She glanced back at him, not having to look far, realizing his mouth was now incredibly close to hers. The heat, the desire, the yearning increased. It was wrong, so wrong, not at all proper. “Where’s the photograph of a man in his smalls?”

His eyes grew large. “You want to see a man in his smalls?”

“Why not? The barker claimed I’d see what I’d never beheld. I’ve seen myself in my unmentionables, standing before the cheval glass.” When his eyes darkened, and his gaze intensified as though he was now having the improper thoughts that his earlier words had elicited within her, she suddenly had a need to torture him as much as he had her. “In fact, I have seen myself in nothing at all.”

He went still, so very still, as though he might shatter if he moved. His eyes smoldered to such a degree, she thought she might very well ignite. She wasn’t particularly learned when it came to men but had no doubt that she was witnessing the birth of desire. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Miss Trewlove.”

“Am I?”

Slowly, he lowered his head, not to her mouth as she’d expected, but to her neck, just below her ear where the skin was more sensitive than she’d ever realized. He kissed, nipped, stroked his tongue over the delicate flesh, and the incredible sensations traveled clear down to her toes. When he took her lobe between his teeth, she nearly cried out from the pleasure of it. Her knees weakened. The stereoscope slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. She didn’t care, didn’t care about anything other than the journey of his mouth along the underside of her jaw. All the din and commotion outside fell away. All she heard was his breathing and low moans.

When he pulled away, she nearly begged him to come back. “You’re the one playing a dangerous game.” She did wish she hadn’t sounded breathless, had given the impression of being more in control.

His grin was devilishly wicked. “But I understand the rules. Don’t think for a moment I’m not tempted to set you on that table and take you here and now. But I would ruin you for anyone else.”

Ruin me. Had she really just had that thought?

“I don’t think you’re ready to pay that price,” he continued.

She was not going to be disappointed he was a gentleman and not a scoundrel. He had the right of things. Being ruined would not fit at all into her plans. Although she had the impression that he wasn’t referring to ruining her precisely but rather that she would never find with any other man the satisfaction she would find with him. She might label him as arrogant if she wasn’t convinced that he was no doubt speaking the truth.