Even a lady who seemed determined to sneak into his bed at every opportunity.

With his heart still thundering, he released his cock and shook himself internally, trying to clear the lust from his mind.

He slid his hand under the covers and touched her.

She felt solid, warm, and soft.

Quite real.

"Sunny..." He paused to catch his breath. "What the devil?"

"My bed stinks."

"Stinks?" he asked, still not completely able to focus his thoughts. His eyes fixated on the swell of her breasts against the sheer cloth of her nightdress. Her hard nipples, straining against the material. He could discern their deep rose color.

The nights had grown chilly. Shouldn't she be wearing thicker, flannel cloth?

His cock throbbed painfully, leaking profusely.

Christ.

He could feel her nipples' firmness against his tongue. Could taste their sweetness.

He need only reach out and pull her closer and bend his head.

You promised to treat her with honor, remember?

But even honor had its limits...

No, he couldn't let go of his control. Not until he was certain of his intentions towards her. He couldn't use her.

With immense effort, he closed his gaping mouth and dragged his gaze back to hers. "Your bed stinks?"

She nodded.

"Like a wet dog." She wrinkled her nose. "One that hasn't yet been housebroken."

"This is a respectable inn." He heard the incredulous note in his voice. Yes, this inn was a tad rustic, but he had certainly stayed in worse during his years in the navy.

"I am not lying," she said.

"You cannot sleep here."

"You can't expect me to sleep in a bed that reeks."

"No, I can't. I shall go sleep in your chamber." He stared across the chamber at his things. His banyan was in his valise. How would he get from the bed to there? He was naked and had a raging erection.

Presumably, she'd seen a naked man before. And anything was safer than lying here with her.

He made to leave the bed.

Her hand, somehow now outside the coverlet, landed on his stomach.

He froze. Gasped for breath. Every muscle in his abdomen went taut. A jolt of lust sparked through his cock.

He swallowed back a groan.

"Stay." Her voice rang with soft seduction.

He couldn't suppress a groan. The sound of his need echoed deeply. He grasped her hand and lifted it off himself.

"I want to watch," she said.

"To watch?" he repeated, hardly comprehending her words.

"You were touching yourself."

"We should not have this discussion."

It was hard to make his voice firm whilst utterly intoxicated, whilst possessing a raging erection and being in bed next to a sexual goddess.

But he might have succeeded. He couldn't be sure; the blood pounded in his ears too loudly for him to have heard his own voice all that clearly.

"I have never seen a man do that before." Her voice had grown softer, more breathless.

"I wouldn't have imagined that you had, love." His cock throbbed harder at her words, at the soft, submissive note in her tone. He wanted only to grasp himself and jerk until his passions exploded.

But he had to, somehow, convince her to leave first.

"I want to watch."

His erection throbbed and swelled, fiercer than any he'd ever had before. Ever. Of this he was certain. That disarming frankness of hers. That artless curiosity and sensuality. Oh damn. She was the most arousing woman...

I can't. It simply isn't done. And she is my cousin's widow.

"Sunny, we should-"

"Please." The word resounded with need.

There were limits to honor. A point when clinging to such a spindly thread became ludicrous.

And once that thread had snapped, so too did his control. He jolted to a sitting position and then, trying to temper his urgency, he tugged gently on her arm. "Up."

"But I want to stay."

"Sit up," he ordered tersely.

She cast her eyes down.

"Now," he said, putting the same steel into his tone as when he'd ordered men to scurry up to the topgallants in a howling storm.

She glanced up. Her eyes went large and she hugged herself, seeming to sink back against the pillow. Then something flashed in her gaze. Something heated, dark.

He held his breath, forcing back the impatience that made him want to grasp her by the shoulders and drag her up.

She must do it of her own accord.

Slowly, with languid movements, she pulled herself to a sitting position.

God, that was gratifying. He released his breath, then touched the small pearl buttons on her nightdress. "Let's have this off you."

She bit her lip.

Fire roiled through him. A moment of real submission from this lovely creature. When he began to undo the tiny buttons, his fingers were trembling.

He felt the tremble rush through her, too. Saw her chest begin to rise and fall more rapidly, her rigid nipples straining against the whisper-thin muslin. His fingers shook more uncontrollably, slipping on the dainty buttons. With a groan, he left off undoing them and took the edges of her nightdress and tugged hard.

Seams ripped, and buttons popped off and fell on the bed.

She gasped.

Her breasts sprang free, full, heavy yet still quite youthfully high. Gorgeous.

Perfect.

His mouth dropped open and awe held him in thrall. He could only stare.

He had dreamed of breasts such as these, but he had never expected to see such perfection this side of heaven.

He had certainly not expected to come home from the years of war and find Sunny grown up into such a ravishing temptation.

He cupped his hands beneath them, feeling their weight. Their soft firmness. He bent his head and pressed his face in the valley between them and inhaled her scent, spicy lavender and rose and something much like vanilla and sugar. He turned and kissed a trail to her nipple then captured the hard peak, savoring the feel of it between his lips, against his tongue.

She threaded her fingers into his hair.

He sucked her.

She gave a soft squeal and dug her fingers more firmly into his scalp.

There would be more of this-much more of this-but later. God, later.

He ran his hand down her belly, pulling the edges of her torn gown along, until he reached the soft swell above her pelvis. He had touched her bare stomach before, years ago in the garden. But then it had been flat. A girl's figure. Now she was so gloriously woman.

Just as he had that night in the garden, he took her by the shoulders.

She glanced up at him, recognition and desire glittering in her green eyes. She remembered as well.

He pressed her down.

This time she didn't resist. Her eyes softened and she dropped her gaze. Her body went limp and she allowed him to guide her backwards and down until she lay beneath him.

Her breasts rose and fell rapidly. She ran her tongue over her lips.

He traced his finger along the V at the bottom of the tear in her nightdress, right above her pelvic bone. He longed to continue the rent in the fragile cloth, to bare her sex, spread her legs and plunge into her.

However, he understood what she had asked for.

And why...

She'd been deeply shamed for self-pleasuring. Told that she was ill, in need of fixing. She needed proof that such behavior wasn't so abnormal.

He'd give her that proof.

He took his cock into his hand.

Her lashes lay like mink-colored fans against her cheeks, yet her chest froze as she caught her breath. Then he knew she was watching through the veil of those lashes.

He put his other hand on her breast.

She bit her lip.

He squeezed her and she moaned and arched her back.

He stroked his hand up and down his shaft.

She looked up, meeting his gaze, her eyes dark and full of desire.

Sunny.

Had he said her name aloud? She was with him, her gaze burning into him, settling deep within him. He'd never had such a sensation. It added a piquancy to the moment.

Damn, he wanted to be inside her.

No, he would give her only this. She watched his hand now. Intently. It aroused him beyond bearing. He jerked himself harder, faster. His seed came roiling up his shaft. He groaned and pressed himself to her soft belly. Fierce ejaculations overtook him, tremors wracked his body. A harsh groan tore up from his throat.

He collapsed against her.

She laughed softly. It was Sunny's girlish laugh, full of the joy of life.

His eyelids grew heavy. He barely managed to roll away from her, to relieve her of his weight, before sleep overcame him.

Sunny arose and went to the mirror at the washstand.

She stared at the torn edges of her nightdress and a thrill shot through her, making her tingle from head to toes.

Her stomach was wet, glistening with his seed.