She tilted her head with an audacious smile. “Do you think me so easily claimed?”
“I would rather not find out.”
“Then let us dance.” The hand braced against his shoulder moved to his neck, and she cupped it in full view of the ballroom. “How about this? Is this appropriate for the venue?”
If he pulled her any closer, she would become acquainted with precisely howinappropriatehe was feeling. “You could kiss me,” he growled, “and the only response here would be to bid us go into a more darkened corner.” As, indeed, had many other couples. He hoped she didn’t look.
Or, perhaps, he hoped she would.
There was a reason masquerade balls were not deemed suitable for young, unmarried ladies. And why anonymity was so very important.
Without anyone knowing their identities, they could do as they chose—within reason.
Aurelia’s eyes were clear behind her mask as she peeked up at him. To his relief, neither of their masks extended past their mouths. It was a risk to leave themselves so open to discovery, but he suspected that no one would be able to identify them by their lips alone.
No one knew Aurelia well enough, he fancied, and he had been a recluse long enough that the world had largely forgotten his face.
“Then take me to a darkened corner,” Aurelia whispered, her voice clear and her eyes deliciously dark. “And kiss me.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aurelia tingled all over. She had never been so bold in her life, but a place like this—where civility was a mere veneer over the debauchery that lay underneath—she welcomed the boldness.
It made her feel alive.
And Sebastian’s hand on her waist made her feel even more so. The heated press of his body, too. The way his eyes deepened and darkened into shadows as he looked at her, raw hunger in that gaze.
Hewantedher—she knew that. And here she was, laying herself on a platter. Letting him appreciate the possibility of it, then offering herself to him, in a darkened corner.
If he didn’t kiss her now, all would be over.
To her relief, he took her hand, lacing her fingers between his, and led her away from the gilded light of the center of the floor. Other couples laughed and whooped as they danced, their bodies moving sinuously in a way that struck Aurelia as distinctly sensual. And in full view of the world!
Except today, propriety was looking the other way, and desire was given a free hand.
Sebastian turned her against a pillar, the cool of the marble a relief against her heated skin, then took her face in his hands. Without waiting for a response, he kissed her, so deeply her head spun with the force of his desire. Yes, truly, this was a place of desire, and she had been mastered by it.
She knew the keenness of its edge.
She had never wanted anything the way she wanted Sebastian.
With practiced ease, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, the slide in and out making her stomach flutter with anticipation. She barely comprehended her own body’s reaction to him, but finally—finally—she would know what happened when a man and a woman came together. He would not deny her tonight.
His hand blazed a fiery path down her throat to her breasts, which ached for touch. He obliged, palming the heavy flesh, providing much-needed friction. Unable to bear it quietly, she shifted, pushing her thighs together and pressing against him. She moaned against his mouth and felt the curve of his lips in return.
Amid the noise of the ballroom, she doubted anyone would be able to hear them, but he still broke away to murmur a, “Quiet, my shepherdess,” into her ear.
Biting her lip, she did her best to be silent as he cupped her other breast and stepped forward, his knee coaxing between her legs. It was the work of a moment for him to pull up her skirts, allowing him to press his thigh against her sex.
Her stomach swooped.
The friction, thepressure, made her gasp, and he kissed her again, swallowing the sound. There was no one directly here to see, but even so, therewasnothing to see; he had not removed any items of clothing. Even now, they remained fully clothed—and yet they were utterlyindecent.
There was a fluttering in her lower belly. A build of heat and pressure that corresponded with the desperate way she rocked her hips against him. Any time she thought perhaps he hadn’t wanted this, he brought his hand to her hip and guided her into movement again. And truthfully, she couldn’t bring herself to resist.
The more the pleasure grew, the more urgent her movements, the more she chased whatever lay behind the golden hill in her mind.
His voice was unsteady as he rasped, “You are a vision, Aurelia.” Her eyes flicked to his, and he brought his finger to her chin. “That’s right,” he murmured, that finger still curled beneaththere. “Don’t look away. Keep looking at me, little mouse. I want to watch your face as you come.”
