Page 24 of Winning the Wallflower's Heart
“You should be learning from me.”
“Learning what, exactly?”
“Georgie, don’t make me say it.”
“Isn’t that why we’re in this mess in the first place? You didn’t like our kiss. I thought?—”
“You drive me wild! I can’t stop thinking of you.” He closed the distance between them with three big strides. “I have thought of nothing but you night and day since we kissed in my office. It’s been torture. The sweetest, most maddening torture because I crave you, Kitten.”
Her fingers slowly traced the ridge of her collarbone, drawing his focus as she backed up again until her back pressed against the grand piano.
Everything was spinning out of control for Ellis. He had thought he could marry her and protect her, but that hadn’t been the case since he stood across from her and made his vows. It was more than that.
It was always going to be more between them.
“But you don’t want me.”
The truth hit him like a swift uppercut, cutting through his frustration. Georgiana wasn’t trying to seduce him because she needed his protection—she was doing it because she wantedhim. Wantedhim, not what he could offer her.
He swallowed hard and edged closer until his body brushed against hers. She braced her hands on either side of her on top of the piano to steady herself.
“Kitten, I’m going to kiss you now, and I want you to come home to me. I want you to kiss me back and know without a doubt, you are everything I desire in this world. I’ll drop to my damn knees right now and prove it to you.”
She tilted her head, then flicked her glance to the floor.
Ellis dropped to his knees.
CHAPTER 7
Georgiana’s heartthrummed in her chest as Ellis looked up at her, his eyes burning with a want that mirrored her own.
“You have me where you want me,” he whispered. “Now what?”
Ellis Linfield might very well have been one of the most powerful men in London with the empire he had built for himself, and here he was, surrendering to her. A thrill raced up her spine. Years she had dreamt of being his, harboring a girlish crush that was left to daydreams. And now…
“Kiss me.”
He moved to stand, but she shook her head and gently tapped her fingers to his shoulders. He had been in such a rush to run after her, he hadn’t even worn a jacket, just his shirt.
“No, not on my lips.”
He worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he reached his hand out and gently brushed his thumb against her ankle.
“What do you know of that?”
Nothing, beyond the brief instruction Madame Marie had given her nearly ten minutes earlier. She played off her nervousness and kept her face the picture of calm.
“Are you upset you can’t teach me?”
His fingers crept higher up her calf, tracing the curve of her leg until he stopped at the ribbon garter. “Teach you? Kitten, I make grown men weep when they lose at my tables for fear of what I’ll take from them.” He pushed her skirts higher above her knee and leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to her thigh. “You wanted to best me, but this is a game I’m willing to lose if it means I have you squirming on this piano with my head between your thighs, and you’re crying out my name in a few minutes, do you understand?”
Georgiana sighed, collapsing back against the piano. The same buzzing feeling that had coursed through her veins during their kiss returned, making her dizzy and warm and so impossibly frustrated. She wiggled her hips as his fingers climbed farther up her skirts, pressing into her flesh just enough to make her feel like she was losing control.
He was right; she had sought out Madame Marie to reclaim the power in their relationship. He had spent the past week avoiding her, seemingly moving on with his life as if that kiss hadn’t changed everything.
But it had.
For both of them.
