“In the carriage?”
He felt his lips twist in a rueful smile. “The basics can be learned quickly. We need not take a long ride around Hyde Park.”
She nodded slowly. “And if I want more than the basics?”
He shook his head, though the motion felt stiff with his muscles clenched tight. “I would be tempted too much.”
“Very well,” she said. “The basics.”
He nearly took her then. He could pin her against the wall and devour her until she screamed with desire. His belly tightened, and his groin throbbed along with his pounding heart.
But he was a man of his word. And though he struggled with it, he was also a gentleman who would not betray her father or his own family name. He held back. He gestured for her to precede him out the door. And he waited until he could adequately hide his state before stepping with her along the street.
Eventually, they came to his carriage. He handed her in and sat beside her, feeling her pliant body and smelling the musk of her desire. He told his coachman to drive directly to his sister’s home, so he would not be tempted to stray into dishonor. But he did hold her tight. He spoke clear and low into her ear. And once, he allowed himself to touch her breast by way of demonstration. He pinched her nipple and whispered of what she could do between her thighs.
And when he was nearly bursting with his own need, he opened the carriage door and stepped out while the air cooled his overheated body. He walked her to the front door, just as a gentleman ought. He handed her to his sister’s butler and bowed before he withdrew.
Then he retreated to the dark interior of his carriage where the scent of her still lingered. He opened his breeches, took himself in hand, and beat out his pleasure. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t close to the same, but it was all he had.
He’d never hated his title more.