to him, had often possessed no gender at all.
The bodice of her gown was green satin with a matching bow beneath her bosom and two wide, tasseled ribbons hanging down to nearly to the hem of her white muslin skirts. Her slippers matched the green. The hue complemented her hair and eyes. As for the bare skin on display, well, in London he’d learned he was a man who admired a woman’s bosom. Maybe that explained his plunge into madness. Long legs were nice, of course, but to have one’s eyes and hands and mouth engaged with a woman’s breasts, there was his particular notion of sensual paradise.
What he could see of Philippa’s breasts was very nice.
“My lord?”
“Mm?”
She tapped his arm with her fan. “Gathering wool, Alec?” Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 9
He tore his gaze from her chest and his thoughts from the bedroom in which he had privately ensconced them while he undressed her. She was too polite to let on if she’d noticed him leering at her like some satyr from the forest deep. “I beg your pardon.” He cleared his throat. “Lost in the clouds, I suppose.”
“Did I see you speaking to Captain Bancroft earlier?” The crack of her fan opening startled him.
Captain Bancroft was the man she was going to marry. “Yes,” he said carefully. “We did speak.”
Inside, the servants were putting out the candles and lamps that had made the ballroom blaze, so their spot on the terrace was slowly receding into darkness. She glanced toward the roses. “To think I held you in my arms when you were hardly three weeks old. I was six, and so proud to be allowed to hold the baby.”
Yes, he thought with immense relief. This was exactly the direction their conversation needed to take. Talk of him in nappies and his hair all curls. “Did you ever imagine I would turn out as I have?” She faced him, her expression serious. Composed. How had he never noticed her mouth before? Such a lovely, soft mouth. “I’ve loved you since that day,” she said. She was so sure of herself. So certain that her opinion held weight and consequence. She was right, of course. He cared very much what she thought.
He found that attractive, this confidence of hers. In fact, he’d sought that very quality in the lovers he’d taken. The few there’d been. Dane was certain Philippa would be confident in his arms. She would do exactly as she wished, convinced she was entitled to her pleasure, too. God save him from women who merely accepted.
Carolyn Jewel Moonlight 10
Her shawl slid off her shoulders, and she brought the ends forward so more of the material hung from the
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