Every time she thought she held the reins and was in control of the seduction, he demonstrated so easily that she wasn’t. Because, dear heavens, he was going to debauch her out here in public view where anyone could come upon them, and she couldn’t stop from shivering with equal parts of excitement and alarm. This wasn’t like their coupling in an abandoned shelter in the woods, even though this part of the ship seemed to be mostly abandoned. Any and all crew would be readying for the dinner service. At least, she hoped.

The duke stared at her with hooded, expectant eyes and removed his gloves. The sight of those long bare fingers did something to her… Would he use them on her? Graze their calloused edges over her goose-pimpled skin? Touch her beneath the skirts he’d commanded her to lift? Her breath hitched with desire. With tentative hands, she tugged at the satin of her gown, grabbing handfuls of the thicker petticoats beneath until her stockings came into view, then her garters, and the embroidered edges of her drawers.

“All the way up,” he said and she complied. “Loosen the tapes of your drawers,” he said, voice so guttural her own core clenched with need.

In silence, she did as bid, feeling the material sag from her waist to her knees, cool ocean air kissing her heated skin beneath her thin chemise. He knelt and dragged her drawers down further, lifting each leg out of them. Watching her, he held the fine-spun silk undergarments up, fingers easing over the slit in the middle. Bronwyn shuddered in mortification when his eyes dilated. “So damp already.”

It was a fact—she could feel the slickness between her thighs.

Her mortification grew when he lifted them to his nose and inhaled deeply before folding the voluminous silk and tucking it into his coat pocket. Hissing a raw sound of arousal, the duke placed his hands at her waist and lifted her to the low metal ledge that snaked the circumference of the space, before dropping to his knees.

“I am going to kiss you.” Warm bare palms skated up her thighs just as she’d hoped. She trembled when he widened her knees and caressed her dewy skin with the backs of his knuckles. “Here.”

Oh God.

She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down hard when he settled those broad shoulders between her splayed legs, baring her to him. Bronwyn wasn’t a prude, but she didn’t dare watch, the feeling of him staring at her too much to handle. Her eyes fluttered shut when she felt his breath on her. He was having none of it though. “Look at me.”