Now Beth had landed in the swift stream of his life, and she’d stuck there like a rock. Everything else swirled past him, but like an anchor, Beth stayed.

He needed her to stay forever.

Ian bent and hauled her to her feet. Her body was slippery, sliding in a fine way against his.

“You’re still cold,” she said.

“You’ll warm me.”

He snatched another towel from the pile and wrapped it around her before she could start shivering again. The heat of her body was better than a fire, better than all the hot water in the world.

Ian lifted her, stepped carefully from the bath, and carried her to the narrow bed near the stove. The maid had and inserted hot bricks wrapped in cloth under the worn but clean linens.

Ian laid Beth on the warmed bed. She looked up at him, not in the least worried as Ian dropped his towel and stretched out beside her. He pulled the covers over them both, cocooning them in warmth. The heat of the bricks and Beth’s body permeated the bed, driving away the cold.

Beth wrapped her arms around Ian as he turned onto his side to face her. “What naughtiness are you going to teach me now?” She smiled.

She still didn’t understand.

“No games tonight.”

“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.

Ian smoothed her wet hair back from her face and leaned so he was half on, half off her. Her breath touched his mouth, fragrant and sweet.

“Promise me,” he said.

“Promise you what?”

“Promise you’ll tell me to stop.”

She gave him an arch look. “That all depends on what you start.”

Beth still thought he was playing. Don’t let me hurt you.

“Promise me.”

“Very well,” she said, still smiling.

Ian smoothed her eyes closed, brushed kisses down her nose and across her lips. Her mouth moved, her tongue darting out to catch his, but he moved out of reach. “I want you,” she whispered. A blush spread across her face. “But it’s been a very long rime. Perhaps I won’t be able to.”

Ian reached between her legs and sank his fingers into hot moisture. “You will.”

“How do you know?”

She pretended to have so much experience, but sharing a bed with a sedate husband and intense coupling with a lover were two different things. One was duty, the other . . . wildness. Perhaps her husband had made duty enjoyable, but what Ian wanted was not a dutiful wife lying on her back for her husband.

He wanted to show Beth every nuance of pleasure, from the incredibly gentle to the crazed and rough. He wanted them falling to the bed afterward, bruised and spent, both of them sated. He wanted everything with her, and he didn’t want it tame.

“Let me,” Ian whispered against her mouth as he slid his fingers inside her.

Beth gasped, and her hips rocked up. Ian stroked two fingers into her, then swirled them around her sleek tuft of hair. She was hot, wet, ready.

He’d been ready for weeks. He slid his knee between hers and let his tip part her opening.

Beth moaned deep in her throat. “Please, Ian.”

“Please stop?” he murmured, excitement gripping him.

“No.”

He smiled into her lips. “Please what, Beth? What do you want me to do?”

“You know.”

“I am not good at hints. You have to tell me straight out.”

“You’re teasing me now.”

Ian licked her mouth. “You like being teased. You like ducking into private rooms with me and pulling up your skirts when I tell you.”

“Is that what you call teasing?”

“You like fellatio and cunnilingus.”

“I do, truth be told. I’d never done either before.” “No?” he murmured. “I thought you a woman of the world.”

“I thought I was rather clumsy at it.”

“You were beautiful. You are beautiful now.” She bit her lip, making it red and enticing. Shy Beth, blushing while he lay naked on top of her. She always filled him with laughter.

“Please, Ian,” she whispered. “I want you inside me.”

His entire body tightened. “Yes.”

He was too big. It had been nine years since a man had entered her, and she was too tight. She couldn’t take it.

Ian groaned softly as he pushed all the way in. He took a long breath, his chest pressing hers. He wouldn’t look at her, turning his head so Beth stared directly at his cheekbone and rain-wet hair slicked to his skull.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked.

“No.”

“Good.” He thrust once. “Good.”

Beth squeezed her eyes shut as he thrust again. The thickness of him pushed so deep inside her she thought it would tear her apart.

And it felt good.

“Ian,” she groaned. “I am wicked. I’m a wicked, sinful woman, and I don’t want you to ever stop.”

Ian didn’t answer. He moved slowly inside her, thick and hard. Deeper, faster. Please.

She rocked her hips up as he came down. He held himself up on one hand while he fisted her hair in his other. He tickled the ends of her hair along her br**sts, and her overly sensitive ni**les rose and tightened.

He leaned down and licked one areola, teasing the point into his mouth. She watched his teeth play, his tongue swirl over the nipple, the pink skin rising into his mouth. He closed his eyes as though he were savoring some rich dish, his lashes soft points against his cheeks.