Sweet Enemy

by Heather Snow

  She rose, unashamedly naked, and strode across the room to him. A small smile lifted the corner of her mouth as his chin dropped. She was only now beginning to appreciate the kind of power a woman could have over a man, and she had to admit, she liked it. She’d like to explore that further, too.

  She wrapped her arms around Geoffrey’s neck, pressing herself against him, pressing her mound against his hardness and relishing the moan that echoed from him. “Fine,” she said. “We don’t have time now, but I don’t want to wait until morning to have my turn experimenting on you. So what do you propose we do?”

  Geoffrey swallowed, the sound audible to her. “The library,” he rasped. “Meet me in the library tonight after everyone goes to bed.”

  An ironic smile lifted her lips. “You like kissing women in the library, don’t you?” she murmured, pressing her lips to his.

  “Mmm,” he said. “Only you.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  G

  eoffrey rearranged a pillow on the chaise for the seventy-second time. He was smoothing the fringe when the clock struck one in the morning. The supper ball had come to an end and the guests had finally dispersed nearly an hour ago. He thanked the stars for early country hours, for he didn’t know how much longer he could wait for Liliana to arrive. He’d uttered the word library when she’d made her enticing demand because it had been the first thing to enter his mind. Yet it couldn’t be a more perfect place for their rendezvous. He spent the majority of his nights amongst the stacks or in his study anyway, as sleep often eluded him due to the nagging ache of his injuries. The staff had long ago learned never to disturb him here.

  “Setting the scene for your own seduction?”

  Her voice reached across the darkness, the husky timbre caressing him like a lover.

  “I suppose I could make use of a chaise,” she said, locking the double doors behind her.

  As she came into the light, Geoffrey noticed she’d donned the same dark day dress she’d worn that first night, probably to be less conspicuous sneaking through the halls. How thoughtless of him. He’d have to show her the secret passageway so she didn’t risk being caught next time she came to him.

  And there would be a next time, if he had anything to do with it. These past days had been sweet torture for him, but his plan was working. Liliana was becoming as addicted to him as he was her—he was certain of it. It should be only a matter of days before he convinced her to extend their rendezvous for a lifetime.

  “The scenery hardly matters,” he murmured. “You began your seduction of me long ago.”

  Liliana cocked her head in that way he found entirely enchanting. “I did?”

  “Yes.” The moment I first saw you. “I’ve been able to think of little else since this morning, imagining your hands upon my body as mine were upon yours. I’ve been strung tight all day.”

  “You have?” she whispered. “How horrible for you,” she said, yet her smile was all female satisfaction.

  Geoffrey tried for a stern frown, yet he felt the corners of his lips straining to lift. “Yes. And it was deuced disconcerting, I must say, politely greeting stodgy old guests whilst your sweet cries rang in my memory.” Hell, he’d been stiff as stone all bloody day. He didn’t know how he’d last a moment when she actually got around to touching him.

  Liliana blushed, but she stepped closer. “Well, we shall have to remedy that, won’t we?” She leaned up on her toes and fitted her lips to his.

  Geoffrey moaned. He couldn’t help himself, as her tongue boldly forayed into his mouth with no preamble. It seemed he wasn’t the only one strung tight all day. Her hands went immediately to his shirt. He’d removed his cravat and untucked for easier access, and she unerringly found her way to the heated skin of his stomach. Her hands danced along his skin under the cotton, rising until she found his nipples. She brushed her fingers lightly over them, then pinched simultaneously.

  Geoffrey gasped, breaking his lips from hers.

  “Did you like that as I do?” she asked, avid curiosity gleaming in her purple gaze.

  “Mmm…,” he said, trying to nod. “Back to being my little experimenter, are we?”

  “Mmm…,” she repeated, before once again reclaiming his lips.

  Geoffrey lost himself in her kiss, allowing her to explore at her leisure. She ran her tongue along both sides of his own, testing the texture, swirling and dueling, then dipping along the inside of his cheeks, his teeth. She suckled him into her mouth in a rhythm that brought to his mind other ways she could please him, ways she would have no way of knowing unless he showed her. Just the very thought of her lips wrapped around other parts of him brought him dangerously close to losing himself. He pulled away from her kiss, setting her back from him a bit.

  “Hold a moment, love,” he said. “A man can only take so much.”

  “Or what?” she asked.

  “Or he spills his seed and the fun is over too soon.”

  She nodded her head thoughtfully. “I see.”

  She didn’t, but she would before the night was through. A niggle of guilt worked its way into Geoffrey’s mind at what he was about to let her do, but he chased it away. She would be his wife, after all. That made it only a matter of timing. He stepped back, removing his shirt, and sat upon the chaise.

  Liliana followed and said, “Lie back,” while she pulled an ottoman close.

  Geoffrey obeyed, the brocade of the chaise rough against his skin.

  “May I assume that since you liked it when I stimulated your chest, men and women are not so very different?” she asked, a chestnut brow cocked as she looked down upon him. “And that you might like the other things you did to me this morning?”

  Good God, he didn’t know if he could stand that. Still, he nodded. “That would be a safe assumption.”

  She sat on the ottoman and leaned in, brushing his lips with hers. Her hand returned to his chest, this time swirling around his nipple, tweaking, soothing. Her mouth moved down his neck, suckling at his racing pulse point as he’d done hers many times.

  Geoffrey gasped for breath, closing his eyes and doing his best to hold still for her. Yet when her hot mouth closed around one of his nipples, he nearly came off the chaise. He’d never had a woman kiss him thus, had no idea how pleasurable it would be. A groan ripped from his throat as she drew deeply from him. “Liliana, please.”

  His plea started her hand moving again, downward over his stomach. His breaths became shorter—he couldn’t get enough air as he waited for her to touch him.

  Yet she hesitated, lifting her head.

  His eyes popped open, and he tried to focus them on the lovely woman over him.

  “I’ll need your help…”

  “Of course.” He lifted his hips, dragging his trousers over them, a relief of sorts taking him as he sprang free.

  “Oh my,” she whispered, seemingly enthralled. How had he gotten so lucky to have been gifted such an intelligent, curious woman in his life and soon to be in his bed? She looked up at him. “May I touch it?”

  “I think I might die if you don’t.”

  Her lips curved into a smile before she turned to her task. She reached out, touching him lightly at first, just a tentative brush of her fingers, but Geoffrey felt it in his very bones. She glanced up, gauging his pleasure. He thought he nodded encouragement but couldn’t be sure.

  When she touched him again, it was with her entire hand, circling him, squeezing gently, then harder. “It’s such a contradiction,” she murmured. “So soft, yet so hard…like satin over steel. I’ve seen men naked before, of course, when I’ve treated them, but I never imagined…” She raised her head to him again. “Show me what to do.”

  Geoffrey encompassed her hand in his own, modeling how to stroke him, how to vary her speed and grip. He showed her how to run her thumb over his head, how to tickle the rim and how to cup him and give a little tug. Liliana tried each suggestion so enthusiastically, he knew he could not last. Indeed, the burnin
g in the base of his spine intensified so quickly he jerked away from her, grabbing his shirt from the back of the chaise and covering himself only seconds before he spilled himself with a harsh groan.

  “Did I hurt you?” she asked, concern marring her features.

  “Hurt me?” he said when he could breathe again. “Not unless you count killing me with pleasure.”

  A relieved smile crossed her face, but then she asked, “So you just experienced what I did this morning?”

  He nodded, still finding words difficult to muster.

  “You were right,” she said. “That was finished too soon.” She reached for him. “Let’s try it again.”

  Geoffrey sat up, holding his hands out. “Good Lord, woman!” He laughed. “My body doesn’t work that way. Men aren’t so lucky as women. We need some time to recover before we can try it again.”

  Liliana clasped her hands in her lap. “You mean women don’t? We can…release more than once in a day?”

  A wide smile stretched Geoffrey’s face. What fun it was going to be, being married to this woman. He had a feeling his life would be one long discovery, in and out of the bedroom.

  “You can release more than once in five minutes,” he said, enjoying the way her eyes widened.

  “I don’t believe you,” Liliana said, her lips firming.

  He leaned in, taking those lips in a soft, happy kiss. “You will.”

  The moment Geoffrey’s lips touched hers, Liliana’s entire being churned with a need that felt almost explosive. It had been building inside as she’d pleasured him, the rush of satisfaction when he’d lost control nearly bringing her to a similar peak. That sensation had banked, but now Geoffrey stoked it back into roaring flame.

  More than once in five minutes…If Geoffrey were telling the truth, she didn’t know how she would survive it, so intense was the feeling already.

  In quick order, he’d divested her of her dress…She couldn’t even say the moment it happened. She’d only felt the cool air on her puckering nipples and noticed the dress was gone. Liliana waited for the pleasure of his mouth upon her breast, but Geoffrey didn’t oblige. Instead, his mouth moved to her neck, to the sensitive shell of her ear. His moist tongue swirled inside, followed by a nip of his teeth that shot gooseflesh down her body.

  “This time, we have all night,” he murmured, his breath warm against her. “We’ll let your climax build slowly, string you so tightly that one release will not be enough to bring you back down to earth.”

  Oh my. He lathed her neck and shoulders with his tongue and teeth, sending shivers skittering over her as he tested her flesh with his mouth. Finally, his hands cupped her breasts, weighing them, plumping them. If he were trying to bring her along slowly, he was failing miserably.

  “Please, Geoffrey.” She writhed against him, trying to drag his hand down her body, anxious for his touch in the place that ached most for it.

  “In due time,” he murmured, resisting. But he moved his mouth to her breast. He sent his hands skimming over her. Liliana marveled how even the simplest touch reverberated in her core. It didn’t matter where he touched—a spot on her hip, the place behind her knee, along her inner thigh—it all intensified her need to feel him there.

  And finally, he touched her. Liliana couldn’t control the urge to raise herself into his swirling touch. Maybe that made her wanton, but she didn’t care. She cared for nothing but the release he promised her. Higher and higher she rose. Having experienced this ride only once, her instincts told her the leap was fast approaching nonetheless, and before she had time to fully prepare herself, she was flying.

  She cried out, her own passion-grated voice echoing back to her ears. Shocking spasms enveloped her, and every muscle in her body went tense. Geoffrey whispered words to her, but she couldn’t understand what he said, couldn’t focus on anything but the sensations flowing through her.

  When she at last emerged, she lay limp on the chaise, Geoffrey’s hand still cupping her intimately. Heat touched her face, and Liliana ducked her head, a little embarrassed at how she’d lost control.

  “Now I know you lie,” she said. “There is no conceivable way my body could do that again so quickly.”

  A wicked grin spread over Geoffrey’s face. “Care to wager, Miss Claremont?” he asked. “Last time, though I didn’t know it then, I was at a disadvantage. This time, I am not.”

  Liliana pressed her lips together in a smile. He may know more about relations, but he couldn’t feel how completely spent she was. And yet, she was intrigued. What if he were correct? She’d never get a chance again to test the theory. “What kind of wager, Major?”

  He looked at her intently, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he wished to say something very difficult and very important. But the look passed and he said instead, “The winner chooses the time and place of our next tryst.”

  Something akin to disappointment touched Liliana. She wished he had said whatever had been on his mind. Still, she lifted her shoulders, and tension began coiling once again in her belly. “Done.”

  Geoffrey kissed her, but his lips did not remain on hers long. She gasped as Geoffrey’s tongue stroked her most intimate of places. Two thoughts came in quick succession. First, she had no idea such a thing was possible, and second, could she pleasure him in the same way? “What are you doing?”

  “Winning my wager,” he murmured before suckling her clitoris—she’d looked the word up this afternoon—into his mouth and stroking soft, soft and slow, then fast and rough, sending her senses upward like a shot.

  As he had earlier, Geoffrey eased a finger into her. The long strokes teased, searched, until he found a spot that nearly brought her off the chaise.

  She had no words…couldn’t come up with a single word to describe what was happening to her. For once in her life, Liliana let her mind go silent and just allowed herself to feel.

  She exploded with such intensity, she didn’t know if she’d ever be put together again. It was as if her body, her mind, her heart, her very soul had been rent into several pieces, and she didn’t even know if she had the energy to pick them up, let alone assemble them back into one.

  “I believe that was well within five minutes, my dear.” When she opened her eyes, Geoffrey grinned above her. “I would say I win.”

  She huffed an exhausted laugh. “I would say you did,” she murmured, closing her eyes once more.

  Geoffrey watched Liliana for a long moment, the rise and fall of her breasts, the sleepy relaxed expression on her face, and his chest filled with pride. Odd, but having brought her to completion gave him more satisfaction than when he’d received the same pleasure himself.

  He let her rest, slipping on his trousers before gathering her clothes.

  “Hero, saint and ladies’ maid?” she said.

  “What?” he asked, turning back to her.

  “Mmm…nothing.” She sat up, and once again, Geoffrey was struck by her comfort with her own nudity. Being a scientist, she was probably practical about such things, like him. Twelve years of war had divested him of modesty for certain.

  Liliana twisted her knees to the side, scooting over to make room for him on the chaise. He sat beside her and breathed in her scent as she nestled into his shoulder.

  “I have this need to be close to you,” she said, her voice laced with bemusement, as if she could hardly countenance the feeling. He supposed an independent, intelligent woman like her might wonder at that.

  “Most women have that inclination after lovemaking, if they’ve been well satisfied,” he explained, knowing Liliana craved the knowledge.

  “Do men feel the same?” she asked, snuggling in closer.

  “Men have an inclination to go immediately to sleep.”

  She slapped him in the arm.

  “I’m quite serious.”

  Liliana pulled away, eyeing him. “You don’t look very tired to me.”

  Geoffrey smiled. Sitting here, enjoying her pleasure-sated features, he never
wanted to close his eyes again. “How could I sleep knowing I would miss this moment of having you in my arms?” he asked, holding her gaze.

  She looked away, blinking. Geoffrey wondered if she even understood her feelings for him. Yes, she was a curious creature, but no virgin could give herself in such an unabandoned fashion without having a care for her lover.

  “It’s not always like this, either, is it?” she asked, her voice solemn.

  “No.”

  “Not even for husbands and wives?”

  A harsh laugh escaped him, surprising him in its vehemence. “I would say rarely with husbands and wives, which is a damned travesty.”

  She nodded. “My parents were a love match,” she said after a moment. “I was too young when my mother died to remember much interaction between them, but I’ve been told stories of their great love for each other.” She shifted, turning her head away. “And I was witness to what it does to a person to lose the one he loves.” She pulled away from him and stood, reaching for her dress. As she pulled it efficiently over her head, Geoffrey mourned the loss of her closeness.