Page 47 of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes
The woman in question gave him a smile of rueful understanding. “Another time, Ransome.”
She moved away, motioning for both the silver-haired man and the lady in ruby velvet to join her on the dance floor.
Kieran barely attended this because Celeste now stood before him. A light film of sweat made her skin shine, especially the tempting curve between her shoulder and her neck, and he longed to taste her salt on his tongue.
So much for detachment.
“Weary of dancing?” he asked.
“I’m in search of a new experience.”
“Come with me.” He offered her his arm, and smiled to see how readily she took it. Leading her from the ballroom, down a dimly lit corridor, they passed many couples kissing and fondling each other. Though their activities weren’t as overt or explicit as they were at the Lily Club, where masked guests gave in to their every erotic impulse, the kisses were passionate. Hands roamed freely over bodies.
He stared at Celeste as she avidly watched the couples. She trailed the fingers of her free hand across her collarbone in an unconscious caress, and he bit back a growl.
He hadn’t enjoyed a lover since he’d entered into this bargain with Celeste. Now he paid the price. He was as randy as a stallion scenting a mare, body aching with need. Ironic, given that he was currently surrounded by people yielding to their lusts, while he remained frustratingly chaste.
If Celeste had appeared shocked, or uncomfortable, by such public sensual displays, he would have taken her straight home.
But the hell of it was, she looked intrigued.
Familiar with the layout of Longbridge’s home, Kieran took Celeste down a back staircase to the ground floor, then led her to the dining room. More guests congregated here, sprawling in chairs or each other’s laps as they ate and fed each other from the spread of delicacies laid out upon the table. There were sugared fruits sparkling like gems, and cakes, and haunches of meat beside wedges of cheese, and,naturally, oysters. A barely dressed woman had even seated herself in the middle of the table, putting grapes between the diners’ lips.
“Ancient Romans would be proud,” Celeste murmured as they circled the room.
“He isn’t reading Pliny the Elder,” Kieran said, tipping his chin toward a young man seated at the head of the table, who held an open book and read aloud from it, with many of the diners paying close attention.
“‘As his mouth opened over mine,’” the young man recited, “‘his hand delved between my legs, finding me as slick as a summer storm, and eager for him.’”
A startled-sounding laugh burst from Celeste. “That’s fromMidnight with the Bandit, by the Lady of Dubious Quality.”
It was Kieran’s turn to chuckle in surprise. “You’re familiar with her work.”
“You aren’t?” She arched a brow.
“I’ve had to purchase multiple copies when the bindings have failed after many perusals.”
The man who had been reading passed the book to the woman seated beside him, and she read the next line aloud before handing the book to the man in the next chair. And so it went, until the book reached a lady seated in front of Kieran and Celeste.
The woman turned in her seat and waved the volume at Celeste. “Have a turn, my lovely.”
For a long moment, Celeste only stared at the book, her eyes wide.
“Refuse if you want to,” Kieran murmured into her ear. “You’re under no obligation.”
She hesitated before waving off the offered book. He exhaled. Certainly, he’d never expect her to do anything she didn’t desire. Their nocturnal outings were forherpleasure, after all and if she—
“‘His mouth trailed down my neck,’” she said, her voice soft, “‘with little stinging bites and slick swipes of his tongue. By the time he reached the hollow of my throat, I burned with need.’”
Kieran gaped at her. She wasn’t reading from the book. Sherecitedit.
She noticed him staring, and the corners of her mouth turned up. All of the dining guests turned their wondering attention to her, many of them appearing delighted that this newcomer was so familiar with the book in question she could repeat it from memory.
Smiling, Celeste strolled around the table. Her voice growing in volume and confidence, she continued. “‘Clad as I was in only the thinnest of shifts, his hand on my breast seared me, and when he pinched my nipple between his fingers, I gasped with desire. His other hand worked between my legs, caressing my hot, glossy petals that opened like a flower in the spring.’”
She paused long enough to pluck a wineglass from a man’s fingers, take a drink, and then return the glass to his hand. The stunned expression on his face surely mirrored Kieran’s own astonishment.
No,astonishmentwas too pallid a word for what roared through Kieran right now. Hearing such delightful filth on Celeste’s lips—words she’dmemorized, by God—aroused him beyond reason. His cock was harder than it had ever been, and whilethis company was no stranger to the sight of an excited man, he couldn’t very well present Celeste with his raging erection.
