" I would think that even a proper lady might find some pleasure in the conjugal embrace.”
She gasped in befuddled outrage. “I--you--that you would dare bring up such a subject--” He had been so gentle and comforting, and now he had changed back into the insufferable cad of before. “As if I would ever discuss that with anyone, least of all you!” As she writhed and began to crawl from his lap, he held her in place easily.
“Before you charge away in righteous indignation,” he said, “you might want to refasten your bodice.”
“My--” Glancing down at her front, Kathleen saw to her horror that the first few buttons of her dress and the top two hooks of her corset had been undone. She went scarlet. “Oh, how could you?”
A flare of amusement lit his eyes. “You weren’t breathing well. I thought you needed oxygen more than modesty.” After watching her frantic efforts to rehook the corset, he asked politely, “May I help?”
“No. Although I’m certain you’re quite accomplished at ‘helping’ ladies with their undergarments.”
“They’re hardly ever ladies.” He laughed quietly as she worked at the placket of the corset with increasing panic.
The strain of the afternoon had left her so enervated that even the simplest task was difficult. She huffed and wriggled to pull the edges of the corset together.
After watching her for a moment, Devon said brusquely, “Allow me.” He brushed her hands away and began to hook the corset efficiently. She gasped as she felt the backs of his knuckles brush the skin of her upper chest. Finishing the hooks, he started on the row of buttons at her bodice. “Relax. I’m not going to ravish you; I’m not quite as depraved as my reputation might indicate. Besides, a bosom of such modest proportions--albeit charming--isn’t enough to send me into a frenzy of lust. "
― Lisa Kleypas , Cold-Hearted Rake (The Ravenels, #1)