Page 50 of The Confessions of a Lady
Penny cleared her throat, took a breath, and pretended to be confident. ‘I want you to…’ She couldn’t maintain eye contact for this bit, so instead, she looked at his golden hair curling too long at his temple. ‘Lick me… or nibble… or whatever is going to make this ache ease.’ She shifted on the chair. But instead of alleviating her need, it only became more acute. Her nipples hardened into equally sharp points of sensation, somehow magically connected to the hollow emptiness in her core.
‘Are you sure?’ His amber eyes were heavy lidded as his rough voice dropped even deeper.
‘Damn it. Either do it or tell me to leave. I give you permission, Liam. R-ravish me with your mouth. In fact, I command you to do it. How about that? Will you disobey my command?’Good lord!She couldn’t be any clearer. He need not worry that he was taking advantage.
The corner of his mouth tweaked up in a half-smile. ‘I knew I would be better at following your orders than you are at following mine. How could I possibly disobey Penny Smith? Tonight, you hold the reins.’
Gripping her skirt in shaking fingers, she tugged the cotton up, exposing her woollen stockings and pale knees.
Liam leaned back, tilting his head to see what Penny could not. The shape of her calves, the plain ribbon holding her stockings in place just below her knees. The dark space between her thighs where such mysteries waited to be revealed. She watched his expression shift from appreciation to something darker. Determination. Everywhere his eyes caught on her sparked and fizzed, as if his gaze were a physical thing. He skated his hand up from her ankle, over her muscled calf, to the ribbon. Clever fingers tickled the skin behind her knee.
Damnation!
A once-innocuous part of her body was suddenly painfully arousing.
He took the end of the ribbon and slowly pulled it free of the bow she hastily tied earlier that morning. The pressure around her calf released and he eased the stocking down to her shoe. But he didn’t take off her boots. Instead, he moved on to the second ribbon. Tickling back up her calves with both hands, he swirled small circles on the tender skin.
‘Will you lift your skirts higher for me, sweet Penny?’
I’ll do anything you ask if you keep touching me like that.
A dangerous admission granting him far too much power. Thankfully, she didn’t say the words aloud. Instead, she pressed up on her heels, lifting her bottom from the chair and bunching her skirts around her waist. Liam growled in a predatory sound that was so inflammatory, Penny worried she might melt into a puddle on the velvet upholstery. As a former lady’s maid, she knew how many layers of petticoats, lace, and frills a woman of the beau monde wore under her dress. Penny had two. One petticoat of worn cotton, and her chemise with a simple, front-clasping corset. With her skirt, petticoat and chemise hikedaround her waist, nothing would impede Liam’s view of… everything. Her intimate flesh on blatant display.
Cool air wafted over her. There was no chance he wouldn’t notice the wetness glistening between her thighs.Dear God. What will he think?
‘You are perfect, Penny.’
Oh.
A bubble of joy burst in her belly, effervescent delight spiralling outward to the very tips of her fingers and edges of her toes.
His large hand slipped up her leg. Mesmerised by the contrast of his darker skin against her much whiter flesh, she couldn’t tear her gaze away.
With gentle but undeniable pressure, he pushed her legs apart, making room for himself in the cradle of her thighs.
‘Unbutton your top for me. I want to see your pretty breasts.’ Amber eyes burned with such intensity, Penny felt their heat like a brand.
She bit her lip, noticing how Liam’s entire body tightened in response. Crouched between her legs, she couldn’t see the part of him most dissimilar to her own body. ‘Will I get to see you?’ Shocked by her own boldness, she felt a thrill of something. Similar to fear, but far more delicious.
Liam’s wide grin was breathtaking. ‘I’ll show you whatever you like. But first, please Penny, unbutton for me.’
She fumbled with the five buttons holding the top of her dress closed. Her corset was low, and her chemise was loose. It was easy to pull the thin cotton down enough to expose herself. Her breasts were neither small nor large. Her nipples neither dark nor light. Rather nondescript, in her estimation. But it seemed Liam felt otherwise.
‘Fuck,’ he groaned.
The vulgarity uttered with such reverence made Penny feel like a queen.
It’s almost better than being called perfect.
‘Touch them. Brush your hands over your nipples until they burn.’ His words wound around her, creating a wicked spell entrancing her to obey. She gasped at the sweet sensation of her rough fingers rasping over the puckered peaks. It was a heady thing to control her pleasure while he watched.
‘Hellfire.’ The words of her youth resurfaced.
‘That’s it, sweetheart. Pinch them. Harder.’ His amber eyes were focused on where she played with herself. His feather-soft touch tracing higher up her leg. She did as he directed, rolling each bud between her fingers until the corresponding fissure of pleasure between her thighs pulsed with her pounding heart. ‘Keep going, darling.’
His endearments were making her already-fuzzy head swim. She couldn’t take it all in. He pushed her legs wider apart and lowered his head. The rasp of his whiskers scratched against her inner thigh.
‘Dear God!’ Penny jolted upright.
