Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady(38)
“I never thought of it that way. Do you know something terrible about everyone?”
“Just about.”
She was silent a moment before saying, “Never tell me. I don’t want to be a part of anyone’s downfall.”
They walked for another five minutes before Leo came back to the center of the maze. Charlotte was nowhere in sight, and since every entrance to the center was connected one way or another, he led Genny to another path and made all the right turns she’d told him to make.
He untied her blindfold and pulled it away from her eyes when they reached their private little corner.
“Do you think we’ll be safe from discovery?” she asked.
He placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her close so her face rested against his tan-colored jacket. “We’ll be extra careful. Will you meet me here later tonight when we don’t have to worry overmuch about being caught?”
She raised her head suddenly when the wind rustled up branches around them.
“There is no one about,” he assured her.
Her gaze clashed with his. “How can you possibly know that?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I just do.”
“How long do you think it’s safe to stay here? Before either Charlotte or someone else manages to find us?”
“Everyone, aside from the couple currently enjoying their afternoon tryst, will be quietly hidden somewhere in the maze.”
She worried her lower lip. “So you mean we’ll be found together?”
“I doubt it. But to play it safe, we’ll only stay here together for a short time. I’ll leave just as soon as I’ve had my fill of you.”
He pulled her down so she was sitting atop his lap on the small rounded bench that filled the dead end. “How is it that you know your way around this maze better than I do? I grew up next door, spent my younger years causing all sorts of havoc around town, yet I never ventured over here to figure out the secrets of this maze.”
“I spent two summers here,” Genny said. “The first time was the year before I met you. I tend to wander about at odd hours of the night to look at the stars. Not all the time, just when it’s too hot to sleep comfortably.”
“Any time you are feeling restless, you need but knock on my door.”
She shook her head, but was smiling at him. “Only you would say such a thing.”
“I mean that in more than one way. If you want to go for a walk, Genny, I think I’ve proven to you that I’m happy with simply spending time in your company.”
“Yes, you have.” She placed her palm against the side of his face and leaned in to give him a sweet kiss on the lips. “But I like kissing you no matter where we are or what we are doing.”
“I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment.” Placing his hands against her face, he noticed a residual powder. “Genny, since when have you worn cosmetics?”
“I don’t.” She pulled back, shock in her expression at being discovered. “I’ll endeavor to never wear it again if it’s so noticeable. But I looked dreadful this morning.”
“Well tumbled, I imagine.” He grinned, happy to have been the cause of it. “And that reminds me … it seems we have an ally.”
Abruptly, she stood from his lap and looked around them nervously.
“There are no allies for what we are engaging in.” Her agitation was clear in the animated way she spoke with her hands. “People will use information about our affair against us should it be of benefit to them. You said yourself that that is what you do when needed.”
“She wouldn’t share this information with anyone, Genny. And I haven’t had to use the gossip I know for any betterment.”
“And what of your friends? Have they?”
His silence must have been answer enough to that question.
“I thought so. Who is it that you consider an ally? No, wait.” She waved her hands in front of her, closed her eyes as though it could block the truth. “I don’t think I could bear to know. I’d blush like a naïve virgin every time I looked at them. Don’t say another word.”
“I’ll say no more, but you should know that she is a friend who is above gossip.”
Genny pressed her fingers lightly to his mouth.
“My lips are sealed, then.” He kissed her lace-gloved hands, and nibbled the tip of one finger before she pulled slowly away.
“You should go,” she said in a hushed voice.
“Soon. I’m not done with you yet.” He took her hand in his and pulled her back onto his lap, letting her feel his arousal. She grinded down on him and moved his hand to cover one of her breasts.
“What I’d give to take you here,” he said.
“I want you to touch me.”
He hiked up her skirts and burrowed his hands between her thighs searching for the slit in her drawers. When he found it, his finger slicked through the fluids that had built up in her excitement.
She pressed her mouth to his, and wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders in acceptance when he inserted his middle finger into her tight quim. Goddamn, he wanted to be inside her in a completely different way. He settled for rubbing her clitoris simultaneously with quick thrusts of his fingers inside her velvety sheath. He bit her lip gently to remind her that she needed to remain quiet.
He adjusted himself as best he could in his trousers, thrusting up into her heavy skirts with every forward jerk of her pelvis as she rode out her pleasure on his hand. It would be so easy to slip open his trousers and take her here. He needed her.
“Let me have you.” He nibbled at her earlobe hoping she wouldn’t say no. He so badly needed to be inside her. The danger of their actions, of the possibility of being caught, spurred them both on and heightened their appetites for something more titillating and dangerous.
When she nodded, he tossed her skirts forward more fiercely in his need to have her, released the ties on his trousers, and took his cock in hand. Fuck, he’d never needed her so bad as he did now. He settled her on his lap so her back was to his chest and pulled her hips down hard on his aching cock.
One hand guided her hip, the other wrapped around her front and pressed and rubbed at her bound breasts.
For leverage, she put both her feet on the ground and rode him as hard as he pounded up into her. When she made those sounds again that drove him mad with lust, he put his fingers in her mouth and said, “Bite down on them.”
When she did, he knew it was because her orgasm took hold of her. He took her as hard as he could in this position, letting her sheath milk him for all his worth. He yanked her down on him as his come spurted out into the sweet haven between her thighs.
Shit. He hadn’t meant to come in her. “I’m sorry.”
She leaned her head back onto his shoulder. “For what?”
“I didn’t pull out.”
“It’s okay. I’m not near…”
He wasn’t sure if she stalled because she had to catch her breath or because she didn’t know how to word what she was going to say.
“No harm will come of it,” she finished. “We are safe right now.”
He nodded against her and kissed the side of her neck. “I’ll not forget myself again.”
“I like it when you forget yourself.” She reached her arm around and cradled his head in the crook of her neck.
They sat on the bench like that for some time. There was no way he’d ever get enough of her, so he stood her up on wobbly feet and put himself back together. Genny dabbed a handkerchief over her perspiring face and flattened out the wrinkles in her skirts.
The shush of slippered feet headed in their direction. They both looked toward the opening in the maze. Not knowing where the sound came from, he held out Genny’s blindfold and she obligingly turned her back to him so he could secure it behind her head. He went around the corner first, wondering if he’d step directly into someone’s path. There was no one there, so he led Genny quietly away from the noise they had heard in order to whisper in her ear.
“I know you haven’t said yes to tonight, but give it some thought. I would love to see you again, Genny.” He brushed the back of his hand lightly over the side of her face. “I’m going to leave you here, and it’ll be your choice if you want to find another spot to hide. I’m going to tie my blindfold back in place and head in another direction.”
“Thank you for finding me, Leo. I am glad I could spend even this short amount of time with you.”
He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I will see you at luncheon, when the game has concluded.” He gave her one more kiss for good luck. This time he slipped his tongue gently between her lips and tangled it with hers before pulling away. “Good luck.”
Then he headed down the path, away from the lady who was not only driving him mad with lust, but with a much deeper feeling of affection than he’d previously felt for her.
Chapter 17
I ponder the reason for Lord B___’s current devotion. Could he be slipping in his normally circumspect manner? To date, there are only rumors surrounding his scandalous proclivities. That is not to say that what is whispered isn’t true, just yet to be proven. Does he intend to publicly ruin a woman who by all accounts has no prospects and offers no political gain? How incredibly out of character this current behavior is.