Page 52 of Her Royal Houseguest

She gasped as shockwaves of pleasure moved through her body. She drew back, her eyes wide, and saw him smiling down at her. His grin was powerful. A man in his prime as he pleasured her breast in a way she’d never experienced before.

It was wonderful!

‘Are English ladies taught this?’ he asked. ‘Do they know the pleasure of their own bodies?’

She couldn’t understand his question. She was flooded with sensation. His hand where no man had ever cupped her. And oh! His thumb tweaked her nipple and her breath caught.

‘I can tell,’ he said. ‘You do not know this.’

‘I don’t.’

His hand slowed, gliding off her breast to her ribcage. ‘This is new,’ he said.

‘Yes.’

‘Do you want more?’

‘Yes.’ Then she came back to herself. At least a bit. ‘But… I can’t. I still might marry. I must be a virgin.’

Her gaze hopped to the closed door. Her mother was resting, her father was at his club but the servants were still here. Because of her mother’s migraines, everyone was used to closed doors as a way of keeping down the noise. But still, anyone could walk in at any time. She was playing with fire.

‘There is pleasure without losing virginity. You should know how whether you marry or not.’ His expression darkened. ‘Indeed, the harem women should have taught you.’

She giggled, a startled throaty sound. ‘We don’t have harems.’ But they did have rules. And she was breaking them!

‘Then the women of your family.’

She couldn’t imagine her mother doing these things. But of course, she must have. Anna was one of four children.

‘Do all Siamese women know this?’ It was upsetting to think that foreign girls knew more about their bodies than she did. This heat, this sizzling pleasure, was something she wanted to experience.

‘Some do,’ Prince Deva answered. ‘Many do not.’ His expression grew troubled. ‘Is this forbidden to you?’

Yes. Unless…

‘Girls are expected to be innocent—’ she said ‘—but I am a woman grown.’ She bit her lip. ‘There are women who know.’ Demireps. Courtesans. Could she become one of them?

She wanted to. With him. It wasn’t the same as becoming a demirep but she didn’t care.

‘Teach me,’ she said, her throat dry but her body open.

He searched her face. ‘This is forbidden.’ It was a statement, not a question.

She grabbed his wrist, urging him back to her breasts. ‘Only to young misses,’ she lied. ‘I am a spinster.’ As of this moment, she declared it. ‘Shouldn’t I know pleasure just as the harem girls do?’

Again she tugged his hand back to her breasts and this time he allowed it. Soon his fingers were stroking pleasure into her skin. Or not quite her skin. She wanted her dress off.

What a scandalous thing they were doing. She was risking everything. Yet when he pinched her nipple, she did not want to stop. For once in her life, she would experience this.

His hand was nimble as he played with her breast but his expression remained hooded. When his hand slowed, he spoke in a low whisper.

‘Do not lie to me, Lady Anna. If we are caught—’

‘I will find someone else then,’ she whispered back. ‘I will learn what Siamese women know!’

His eyes blazed then and his nostrils flared. ‘You are willful,’ he whispered. ‘Willful women find disaster.’

Her lips quirked. ‘I’m already a disaster. Everyone says so.’ She twisted her arms behind her, tugging her buttons loose until her bodice gaped open.