Page 20 of Always the Lyon Tamer

Rebecca could hardly believe she had said those words. She had to offer herself to him, knowing he needed to make the choice. She could not just make this part of the game; that would taint it, somehow.He needed to want her.

“Wh-What?” John was panting, and Rebecca could feel his racing heartbeat beneath her fingertips, still resting on his chest. “The…the rest of you.”

It was not a question. He knew precisely what she was suggesting, and as Rebecca removed her hands from his chest to reach up to the ties on her mask, she examined his face.

He did not look confused. She knew what she meant. So, as she dropped her mask to the floor and felt her heart rate quicken,why was he hesitating?

John was still blindfolded; he could not see her.Perhaps that was it.But was she brave enough to show him the truth?

“I want you.”

Rebecca blinked. Had he really said… “I beg your pardon?”

A sardonic smile tilted John’s lips. “You heard me. I want you, Titania, Lyon Tamer, whoever you are. You are in control. Take me.”

Rebecca stared, unsure whether she could move. There was no possibility he could tell who she was, not with that blindfold on. As long as she was careful—she had been delicate in her description of herself, and there was nothing about her, surely, that could identify her by touch?

Her cheeks colored as John’s fingers moved to her hips, and he moaned again.No, they had never been this intimate when she was Miss Rebecca Darby. Why not, now she was the Lyon Tamer?

Rebecca leaned forward, closed her eyes, and kissed John on the lips.

They had kissed before. This was not new territory for them, although he did not know it, and yet it was utterly different. The instant her lips touched his, her whole body seemed to spark to life.

Had she been sleepwalking through life until this moment?That was what it felt like; the kiss heated her, changed her, made her cling to him as though the world would end if she even considered letting go.

And John responded in turn. His hands clung onto her lower back, pulling her as close as was possible, desperate, eager—hungry.

Rebecca felt the kiss change. John’s tongue was teasing her lips, and she welcomed him in, hungry for more of a connection. She moaned in his mouth as his tongue teased her, ravishing it for all pleasure.

Eventually—she could not tell how long they were kissing there on the chair—Rebecca pulled away.

“No,” he breathed. “Come back here.”

“No,” Rebecca teased, her breathing short. “Not here. The bed?”

This time there was no hesitation. John nodded, releasing her from his grip as his fingers moved toward his blindfold.

“No!”

His hands paused at the sound of her urgent voice.

“You have to keep it on,” said Rebecca slowly.

This, she was certain of. Until she had entirely seduced him, until they were one, she could not be entirely sure John would marry her. And he had to marry her, for that was the whole point of this game.

She glanced at the bed.Well, the primary point.

Rebecca rose to her feet and reached out to take John by the hand. He rose willingly, tall and masculine as only John was. It took but seconds to lead him to the bed.

“Lie down,” she whispered.

And this was where the plan ended,Rebecca thought ruefully as she stood by the bed and looked down. For all of Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s clever ideas, she had not provided any expertise for this step.

It did not matter. For the first time in her life, she was filled with the certainty that whatever she did would be right.

“You may be blindfolded,” Rebecca whispered, “but that does not mean you cannot enjoy me undressing.”

John turned toward the sound of her voice. “What do you—”