All Olive wanted was a memory.
It would have to be enough for Eli, too.
Chapter 12
Olive’s heart gave a leap of victory.
He said yes. She would have this.Theywould have this. A moment of their own choosing, to share with each other.
Not justonemoment!
All night, and tomorrow, and the next night, too. She held him tighter.
Despite the sudden abundance of sensual playtime on their horizon, Eli’s kisses were every bit as hurried and hungry as her own. As though he, too, sensed no amount of time together would ever be enough. She pushed the thought away.
Now was not the moment to think of goodbye.
Now was the time to make the most of every second they still had.
Somehow, she managed to wrest her lips from his and say breathlessly, “My laces, if you please?”
“My pleasure.”
She turned around on legs trembling with excitement and rested her fingertips atop the soft blanket covering her bed.
Olive had worn this gown on purpose. It was her favorite. The slippery crimson sarsnet and gauzy white overdress had always made her feel almost pretty.
Until Elijah.
He made her feelravishing.
She didn’t need him to unlace her dress. Olive was in and out of breeches and gowns so often that she was likely faster at it herself than any lady’s maid would be.
That wasn’t why she’d asked him for help. She wanted tonight to be something they didtoeach other,witheach other. She wanted to feel his fingers on her spine and savor every tiny new sensation as the ribbon worked looser and looser.
She wanted tonight to last. She wanted a thousand little memories to turn over in her mind, rubbing the edges smooth with time as she relived them again and again.
When her gown gaped fully open, she turned back around to face him. She wanted to watch his face as she let her favorite evening dress tumble to the floor.
His gaze devoured her.
She still wore a ridiculous number of layers. Stays, shift. Olive didn’t mind at all. The more layers, the more there was to unwrap. To remember.
“They’re front-tying stays,” she said.
His eyes were hooded. “I see that.”
“It’s so I can unlace it by myself.”
His voice was low, husky. “May I help anyway?”
“Please do.”
Her short stays had barely six eyelets on each half, making them easy to loosen and toss quickly to one side.
Elijah took his time, sliding the ribbon free ever so slowly, one eyelet at a time, until her bosom nearly spilled into his hands.
Without the stays to bind her shift tight to her bodice, the soft linen billowed around her otherwise naked body. Beneath it, she wore nothing more than gooseflesh and silk stockings.
