Improper English (32 page)

My eyes widened again as his hands slid up either side of my hips, hooking his thumbs around the thin waistband of my slinky underwear, underwear I was wearing especially for the occasion. He didn’t miss that fact.

“You ran from me when I touched you,” he said as his lips curled into a hot, tight smile just before he literally ripped the undies right off me.

“Good Lord, Alex!” I stared down at the torn bits of satin in his hands. “I had to run from you—you have no idea how badly I wanted to give up and just throw myself in your arms, but you were worth any amount of pain. Don’t you see, I had to run, or else I’d never be able to leave you, and if I didn’t leave you, I’d never have been able to stand on my own.”

My gaze jumped from his hands to his face. The look there made me shiver with need and wanting and excitement and love and a whole slew of other emotions I couldn’t begin to untangle. “You’re not going to…you don’t mean…Alex, I’m on a desk!”

“Physical contact,” he rumbled as his hands pushed mine away from where they had been trying to get a purchase on his belt. He ripped his belt off and yanked
down the zipper. “I offered you my heart that night in the cab and you turned it down.”

With one hand he spread my legs and stepped between them, going straight to the heart of my desire by slipping a finger inside me. I trembled with the joy that filled me at his touch.

“I was so close, my sweet Alex. I had to stick to my plan in order to succeed, or you’d never want me, never be able to love me as I love you.”

I felt the tip of him nudging against the spot where his finger had been just a second before, and suddenly needed to be sure he understood. I spread my fingers and slid my hands into his hair, tugging him closer. “I couldn’t have lived with myself if you ended up pitying me because I was too weak and stubborn to realize my full potential.”

His arms went around me, grabbing my behind and yanking me forward just as he moved into me. I screamed his name with the pleasure of it.

“You left me.” His voice was as rough as granite as he pulled back until he had almost left my body.

“No!” I howled, both at his accusation and at the sense of loss.

“You abused me.” His fingers tightened on my behind as he thrust his full length back into me.

“I didn’t mean to.” The words caught in my throat as the familiar tension began to build within me. I kissed his lips, his cheek, his hair, trying to pull him closer, deeper inside me, trying to merge the two of us together.

“You rejected me.” He grabbed my legs and hoisted them up around his hips until I locked my ankles behind him.

“Never,” I vowed, flexing my legs to pull him tighter.
He was so deep inside me I could feel him touch my heart, but that still wasn’t deep enough. I needed all of him, his heart and soul and mind as well as his body.

“You love me.” His thrusts were increasing in speed, his breath rasping in my ear.

I kissed his neck and bit gently on the tendon that stood out there. “Always.”

“You love me.” His body slammed against mine, desperate now to finish the race. I arched upwards and welcomed him.

“Forever.”

He heard my gasp and bent me backwards until I was splayed across the desk, pinned back as much by the emotion in his eyes as by his body invading mine. “You love me.”

I framed his face with my hands and drew his head down until my lips could whisper along his. “I love you.”

He roared a wordless victory as he lunged forward against me, his body joining so fully with mine that there were no distinctions between him and me. He filled me with his love, sending us both spiraling off together into a blinding moment of understanding that left me sobbing with joy.

“Tears,” he said softly a little later, his voice as warm in my ear as his body lying next to mine on his couch. His fingers swept gently across my wet cheeks. “You cry again, Alix? Did I hurt you?”

I turned my faced into his shoulder and nipped the bare flesh. “No.”

“Good.” He smiled smugly as he said it, and closed his eyes as he pulled me against his naked chest. I slid a knee up his leg and decided I’d groveled enough. I nipped his shoulder again.

He grunted in response. “I’m not as young as I used to be, sweetheart. Give me a chance to catch my breath and I’ll be happy to oblige.”

“You haven’t said it, Alex.”

Two pure green eyes opened to meet mine, and I wondered how his beautiful eyes could ever have appeared cold and lifeless. “I haven’t said what? That I always knew you could succeed at whatever you set your mind to, that I’m proud of you, that I understand why you didn’t take the easy path? That I think you are a woman of strength and intelligence and I thank God for you every day, despite the fact that you’re a troublesome vixen who drives my blood pressure up each time I get near you?”

“Vixen!” I pushed myself up and glared down at him, warm and secure in the glow of his love. “Vixen! That’s the sort of word a romance writer would use, not an important Scotland Yard detective. You know bloody well what you haven’t said, so just get on with it.”

“Ah.” He pursed his lips in a silent whistle for a moment while he let his eyes wander over my bared upper parts; then he put both hands behind his head and cocked an insolent eyebrow at me. “So you want me to say it, do you?”

I tapped my fingers on his chest. “Yes. Then you can apologize for calling me a vixen.”

A slow, sensual smile started at the corners of his lips and soon spread. I leaned down, caught in the web of his smile, unable and unwilling to resist the lure he posed.

“Very well,” he breathed just as my lips were about to touch his. “I will say what you want to hear.”

I paused, flicking my tongue out to tease the corners
of his mouth until his eyes went dark and his hands came around to hold me.

“I forgive you for not having enough trust in me to tell me your plan.”

Huh?
I tried to jerk back so I could glare at him properly, but his arms were hard as bands behind me. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth and chewed gently on it for a moment.

“And I forgive you for not having faith in me, or in our relationship, doubting that either could withstand imperfection.”

I curled my fingers into the hair on his chest and tugged. Not gently, either. He grimaced, and tightened his arms until my mouth was fitted against his.

“And I forgive you for making me suffer untold hell by making me think you had stopped loving me.”

The best defense is an offense, I always say. I untangled my hands squashed between us and grabbed him by his ears, licking and nipping at his adorable manly lips until he gave me what I wanted. It was my turn to surge forward and plunder, and surge and plunder I did, reveling in the fiery taste of him, my soul singing with the knowledge that he was mine, and that nothing would keep me from him again.

“Say it.” I did my best impression of his angry growl into his mouth.

“I love you, Alix.”

I smiled down at him as he pulled me over his waiting stallion, fitting himself to me, joining our bodies and hearts and souls as if we had been made for each other.

“Perfection,” I sighed.

This book wouldn’t be in your hands now without the support and encouragement of the best agent in the world, Michelle Grajkowski, and the most brilliant of all editors, Kate Seaver—thanks for believing in me, ladies. My fabulous critique partner, Vance Briceland, worked his magic by pointing out—with wickedly funny notes—everything that struck him as not quite right. My undying gratitude and profuse thanks go to my husband, family, and friends for their patience and understanding whenever I told them I was busy writing, and therefore couldn’t be bothered to do the dishes.

“Katie MacAlister has an easy voice that brims with wit and fun.”

—Mrs. Giggles from Everything Romantic

MacAlister has a “captivating voice and charming storytelling skills [and] impeccable style.”

—
Inscriptions Magazine

“Katie MacAlister produces another wonderful Regency romp. This book is funny and fast-paced.”

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RT Book Reviews

“Imbued with a delectable sense of wit, the second of MacAlister’s ‘Noble’ Regency historical romances is an irresistible, laughter-laced treat.”

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“Simmering seduction, hilarious humor, a mystery, and a divine hero and heroine. A sassy read you don’t want to miss!”

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The Belles and Beaux of Romance

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The Best Reviews

“This story is a true romp. There is much to laugh at when reading this book and much to miss when it is over. A true ‘keeper.’”

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RT Book Reviews

“Sexy, feisty and clever.”

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RT Book Reviews

A Girl’s Guide to Vampires
has “wickedly sharp bite. With…writing that manages to be both sexy and humorous, this contemporary paranormal love story is an absolute delight.”

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“Katie MacAlister knows how to write fun romances!
A Girl’s Guide to Vampires
is just oozing with charm; I couldn’t put it down!”

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“Funny, quirky, and enjoyable. Don’t miss this one!”

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“Charming and irresistible! A tale to make you smile and pursue your own dreams.”

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JUST ONE SIP

SEX, LIES, AND VAMPIRES

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY

SEX AND THE SINGLE VAMPIRE

A GIRL’S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES

HEAT WAVE (
ANTHOLOGY
)

NOBLE DESTINY

IMPROPER ENGLISH

NOBLE INTENTIONS

Young adult books by Katie Maxwell:

CIRCUS OF THE DARNED

LIFE, LOVE, AND THE PURSUIT OF HOTTIES

GOT FANGS?

THE TAMING OF THE DRU

EYELINER OF THE GODS

WHAT’S FRENCH FOR “EW!”?

THEY WEAR WHAT UNDER THEIR KILTS?

THE YEAR MY LIFE WENT DOWN THE LOO

A LOVE SPELL BOOK
^®

March 2003

Published by

Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

Copyright © 2003 by Marthe Arends

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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0282-6

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