“There is something I could show you,” Owen said, his voice turning much deeper than its usual tone. “Something … a little different.”
“Oh?” Diana found herself incapable of using words anymore. She was too busy thinking of the tingling feeling passing through her body as Owen kissed that sweet spot.
“Something that I think you will like.” He lifted his lips to hers again, kissing her another time. She deepened the kiss as much as she possibly could, aware as she wrapped her arms around his neck that he began to sink down to the rug, taking her with him.
Within seconds, they were on the rug. He sat on the Persian threads, with her on his lap, her head minutely above his, maintaining the kiss.
“Diana, we can stop at any moment,” he said gently. “Just tell me, and I will stop. I promise you that.”
“I know,” she said, leaning back as he moved down with his lips another time. Only, they didn’t stop at the top of her neck. They moved down the full length of her neck, travelling to her collarbone and hovering around this area for a few minutes, then he moved even further south.
Diana found her body had a mind of its own as she tilted her head back, giving him more access to her. He moved his kisses to the neckline of her gown, pulling back the silk with one crooked finger to expose the curve of her breasts more to him. He nipped her playfully, making her giggle and gasp at the intimacy of it all.
One of his hands reached for her legs, pulling her knee slightly from where it was bundled at the side of them. At the same time, he lifted his head.
“First … sit like this.” He lifted her knee so it travelled across him and rested by his other hip. The two of them smiled as she moved towards him, her hips finding his and rocking gently against him.
It was a sensation unlike anything she had known. This anticipation practically made the air crackle, in the same way the fire beside them was spitting. Her hands wouldn’t leave his shoulders. She was clinging to him, needing the support he could give her.
“Now, kiss me again,” he whispered, smirking playfully up at her. She happily obliged, taking control of the kiss and this time tipping his head backwards a little further. She was so absorbed in the kiss that it took her a minute to realize where one of his hands had gone.
One was still holding onto her waist, keeping her body firmly against his; the other was sliding underneath the hem of her skirt and dress, teasing her as his palm passed over the bare skin of her thigh.
When he reached the crook of her body, the very centre, he was incredibly tentative, reaching out and touching the most private part of her body. Diana hadn’t known such a thing could give her pleasure; it was certainly not something she had felt before. It was such a gentle touch that her body responded, moving towards him with a kind of need of its own. She hadn’t realized how much her body had prepared itself for it, for she was wet, allowing him to slide his fingers easily against her.
As the two of them moved, with Owen moving his hand back and forth and Diana rocking her hips to feel more of his touch, the sensation began to grow. Every time he brushed against her, a thrill rocked through her body, absorbing her in the sensation.
They were together in this way for some minutes, though for how long Diana wasn’t really sure. All she was truly aware of was how her body was becoming frantic, needing more and more of this pleasure as she rocked against Owen’s touch. He seemed to sense it, for when his fingers slipped inside her, it took on a new sensation altogether.
She could feel something building, a type of pleasure that Gilbert had certainly not shown her. It was as though a peak was coming towards her, some kind of pinnacle of pleasure on the horizon, just out of sight.
Then it hit her – this wave that made her cling even more to his shoulders, aware as she moaned his name and tipped her head back that he was watching her intently, with a growl escaping from the back of his throat. As his hand stilled, she felt her body shudder around his touch.
She had never wanted it to end, but she had not expected the end to be like that. She leaned towards him, feeling her body bind itself to Owen’s even more. She imagined there was a thread between them, something connecting her heart to his that had just been put there, yet there was nothing fragile about this thread.
As she came down from her high, she rested her forehead against his, gasping and trying to catch her breath.
This is how it should always be,she thought as she held his gaze.
“That was …” She couldn’t find the words to tell him.
“I know,” he said softly, reaching up and kissing her again. “God, you are impossible to stay away from Diana.”
“Then please, do not try to stay away.”
Chapter 13
As Owen left the dining room another time, Diana let her eyes follow him for a bit, wondering when he would be back. After what they had shared the night before, she had barely slept. Her body had been too heated, thinking of that moment and longing for another like it. From the first look Owen had given her that morning, he was suffering the same heat, for he tugged his collar, and redness had risen up his neck and into his cheeks.
When the servers bustled around her, providing her with her breakfast, she had to tear her eyes away, fearful of being seen watching her butler so much. With Gilbert’s chair empty once again, she was startled when one of the servers placed Gilbert’s customary newspaper down beside his chair.
The broadsheet was folded up neatly, revealing a long and detailed headline that was difficult to read upside down. As Diana reached forward, ready to serve herself some breakfast, she caught sight of one of the words.
…fire …
She left the platters she had been trying to serve herself from and reached for the newspaper, pulling it forward over her own plate. She was aware that Owen had returned to the room and was busy organising the servers around her, checking that everything was in place and to order.
One of the servers stayed behind to carve the bread as the others left the room. They were not completely alone so could not talk freely, but Owen moved to Diana’s side nevertheless, standing very close to pour tea for her.
