She wasn’t sure if she’d made the noise or simply thought it. Stephen’s hand was very light against her sex at first, but even that contact was devastating. She was melting at his touch, dissolving and yet still striving, aching, wanting more.
Slowly, very gently, he slid one finger inside her, then a second. Mina caught her breath. It was good; it was strange, though not wholly unfamiliar. Stephen’s fingers were much larger than her own, and the way he stroked her was much more skilled, much more certain than she’d managed during her brief moments of self-exploration, hindered as she’d been by shared bedrooms and unfamiliarity.
However he’d learned more, she blessed his education.
“Lovely girl,” he muttered against her breast, and his thumb found the spot at the top of her sex that made her cry out. He circled it slowly and then faster, and Mina’s hips moved to meet his hand. “That’s it—let me—”
And then desire, passion,sensationexploded within her, waves of pleasure that made the darkness glow. At the last moment, she remembered that she shouldn’t scream and bit down hard on her lip. If it hurt, she was miles away from noticing.
As she caught her breath, Stephen slid away from her for a moment. She heard rustling cloth in the darkness and realized what was happening. “I wish we could see each other,” she said.
“Aye.” He was breathless too, his voice husky. “Although it might be more than I could stand just now. If you want to stop—”
“Ask me again and I will,” she threatened.
“I’ll not risk that,” he said, and then he was lying on top of her again, his weight on his elbows. His bare chest pressed against her stiff nipples. His legs were warm between hers, and the head of his organ was hot and rigid at the opening to her sex. Instinctively, she pushed up against it.
As before, Stephen moaned and pressed forward—this time, pushing into her with his full length. There was a flash of pain—her collision with the steps had been worse—and an odd feeling of pressure and fullness, with pleasure waiting just behind it.
He went still. Waiting, Mina realized. Without asking, he was asking, or perhaps just offering. She wouldn’t have made him stop now, though, earlier threats aside. Mina wouldn’t have stopped for another hundred pounds.
As an answer, she wrapped her legs around him as much as her skirts would allow, which tilted the scale very emphatically back toward pleasure. So did the sensation when Stephen began to move. He went slowly at first, with that sensation of leashed power that still excited Mina. Then, when she started to get breathless again, to writhe under him and feel desire building again, his control slipped considerably.
That was fine with Mina. That was better than fine. She thrust up against Stephen, listening to his voice come broken and ragged in her ear:goodgirlandjustlikethatandsohot, so tight, and felt the urgency driving him. She met it with her own, surprised to find herself back on the edge but not inclined to ask questions. At the end, she bit his shoulder to stifle her scream.
Stephen reared his head back and looked into her eyes. “Mina,” he said, in a voice that came from very deep in his chest. “God,Mina.”
Then he threw his head back and arched forward, pouring himself into her. For a moment, there was nothing in the world but them and the darkness—and the darkness was fine, even welcome, because they were both in it.
Thirty-eight
Given his own way, Stephen would have lain a long time with Mina in his arms, listening to her breathing and drifting in the languid and pleasant dizziness that followed climax, particularly this time. Out of almost two centuries’ experience, he could recall no interlude as intense as this one had been, nor as satisfying. He would have greatly preferred to stay where he was.
He would also have greatly preferred a light and a bed. Clearly the universe didn’t pay as much attention to him as he would have liked. Perhaps that was just as well—he wouldn’t haveaskedfor a strange woman to come running through his house, and he certainly had no quarrel with the results.
The thought made him grin against the top of Mina’s head. He’d rolled onto his back, not entirely trusting his arms to remain steady. Now she was curled against his side, and he absently stroked her tumbled hair with his free hand. The occasional disarranged pin presented a hazard to his fingers, but Stephen barely noticed.
“We’d better get dressed,” Mina said, voicing what Stephen hadn’t yet been able to speak. Suiting action to words, she rolled briskly away from him and stood up. He heard little clicking sounds in the darkness: corset hooks. “I don’t know how long we have before Colin sends someone, but I’d guess we’ll need to move quickly when he does.”
“Likely enough,” said Stephen.
Putting himself back together was considerably easier than the same process must be for Mina. Had there been more light, he’d have offered assistance. As it was, he’d probably only be an encumbrance. He was better at undressing women than dressing them, particularly in darkness.
He concentrated on shaking out his coat and waistcoat, on getting the buttons right and then smoothing down his hair. He kept glancing over to Mina in the process, or to where sounds revealed her to be; he could only catch glimpses of movement.
This was not how Stephen had pictured—well, anything.
Not that he would have taken it back; his entire being seemed to protest at that thought. Mina had enjoyed herself as well—he had enough experience to ensure as much and to know the signs. He had no doubts on that score, and no regrets.
He just wasn’t at all certain how to proceed.
Getting out of the building would be a necessary start.
From nearby, Mina cursed, quiet and vehement. Stephen turned toward her. Uncertain what to ask or how to ask it, he ended up making a strangled interrogatory sound, neither his most dignified moment nor his most seductive.
“Oh. Nothing—I just hate buttons as much as you do.There.” She laughed, and then stopped and took a breath. “I should say it before we leave: thank you. I, um, I liked what we did. A great deal.”
“I’m very glad to hear it.”
