He swallowed thickly before answering—not with words but with a kiss, wild and hungry. Evidently he found the possibility of exploring that option more than favorable.
His lips fell against my own with a breathless groan. Fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me close—closer. It wasn’t close enough, not for either of us.
The clatter of dishes and silverware echoed through the room as he rose and hauled me out of my seat and onto his lap without breaking contact. His warm, William-scented frame bracketed me against the table. I tugged his unfairly soft curls and traced that blade he called a cheek. I tasted the lemony dessert on his tongue. He was delectable.
The edge of the table ground into my lower back. I didn’t mind the bite, but when his hand found a home there, serving as a cushion, Ilovedthat. He was all thoughtful consideration, even in the fog of lust.
His hand fisted in the tendrils at the base of my neck, somehow managing not to tug on the pins. The other hand tightened on my waist, even as his forearm was sacrificed to the table. He took full control—there was no hesitation when he tilted my head the way he wished and chased my tongue with his own.
A teasing nip to his tongue was answered with something akin to a growl that was far more arousing than it had any right to be. He pulled me even harder against him, my skirts pushingup against his hips. The movement left me directly over top of his growing hardness.
He abandoned my lips with a groan and found his way to that magical place where my shoulder met my neck. I was left unable to do anything except clutch his neck, moan wantonly, and press myself closer to him in any way possible.
His hands slid boldly down to my bottom. Assisting me, rocking me harder against him. Then, in a movement that left me gasping and clinging to his shoulders, he stood, supporting me with one hand on my low back and the other gripping my backside.
With a grace and confidence I never could have predicted, he strode purposefully down the hall and up the staircase. I clung to him, my legs wrapped low around his waist. When it became clear that he was in no danger of dropping me, I used the opportunity to loosen his cravat and take the fullest advantage of the newly revealed skin. His throat bobbed enticingly, and I nipped playfully there, earning a groan.
He navigated the first staircase without trouble, only stumbling when my teasing ministrations became too much. At the landing, he pressed me into the wall, taking the opportunity to find my lips with his. With a nibble on my lower lip, he pulled away, growling, “Behave.”
“If you wanted someone who would behave, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
He pulled my lips back to his, slightly more tender. “Behave enough that I don’t drop you at least,” he said, trying and failing to bite back a grin.
He hauled us both away from the wall, continuing up the steps, down the hall, into my open bedroom.
William
I had never been so close to heaven and so near hell in the same breath as I stumbled, my arms full of Celine toward the bedroom.
I was going to die—it was an absolute fact—if I didn’t dosomethingright this second. What that something was, I hadn’t the foggiest. Every single idea that flitted through my head was the best I’d ever had. Tear her gown off, yes. Kiss hereverywhere, certainly. Bury myself inside her and never leave, unquestionably the best notion anyone had ever had.
The problem was that I wanted—needed—this to be good for her. Better than good.
I was man enough to admit I was a jealous arse. I wanted to be better than Gabriel. Better than Wayland. I wanted to make her forget their names and any others that had come before me.
Unfortunately I had nothing to go on but instinct and the little whimpers, mewls, and groans that escaped her. And I had enough sense left to know that this was not likely to be an impressive performance. Nights of holding her in my arms with no release meant I was wound tauter than a drum. If there was to be any hope, I would need to slow this down.
I set her on her feet reluctantly inside her bedroom. She was rumpled and more beautiful than she had ever been. Her eyes burned an olive in the firelight. Her cheeks and neck were flushed from my attentions. In short, she was perfection.
Why had I stopped kissing her again?
“You missed the bed…”
“I didn’t. I want to take your gown off first.”
“Unnecessary.” She grabbed my hand, trying to tug me to the bed but the temptation of her bare form before me in the candlelight was not one I would forgo willingly.
“Very necessary. I want to see you, love. All of you. Let me? Please?”
“How do you always say the exact right thing?”
“I have never in my life said the right thing, as you know better than most. Now turn around.” I started with her hairpins. Plucking the decorative little pearls tucked into her silken champagne waves. Lord, this hair… One by one the curls tumbled down into a rippling curtain of sunshine, glittering in the shadows cast by the flames. There were so many shades of gold, some near white, some strands a darker sun-kissed bronze.
“William?” She turned back to face me, all flushed and lovely.
“Yes, love?”
“I thought you were going to take my gown off.” I pulled her hair to one shoulder, freeing the other for my lips. I received a small sound that could only be named contentment as her tiny fist found my shirt and tugged.
