As they drew close to the music, Michael swung Lilly around playfully, in a very un-ton-like dance. Her curls, so carefully pinned up earlier, quickly came undone and tumbled down her back. The sensation of locks of hair caressing her exposed skin lured Lilly into shedding inhibitions which had been drilled into her for years.
With the music, the people, the champagne, the lanterns and shadows everywhere, the festival atmosphere enchantedLilly. She laughed and danced freely. Her body humming all the while.
Michael’s fingersbrushed along her back often and with a possessiveness he’d not shown so openly before. And as he watched her, a tension built inside him.
He’d known she was beautiful all along, but tonight…well, there was something different about her. She’d somehow woven a spell around him, his very own Aphrodite. He kept hold of her, jealously, as they were pulled along the throng of merrymakers. Even before she’d had any champagne, her eyes watched him boldly. There’d been a hunger in her gaze, very similar to what he himself felt. He knew she dreaded the short separation awaiting them both tomorrow.
As did he.
With youthful exuberance, she threw her head back to watch the fireworks. But she was not so caught up in them as one might believe. For after just a few explosions, she glanced out of the side of her eyes toward him. Her slow smile was a secret invitation that only he could read. In that moment, he knew,with every fiber of his being,that there would never be another woman he would want as badly.
He would be the man to awaken her deepest passions. He would one day feel her tremble with need for him, skin on skin, and bury himself inside of her. He craved to touch every part of her, knowing she burned for him too.
Since that first glance, he’d known their connection was special. Tonight, however, brought with it an awareness that the emotions he experienced were much more than a passing attraction.
He wanted to be the person with whom she shared her soul.
He loved her. He wanted her love as well. No, he needed her love—desperately.
With a suddenness that surprised her, he grasped her hand and pulled her away from the crowd onto a nearby path in the woods. She followed him, lifting her skirts so she could keep up with his pace. As the fireworks popped and exploded in the sky, Lilly ran with him brazenly.
Spying an opening, exactly what he had been looking for, he drew her off the main path and into the darkness. Like a hidden portal, it beckoned them into a conveniently secluded retreat. There was a thick branch growing sideways, keeping them from disappearing any deeper. Michael maneuvered Lilly so she leaned against the branch. And even though they both breathed heavily from their mad dash, he did not pause to rest.
Instead, he hungrily sought her kiss.
He’d waited for this all night—good God—all spring. That’s what this tension had been. Being so near her and not being able to make love to her had tormented him for weeks now.
Like a flower in full bloom, her lips opened, soft and welcoming. She pressed herself into him, demanding more. Like a vixen, she nipped at his tongue lightly with her teeth.
Michael had never imagined she could abandon herself to him so utterly, so completely. She clutched at him as though he was a lifeline. Closer, she wanted him closer.
He’d not resist her demand.
He didn’t just kiss her. He tasted, he probed, he explored. His tongue discovered the tender skin on the inside of her cheek, the roof of her mouth. His hands were equally inquisitive.
One of them caressed its way down her naked back and then slipped inside her dress. His other hand reached up to cup her breast and squeeze it gently, testing its weight. So perfect. So soft.
His mouth drifted down her neck, tasting all her sweetnessas he went. Lilly’s head was thrown back. She panted in faint little gasps.
“More,” Lilly whispered, her hands in his hair. Her words fueled the inferno already blazing inside of him. “More.”
Michael complied, pulling her short, puffed sleeves down her arms, exposing both of her breasts to the sultry night air. In awe of her, he held himself still, simply gazing at her in the shadowed moonlight.
And then she licked her lips.
Putting his hands on her waist, he abruptly lifted her up to sit on the branch. Unable to stop himself, his mouth sought out the puckered tip of one breast. As he suckled, his hands clutched at her dress and petticoats. Understanding, in perfect harmony with his needs, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around him. He wanted to free himself and press into her warmth and dampness. She would be wet. She would be ready for him.
But she was also shivering.
She was so sweet. She was a virgin. She would one day be his completely.
But not tonight.
“Lilly.” He gasped for breath. “I need to stop.”
She tightened her legs around his waist. “No!”
“Lilly,” he said again, burying his forehead under her chin. “Not here. Not now.” He was but a hair’s breadth from coming completely undone.
