“Olivia, can’t you just ease up and have a little fun?” he cajoled.
“Yes, when I’ve removed my sister from your friend’s dastardly clutches,” she bit rather than acquiesce.
He sighed and shook his head.
“So busy worrying about everyone else,” he whispered reaching out and stroking her cheeks softly. ”But what about you? And your happiness?”
His words were so hypnotising, his touch intoxicating.
“I don’t understand you, Alexander,” she admitted hoarsely. “For my whole life you’ve despised me, and now – now you act as though, well – I just don’t know why you’re doing it.”
“Isn’t it obvious that I’m doing it because I want, quite desperately I might add, to spend time alone with you? That I want to explore this thing that’s growing between us?”
Olivia’s heart was hammering so loudly she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. “I suppose that makes me no better than Elliot,” he suddenly said, a frown of disgust marring his brow.
And Olivia immediately wanted to comfort him. Because even though they were at the notorious Scandal Lane, and even though she very much wanted to do exactly what she was trying to save Jane from, she knew instinctively that Alexander was nothing like his friend.
“That’s different. I mean, he wants to, to bed her, and -” she trailed off in confusion.
“It’s not different,” he said. “Believe me.”
Olivia froze as his words crashed through her mind.
He stared into her eyes. And she knew that if she told him to take her home this second, he would do it. Just as she knew that sheshouldtell him to take her home this second.
Perhaps there was something about this place. This infamous part of Hyde Park.
But suddenly the consequences of her actions seemed unimportant. The price of taking this step with Alexander a pittance compared to the pleasure she knew she would experience at his hands.
Knowing that she was the very epitome of a hypocrite, but in that moment being unable to dredge up any shame for it, Olivia reached up and removed Alexander’s hands from her face.
Wordlessly, she pulled off her gloves, then reached up to untie the ribbons of her bonnet, then her cloak.
He watched her, his eyes glittering in the moonlight streaming through a gap in the curtains.
The only sound was the gentle noise of their breathing, and the unsteady thump of Olivia’s heart in her ears.
When she was free of her garments, she stood and before she could lose her nerve, placed herself firmly in his lap, her knees either side of his thighs.
Alexander’s hiss at the contact was all the encouragement she needed, and she leaned forward to boldly press her lips against his.
For a brief moment it seemed that he froze, and Olivia had a split second of panic.
Had she misread his desires? Did he not want her?
But before her self-doubt could truly catch hold, he muffled an oath against her lips, and he took immediate control of the kiss. Without hesitation, his tongue plunged into her mouth. One hand pressed her against him, the movement causing them both to groan with pleasure. His other hand he buried in her hair, sending her pins flying and her dark curls tumbling down her back.
“Christ, Oliva,” he growled, pulling his lips from her own to trail kisses down her neck, nipping and licking her sensitive flesh. “You drive me wild.”
Olivia had lost the ability to speak coherently, too caught up in the maelstrom of desire he’d awakened in her.
“Please,” she whimpered, her breathing ragged and broken. “Please, Alex.”
She had no idea what she was pleading for. Only that there was an ache inside her that was growing by the second.
“I know, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I know.”
She felt the sudden loss of his hands keenly but before she could issue a protest, they were back. He’d taken the time to remove his gloves and the feel of his skin against her own was divine as he cupped her neck, positioning her head so he could once more plunder her mouth.
