Alice straightened as if electrified. “It’s fine. I have my second wind now. Let’s continue.”
He looked through his eyelashes at her, stirring that second wind into a storm. “As you wish.”
And before she knew what he was about, he’d removed her drawers and knelt before her, and she discovered that the postdoctoral thesis on coitus had been missing a few pages.
Forget hooligan; she was adelinquentnow. “Um—” she attempted. “What—”
“Rule three,” he reminded her. “Kissing.” And when she gasped, clutching at his hair—“Subclause 3b: with tongue.”
By the time he finished, level eight was a mere speck in the eye of level twenty, and Alice could barely stand. In a haze, she felt herself being lifted, then carefully lowered to a narrow bed. The metal frame creaked; a smell of mold wafted up. Her petticoat had disappeared somewhere along the way, leaving her clad in only a thin linen camisole embroidered with enchantments.
She lay stiff, thighs pressed together, arms crossed. Daniel removed his shoes and trousers, then climbed onto the bed, kneeling astride her legs. Without a word, not even looking at her, he unfastened his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“Don’t tell me to relax,” she warned, her voice raspy after all its recent moaning.
“All right,” Daniel said evenly. His shirt fell open, and as he turned his attention to his cuffs, Alice urgently counted her breath.One... two... elephant... seventy-four...
The shirt came off, revealing his tanned torso, lean, deadly arms, and a certain other anatomical feature that, had it been included thusly on Michelangelo’sDavid, would have tripled museum profits due to the crowds of visitors. Daniel gave the shirt a crisp shake and began to fold—
“Um...” he said, blinking with surprise, as Alice snatched the shirt from him and threw it to the floor.
“I’m just streamlining the schedule,” she explained, and he laughed.
The lovely, rare sound glimmered through her. Her fingers fluttered in response against her bare arms.
“Hm,” Daniel said, taking one hand in his. Alice immediately made a fist, but he pried the fingers apart with ease. “These remind me of a poem I once read in an old American newspaper. I enjoy seeing them ‘leaping like leopards in the sky.’ ”
As she watched him kiss each fingertip, emotions broke through the haze of physical pleasure and threatened to overwhelm her. “I’m going to stab you,” she whispered.
“Uh huh.” He stroked his tongue across her wrist.
She shivered. “I’m going to break your legs.”
Unperturbed, he began kissing up her arm. “Behold, thou art fair, O my love,” he murmured against her skin. “Behold, thou art fair; thy eyes are as those of doves.”
Trust a Catholic to quote the ultimate book in a moment like this.
“Behold, thou art fair, my beloved,” she answered. “Also, our bed is green.”
Daniel frowned at her with mock solemnity. “If I didn’t know you were quoting, I’d suspect you of breaking the rule about jokes. This mattress is indeed disturbingly mildewed.”
Now Alice was the one to laugh. Daniel bent to kiss it greedily into his own mouth. She could taste his desire and wanted to serve it—with all her heart, wanted to please him. So she reached down rather awkwardly to make his intimate acquaintance—
“Alice,”he growled, pressing his brow against hers. But it did not sound like an order for her to cease operations, so she continued. A few salient questions occurred to her, such asDo you like it when I employmy thumb in this way?but Daniel’s breathing became so erratic, conversation would be impossible.
“Wait,” he said finally, wincing as he struggled to control something within himself.
Alice moved her hand away. “Are you ready to be finished?” she asked cautiously, giving one thought to the unfinished schedule and one to the strained look on his face, and not knowing whether to be disappointed or apologetic.
He smiled at her then, that beautiful, melting smile which always made her want to sigh a little, hug him a little, marry him a little, and take him away to live in the peaceful countryside. “Most definitely not, which is why I need you to stop. Or else I will be finished far too soon.” His smile faded slightly, and she recognized in him the same shyness she felt. “Are you saying you want to be finished?”
“No.” She looked away. “If I asked for more, please, would you forgive me for referencing Dickens at such an inappropriate moment?”
Daniel laughed. “God, I love you.”
Idiom!her brain declared at once. But her heart swelled with helpless wishing. She began trembling, frightened she might murder him in that moment out of sheer joy. He must have seen it—naked against her nakedness, he must have felt it—for he gathered her in his arms and held her close.
“Tighter,” she growled, “in case I break free and strangle you.”
