Setting the glass down on the edge of the fountain, he wrapped one big hand around the nape of her neck and inched her forward on the bench. His mouth descended upon her parted lips, the berry from his drink he held tenderly between his teeth. Her eyes slid shut as their lips met and the strawberry was pushed into her mouth. She didn’t bite into it right away, but let it slide over her tongue and around his as though it were a game to capture the sweet morsel of fruit. As he pulled away, her teeth sank into the soft flesh of the berry.
Tongue sweeping out to lick off her lips, Leo swooped back in for another taste. Though gentle and still playful, this kiss felt more demanding as their tongues tangled.
She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, pull him closer, and never let him go. He must have had the same thoughts for he plucked the glass from between her lax fingers and settled it next to his on the edge of the fountain.
“I want to taste every inch of you again, Genny.”
Too afraid to express just how much she desired him in equal measure, she pulled loose the satin ribbon that cinched her peignoir tightly at her rib cage. Leo watched the material separate, and when it caught at the top swell of her breast, he pulled at the strands and slipped the soft muslin from her shoulders.
She shivered as the night air brushed the fine hair along her forearms. Leo ran the palms of his hands down them as if to warm her, but she was shivering for an entirely different reason than the cool breeze that wrapped around them.
Unable to resist any longer, she reached forward to pull the tails of his shirt free from his trousers. Though they’d been intimate yesterday, this still felt new. A lot had changed over the years for them. They were essentially the same people … yet different. And so much remained to be explored of each other.
Leo pulled away before she could hike the obtrusive material of his shirt over his head. “We have all evening, and I promised to take this slowly.”
“Not to me, you didn’t.”
His chuckled before standing from the bench to retrieve their drinks. Was he attempting to keep a safe distance? Trying to tamp down his attraction so he wouldn’t pounce like she thought he would have done only a moment ago? Oh, she really wanted him to seize and lay claim to her, body and soul.
“I asked you to come here not only to spend the night with me, but so we could talk privately without being overheard.”
“What is it you wish to discuss?” She held out her hand to him in invitation. “Leo, come back and keep me warm.”
He handed her glass back to her and topped up both flutes. “What happens after this?”
Genny tipped back the rest of the contents in her glass and held it out for Leo to top it up with more. “Why the champagne and strawberries if you don’t wish to seduce me? Is this part of your plan … your game? Do you want to lead on the hapless chaperone? Ruin me in society’s eyes for some sort of wager?”
“God, no.” He swept his hand through his hair in agitation. “Don’t be ridiculous, Genny. I only want to discuss what the outcome of the house party will be. I want to know your expectations. It was wrong of me to not ask you the first time after we made love, and I’ll not repeat that mistake.”
Was he rethinking his earlier sentiments of a more permanent attachment? Had she read him wrong last night, or had she misunderstood his meaning? “I’m a little savvier than I used to be and understand a great deal more about these types of affairs. We can cut our ties when we head back to Town. Just as we did in the past if that is what you wish.” Genny couldn’t help but take a huge swallow of the champagne before delivering the rest of her short speech. “I’ll not force or trap you into a marriage you do not want.”
“And if I don’t want to leave?”
She shut her mouth with an almost audible snap and tilted her head to the side in question. “What exactly do you want from me?”
“The only thing I know with certainty is that this isn’t the same as it was four years ago.”
And wasn’t that the truth. She was going in with both eyes wide open this time, and she still wanted something more, even though by all appearances this was only an affair.
“I didn’t want to leave you the first time,” he said. “But was convinced otherwise.”
“By whom?”
“I asked my father’s advice on marriage … his suggestion proved to be unhelpful and not at all what I wanted for us.”
“I would like to think we are smarter now than we were then.” She took another sip from her refilled glass. What was she supposed to say? Ask him if this was a proposal? If it was, it certainly was the oddest proposal she had ever received.
“All I’m saying is that it doesn’t necessarily end here, Genny.”
She felt her hopes drop with the suggestion. “So we should carry on our affair in London?”
“That’s not precisely what I mean.”
She cocked her eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. She’d not play guessing games all evening. And really, he was killing the intimate mood they had shared. She felt silly sitting in the secluded garden maze half-dressed, so she put down her fluted glass and pulled the loose ties together on her night robe.
Leo came forward and grasped both her hands in one of his, effectively preventing her from dressing herself.
“Don’t,” he said. “I only want to say that perhaps we should have a real go at courting when we are back in London. While the passion between us is very real, I think there is a lot more to be had. You make me want to be a better man. What exactly better means I can’t say, but I’m willing to explore it with you.”
It was the most utterly romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. And she wanted to believe she could so easily give herself over to her wants, but life was never so simple, especially with the current position she was in.
She laughed bitterly even though the situation didn’t warrant any such reaction. She couldn’t help it since it was derived from sadness. Yes, she’d hoped for more from him four years ago, but everything was different now. She wasn’t in a position to be courted. Lord Ponsley would certainly object, not only because she would become a spectacle if things turned sour between her and Leo but because he’d already warned her about any association with him.
“My circumstances don’t allow for more than what we share now.”
He sat next to her on the bench again. “I think that’s a poor excuse, Genny.”
“I assure you, it is not. Lord Ponsley will never allow it. I’m to be here for his daughter until she is wed.”
“And after?”
“Are you suggesting you will wait?”
He paused, obviously mulling over his answer. “No, I refuse to wait. This will happen. Run away with me now, we’ll obtain a license to marry without delay.”
Genny placed her palm along his cheek. Life had never been more unfair than it was now. “I’ve been given very specific instructions to avoid contact with you. You cannot go against my benefactor’s wishes. To do so would certainly ruin my livelihood. I also cannot leave Charlotte in the middle of the season, for it would taint her reputation as well.”
“I will not let the bastard have the last say in this.”
“For now, it has to be.” Genny pressed her forehead to his.
“Trust me to find a way around this.”
“Why not wait until Charlotte is married?” Maybe they could run away together.
“Why should we wait at all?” He kissed her cheek.
She leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the lips, lingering for some moments in the warm closeness of their bodies. She had never felt more right than when she was in his arms. That had been the reason she’d turned down two offers of marriage from other suitors. How could she betray her heart when she certainly couldn’t betray the kind men who had offered for her when they deserved someone who could return their affections wholly and completely?
Could she trust Leo after everything they’d already been through? She had no answer to that.
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She pulled back from his lips and whispered, “Make love to me, Leo.”
“As the lady wishes.”
* * *
So many thoughts went through Leo’s mind when he should be focused on the one thing he could give Genny at the moment.
A night never to be forgotten.
He’d make her crave his touch so thoroughly that it would be impossible for her to go back to London and forget their time here together. Ponsley was another matter entirely. The old man hated him for so many reasons already that a courtship with Genny could be nigh impossible. He’d figure it out regardless because he knew without doubt that he’d not be able to walk away from Genny a second time. In fact, he refused to do so.
Pulling the ribbon ties loose at the front of her nightgown, Leo brushed the material aside, giving him his first glimpse tonight of the soft swell of her breasts.
He exhaled a long breath and brushed his knuckles over the plumpness while his gaze devoured every morsel of flesh revealed. Slowly raising his gaze back to Genny’s eyes, he could see that her pupils ate up the whiskey-colored irises. Her cheeks were infused with the slightest hint of pink and her lower lip was damp where she’d licked at it.
Sliding his hand over her shoulders and under her loosened robe, he removed the first layer. Her night rail was nothing spectacular, simple white with ruched shoulder caps. An evening corset cinched her waist and the strings wrapped around the front before circling to the back where they knotted. There was something provocative about seeing her breasts bared above her stays, and he was almost tempted to leave it just as it was. Almost.
“It’s only fair that you remove an article of clothing, since I have,” she said suggestively. The wanton sound lacing her voice had his cock throbbing painfully in his trousers.
“You are wearing significantly more layers than I.”
She raised one brow. “And whose fault is that?”
He chuckled as he reached behind his neck and pulled his shirt over his head. Genny’s fingers grasped the neckline of the garment to aid him in tugging it off. When he tossed the shirt to the ground, her fingers threaded through his hair, the tips of her nails gently scoring his scalp.
“I always did prefer your hair without the stiffening product you put in it.”
Leo closed his eyes and was glad that he had thought to wash it before gathering up all the items they’d need for an evening outdoors. Her fingers worked their magic as they smoothed over the back of his head and then skimmed lower to mold to his shoulders and back.
Leaning closer to her, he pulled her lips between his. He was rewarded with a moan and the thrust of her tongue in his mouth.
“You’ve missed me, have you?” he said.
“I’ve forgotten how good it feels to be in your arms night after night.”
“Should I feel insulted that I’m not more memorable?”
She playfully shoved his shoulder. “Stop teasing me, you rogue.”
“We should get back to removing more of these pesky layers still separating us.” He pulled away from their kiss and waggled his eyebrows at her before catching her around the waist and tugging at the strings that held her stays firmly in place. “This should be the first thing to go.”
Spanning his hands over the boneless contraption cinching her waist, he slowly worked his fingers over the taut strings at the back, plucking each until he found the knotted ball at the middle of her back and pulling the looped strings to undo the corset.
Running his fingers under the top seam of the garment, he pressed against the heated cambric chemise that covered her from the ribs down. Her breath caught with the intimate touch. He wanted to bury his face between their softness and gently bite the undersides as he teased her nipples between his fingers.
Never had simply touching someone felt so good or made his cock throb so desperately.
Hooking his thumbs behind the edge of the material, he pulled each side of the corset toward her center and released the clasps that held it in place. When the corset fell around her hips, he yanked it away and threw it atop his discarded shirt.
“It’s your turn, now,” she said. Her mouth was parted, and her breathing came a little faster.
“I feel the odds are in your favor for this game.”
“As they should be.”
This was the Genny he remembered—playful and daring, not prim and proper.
He cupped her breast through her chemise, taking the whole weight in his hand and then gently plucking the firm tip between his fore and middle fingers before standing.
Resting one foot atop the bench, he loosened the laces on his shoe. “Hmmm, I don’t seem to have my valet on hand to help me undress properly.”
“Sit down, Leo.”
He complied with a smile. “I aim to please, madam.”
“Yourself, you mean.” She stood and made her way around to face him. When she knelt to the ground and grasped his shoe with both hands, he could see the two perfect swells of her breasts down the front of her gaping chemise. She pulled hard on his shoe and would have fallen solidly on her bottom had he not grabbed hold of her arms to steady her.
“There, now the other one.” She seemed pleased with her result.
“I think not, my lady. That would be two articles of clothing to your one. Wholly unfair considering the rules of this game.”
He took both her hands in his and bid her stand before him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him.
“What shall it be then?”
Grasping the back of her knee, he lifted her leg so her foot rested on the bench beside his thigh. “I think it only fair that I take a stocking for each of my shoes.”
Leo pushed the layered underskirts high on her right thigh, taking time to smooth his hands over her fine calves. Never had he touched a more perfect creature.
One of her hands lay relaxed at her side, the other clasped the soft folds of the bunched-up material over her midriff.
She bit her lip, letting him glimpse the white even row of her teeth as she hissed in a breath with his first caress.
Her legs were nicely formed. The muscles rose partially at the backs of her calves and were firm to his touch. He leaned forward, pressing his chest to her raised shin, allowing his hands to sweep over the back of her knees, and finally over her stocking-clad thighs. He stopped his exploration only when he reached the garter and bare skin between stockings and drawers.
He rested his forehead against the material covering her bent thigh and tucked his fingers beneath the edge of her stocking. There was no way he could refuse what she silently asked for when she tilted her pelvis forward in offering. His hands moved higher, finding the slit in her drawers as he sought the sweetest part of her.
When his fingers found her slick center, he slipped his middle finger slowly inside. The silky wetness that met his touch made him want to take her now, in every way imaginable, but he kept his pace unhurried, planting openmouthed kisses against her thigh. With his free hand, he released the tie holding up her stocking and worked it down to just below her knee.
He wanted to taste her skin and her juices on his tongue. Taking the flesh of her thigh in his mouth, he nibbled a hot path along the flesh he revealed in the torturously slow removal of her stocking.
Her fingers brushed through his hair before grasping it tightly as he inserted a second finger into her tight sheath.
The mewl that escaped her mouth had him pumping his fingers a little faster. Not so fast that they were lost in their ecstasy … not yet. He wanted to draw this out, have them spend the whole evening so thoroughly wrapped around each other that there was no telling where one of them started and the other ended.
* * *
She couldn’t believe she was here, doing this with Leo … again. But the further into their intimacy they got, the less she was able to even think of pulling back. She wanted him more—if such a thing were possible—than she had when she was younger.
Did one
’s cravings grow stronger with age? She thought maybe they did, because nothing short of scandalous exposure to the rest of their guests could stop her now.
The feel of his teeth nipping at her flesh made her insides melt and her body relax into his. Her juices were thick on his fingers, and she felt her drawers growing damp where he pumped them inside of her. It wasn’t his hands or his tongue that she craved deep inside her but another part of him altogether.
“Leo,” she said huskily, since her throat had dried out with the panting and sensuous sounds that fell past her lips. “My legs are going to turn to jelly if you don’t let me sit down soon.”
She swore she heard a frustrated growl from him as he nearly tore the tie off her other stocking so he could pull that one down as well.
“Sit beside me on the bench so I can get my other shoe off.”
Instead of doing as he asked, she went down on her haunches once more and pulled off his second shoe. Before it hit the ground beside her, he caught her up by the arms and sat her on the bench facing him.
“Straddle your legs over either side.” His hands rested gently against her thighs, urging her to do just that.
It hit her all of a sudden what she was participating in. The gall she must have to do this to herself twice.
He cupped her face, drawing her gaze back to him, and gave her a swift kiss. “You’re thinking too hard, love. Just relax and trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Just as she’d trusted him all those years ago to make sure her reputation was protected and their affair remained discreet. He’d not do her wrong now after so many years of silence.
He straddled the stone bench in front of her and positioned her so her legs were over either of his hips. She locked her ankles at the small of his back. The jut of his cock pressed into the warm vee of her body. Genny wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in tight to her breasts. She just wanted to feel him like this a little longer, put to memory an imprint of his stronger body crushed to hers in a comforting embrace.
Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady Page 21