Page 40 of West End Earl
“I was sure you’d regret kissing me once you thought it over the next day,” she confessed, a bit breathless.
“Well, it’s now the next day, and I’m standing here with the beginnings of a cockstand from looking at you and seeing how you look at me. What does that tell you?”
She gathered what little composure remained. “I should leave you to bathe, and you can come to my room when you’re dressed again.”
Cal took a step closer. “Are you scared?”
His comment hit the nail on the head, but she shook her head. The brow he arched told her he didn’t believe her any more than she did.
Of course she was scared. The heat suffusing her bones was testimony enough to the danger Cal posed to her control.
What would happen when he realized there wasn’t much beneath the facade of Adam? When he peeled off her cravat and waistcoat and saw for himself that she didn’t know how to act like the society ladies he was used to? She didn’t walk, talk, or think with genteel sensibilities.
There was so much more to consider here than a mere kiss.
If she gave in to this attraction, it would only complicate things. Not only their friendship within these walls but how they acted when out in society. That was a massive risk for Cal. And what about her job? If their friendship changed to romance, she couldn’t imagine a man would be thrilled with the idea of his lover sprinting down dark lanes, digging out secrets in alleyways, and shepherding her flock of pint-sized informants.
But she ached for him. After two years of denying her feelings, the opportunity to let them out now felt freeing—allowing them to fly like the bird she’d carved today.
A heavy heat settled low in her belly, enticing her to give in and taste what he offered.
Even if it was only once. Even once was a risk, though.
“What if someone sees us kissing? Everyone thinks I’m a man. Have you thought about that?”
“We’ll be careful outside the house. My servants are well paid and loyal.”
“It’s still a risk,” she said, but the protest sounded thin as her body swayed closer.
“What if I dared you to kiss me?” he teased.
She’d wanted him forever, and here he was daring her—practically begging her—to take a risk on them. How was anyone supposed to resist that?
“You’re right. I want you, and it scares the devil out of me.” One step forward brought his erection against her belly and made his breath hiss between his teeth.
“I dare you to do it anyway.”
“I’ll take that dare.”
Kissing him turned out to be as natural as breathing. As simple as meeting him halfway, because he reached for her too. The taste of him rolled through her, coffee and brandy.
Cal filled her senses with the heady scents of yuletide sweets, wrapping around her as effectively as the drape of velvet covering his skin. She swept her hands up his neck to pluck the ribbon from his queue so his hair fell around them like a soft curtain. If she was going to indulge in this fantasy she’d played out so often in her mind, she wanted everything. Hair down, bare skin, and Cal quivering under her fingertips.
He groaned into her mouth, a desperate sound that released a flood between her thighs and made her rub shamelessly against the hard ridge between them.
“Sweet Jesus, Phee,” he gasped before she wrapped his hair in a fist and pulled him closer. They could talk later. For once, she had no desire to hear his commentary. At the base of her spine, one of his hands clutched her jacket, tugging until she shrugged out of it.
Everywhere she touched she encountered the bare skin of her fantasies, and it was absolutely glorious. His jaw scratched at her palm with prickly evening whiskers until even the nerves of her finger pads were more alive than they’d ever been. No wonder people liked kissing so much. This was amazing. Why did peoplestopkissing if it felt like this?
When his hands rounded over her bottom and lifted her body higher against him, she gasped “Yes” before wrapping her legs around his hips. Tongues tangled and teeth scraped tender flesh, until the only thing her body knew was him and this overwhelming need they’d created.
This kiss twisted their relationship into something new. Every touch they’d shared, every joke and conversation they’d held through facial expressions alone over the course of their friendship—everything came together. Sheknewhim, and now she knew his taste. It sank into her pores as his tongue licked into her mouth, and it still wasn’t enough.
The carved wooden post of his bed pressed against her back, pinning Phee between the unyielding frame and Cal. His large hands palmed her hips, tightening her legs around his waist, until she clung to him as desperately as he clung to her. One of his hands pushed under her shirt, and when he encountered the linen binding her breasts, he growled.
Sliding down his body to stand on shaky legs, she whipped the shirt over her head. With an intense focus, he brushed a hand over the linen strips, looking for the end. For a moment, the idea of him seeing her bare breasts sent a spike of worry through her. There wasn’t much there, but that had always worked in her favor until this exact moment.
Worrying was nonsense. No, she wasn’t built for curves. But—she reached down and wrapped a hand around his cock—Cal didn’t appear to mind. He gulped as if swallowing his own breath, then covered her hand with his, moving them together along his length while his other hand tugged at her binding.
