Free Just One Kiss by Samantha James Page B

petticoats next, then guided her down to remove her stockings and slippers. Next he removed the pins from her hair, feeling his way along her scalp. One last tug and it tumbled down around his hands, a heavy waterfall of spun gold.
    His heart had begun to pound. He ignored it. Leaving her clad only in her underclothes, he tugged the counterpane aside and wordlessly motioned her inside. She slid obediently between the covers, though she had yet to say a word.
    But her eyes were fixed on his face, wide and questioning and still brilliant with the sheen of tears.
    He snuffed out the candle, then sat on the edge of the bed, close but not touching her. "What is it?" he asked quietly.
    Her eyes roved his features. "You—you don't look like Nathaniel, you know. He smiles. You never smile." She startled him by reaching up and tracing the hardness of his mouth.
    Morgan did not move. "Don't," he warned, in a voice that was but a breath.
    Her fingers stilled. "Why not?"
    Her hair caught the light of the moon. It glistened as if it were shot through with moonglow, silver and gold combined. Morgan took a deep breath. "Because you just might get more than you bargained for."
    "What?"
    "This," he whispered. His head was lowering, even as he spoke.
    His mouth closed over hers. He heard her swiftly indrawn breath at the contact, but he didn't withdraw. Sweet heaven, he couldn't. A heady satisfaction filled his chest. God, she was sweet. And Lord, but she tempted him. Beneath the thin cotton that covered them, he'd glimpsed the outline of her limbs, long and impossibly slender. It made him want to feel them locked around his hips as he thrust deep and hard inside her.
    God, now he knew why he hadn't sent her packing the very day she'd appeared on his doorstep. He could lie to himself no longer. Stephen was right. He was drawn to her. To her sweetness. To her youth.
    And there was fire in her. He could feel it in the way her lips molded against his. But there had been fire in Amelia too. That was one of the things he'd found so captivating—her vivaciousness, her spirit.
    His breath came heavy and fast. It struck him like a blow then… He wanted her. Lady Elizabeth Stanton. He wanted her more than he'd wanted any woman in a long, long time.
    Not since Amelia.
    Why? The question turned over and over through his mind. Because she was Nat's? Because in some strange way he didn't understand, he felt the need to get even? No.
No
. It was more. Desire pooled thick and heavy in his loins, swelling his manhood to marble-hardness. Yet he didn't want to feel this way. Not about any woman. Especially not
this
one. She was Nat's, he reminded himself. She belonged to Nat…
    But the battle he fought was already lost. It was dangerous. It was mad. God might see him in hell for wanting his brother's fiancée…
    He didn't care. By God, he didn't care. Nothing mattered but this driving need turning his blood to fire. He ached with the need to spend himself deep in her body.
    He fed on her mouth greedily, as if he couldn't get enough of her. She arched into him as if she were made for him. Unable to stop himself, he traced his fingers along the lacy neckline of her chemise, then dipped to the succulent flesh beneath. Her breast filled his palm, firm and ripe. He teased the tip to a quivering peak against his skin, reveling in the way she gasped into his mouth.
    A low groan rumbled deep in his chest. Unable to stop himself, he broke the fervor of their kiss. But it was only to stretch out beside her and pull her full and tight against his length. She slid her arms around his neck and smiled faintly.
    "Nathaniel," she sighed. "Oh, Nathaniel."
    The name was like a flood of icy seawater full in his face. In a heartbeat, Morgan was up and on his feet beside the bed.
    Elizabeth's eyes opened, sleepy and dazed.
    "Go to sleep," he said harshly. "Go to sleep, Elizabeth."
    Her eyes fluttered closed. Within seconds her breathing grew deep and even.
    But Morgan knew