Page 19 of The Secret of My Seduction
“It would be worth it.” He slipped the other strap down and undid the ribbon holding the bodice closed. Another tug and the ribbon that ran beneath her breasts came loose, letting the garment slide down her body to puddle around her feet.
He urged her down onto her knees, then onto hands and knees. Her head fell forward as he ran his palms over her back, smoothing over the firm plumpness of her hips. This time he lingered over her, testing and teasing in search of every sensitive spot on her body. He wanted to know every inch of her and discover every little thing that made her sigh. This was Bathsheba, who never hesitated to tell him exactly what she thought, whose mind worked the same way his did, and whose passions ran as hot as his.
And now she was in his bedroom, his conquest, his conqueror, his equal.
Liam didn’t believe in luck; luck was the word lazy people used when hard effort and preparation finally paid off. It hadn’t been luck that saved theIntelligencerwhen he almost went bankrupt, it was a wise choice of investors—namely Arthur Wilde, who left his twelve percent share to his widow Madeline. It hadn’t been luck that made his subscriptions grow after Madeline began writing a gossip column for the newspaper, it was the deliberate cultivation of mystery around the anonymous but highborn columnist who reported the most scandalous, choicest gossip in London. It wasn’t luck that made his side business printing novels and poetry enormously profitable, it was a clear-eyed evaluation of the demand for the sort of books that Bathsheba wrote.
But he didn’t have a good explanation forthis. What had made Bathsheba bring her proposition to him? For all that he’d been shocked by it, he’d known from the start that he didn’t want her turning to someone else:don’t you dare, he’d said when she suggested it. He could tell himself he was concerned for her safety and her reputation, but there was more; he didn’t want her to be like this with someone else. Until that moment she had kept their relationship cordial and professional, and he had been satisfied with that—but the moment the prospect ofmorewas dangled in front of him, Liam snatched it. Had he wanted her all along? Or had he been blind? He didn’t know. But now that he did see quite clearly, he didn’t want it to end.
Even though he knew what she liked already, he took his time, making her writhe and arch beneath his hands and mouth. He turned her over onto the floor and she spread herself before him like a feast, inviting him to gorge himself on her pale skin and pink nipples and silky curls. Her dark eyes glowed with desire and he realized she was lovely—not as most in London thought of beauty, but the way he did. Her intelligence had won his respect, her talent won his admiration. Her dry humor made him laugh. Perhaps he shouldn’t feel any astonishment that he was falling in love; rather, he should wonder why he hadn’t fallen sooner.
If Bathsheba had thought lessons one and two were satisfying, she was rapidly realizing that Liam hadn’t shown her everything, not by half. This night, knowing they had hours, he seemed bent on destroying whatever resistance her heart had left. His hands began so gently, roving over her body as if smoothing the way for his mouth. But the hard, rapid coupling against the wall downstairs had been so erotic, so needy, her body was already humming with anticipation. “Harder,” she whispered to him, and he responded. “Faster,” she moaned to him, and he complied.Take me, she begged silently as he pulled her toward ecstasy.I’m yours if only you can love me.
She was crying, shaking, on the verge of eruption, when he pulled away from her. Roughly he spread her knees wide, and thrust home. Instinctively her body tightened around him, and his face grew fierce. Deliberately he hiked her knees up, until she curled her legs around his waist, and then he planted one hand behind each of her shoulders. His first thrust made her clutch at his arms. The second made her back arch; he angled his hips so that every invasion raked across the most sensitive nerve endings in her body. At the first rush of climax she bit back a scream and squeezed her eyes shut, her breath catching in anticipation.
“No,” he rasped. “Look at me.” His gray gaze bored into her, pupils dilated. His hair swung around his face as he moved.
Bathsheba started to shake. She was coming, her climax boiling up inside her, from her toes through her thighs through her belly until it seemed to seize her lungs. Her eyes widened as it broke; Liam’s blazing gaze had mesmerized her until she couldn’t blink or look away.
“Yes,” he growled, pumping hard. “Yes—like that—” He ducked his head and kissed her as he drove himself so deep inside her, Bathsheba thought it might tear her apart. But then his tongue was in her mouth, and she strained against him, kissing him back, her trembling arms around his neck as he reached his own release. When he finally lifted his head, she gasped for air, feeling as if she hadn’t taken a breath in minutes.
“You…you never kissed me before,” she said faintly, her heart still racing.
“My mistake,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers before settling in for another long, deep kiss that scattered what little sense she had left.
He helped her off the floor eventually and carried her to bed, tucking her snugly against him. Bathsheba sank into the fine linens and indulged in a moment of fantasy.I never imagined these lessons in seduction would take such a turn, he said in her imagination.Bathsheba, I don’t want this to end… I love you…No matter how frequently and firmly she had told herself that Liam was only taking what she offered, that men could enjoy a vigorous romp in bed…or on a sofa or on a chaise…and not develop any finer feelings for the woman involved, her wayward heart persisted in trying to spin straw into gold.
He lingered over her pleasure, saying he wanted to learn her and let her learn him.
He canceled a dinner engagement to be with her.
He wanted her to stay all night.
He kissed her.
“You were right,” she murmured.
“Oh?” He sounded amused. “How noble of you to admit it.”
“Of course I would admit it,” she protested, then added tartly, “once you proved your point, naturally.”
He laughed, a low relaxed sound. His fingers were combing idly through her hair, and she could have sighed aloud at how like aloverit was. “Which point?”
She hesitated. Her cheek was against his shoulder, his arm beneath her head. “Your way was superior.”
His fingers slowed, then resumed stroking her hair. “I’m delighted you agreed to try it.”
How could she not? Bathsheba felt the end of their interlude approaching; this would likely be the last night. Her fingers curled into a fist against his bare chest, where she could feel the steady thump of his heart, still rapid after their lovemaking.
But it didn’t beat for her.
“Why did you want me to stay?” she asked to divert her mind from that. It would spoil the whole night, this lone magical night she had with him.
His fingers paused. “Because,” he finally said, very slowly, “seduction is more than the physical act, whether that act be ‘brisk and efficient’ or leisurely and thorough. I felt you deserved the full range.”
“Then, there will be more tonight?” She honestly didn’t know what else he could mean to teach her. Her limbs already were like jelly and she felt the most blissful exhaustion of her life.
Liam was quiet for a long moment. He tipped up her chin until she met his gaze. She had never seen that expression in his eyes before—searching, almost wary, and full of urgency. “Do you not want more?”
