Chapter 6 #2
‘You see that star there?’ He pointed, and she followed the motion.
Against the night, a tiny white dot strained to be seen.
‘I will call it Mina’s lips. I will pluck it from the sky.
’ He flicked his hand, as fast as he had in the square, as if he could detach the star from the blanket of night.
The star winked, as if an accomplice to his trick.
He turned her a little, so that she faced him.
‘And I will put it here, where it belongs, and fix it into place.’ He pressed the imaginary star to the edge of her mouth, then followed with the promised kiss.
‘And those two stars are Mina’s eyes, and they belong here.
’ She closed her eyes in anticipation, and as certain as smoke, he kissed her on each lid.
‘And because tonight London only gives us four stars, I will place the last one here.’ He sunk onto his haunches and eased her onto the mattress with him, so that they faced one another, knee to knee, chest to chest. He bent and kissed the skin at the edge of her shirt, to where her wishes beat into existence each morning.
How did he know that was where her hope rested?
‘Right here,’ he said, all tough bravado and chivalry.
‘I give you a star for your heart. And if that is not enough, I will cobble together all the ladders of London. I will lean them against St Pauls, and I will climb each rickety rail until I find heaven, where I will gather all the stars into my arms, and I will bring them all back for you. I will place them in your hair.’ He tickled his fingers over her braid, so light and fast she giggled, grateful for the chance to break the intensity of his gaze, and the ferocious sincerity of his words.
‘And I will knit them into lace to adorn your dresses, and I will spread those that remain on a path before you, so that you never have to walk on the grubby pavement again. I will steal all the stars of heaven, and I will give them all to you.’
Too much, he was entirely too much. Too much complex simplicity, too much reality, too much obscurity, and he had no right to be so ambitious, but all she could do was allow her knees to weaken and sink into him.
‘I’m having another man’s baby,’ she said.
‘So you’ve mentioned,’ he replied, his tone dry.
‘Doesn’t that bother you?’
‘Not as much as it seems to bother you.’ He grazed his thumb along her jawline. ‘Neither of us had proper fathers, and we turned out. Not well, granted. But we turned out.’
Love felt like a bigger gamble here than the glimmer of it had in the basement at Grosvenor Square.
Here, love was the difference between walking to another part of the city for work, or staying in a position that paid a little less because being home early was better for those you cared about.
It was the thing that made you turn your back on an opportunity, because that dream was only big enough for you, and you would dream a little lower, but a little wider, because that meant you could bring someone else into the picture.
‘Just one star. Just you.’ And she offered up her lips, as if her kisses were enough to pay a tenant’s rent for the Duke.
Only a duplicitous man like Enzo could flip his hard edges to softness with barely a shrug. His mouth brushed hers, hesitantly, before pressing firmer and nipping at her bottom lip. Even his stubble against her cheek seemed to have softened.
‘I have a confession,’ he whispered into the pocket behind her ear. ‘I haven’t done this before.’
‘Please don’t tease me. Your kisses are proof you know precisely what you are doing.’
‘I don’t mean kissin’. Or… other stuff. But the whole thing. Bodies. Together. I haven’t done that.’
Never had Enzo seemed anything but confident, yet in his confession, a burst of vulnerability placed a deprecating curve on his smile, and sprinkled hesitancy in his eyes.
From somewhere deep in her belly, a delicious twirl of hunger twisted into life.
Enzo, a little weaker, relinquishing a little of his power to her, was a marvellous thing.
It was better than eating ices in the sun, or the surety of his touch. She would be his first.
And last?
‘How is it that the great Duke Enzo is still a contrary maid?’ she asked, trying to keep the laugh from her voice.
‘Matron’s talk! It scared me senseless,’ he said, defensive. Now she did laugh, and he joined her with his low, easy chuckle. ‘I figured there were enough bastards in the city, and I didn’t need to add more to the misery. Not when there were other ways of scratching the itch.’
‘And I’m not a risk, I suppose, because I’m already—’
‘Oh Mina.’ The ache in his voice stilled her heart, and its raw exposure corralled her breath. ‘You are the greatest risk I’ve ever taken.’
As he claimed her mouth and tightened his hold, Mina let herself slip into his words.
He couldn’t mean it, not what she thought he was saying.
He couldn’t, because he was rough and cared for no one, and she was delicate, and far too trusting.
He slipped her shirt from her shoulder and skimmed his lips over her skin, inhaling as he burrowed into her neck.
Longing radiated out, like rain landing on the Thames and casting circles, ever expanding, ever reaching.
As he kissed her ear, he slipped a button, and as he glanced her cheek, he slipped another, and as he teased a nibble on her bottom lip before gently, so gently, fully covering her mouth with his, he adjusted his kneeling stance to ply both hands to the task, and in a whisper, her blouse was undone and untucked and falling from her shoulders.
They exchanged their unravelling. She unclipped his braces, he untied her skirt, she licked his nipple, and he scrunched her hair and bowed into another, and yet another kiss.
Everything about his mouth and hands felt famished.
When she knelt, stripped and shivering, he wrapped his lone blanket around her shoulders and lowered her onto his bed.
Poised above her, naked, aroused, his body painted with the shadows of night, Enzo appeared more like one of the bronze statues in the gardens than the drawn young man from the rookery.
Before, she’d thought him hard with square edges, but now, the curve of his muscles and the firm lines of their indentations cast him as more undulating, like water smoothed stones in a creek, the sort that were shaped by time and gentle consistency.
His gaze darkened as he licked his lips. ‘Fuck you are beautiful.’
‘Really?’ The crass compliment snagged her breath. Her body sang with the simple praise, even as she chided herself. She had always thrived on small attentions, and she shouldn’t. It had all spun her undone.
‘Beyond beautiful.’ Enzo stroked himself. His cock flexed as his chest heaved, and when he exhaled, he gave a satisfied grunt. ‘What do you like?’ he asked.
‘Like?’
Enzo half fell. He extended his arms either side of her head and held himself taut above her. Mina shrieked, then despite herself, laughed as the weight of the moment shifted to their old, comfortable lightness.
He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips, her chin, the dip at the base of her neck.
His body splayed her thighs wide. ‘Do you like to be kissed here?’ He propped himself on one elbow and drew a nipple into his mouth.
Mina arced into the deliciousness of it as a little shoot of pleasure took hold, then flourished and blossomed.
‘I do,’ she said, and curved to present herself for his feasting.
Did Enzo ever move with anything like hesitancy? His confident arch over her body suggested not as he trailed his tongue across her chest and circled her light pink bud until it firmed, then closed his mouth over it. Her body rippled with delight.
‘Tell me what else you like,’ he murmured against her skin. ‘Teach me.’
‘I’m not sure I’ve liked any of it. I’ve not disliked, but I’ve also not…’
A slick flick of his eyes betrayed his emotion as a glimmer of anger sparked, then faded. He lunged forward, planted his lips on hers with the most haphazard possession, then settled back against her chest. ‘You deserve nice things. You deserve to feel good.’
‘I like your kisses,’ she stammered, and the craving for more burst in her chest. ‘I like them a lot.’
‘Then I will kiss every inch of your skin. And I will not stop until I have tasted every bit of you.’
He began at her shoulder, traced the furrow made by her collarbone, moved lazily over one breast, then the other.
He licked a line down her sternum and scraped his teeth over the thin skin at her hips.
At every movement, every slight adjustment of his body, he rubbed against her core.
Little sparks of delight and need shot through her, her body throbbing.
Lower he moved until he settled between her legs.
He nipped her inner thigh, and brushed his lips lightly over her sex, and even though he barely touched her, she thought she might ignite.
‘I love your smell. So wickedly delicious.’ He stroked a finger along her slit and over her delicate nub. Mina groaned. He circled, ever so gently, so small a movement, yet it sent a sharp pang of pleasure scorching through her.
‘Sweet mercy, Enzo. That feels so good.’
‘You like that?’ He continued to stroke her. Mina’s lids fluttered, and through them, she caught his stupid, smug smile, and his cheek resting against her thigh. ‘Let’s see what happens if I…’
His silver tongue that had promised her the stars lapped warm against her.
Something like a shriek of surprise and a groan of primal bliss burst from her lips.
Kissing, nipping, dear heavens, devouring, every little lick and purr sent a tremble of light through her.
He nudged her thighs wider, and he moaned as he settled lower.
His wicked tongue flicked, and Mina fell into the abandon of it.