He stiffened and felt his jaw drop as she suddenly stood before him, completely naked, apparently having shed the gown he’d all but removed himself. Daniel had been struggling with his cravat as he’d thought, but now she brushed his hands away and took the ends as if to manage the task for him. However, she paused and peered up at him solemnly instead.

“It is very chivalrous of you not to want to take my virginity, and I do understand and think it’s honorable, but in one of the books I’ve read, they wrote of a way I could give you the same pleasure you gave me without you actually putting your maypole in me.”

“What the devil have you been reading?” Daniel got out in a choked voice as his erection jumped eagerly in his trousers.

Suzette grinned at his expression, but then leaned up to kiss him, one hand drawing his cravat back off as she reached down with the other to caress him through his trousers. Groaning, he started to kiss her back, but then stilled as the sound of men’s voices came muffled through the door. Breaking their kiss, he urged her away to a safe distance and held her there with his hands on her upper arms as he turned to peer toward the door with alarm. It sounded like Richard and Langley in the hall, headed in the direction of the master bedroom. He frowned briefly, wondering what the devil Richard was doing, and then shook his head as he wondered what the devil he himself was doing. Really he had to start thinking with something other than his manhood. Though he suspected that wasn’t likely to happen until he’d sated the damned thing.

Grimacing, he turned back to Suzette and sighed with defeat. She was impossible to resist and he had been fooling himself to think that he could spend time getting to know her before satisfying his desire for her. Truly, she was like a house on fire in the midst of a hurricane, sucking him into her winds and burning him up all at once. All his good intentions and sensible decisions were nothing against the temptation she presented.

“Get dressed,” he said firmly, turning her away and urging her toward the bed and the discarded dress lying there. “We will head to Gretna Green as soon as we can.”

“But—” Suzette tried to turn back, her gaze on the bulge in his trousers, but he turned her firmly away again.