Page 23 of Her Daring Earl
“I’ve been trying to avoid adventure,” he said with pain. “But it seems it has found me all the same.”
“So, what do you think?” she asked, looking up at him through thick lashes. He knew that she had never been one to act with any contrived flirtation, and yet he had never before seen a woman so alluring. But that was just her, in her most purely natural form. “Will you do this? Will you help me?”
His laugh was more of a bark of shock, and before he knew what he was saying, he was lowering his hands.
“After that kiss, Eliza, how could I ever say no?”
The joy that lit her face was worth it all as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled her to him in an embrace, one that he was sure was meant to thank him but had far more effect on him than gratitude.
“Thank you!” she said. “I so appreciate it. You will not regret it.”
Those were not the words he wanted to hear, for somehow, they almost seemed like a foreshadowing of their future. Yet the idea of a young woman thanking him for showing her pleasure? It seemed almost too good of a proposal.
Fitz would be a fool to turn down anything that would so favor them both.
So, he decided to pull her close and seal their agreement with a kiss.
As their lips met again,the world around them seemed to melt away, leaving only the two of them in this bubble where no one else could touch them. The water that surrounded them rippled in reaction to their passion as if trying to mimic the rhythm of their heartbeats.
If Fitz’s was beating as hard as hers, then Eliza wondered how they weren’t causing tidal waves.
She had always been one to voice her thoughts aloud, and while Fitz had not denied her, she could admit that it had hurt her some that he would think her such a poor decision.
She was determined to prove him wrong – that she could be with him and enjoy him without giving away her heart.
A thrill of anticipation coursed through Eliza as she moaned softly into the kiss, her hands roaming over Fitz's back, his muscles bunching beneath her touch.
He responded by deepening the kiss, his fingers splaying across her lower back with just the right amount of pressure to hold her steady against him, allowing her to feel his thickness jutting into the bottom of her stomach.
What would it be like to have him inside of her? To have their bodies joined together?
The thought had her pressing even closer against him.
Slowly, Fitz's hands started to move lower, tracing a line over her hip bones, until they stopped an inch above where she ached for him.
“What are you doing?” she asked breathily, gripping his upper arms.
He immediately removed his hands, which was the last thing she wanted from him.
“I’m sorry, I thought you?—”
“I was wondering why you stopped!” she said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, which caused him to jump as he stared at her in surprise.
“Oh,” he said. “I thought?—”
“I know,” she said, taking pity on him. “Which is why I am telling you how I feel.Don’tstop.”
“This is what you truly want?” he said again. “We’ll go slow, I promise. I don’t want to shock you and before we take this any further, you should know what you are getting into.”
“I am well aware,” she nearly growled herself, as she was becoming frustrated with all of this talking. She needed more action. “Now, can our lessons begin?”
He nodded slowly, his cheeks reddening at her demands despite the cool water around them.
She stared up at him, hoping he could sense her trust in him, and he nodded, more to himself than to her. He lifted his hands from her hips, reaching toward her in invitation, and she took his palm without hesitation. He led her toward shore, his entire body bare before her, his nakedness almost seeming a point of pride rather than humility.
The shore was grassy, with dark sand leading down to the water. Fitz had come prepared, for he walked over to his pile of clothes and lifted a piece of linen from below it, which he laid out on the soft grass just away from the water, beneath the overhang of branches of the tree above them.
“Lie down,” he said gruffly, his eyes running over her body, and Eliza looked down to see that even though she had not waded any further than her waist, her breasts were obvious beneath her chemise as she had been pressed so tightly against Fitz’s wet chest. As for her lady parts, well, nothing was hidden from Fitz now.
