Page 60 of Kiss Me Lady One More Time
He drank it in, kissing her again, dancing his tongue across hers as his fingers returned to her thighs.
Nerves struck, then, because she didn’t know where things went from here. But she trusted him. She’d wanted this. She relaxed.
She’d known he’d make an intrepid explorer. His fingers dropped back to her thigh and pursued uncharted trails, higher and higher. It was exciting and anxiety-ridden and naughty and wonderful. She wanted to let her head fall back and her knees open and see where he would go, but she’d promised that they were in this together. She reached down and traced the outline of his member as it strained against the confines of his trousers.
He pushed himself further into her hand and grinned at her. “Do it again,” he whispered.
She did, thrilled beyond measure to be able to give back a bit of the joy he gave her. He took her hand and cupped it around the bulge between them, then returned his fingers to their pursuits. So gently, he stroked her, running soft caresses along her thigh, over her buttock, and at last coming back to stroke along the tender skin between. Soft, teasing touches, dipping further, easing her apart and touching her where her pulse pounded, and she was hot and wet and aching for more.
“I . . . You . . .” She tensed at the maelstrom of pleasure. It was unexpected, and delicious.
Her hand fell away from him. She had to brace herself as he pulled her close and buried his face in the curve of her neck. She could feel him . . . everywhere. Above and below. He explored her valleys and caressed her just where she hadn’t known she’d wanted him to.
Abruptly, he found a magical spot and she gripped his shoulder again and arched against him. He teased her, gentle then hard, quick then slow until she was nearly whimpering with need. Her body knew. As did his. They couldn’t get close enough. She pressed him to her neck and opened her legs wider, inching closer. His fingers worked magic and the other hand lifted to cup her breast. He squeezed her nipple and it was as if he’d flipped a switch inside of her, completed an arc of electric pleasure that made her moan and arch and shake. Strange ripples raced through her, from her scalp to her toes and crashed in the middle. Surely her hair was standing on end. Surely light leaked from her pores. She was on fire, soaring, heating up the cold expanse of the sky, then she collapsed against him, the flames dying. Her breathing slowed. She was an ember now, and he was the warm hearth that held her.
Slowly, slowly, she came back to herself. She had her face pressed into his chest again and for a moment she just stayed there, breathing him in. Gradually, she straightened and smiled into his solemn expression. “We’ll do it again,” she said low, sliding her hand down. “This time it’s your—
“No.” He stopped her. Pulled her hand back up.
Abashed, she stared at him.
“We cannot . . . finish,” he said decisively.
“Why not?”
“For all of the same reasons.” He sighed. “You drive me wild with wanting. I want nothing more than to give in to idea of the future you imagine. But everything is still too uncertain.”
“I am certain,” she said through clenched teeth. “Surely we can—”
“No.” He shook his head.
He was retreating again, closing up against her.
“Penelope,” he said gently. “You are . . . everything. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you. But the fossil is not yet found, and someone could come in at any moment and I must still—” He stopped. “I want you. But it may just not be possible. And so we cannot do anything irrevocable. Not yet.”
She climbed off of him. Straightened her skirts. Smoothed her hair. “Too late,” she said coolly.
“Penelope . . .”
He said nothing more and she shook her head. “I wanted you to be the one.” She felt the tears well and fought to hold them back. “Bumbling suitors were one thing. My parents—that is harder. How can they just assume that my love and loyalty will transfer away from them? Do you know how it hurts to see them look at me as . . . transient?”
She breathed deeply. “But with you . . . we share so many interests. Everything feels easy and warm and light. I enjoy your company, so very much. We’ve proven we can work together. I thought I could convince you, could make you see we were meant to share . . . everything. Our lives.” The tears spilled over, then. “But you are just the same. You look at me and see a temporary liaison.”
They both jumped as a pounding echoed from the direction of the kitchen. He reached down and handed her the discarded pelisse. Taking it, she stared at him. The knock came again.
“Mr. Sterne?” the male voice called. “I’ve come from Lord Tensford.”
She shouldn’t be angry. She tried to convince herself. She’d once found his straightforward honesty a mark in his favor.
Until he’d turned it like a blade and cut away her dreams with it. Again. How many times was she going to make herself vulnerable, only to have him push her away? She clutched a fist to her chest. God, it hurt. She thought he was going to be the one to finally pull her close. All the way in. Without regrets orif onlysor reservations.
Angrily, she wiped her tears away. “I wish you the best of luck in finding what you are looking for,” she told him.
They both knew she wasn’t talking about a fossil.
She went to the kitchen door and admitted the footman. “I’ve a note for you to deliver, if you’ll give me a moment?”
He bowed and she went upstairs to fetch a pen and paper.
