“Come.”
He turned and headed up the stairs, half dragging her with him. Trem told him to go to the third floor and then exit into the corridor and he followed those instructions. When he gained the corridor, he recognized where he had been just earlier that afternoon. With ease, he found the right door and led her inside.
As they entered, she gasped behind him.
Earlier that day, he set up the room, although the servants had come not long ago and put on the finishing touches. He had wanted to create an atmosphere of worship, to show her how much he wanted her, how he would devote himself to her if she would consent to be his. Therefore, the room was lit with many candles. The sheets on the bed were silk—the same type on which the Prince Regent bedded his mistresses. They cost more than he could ever admit aloud. Champagne and fruit waited near the bedside. And the best secret of all sat on the bed itself in a demure little box. But that would have to wait.
“Augustus—did you—is this for—?”
He turned to face Olivia.
“Yes,” he said simply.
He pulled off his mask and let it drop to the floor.
Then he kissed her again. He let his tongue play over hers, indulging in her sweet taste. When he withdrew, her eyes were languid in the candlelight.
“Please,” she panted.
And it was all she needed to utter.
Quickly, he set about undressing her. His fingers skimmed over her buttons, but he tried not to tug or pull. He wanted to be controlled. At last, when he had unwrapped her from her chemise, she stood only in her stockings and her thin white mask.
He loved every part of her, even as she moved with a slight self-consciousness in the candle light, not quite covering herself, but not quite owning her naked beauty either.
“You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
He couldn’t help himself from saying the words.
She gave a little scoff of surprise, but he wouldn’t broker that kind of protest. He captured her mouth in his own and then broke off again. Lightly, slowly, he placed a hand on her breast and she gasped. Her breasts were large, much larger than fashion he knew, but he was pretty sure that if the tastemakers of thetoncould see Olivia unclothed, fashions would change. In the park and in the carriage, he had been unable to think about her breasts. He had known that, if he really took them in, he would lose his mind, he would be unable to concentrate on her pleasure. But now he couldn’t help himself.
He traced the outline of one and then the other, glorying in her gasps.
“Perfect,” he said, as he did so, unable to help the praise.
She gave a little gasp at this statement. She didn’t protest his descriptor and, yet, he saw it in her face. He remembered what she had said about her legs, how she hadn’t believed him.
In response, he leaned down and put his mouth to her nipple, letting his tongue find the hardened peak and then sucking. She cried out and he repeated the motion. By instinct, he reached down to the curls between her legs and touched her, finding her wet and open to his touch. He continued to suckle at her, teasing her nipples with his tongue, as he probed her gently, lazily, with his fingers. In minutes, she was writhing and twisting against him.
“Augustus, I am going to—”
“Do it, my love. Take it.”
She might as well have her first orgasm now. She might as well get the first out of the way because it would be far from the last.
He kept playing her with his fingers, feeling her clench around him, his hands slippery with her desire. She came on a cry, her knees buckling, but he kept her standing.
Slowly, he moved her to the bed, laying her down. He removed her mask and she wriggled against the silk sheets as he did so. He put his arms around her, letting her relax into him and luxuriating in the feeling of all barriers, all masks, removed between them.
He was raging hard after hearing her come like that. The rub of her against him was torture—but he wanted her to take her time, to recover fully before what would come next.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she finally said.
“It’s nothing, Oliva. I would do anything for you.”
She looked at him, her eyes wide again.
“How long do we have?”
