He made a growl deep in his chest and dropped the hosiery to the floor. As he started forward, she wordlessly held up her hand to stop him. Clearly intrigued, he stood waiting for her next move.

Did she dare do it? The total absorption on Hadrian’s face made her feel recklessly naughty, so she slipped the straps of her chemise off her shoulders. A flick to help it clear her breasts, then a little shimmy of her hips, and the garment slithered to the floor, leaving her stark naked.

He scanned her in a sort of concentrated daze, and Natalie held her breath, wondering again if she’d gone too far. Never in her life had she allowed any man to view her unclothed body. A sense of vulnerability caused the warmth of a blush to creep upward from her neck and into her cheeks. She crossed her arms to shield her bare bosom, murmuring, “Have I … done something wrong?”

He snapped out of his stupor. “What? No.” In two steps, he closed the distance between them and pulled her against him, directing that dazed smile at her. His questing hands glided over the smooth skin of her back and hips. “You’re adorable. How did you know I’d love that?”

“You inspired me when you undressed.” Placated, she fingered the open collar of his shirt. “Although I’m very sorry that you stopped halfway.”

“A situation that can be easily rectified.”

She was beset by a sudden, swooning dip as he tilted her backward, guiding her down onto the bed. Her head landed on a cloud of feather pillow, the linen sheets cool and sensual beneath the rest of her body. It felt wickedly decadent to lie here in all her fleshly glory, gazing up at the handsomest, most intriguing man she’d ever known. Hadrian, with his granite eyes and the chiseled features that other people found haughty.

But they didn’t know him as she did.

Her arms still looped around his neck, she smiled up at him, feeling bubbly with happiness, as if she’d drunk too much champagne. “Have I thanked you for providing me with this wonderful bed, Your Grace?”

“What happens in it can be even more wonderful.”

His mouth sought hers in another deep, drowning kiss that stirred a wild hunger in her soul. She felt his hands on her breasts again, kneading the heavy globes in a way that made her burn with longing. When he tried to draw away, she moaned a protest.

He soothed her with a soft finger over her lips. “One moment.”

As Hadrian arose, she pushed up on her elbow to watch him. He stood beside the bed and yanked his shirt free of his waistband, pulling the garment over his head in one swift move. Enthralled, she stared at the ripple of muscles in his chest and arms, the breadth of his powerful shoulders. How differently a man was built, the perfect complement to feminine softness.

When he unbuttoned his trousers and pushed them down over his lean hips, she experienced a deep throb of desire. Never had she imagined that a man in full arousal could look so magnificent. She glanced away, blushing, not wanting to be caught staring.