Her eyes went wide, impossibly wide. “What is that?”
He didn’t answer with words, but slowly dipped his head to kiss her. She didn’t pull away from the slow descent. In fact, she lifted on her tiptoes with a shivering sigh. When their mouths met, her lips were soft, as full against his as they looked when she spoke.
And, oh, how he wanted her. More now that he had this tiny taste. He traced her lips with his tongue, she opened immediately and her hand tightened against his shoulder. He drew her up closer, tight against his body and delved into the kiss further, exploring her mouth with thorough intent. Thoughts of his future faded, leaving only her and this and what he wanted to do next.
Oh, yes. His last night was going to be explosive, indeed.
* * *
Lily had been kissed before. Or, at least, she thought she had. Kissing hadn’t been something that happened all that often with Thomas, but it had occasionally been something they shared. But this kiss with this man in this scandalous place was nothing like anything she’d ever felt before. It was a possession, a claiming, as he explored her mouth with his heated, talented tongue that tasted a little of fine whisky and whispered promises. He held her like possession, too, one hand gripping her hip, the other cradling her back like he’d keep her upright if her trembling knees at last gave out. It was a distinct possibility and she couldn’t help but feel protected by the action.
At last their mouths parted and for a moment they only stared at each other. He looked as stunned as she felt, though that wasn’t possible. This was clearly a man who was well-versed in seduction. Someone who belonged in this hell of sin and pleasure, even if he’d admitted to his nervousness years and years ago.
He was also quite possibly the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life. She was still startled by that as she stared up at him. He was tall and lean with dark hair that was just a little too long and rakishly messy. He had a scruff of facial hair that only seemed to accentuate the lines of his hard jaw and the fullness of the lips that had just claimed hers. And his blue-gray eyes were impossible to escape as they pinned her in her place, watching every movement of her face.
“Come in the back with me,” he said, his voice rough.
The request…or was it an order? Whatever it was, it moved through her with as much heat as his touch. It was equally terrifying, as well. With everything going on in the open around them, she could only imagine how much further things would go in the back.
She swallowed, trying to find words. He tilted his head. “Thisis what you came for, isn’t it, Aphrodite, goddess of love and passion and pleasure?”
She shivered and then she slowly nodded because she couldn’t find the words. He leaned down again and his lips brushed hers a second time. “Then let me give it to you. Everything you’ve ever fantasized about, let me give it to you.”
“Yes.”
She said it without meaning to, just as she had when he asked her to dance, because this man was irresistible. What he offered was powerful and terrifying all at once. But she’d come here for a night without consequences and he seemed just the man to give it.
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, his breath warm on her knuckles before he kissed them. When he guided her forward, she followed, letting him lead her through the writhing crowd that had so fascinated her when she first entered the hell and now seemed to fade so that there was only him in focus. They reached the back of the big room and he signaled to a man on guard before a dimly lit hallway. She followed him farther down that hallway to a room.
When he opened the door and motioned for her to go in, she caught her breath. Somehow she’d pictured the chamber would be stark, but it was anything but. It was sumptuous, richly appointed with fine wallpaper, dark furniture and a bed covered in silk sheets. A fire glowed on the opposite side of the room, warming the air and making everything seem soft.
Except him. As he shut the door and leaned against it, watching her take everything in, he was anything but soft. When she faced him, he extended a finger and crooked it to bring her back to him. There was almost no choice but to do as the motion required. She moved to him and gasped when he caught her hand and brought her up against him again. He kissed her, deeper now, more slowly and she whimpered against his lips.
“If you want me to stop, just say the word,” he said softly.
She drew back and stared up into those remarkable eyes. He was offering escape. She could take it and run away and forget this had ever happened. Perhaps that would have been better. Certainly it would have been more proper. And yet she couldn’t. More to the point, she didn’t want to.
So she took a shaky breath and whispered, “Don’t stop.”
CHAPTER3
Never in her life had Lily been so bold as she was now. When she’d attempted anything even approaching a surrender of propriety in what she said or wore or did, it had almost always led to consequences. It didn’t appear there would be any of those tonight. When she told this man not to stop, a wicked smile quirked his lips and he backed her toward the bed. When they reached it, he pivoted her so her back faced him and began to unfasten the buttons on her scandalously low-cut dress. Esme had insisted she borrow it tonight after they disregarded all her regular gowns. Every moment, she’d felt wicked in it. Now she felt even more wicked as he pushed it forward and leaned in to kiss the skin he exposed along her spine.
“You’ve done this before?” he asked, breathless.
She turned to look at him. “Yes. I-I was married. He’s gone now.”
His gaze moved over her face. She wasn’t certain what he was searching for, perhaps whatever emotion she felt about that fact. Perhaps something else. He was too hard to read. She hoped she was, too, because she didn’t want the past or the future to interrupt this night. Not now when she was so close to something she ached for in a way she never had before.
“How long has it been?” he asked.
“He’s been dead almost two years,” she said. “And he…he never looked at me the way you’re looking at me. Like you’ll devour me whole."
Once again the corners of his lips twitched for a wicked little smile. “Devour you whole. There’s an idea.”
He slipped a finger beneath the drooping neckline of her gown and slowly tugged so that the satin fell away, down her arms and revealed her from the waist up.
Esme had told her that she couldn’t wear underthings with a dress like this and so Lily was naked beneath. He stared at her exposed body, his pupils dilating and licked his lips. She was put to mind of their earlier conversation about the bunny and the hunter.
