Page 26 of Her Daring Earl
“Eliza,” he murmured, his eyes flying open and meeting hers. She was watching her movements with a small smile of satisfaction on her face. “Stop now.”
“Stop?” she said, sitting backward, her eyes widening. “Why?”
“Because I… I’m going to come, and I don’t want to…”
“Come, then,” she said, challenging him.
“But—”
It was too late, however. There was no more time to warn her away and soon enough he was finishing. He expected her to pull away, to be disgusted or, at the very least, shocked, but not Eliza.No, she just continued, pumping him until he finished and could do nothing more but lay his head back on the linen behind him.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his eyes still closed, not wanting to look at her.
“For what?” she said, rustling around him, and when he finally had the strength to push himself up on his elbows, it was to watch her clean her hands in the lake, wipe them on the linen, and then begin to dress once more – as though this was something she did every day.
“For making a mess all over you.”
“Easy enough to clean,” she said cheerily. “Besides, I asked for it.” She stopped, turning around to look at him over her shoulder. “Could you please lace up my dress?”
He wiped a hand over his face and pushed himself to his feet. “Of course.”
He laced up the back of her dress, his fingers strangely shaking as he fastened the buttons before cleaning up himself and beginning to dress.
“Are you finished swimming?” she asked, and he nodded, as his very reason for swimming in the cold lake was standing before him.
“We should probably return to the house separately,” he said. “You go first.”
“Very well.” She placed a few more pins in her hair. “Thank you, Fitz. I can’t wait to do that again. Well, that… and more.”
With one last cheeky grin, she sauntered off through the trees toward the house, leaving Fitz standing there in shock, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.
It was either the best decision he had ever made… or the worst.
Eliza had been a fool.
She’d read one book –one– about the intimacies that could occur between men and women and suddenly she had thought she was some kind of expert.
An encounter with Fitz was all it had taken to prove that she knew nothing at all.
Until now.
After they had taken their pleasure, completely naked in the middle of the woods, she rushed back to the house as though she was being chased.
For she had been afraid that if she’d stayed, she would be unable to prevent herself from asking for more.
It was one thing to experiment.
It was another to become a complete wanton.
For the remainder of the day, she had been unable to think of anything else but Fitz, what he had done to her, and how he had made her feel. Now, she wanted nothing more but to do it again.
She wished she hadn’t run off like she did, but rather had discussed with him when they would next meet. Now, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Was she to proposition him again? If she waited for him to ask first, would she be waiting forever? She could only imagine all of the experienced lovers he had taken in the past. He was probably laughing to himself right now over how inexperienced and ineffective she was.
Eliza shook her head abruptly. It wasn’t like her to question herself. Damn it, but she did do a good job. He had finished, had he not?
If it was with anyone else, she knew it would be no issue, that she would be as certain of herself as she always was.
But this was Fitz. The man who ignored her, who she was sure had still seen her as a young girl, whose eyes had passed over her every time he came upon her in the ballroom unless he was forced to dance with her because her brother had struck some deal.
