Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
The fire warmed her left side as she took a step back and summoned all her courage. Keeping her eyes on his, she slid the swathe of fabric from her left shoulder, then her right, and the draped material was so loose it simply fell to her elbows, then her waist.
She wasn’t wearing a shift or stays; and her nipples tightened to hard buds as Dev gazed at her. His look of surprise quickly gave way to rapt admiration, but before she could feel embarrassed at her own forwardness, he pulled her against his chest and kissed her again.
Livvy kissed him back, savoring the unfamiliar sensation of her bare breasts pressing against the fabric of his shirt as longing twisted deep in her belly.
I want you kissing me because you feel like you’ll die if you don’t. Because you can’t sleep for thinking about my hands on your body, my lips on your skin.
His words echoed in her head. She wanted him with an intensity that was almost a fever, and she went up on tiptoes, trying to get even closer. She kissed the faint stubble on his jaw, the side of his throat, anywhere she could reach.
“Touch you everywhere, yes?” His rough question was panted against her throat, and it took a few seconds for his meaning to penetrate her dazed brain, but when it did, she nodded in breathless assent.
“Yes. Anywhere. Wherever you want.”
“Yes.”
Liv closed her eyes and threaded her fingers through his hair as he bent and kissed the top swell of her breast. His hands slid to her waist, then her hips, and she bit her lip to swallow a cry as he pressed a kiss to her nipple.
And then her legs almost gave way as he licked the tip of it with the flat of his tongue, then sucked it into his mouth while his left hand slid up to squeeze her other breast. It was almost too much to bear. His big hand, rough yet gentle, cupping her, his breath hot on her skin.
He murmured her name with the reverence of a benediction, teasing and stroking until she thought she would go up in flames.
Just as her knees threatened to buckle, she felt the press of a chair against the back of her legs and sank gratefully into it. Dev followed her down in one seamless movement, dropping to his knees in front of her, leaning in to kiss her mouth again.
“God, you’re so sweet,” he breathed.
It was some consolation that he, an experienced rake, sounded as dazed and as delighted as herself.
Liv wanted more. When his long fingers circled her ankle, then slid up her stockinged calf, she shuffled lower in the seat, urging him on.
Her heart skipped a beat in mild panic as he slid her skirt up and over her knee, then higher, his hand curving over the top of her thigh, exposing her ribbon garter and the bare flesh above it.
A waft of cool air between her legs reminded her that she wasn’t wearing any drawers, and a heavy, twisting sensation made her squirm in anticipation.
She watched, almost in a dream, as Dev pushed her knees apart and leaned down, his shoulders filling the space between them as he pressed a kiss to first her knee, over her stocking, and then to the bare skin above her garter.
“Oh!” she gasped.
She felt, more than saw his wicked smile as his left hand squeezed her knee and he pressed another kiss even higher.
“You did say anywhere, Liv,” he reminded her. “Shall I stop?”
The smoky gravel of his tone was almost her undoing, and she grasped both arms of the chair to steady herself.
“Don’t stop,” she panted. “Show me. You promised.”
He slid the fabric higher, even closer to her lap, and she was sure her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment.
The flickering flight from the fire danced over them both, gilding the angles of his face with a devilish glow.
Could he see the thatch of dark hair between her legs? See how much she wanted him?
“Has anyone ever touched you here?” His fingers squeezing her thigh to underscore his meaning. God, his hands were so big they almost encircled her completely. The thought made her even more lightheaded. “Kissed you here?”
Kissed? She’d never even considered such a thing. Did people really do that? She shook her head. “No.”
“Poor thing,” he crooned, his tone gently mocking. “Have you ever touched yourself?” His fingers slid higher, closer to her aching center. “Here, between your legs.”
Livvy squirmed restlessly against the seat. He was the worst tease in Christendom. “Yes,” she admitted desperately, her cheeks flaming at the admission.
He gave a low hum of approval and pressed another kiss to her inner thigh. “Good girl. Have you found your own pleasure?”
He exhaled slowly, his hot breath filling the space between her thighs, and need twisted her stomach. Her core fluttered and throbbed.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“Then you know what you’re aiming for. But this will be even better,” he promised, with a hint of his usual arrogance.
She didn’t have time to berate him, because he leaned forward and kissed her right there, between her legs. She gave a gasp of shock and caught his hair, not sure whether to push him back or keep him there, but he pushed her thighs wider with his hands and licked her.
Livvy closed her eyes and lifted her hips. Oh, God. Embarrassment warred with amazement as he gave her several slow licks with the flat of his tongue, then teased the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top of her sex with sharp little flicks.
“You taste like a goddess,” he growled.
In a sudden move, he caught her thighs and pulled them up and over his shoulders, tugging her bottom closer to the edge of the chair, then leaned close again, feasting on her with his mouth.
Livvy’s eyes rolled back in her skull. She’d touched herself before, alone in her bed, achieving a pleasant kind of shudder, but this, this panting, aching, slippery need that Dev was building was something else entirely.
She was slick with desire, wet from his tongue, and she cried out in pleasure as his fingers joined his lips.
Her stomach muscles tensed as he teased the entrance to her body, then pushed his finger in just slightly.
“Dev!” she panted.
He withdrew, then pushed again, deeper this time, stretching her in the most pleasurable way. He glanced up just as she looked down and their gazes clashed. Her cheeks were burning, but she held his gaze.
“That’s right,” he growled. “Keep looking at me. Watch what we’re doing. God, you’re so perfect.”
He curled his finger, moving slowly inside her, in and out, and the friction was almost perfect. She tilted her chin up and his brows rose with wicked interest as he noted her gasp of pleasure.
“Like that, Liv? Is that what feels good?”
She could barely form a coherent thought; her entire focus was on the insistent rhythm of his hand. Every part of her felt wound tight, like a watch spring. “Yes!”
“Let me see you, then. Take your pleasure, Liv.”
She couldn’t refuse, and he didn’t stop; he continued that teasing, rocking slide even when she grabbed his forearm and dug her nails into his skin.
Just when she thought she was going to die from frustration, he leaned up and kissed her, deep, and the combination of his thrusting tongue and his stabbing fingers pushed her over the edge.
Pleasure burst over her like a wave, and she felt herself convulsing, squeezing his fingers as ripples of relief swamped her.
When she finally finished shaking, he eased her legs from his shoulders, leaned forward, and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
“I told you it was going to be good.”
Livvy tried to regulate her erratic breathing. Dear God, was he some sort of magician? She’d thought she was familiar with her own body, but he’d just shown her pleasure she’d previously only glimpsed from afar. The intensity of it was shocking. Addictive.
He sat back on his heels, and she almost laughed at the expression of deep satisfaction on his face. God, he was going to be insufferable now.
With good reason.
She pushed her skirts back down, then sat up and put the top half of her dress to rights, and his expression clouded as she covered herself. His lower lip protruded in what could only be described as a pout. She leaned forward and kissed it.
“’Thank you’ seems rather inadequate, but thank you. That was extraordinary.”
He raised one eyebrow. “So good you want to marry me?”
She bit back a smile at his confidence. “I’m not sure. Was that the best you can do?”
“Not even close,” he smirked.
He pushed himself up and she sent a guilty glance down at the front of his breeches. The bulge of his arousal was evident.
“You haven’t . . . I mean, don’t you want to—?” Livvy winced at her inability to form a coherent sentence. “Is there something I can—?”
He took pity on her. “Giving you pleasure gave me pleasure,” he smiled.
“And there’s no rush. If you want another demonstration of the physical benefits of my offer, then we need to wait for a night when there aren’t a hundred people milling around.
” His dark eyes rested on hers, full of promise. “I’m going to take my time.”
Livvy flushed at the thought. She felt a little guilty that he hadn’t found his own release, but perhaps delaying his own gratification was a perverse kind of pleasure.
She sent another glance at his falls. “I’m no expert, but that looks quite a bit larger than your fingers.”
She’d seen drawings of couples engaged in various erotic acts, but until now she’d always assumed the cartoonists had exaggerated the size of the male appendages for dramatic effect. But the swelling disrupting the front of Dev’s falls made her reconsider.
His brows rose, and a smile lurked at the corner of his lips. “You’re worried? Don’t be. You’ll fit me just right, Liv. I promise.”
Oh, God. The certainty in his tone, the dark promise in his gaze, made her stomach somersault all over again.
He stood and retrieved their masks, and she stood meekly as he refastened hers, tying the ribbon at the back of her head to conceal her face. He settled her cloak back around her shoulders, and donned his own mask, and suddenly it was as if they were two strangers again.
How many other couples were having their own secret rendezvous tonight? Dozens, probably.
He unlocked the door and peered out into the hallway, then beckoned her forward. “You go first, just to be safe. I’ll wait a few moments and follow you.” He bent and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, just below the edge of her mask. “I look forward to our next encounter, Miss Price.”