Chapter 11 #2
Algernon glanced around her room then walked toward a small sitting stool a little over a foot high.
He picked it up and brought it back to where she stood, placing it between them.
Without warning Algernon’s hands wrapped around Beatrice’s waist, and she gasped as he picked her up and placed her feet upon the stool so that they were eye to eye.
“Kiss me,” he stated again casually. “I have a dance instructor coming for you in an hour to start you on the basics, and Mrs. Sheer, my housekeeper, will be joining you for dinner this evening to teach you proper dining etiquette. Those lessons will help you however you must know what to do with a man beyond that.”
Beatrice froze, her mind whirling back to the night of their first kissing lesson.
The moment his lips had touched hers, it had sent her entire body into a frenzy of heat and delightful shivers.
She’d barely slept that night, too filled with longing from an act that was supposed to be entirely educational.
She was not so sure she wanted that to happen to her again.
“I—What if I am bad at it?” she whispered.
“You are not,” he said with a quickness.
Then she saw something pass through his eyes, as if he had not meant it to say it or at least not as fast. Even still, she felt a little comforted by his response.
“I mean, for a novice, you took direction from my body quite well,” Algernon explained. “But this evening, it is you that will be giving the direction. You will be guiding me to what I can and cannot do with just your kiss.”
Realizing then and there that she would not know how to do such a thing until she tried, Beatrice drew in a steadying breath and nodded. She lifted her hands toward his shoulders then paused.
“May I touch you?” she asked.
Algernon’s pupils dilated.
“You may,” he agreed, sounding slightly breathless. “In fact, it is encouraged.”
Beatrice nodded and placed her hands on his shoulders.
Beneath his jacket, she could feel the hard cords of his muscled shoulders and the heat that radiated from them.
Even just that made those butterflies take flight in her stomach.
Then she leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against his.
Again, she was taken aback at how soft they were.
They appeared so sculpted, so hard like the rest of him, yet they were anything but.
She lingered there for a few seconds, not moving a muscle as tiny little shocks traveled between their lips, and then pulled back. She did not have to look in the mirror to know that a flush had taken over her cheeks.
“How was that?” she whispered.
Algernon’s pupils had grown a little, eating away at some of the beautiful dark green, but they were not as wide as they were the night of their first kiss.
“It was quaint,” he stated.
Beatrice drew up a curious brow.
“Quaint?” she repeated.
“Adorable. Tentative,” Algernon replied. “A good start if you are trying to play bashful or coy but not seductive, which is how you need to be.”
“Oh,” she murmured, her eyes dipping to the floor. “I see.”
“Try again,” he encouraged, settling his large hands around her waist. “Remember how I kissed you the other night. Remember how my lips moved against yours, slowly inviting you to open your mouth for me.”
Perspiration erupted in Beatrice’s palms as she heard Algernon’s deep voice describe their first kiss, and she was quite sure that the soft flush in her cheeks had transformed into a crimson red.
Drawing in another steadying breath, Beatrice drew her gaze back to Algernon’s face. Not his eyes this time but his lips. Then she leaned forward and kissed him again. As before, she kept her touch soft, but instead of staying perfectly still, she caressed her lips over his after a second.
Her hands tightened on his shoulders as she grew bolder and drew his bottom lip between her lips. She drew it out slowly, feeling those delicious tingles from before take over as she then gently kissed his top lip, then both, then very timidly drew her tongue over the flesh of his bottom lip.
Pleasure shot through her veins as she heard a deep rumble rise from Algernon’s throat, and again, she grew bolder.
Her hands drew around his shoulders, pulling him into her arms, and she used her lips to coax Algernon’s lips to open wider—just enough so that she could slide her tongue so very slowly over his.
Another deep growl erupted from Algernon’s chest as she did so, and his large, warm hands moved from her waist to her back, forcing her entire body to press into his. Beatrice whimpered, taken over by the pleasure of feeling Algernon’s tongue massage hers. The lesson faded, and want took over.
She drew her palm to his cheek, cradling it softly as she drew back to kiss his lips again then as she felt their tongues reunite, she boldly began to suckle at his. Algernon must have enjoyed it as one of his hands drew from her back to the nape of her neck, locking her to him.
Beatrice moaned as his grip tightened into her hair, and in that moment, when he drew her bottom lip between his teeth and slowly dragged back, she felt the control of the kiss go from herself to him.
Then he was gone.
His touch. His kiss. He had moved so fast that Beatrice nearly lost her balance on the stool as her eyes flew open.
She caught sight of Algernon two steps away, his chest heaving as his trembling fingers touched his own lips.
The green in his eyes was gone once again, eaten away entirely by the black of his pupils.
Beatrice drew in a deep breath, trying to fight the dizziness that had taken over her body.
“Did…” She paused, drew in another breath to steady herself. “Did I do something wrong?”
Algernon looked at her heatedly for another long moment then slowly lowered his hand from his lips as he shook his head.
“No,” he groaned.
Beatrice’s brows furrowed in confusion as she watched his chest heave in another deep breath.
“Well… did I do it right?” she asked.
To her surprise, Algernon let out a shaky laugh.
“Yes,” he panted then drew himself into a more composed stature. “Yes, you did right,” he agreed.
“Well done,” he added.
A tense moment of silence drew around them as they stayed apart. Then Algernon stepped back toward her and held out his hand.
“That is enough for today,” he said, helping her off of the stool.
Beatrice’s brow perked in surprise. She had not expected the lesson to be so very quick. Or had it been? Time seemed to lose meaning when they were in such lessons. Had it been only seconds? Or had hours passed?
“Your dance instructor will be here momentarily,” Algernon explained, letting go of her hand once both her feet were back on the floor. Immediately her fingers twitched, as if they missed his hold.
“You should eat something before you begin. I will have Mira bring you a tray,” Algernon stated, his disposition going back once more to that of a commander.
“I have meetings,” he went on as he adjusted his jacket, “So I am entrusting you to eat whatever is brought to you. Mira will tell me if you do not.”
“I will,” Beatrice answered, her tone light.
Appreciation glittered in Algernon’s eyes, the green slowly returning to them.
“Very good. I shall speak to you later. Good luck with your dance lesson.”
Beatrice nodded, feeling her lips tingle as she watched him walk to the door.
As he left her alone, she was caught between feeling proud of her accomplishment and feeling confused as to why her body felt so very strange.
It left her wondering—did all kisses make a woman feel this way?
Or was it the man she shared those kisses with?