Page 20 of Portrait of a Lady
Hugh dropped his other hand to her hip, squeezing her through the indecently thin fabric of her gown and urging her against the erection rapidly swelling his breeches. The pressure was good, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted her skirts up, her legs straddling his, her cunt sheathed around him.
She mewled against his lips like a kitten, squirming and writhing in a way that only made the situation between his legs all the worse. Evelyn couldn’t know what she was doing to him—or, she was too out of her mind to notice.
He released her mouth and sought more of her, more of that pale, delectable skin. Her head fell back when he attacked her throat, growing bolder now that she’d gone pliant in his arms. He traced hot circles against her pulse with his tongue, his teeth nipping here and there as he fed off her responses, learning what she liked while indulging in every primitive impulse driving him.
When he reached her bared shoulder, he thanked whoever hadn’t had time to properly alter her dress. That made it far easier for him to slip her bodice down, baring the smooth globe of one breast right up to the edge of her nipple. He paused, tearing his gaze away from the tempting sight to find her eyes once more.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.
It didn’t matter that she’d given in to the kiss; he needed her to tell him what she wanted so he didn’t frighten.
Her cheeks flushed pink and eyes glazed with desire, she shook her head, still clinging tight to his shoulders. “No...no, don’t stop.”
He returned his attention to her gown, tugging her bodice and chemise down to her waist. His breath caught at the sight of her breasts—full and high with perfect, rosy tips.
“I know you said you don’t like compliments,” he rasped, cupping one and strumming the nipple with his thumb. “But bloody hell, these are magnificent.”
She gasped when he repeated the motion, teasing her nipple into a taut peak. He showered her with kisses, tasting her throat, her chest, her shoulders. Then, finally, he made his way toward one nipple, his tongue stroking a path straight toward the tight bud.
Evelyn cried out when he licked her, trembling as he did it again and again. He latched on, sucking the peak deep into his mouth while cupping the other breast to ply it with his thumb and forefinger. She was lost right along with him, arching and squirming, the curve of her hip tormenting the rigid swell of his cock. He ached to get inside her, to finish what they’d started and seemed to hurtle toward with exhilarating speed.
Her fingers threaded in his hair and she held on tight as he released the nipple, leaving it wet and glistening in the moonlight as he went to the other. Her unrestrained moan of pleasure urged him on, making him want to produce more of those arousing sounds from deep in her throat. He nudged her legs apart, just far enough that he could cup her mound through the fabric of her dress. She gasped, her thighs clenching tight around his hand.
Releasing her breast from his mouth he pressed a gentle kiss to her jaw, then the corner of her mouth. “Shh...I just want to touch you. Just like this. Doesn’t that feel good?”
She gasped when he moved his fingers, pressing into her seam. Her eyes rolled up into her head and then slid shut as she nodded.
“Yes...oh, yes.”
She relaxed her thighs, easing them open just enough for him to continue. He went on drugging her with languid kisses, on her lips, her throat, her nipples—all while he stroked her through the layers of her gown and chemise. The heat of her radiated against his palm, making him want more. He wanted her wetness coating his fingers, the tight grasp of her around him. But he held back, knowing once he touched her that way, he would lose his mind in earnest. He stood on the very edge of his control, but wanted her to understand how good this could be if only she would relax and let it happen. He wanted her to go to bed tonight dreaming of what might occur the next time they saw one another.
When she let out a guttural groan as he pressed his middle finger harder, Hugh knew he’d found the right spot. He applied more pressure, circling his fingers and finding a rhythm she seemed to like. He pressed his other hand against her hip, urging her to move with him, to chase her own pleasure to its inevitable end. She hesitated only a moment before giving in, undulating against his hand in an instinctive rhythm. She laid her head on his shoulder, muffling her cries against his coat as she reached her crisis, her hips bucking against his hand, violent shudders wracking her body.
He held her tight as the climax swelled and then abated, her body going still in his arms. She shook as if assaulted by a frigid gale, soft sighs of contentment emitting from her. He removed his hand and adjusted her skirts, then pulled her bodice up to cover her breasts. He then held her against his chest, resting his chin atop her head and waiting for her to recover. Due to her response he realized that might have been her very first climax. She seemed almost stunned by it, as if she hadn’t realized what might await her on the other side of such pleasure.
A feral sense of pride fell over him in a way he’d never experienced. Making women happy, pleasuring them physically, was something he’d been doing efficiently for quite some time. With the clients he’d been assigned to, initiating an untouched virgin was hardly new territory. But, this felt different somehow, though at the moment Hugh couldn’t quite put his finger on what made it so.
Instead of trying to puzzle it out, he busied himself with Evelyn. He needed to make certain she did not feel any sort of shame or worry over what had just happened. They were perfectly secluded off the Dark Walk, with enough debauchery going on around them that no one would notice or care about what they’d done.
He tipped her chin so she looked at him, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “How was that for a first kiss?”
Her voice came out breathless and filled with awe when she replied, “It was quite a bit more...electrifying than I’d expected, Mr. Radcliffe.”
With a chuckle, he leaned in to kiss her one last time. “My dear, I do think now would be a good time for you to start calling me Hugh.”
Chapter 4
“During last night’s fancy dress ball at Vauxhall Gardens, I witnessed enough debauchery to fill the pages of this periodical for a year. Among my favorite costumes were included a very clever lady dressed as morning dew, as well as a gallant gentleman in the full regalia of a Hungarian Hussar. I am certain many a young chit must have fallen in love on first sight of the mysterious soldier.”
-The London Gossip,12March 1819
Evelyn lay awake in bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling as the sounds of the city coming alive for the day persisted outside her windows. She’d been awake for hours but hadn’t bothered making any effort to begin her day. Upon returning from Vauxhall Gardens last evening, she’d lain awake for quite some time, too overwrought to sleep. Hugh had left her on the front steps with a perfunctory kiss on the cheek and a question of when she’d like to see him again. They ought to talk more about their arrangement, he’d told her.
How many days a week did she require him? Would she prefer they meet at his house or hers? Were there any upcoming engagements she wished him to escort her to?
She’d been too stunned by what had occurred in the folly ruin off the Dark Walk to respond. Her lips still tingled from his kiss, the side of her neck and her shoulder feeling uncommonly warm as if still clinging to the heat of his attentions. Despite the little paroxysm of completion she’d experienced with his hand between her legs, an insistent ache had begun there with no signs of abating. She felt as if anyone who looked upon her might be able to see the evidence of what she’d done with Hugh.
Before slipping inside, she had invited him to join her for dinner the following evening so that they could discuss the particulars. He had agreed, then took hold of her arm to draw her in for the chaste kiss. His mouth had touched her cheek for only a fraction of a second, but it seemed to bring her every nerve ending alive, reminding her of all the things that decadent mouth of his could do.
