“It’s better to keep you guessing. Besides, you’ll know soon enough.” She patted the back of the dark-upholstered sofa with the palm of her hand.
“I aim to please you.” And with that, he complied.
It had been so long since she’d touched him intimately that she wanted to savor every moment tonight. Though she was thankful they would have other nights since the house party went on for two more weeks.
She whispered huskily in his ear, “Lie back, my lord.”
He made a noise of contentment as the flats of her hands ran over the planes of his heavily muscled chest. Her palms slid beneath the open vee of his shirt to press against his warm skin.
Pulling her hands free, she yanked on the suspenders. “I like this look on you. The change in fashion and move away from corsets on men is an improvement.”
“Since when did I ever wear such a thing?”
“Never, but so many do. It would be a shame to hide your brawny, masculine frame.”
Leo tugged at her braid, which had fallen over his chest when she leaned over him. He untied the satin ribbon on the end so her hair could be easily unraveled. “I like it when your hair is unbound. Now come closer so that I can assault your mouth a while longer.”
As she stood on the tips of her toes, their noses brushed together before their lips met. His arms reached up to cradle her head closer as their lips meshed, parted, and tasted. Their tongues tangled in a familiar dance of eroticism. Not caught off guard by this kiss, she enjoyed every nip and lick.
Leo pulled her over the back of the sofa and onto his lap. He maneuvered them so he lay stretched out beneath her, head resting on one of the gold-tasseled velvet bolsters decorating either end. Hitching up the long frilly skirt of her nightgown, he settled her body over his.
He broke their kiss for a second. “Will you come to me every night?”
“Possibly.” She liked being in control of their affair. She also liked to tease him. Of course she had every intention of coming to him every night, but she also liked the note of desperation in his voice.
“I’d like it if you did.” He brushed away a stray lock of hair that had fallen down the side of her face.
“I’m sure you would.”
His hands slid down her back next, running along the corset laces, plucking at them as if they were the strings of a cello. He loosened her stays at a painstakingly slow pace. She just wanted it off.
The hard ridge of his arousal pressed into her belly. She craved to touch him and wanted to rub her body along his without clothes to hinder them, but she wanted to savor every moment of removing each other’s clothes first.
Slowly releasing the strings that bound the corset around her waist, Leo tugged at the contraption till it was loose. All that was left was to unclasp the front busk. He left it alone to push the material of her shift aside.
“Your skin is as soft as I remember,” he said as he pressed his lips against her exposed shoulder. Her fingers threaded through the longish locks of his dark hair, luxuriating in the soft texture. His kisses were slow and exploring. He was moving too unhurriedly for her liking. She was hungry for so much more of him.
“We need to reacquaint faster, Leo.”
“I like it when you call me Leo.” He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her mouth closer to lay tender bites to her lips before releasing her. “We have all night, princess. And we have a lot of time to make up for.”
She put her hands down around his shoulders to keep from toppling completely onto him. One of his hands went around her back and gripped one buttock cheek tightly. He shifted her so her pelvis cradled his, and the jut of his manhood pressed firmly against her core. She rubbed against him, loving the titillating sensation of their position.
Removing his hand from her rear, he undid her corset and tossed it aside. It landed with a soft thud somewhere on the floor.
“Leo…”
She lost her train of thought when his hungry gaze snared hers. Though she saw desire etched in his handsome face, she also saw a fount of emotion that had been previously pent up and hidden from her before now. He really had missed her. Missed this. Her hand traced the strong line of his jaw and the soft plushness of his lips. He nibbled on the tip of her finger.
“Genny?”
“I wanted to stay away,” she confessed.
Resist him.
Avoid him.
Anything but fall into his arms and his bed again.
But it felt as though she belonged here. Society strictures aside, this was exactly where she wanted to be. Because she far more than liked this man.
The back of his fingers gently ran over the side of her face, returning the gentle caress she’d given him. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“What if I had?” she asked.
“Then I would have had no choice but to respect your decision and carry on as I have been and will continue to do.”
“You wouldn’t have stopped courting me?” How she loved the attention he lavished on her.
“Is that what you’re worried about?” His hands caressed the length of her back. “That once I have you in my bed again, I’ll not want to spend time with you outside of my private chambers?”
She nodded.
“Silly girl.” He kissed her fiercely, his tongue delving hard between her lips in silent demand that she savor the moment with him. “Have you forgotten what our last affair was like? I cannot keep myself from you, princess.”
“Do you give all your lovers that moniker?”
“Only you, Genny. I’ve never wanted a woman more than I want you.”
“You left me, though.” The hurt was palpable in her tone.
“I shouldn’t have walked away from you four years ago. I won’t walk away a second time.” Leo sat up so he could lean against the curved arm of the sofa. He took her with him, settling her comfortably in his lap. “It was an odd situation, and I was too stupid to realize I was walking away from the one thing I truly enjoyed in life.”
“Yet you didn’t come back.”
“The truth is, I didn’t think you’d have me, Genny.” His thumb rubbed the side of her face affectionately. “Leaving you is the only regret I have in my life.”
“Do you mean to … to marry me, Leo?”
He brushed his hand through his hair roughly, disheveling it more than she had. “I know that what we have won’t end here in my bed tonight. Nor will it end the night after or the night after that.”
The possibility of marriage sent a deep thrill of happiness through every part of her body. She pressed her mouth to his, slipped her tongue between his lips, and let the feelings of love guide her actions.
Her tongue wound around his as she busied herself with removing his clothes. Sliding her fingers beneath his suspenders once again, she pushed them off his shoulders and tugged at his shirt, wanting to be rid of it.
“Genny?”
More determined than ever not to ruin the night they were finally sharing, she shook her head. “Don’t say another word, Leo. Just help me remove your clothes.”
He complied with her wishes, yanking the long tails of his shirt free from his trousers. When he pulled his shirt over his head, she took a moment to appreciate his strong physique. His body was strong, thickly roped with muscles. She traced the tight lines of his torso. There was a small patch of coarse hair at the center of his chest that she brushed her fingers through.
His hands caressed the length of her back in soft strokes. Her legs straddled around his hips as they both sat facing each other. She well remembered the feel of his body but wanted to retrace every line she had etched to memory four years ago. He seemed bigger, as though age had made him larger than life. And perhaps it had in her mind.
“I’ve missed this,” she found herself saying.
“So have I.” His hand lazily stroked the outside of her thighs, pushing the material of her shift closer to her waist. “Can I remove this?”
How could she ever mind? She’d do anything he asked of her. “Yes.”
She raised her arms so he could lift the soft material over her head. Her hair was still half-braided and fell with a light thump against her back when she was unhindered by the material of her nightclothes.
Leo’s hands lightly grazed her bare breasts before lifting their weight and squeezing both together. “I love that you don’t shy away from me, Genny. You never have, and I hope you never will.”
Was she supposed to hide herself, pretend to be ashamed of her body instead of sharing it freely with him? He always made her feel like the most beautiful woman to walk the face of the earth. It felt like a sin to not share and indulge her body as he did with his.
“You make me feel so much more like a woman when I’m with you. So much more worthy of … you.”
“Kiss me, Genny.”
And she did. Her tongue was slow and exploring, but it dove deep within the cavern of his mouth. His hands skimmed over her breasts one final time, brushing over the firm peaks of her nipples before moving with calm tenderness over her ribs and around to her back. He drew long lines up and down her spine, swirling little circles with his fingers every time he reached the swell of her buttocks.
“I will indulge your every sense tonight. This is a promise.”
“I like your promises.” Her voice was husky and full of desire.