“And as for pretty…” He drew near Miss Williams, until only the barest inch of space stood between them. Her smile faltered, replacedby that look she always gave him when he got too close. A painful cross between longing and doubt.
Silas couldn’t help it. He wanted to scrub the doubt away and replace it with an emotion more to his liking. Passion, maybe. He pulled off his gloves and shoved them into his pocket so that he could run his bare thumb along Miss Williams’s jaw and turn her chin up toward him. She shivered, her body confessing the power he held over her more clearly than her words ever could. “Don’t underestimate yourself,” he whispered, before he finally took what he’d been wanting for half the night.
Her lips were soft and yielding. There was no surprise in her reaction this time. She opened to him quickly, as if answering the question he wouldn’t ask aloud.Yes, I’m yours. Yes.
It was a fantasy. Silas knew that. But she’d encouraged him to do what he wanted this evening, and what he wanted was to pretend they were real.
“I don’t want to call you Miss Williams anymore.” He breathed the words into her ear, marveling as she trembled against him. Did she have any idea how intoxicating her unpracticed responses were? “I want to call you Hannah. Invite me to.”
As if they were true lovers, and not a hollow parody of it.
“Call me Hannah,” she obliged. Her voice was little more than a whisper.
He decided to reward her by pouring every ounce of his attention into their kiss. Silas might not have any prior experience escorting a woman to a ball or dancing a quadrille, but he did know how to bring them pleasure. And it was evident that Hannah was eager for him, even more than she could admit. As he explored her mouth with his tongue, she began to make that whimpering sound again. It was a sound of frustration, of a need that could never be satisfied.
Silas began stroking her breast through the silk of her gown,running urgent circles over the nub of her nipple with his thumb, which only increased the noise she was making.
“What are you doing?” Hannah gasped. She was obviously trying to sound indignant, but couldn’t manage to hide her excitement.
“Don’t you like it?” Silas pressed a little harder, and her whole body shuddered in response.
“We’re—we’re at a ball,” she managed weakly. “What if someone catches us?”
“Then they’ll think you’re my fiancée and I couldn’t hold myself back until our wedding night,” he growled. Silas could almost believe it was true. He felt like he’d been waiting for this for years, like he’d been promised to Hannah ages ago and was counting each day until he could call her his.
Hannah’s breath was coming quickly, making her breasts swell above the confines of her corset with every inhalation. Silas couldn’t tear himself from the sight. God, she was arousing. He bent his head to kiss the tender skin just above the neckline of her gown, wishing he could get her undressed.
Silas had been with more experienced women. With beautiful women. But he couldn’t recall ever wanting someone the way he wanted Hannah. Every meeting added another layer to his interest, until it was nothing like the easy, uncomplicated feeling that he’d known as desire before this. Silas had thought that lust was supposed to be a whim, a passing impulse that struck if the right opportunity arose, but which could be dismissed just as easily.
He couldn’t seem to dismiss what he felt for Hannah, no matter how he tried. He wanted to possess her. He wanted to show her that every other man she’d ever looked at was nothing, thathewas the only one who could touch her this way. Not that wretched old man that her mother had tried to chain her to, not any of the pathetic suitors who’d dared to hurt her with their misplaced disdain, whatevertitles or fortunes they held out as compensation. Him.
“They’ll think I’ve been wanting to do this for weeks,” Silas continued roughly, his self-control slipping. “Every time you’ve touched me, I’ve had to act the gentleman instead of pulling you into my arms.”
“You can’t really mean that.” Hannah pulled back from his attentions, her cheeks flushed. There was that doubt again. “You wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t paid you to come. You didn’t want me to kiss you at Bishop’s.”
“I want you to kiss me now.” Silas took her hand and placed it on the evidence of his arousal, pressing her gloved palm against the head, until the delicious pressure made him groan. “Can you doubt it?”
“Oh.” Hannah’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t seem to know how to react to such an indecency. Silas let go of her wrist, realizing that he might have gone too far. He’d gotten carried away, and he didn’t want to scare her. But even once she was free, Hannah didn’t move a muscle. For what seemed like an eternity, her hand rested lightly on his cock, while Silas grew increasingly sure that he would combust any second. Then, very slowly, her fingers began a shy exploration through the wool of his trousers, tracing the outline of his arousal.
“Hannah, please,” he gasped. He was in serious danger of spending himself.Not here.He wouldn’t humiliate himself this way. “Enough. You need to stop.”
He pushed her hand away, struggling to get enough air into his lungs.
“Did I do something wrong? I thought you wanted me to.”
Silas chuckled to himself. “Not wrong. Just not for the balcony at a crowded ball.”
“Oh.” Hannah was staring at the bulge in his trousers with naked curiosity. He couldn’t help but imagine the things he could show her, if only he could find some real privacy. She would be an eager pupil.Hell, if they had a more reliable barrier between them and the rest of the ballroom than the double doors a few feet away, Silas would have been all too happy to lift up her skirts and teach her how to beg for the release she obviously needed.
This woman was going to be the death of him.
“We should go back inside before anyone finds us.” Silas forced the words out despite the desire that pulsed in his veins. It was the truth, even if it wasn’t to his liking. “Or rather,youshould go back inside while I cool down for a minute.”
Hannah looked as conflicted as he was, but didn’t protest. After a moment, she murmured, “Come and find me once you’re ready.”
She turned toward the doors, her silhouette framed in orange by the gaslight that shone out from the window.
“Wait.”
