A corner of his mouth hitched up. “Sweetheart, you can ask me anything you want, doesn’t mean I’ll answer or am offended by your curiosity. I’m actually quite touched you want to know more about me, are beginning to see me as more than just a cock. Bodes well for the bedding.”

Not if her face was as red as the heat of it made her think it was. He tossed that word cock out so casually, the way most people might say tree or butter or good morning.

“Name the price for my forfeit,” he insisted.

Placing the larger end of the cue on the floor so the stick stood vertically, she wrapped her hands around the narrowing portion, fearing she might need the support if he accepted the forfeit. “Remove your waistcoat and cravat.”

His eyes darkening, falling on her with the weight of stone, daring her to look away or not to—she couldn’t be sure—he shoved himself away from the wall and leisurely began unknotting his cravat as though he had the remainder of his life in which to accomplish that goal. The movement of his fingers was mesmerizing, and she imagined them unlacing the back of her gown, drawing it down over her shoulders with the same sensual flexing and unflexing of his hands. Her mouth was suddenly dry. When he was done, she would ask for more brandy, perhaps request the entire bottle. Or maybe he could direct her to a nearby lake where she could plunge herself into the icy depths before she went up in a conflagration of heated desire.

When the white linen was free of its mooring, he unwound it from about his neck, pulled one end of it until it completely surrendered its hold on him so he was able to toss it onto another chair. She watched it sail effortlessly through the air as she might journey if he lifted her up and tossed her onto a silk-covered mattress.

It somehow seemed incredibly intimate to see so much more of his neck. She had an urge to trail her mouth over the corded tendons there.

Then he went to work on the buttons of his waistcoat. Never before had she seen a man undress himself. Had never seen as much of a man as she saw of Aiden Trewlove. Forearms and neck, sinew and strength. He was turning her into a wanton, revealing just enough to make her want to uncover more.