I don’t know exactly what big, important thing Rupert was trying to ask me, but I could tell it all boils down to one fact: he believes himself a monster, something without physical appeal, and he doubts I could feel attraction to his form.
So it’s time to show him.
When Rupert’s mouth meets mine, I waste no time wrapping my arms around his big neck and pulling him down to me. I tangle my hands in his mane, drawing myself in until I’m almost in his lap. One of his big arms curls under my hip and slides me easily over the ridge of his thigh until I’m between his legs.
It’s so close and so intimate that I’m tingling, and we still haven’t stopped kissing. Now his tongue is coming out to play, and I open my lips to let him in. I enjoy the tentativeway Rupert comes seeking me out and so I meet him, sucking on the tip of his tongue before the two twine together. Then I nibble one of his lips, which makes his whole body tighten, and I arch myself even further into him. His other arm loops under my back, bringing me in flush with his chest as he absolutely ravishes my mouth.
Wow. It feels amazing to be ravished.
Now my hands are traveling up his mane, and I stumble across one of his long ears. They’re not floppy, but they’re not pointy, either—they’re almost like that of a horse, I think as I stroke near one. I don’t know how he’ll feel about me touching it, but when Rupert’s hips rise against mine, I reflexively reach out and wrap my hand around it.
Rupert moans, a full-throated, garbled moan. His body jerks as I rub the ear from the narrow base to the wide middle, and his tongue becomes wild, furious. With the tips of his sharp fangs, he nips my lip. When the tiny spark of pain mixes with the heady pleasure of kissing him, I collapse against him.
We’re truly making out now, and I’m much warmer than before—so warm, in fact, that I feel like I could take off my coat and still not cool off. Our angle is awkward with my legs flung over his thigh, so I rotate my hips in his lap until I’m straddling his waist.
Rupert gasps against my mouth as my ass settles right on his groin.
“Peony,” he says in a warning tone, low and growling, his lips still on mine. It makes the hair on my skin stand on end.
I pull away from the kiss just long enough to ask, “Do you like it?” Then I grind my hips down, against that growing lump under his pants, and Rupert lets out a tortured groan.
“Oh, I do,” he manages, his voice barely more than a purr. “Far too much, I fear.”
“Don’t fear anything.” I put a finger on his lips, then return to kissing him.
Rupert is much, much bolder now, his big hands tracing their way down my back, one even going so far as to cup my ass. I pet his other ear this time, stroking it in a sultry manner that makes him twitch under my hands. I can feel his erection poking up between my thighs, rubbing against my own sensitive place.
“Peony,” Rupert says, breaking away from our kiss to gasp for air. “Do you… would you rather go inside? To continue this?”
My eyes get wide. I thought he’d never ask.
I cover his hand, which is currently resting on my left ass cheek, and give it a squeeze.
“I would love to,” I say, lifting my head so I can speak directly in his ear. He shudders all over. “Take me where you want to go.”
eighteen
. . .
rupert
Where I want to go?
My bedroom, of course. If I could wish us there with a thought, I would. But even as Peony tucks her small hand neatly into mine and urges me to walk back to the manor, I wonder if this is the right thing to do. Although she made it clear what she wants from me, to my genuine surprise and mortification, I’ll have to show her the parts of myself that no one else has ever seen—the parts that horrify me.
What if that’s when she chooses to run? What if it’s so disgusting she ends up seeing herself out? I don’t know if my unfortunate and fragile existence could handle that.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that we’ve reached the manor by the time I realize we’ve been quiet the whole way. Peony peers up at me.
“Are you changing your mind?” she asks. “It’s all right if you do. We can slow down.”
Slow down?I want anything but that. It’s probably wiser to take each step as it comes, but I want to skip all the steps. My body knows what it wants, what it seeks, and that’s Peony. How wonderful would it be to have her spread out in front of me? To slide my strange, wet cock into her and feel her all around me?
I squeeze her little hand in mine. “I have not changed my mind, I assure you.” I let her inside the house, where we each rid ourselves of our coats.
“Then what are you thinking?” Peony asks as I lead the way toward the east wing, and she jogs to catch up with me. I slow down, realizing just how much shorter her legs are, and put an arm around her so she can set our pace. “What’s your hesitation, Rupert?”
She is asking me directly, as she tends to do, and I should tell her the truth.
