* * *
Larkin took a three-minute shower, brushed his teeth, changed into clean boxers and at the last minute added a knee-length navy silk robe his uncle had given him for Christmas. He’d left it here in his room at the castle, sure he would never wear it.
But something told him that if he walked back into Winnie’s bedroom mostly naked, his lover-to-be might hyperventilate. The robe seemed a prudent choice. Not only that, but the pocket came in handy for a stash of condoms. He slipped across the hall and, as instructed, didn’t knock…even though, technically, only twelve-and-a-half minutes had elapsed.
Winnie was true to her word. She was waiting for him. The room had been plunged into shadows. A single lamp burned on a low table near the window. She had pulled the hangings on three sides of the massive bed, leaving open only the ones facing the light.
Larkin had to walk around the edge of the bed to see her. The covers on the bed were shoved to the bottom of the mattress. Winnie sat cross-legged right in the middle, her hands clasped in her lap. Her lingerie was the product of good taste and unlimited funds. Likely French in design and construction, the aquamarine teddy trimmed in cream marabou left little to the imagination.
Cut high on the legs and low in front, the décolletage barely contained Winnie’s lush assets. Her waist looked tiny, and the thin strip of fabric covering her secrets was not quite doing the job.
Her white skin glowed in the soft light, but her eyes were dark pools of uncertainty. He was glad of the robe now. Because it helped disguise the fact that his sex stood at attention, eager and ready.
He cleared his throat. “You look beautiful, Winnie. Kick-in-the-gut, drop-dead gorgeous.”
Her teeth worried her bottom lip. “So do you.” She gulped as her eyes slid from his mouth downward all the way to where his robe tented “Larkin…”
He shed his outer garment and boxers matter-of-factly and put a knee on the bed, prepared to climb into the princess’s hideaway.
She held up a hand. “Stop.”
Dear God in heaven. He steadied his voice. “What, Winnie? What’s wrong?”
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her gaze locked on the erection he could no longer hide. He was certain she didn’t realize what alluring things her distress did to her barely tethered bosom. “I’m scared, Larkin, that I won’t know how to please you.”
Relief made his head swim. “You let me worry about that, Winnie, my sweet.” He scooted to where she sat and reclined on one hip, his head propped on his hand. Testing the waters, he used one finger to trace the curve where her naughty lingerie rode high on a firm, silky hip.
Winnie squirmed, her eyelids fluttering shut.
He laughed softly. “Don’t hide from me, sweetheart. I want you to see us together. Flesh to flesh.”
She opened one eye warily. “Aren’t you going to turn out the light?”
“Oh, no, my little prude. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He grinned at her. “Take down your hair, Winnie.”
“I don’t want to. It’s so messy when I do that.”
“Please? For me?”
Her expression telegraphed reluctance, but when she began removing pins, the simple beauty of the act was unbearably erotic. She tossed the accessories on the floor and fluffed her hair with both hands. “Happy now?”