“How long were you and George together?” he asks.
“Almost a year.”
Lachlan’s hand on the back of the couch clenches into a fist, and the solid knot in his throat bobs. “And the sex was good?”
I send the answer into my lap. “He never … It was always … He rarely wanted to …”
“Charlotte.” A large, warm hand envelopes my own upon his thigh. “We’re just two friends talking. And I’m as nervous as you are.”
My head shoots up. “Why wouldyoube nervous?”
“I haven’t done this in quite some time. I don’t want to disappoint you.” He gently squeezes my fingers. “Which I surely will if you don’t tell me what you like. What you need.”
I blow out a long breath. “He only ever brought me to orgasm a handful of times. And on those occasions, I’d done most of the work to get there myself. He always treated me like I was this fragile thing, even when I told him that wasn’t what I wanted. I asked him to be rougher. More passionate. But that wasn’t whathewanted, so we just … It was fine. Our sexual life was fine.”
Lachlan snickers. “The performance review every man seeks from his lover.”
“What do your lovers say about you?”
A raised brow and a shy smirk tell me all I need to know.
I gasp as his fingers feather over the skin behind my knee, just below the hem of my chemise. He strokes lightly, so lightly I barely feel it, as his other hand curls around my nape. He holds me in place with enough gentle pressure that I cannot look away. Not that I would.
“The secret of seduction, Charlotte, is that physicality is the smallest portion of it. It’s almost entirely a mental exercise.”
If that is true, then I am dead in the water. I’m incapable of forming coherent thoughts while his hands are on me.
“Do you know why I was so good at it?” he asks.
Was?I nearly scoff.
I want him to move closer. He doesn’t.
I want him to trail his fingers up my thigh. He doesn’t.
I want him to yank me in for a rough kiss. He doesn’t.
“Because of thediamrhán?”
He chuckles, his soft breath tickling my lips and I nearly moan, trying not to squirm. “Very few of my clients requested the service, actually. Most people aren’t brave enough for that level of exposure.”
There’s a compliment buried in there somewhere, but the sparks flowing through my veins are making it increasingly difficult to concentrate.
“What then?” I fist my hands at my sides, grasping for control. I’m unraveling. He’s unraveling me. And barely touching me.
“Because I did to them what I’ve been doing with you for weeks. Can you guess what it is?”
Sapphire eyes drink me in, and I know what he’s seeing: a heavy-lidded stare, parted lips, flushed cheeks. He must know that all he need do is say the word, give me another command, and there is very little I wouldn’t do for him right now.
His lips hover over mine. “Paying attention.”
I release the most pathetic, neediest sound I’ve ever made in my life.
“Did you just whimper?” He smiles against my mouth.
I huff. “Of course not.”
“You did.” He brushes his lip ring against the corner of my mouth and searing, liquid heat spills between my legs. “I think I’d like to hear it again.”
