Page 48 of The Sea Siren of Broadwater Bottom
And she leaned up and brought her lips to his.
CHAPTER19
This kiss, Elissa thought, was very different from the one they had shared on top of the castle.
Then she had been surprised and unsure, and Edward had been so gentle with her. She knew she had made a fool of herself with the way she couldn’t stop trembling, but honestly, Prince Charming himself had pulled her into his arms and kissed her, and on top of a castle to boot! Surely a girl could be forgiven for swooning.
It had truly been the perfect first kiss. This time, however, gentleness seemed to be the farthest thing from Edward’s mind.
Not that Elissa was complaining.
He swept his tongue into her mouth, and she heard herself make an animalistic groan that would have been humiliating had he not been making precisely the same sound. She couldn’t get enough of him, and it appeared that he felt the same way, because without warning he scooped her up off the bench and settled her in his lap.
This proved to be anexcellentposition for a number of reasons. Seated on his lap, she was only about two inches shorter than him, which made kissing quite a bit easier. She was now close enough to him that she was enveloped in the delicious smell of his bergamot shaving tonic.
But what Elissa enjoyed the most was the fact that her body was now pressed up against Edward’s chest, separated by only the fine linen of his shirt. Clearly, he didn’t spend all day holed up in the library, because he had the body of a demigod, with firm planes of muscle everywhere she touched. His shoulders were broad and his waist as flat as a board, and gracious, there were so many ridges in the muscles over his stomach…
Through the foggy haze that had descended over her brain, Elissa realized that the reason she was privy to this information about Edward Astley’s physique was because she had all but crawled inside his greatcoat with him and was running her hands absolutely everywhere over his beautifully sculpted torso. She pulled back guiltily.
When he opened his eyes, they were unfocused.
“Please don’t stop,” he said, his breath coming fast. “Touch me, Elissa.”
She was only too happy to comply. She found herself trembling again, but this time, it wasn’t mere wonder that the man of her dreams was kissing her. No, this was pure, unadulterated lust. She could feel a pulse between her legs, as strong as a heartbeat, and judging by the hard bulge in the front of Edward’s trousers that was pressing into her thigh, he felt it, too.
She had read enough Greek verse, much of which was shockingly frank, to know precisely what that bulge meant. An innocent young lady should be shocked and offended by his physical response. But she felt none of that. All she felt was wonder that she, of all people, made him feel this way.
Only half-aware of what she was doing, she found herself swinging one leg across his lap to straddle him. She gave a sigh of pleasure as the little rosebud between her legs came into contact with all of that delicious hardness. She glanced up at him to gauge his reaction and found his eyes filled with rapt wonder. But his gaze was directed not at her face, but lower.
That was when she noticed that her motion had caused the belt on her tattered old dressing gown to come untied, and that it had fallen open in the front. Elissa had been dressed for bed before coming out and was wearing only a shift beneath it. There was nothing but one layer of tissue-thin white linen separating her body from Edward’s gaze. She could see her own nipples, and they were peaked not just due to the cold, but also because she was so aroused.
Edward ripped his gaze up to her face. “I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for the flaps of her dressing gown and starting to pull them closed. “I just—God, Elissa, you’re so beautiful.”
She reached up and stilled his hands, blushing ferociously as she pulled them from the pilling grey wool. She wanted to place them over her own breasts, where her nipples were crying out for his touch, but she wasn’t quite so bold.
Instead she brought them inside her patched old dressing gown, settling them on her sides. “Touch me,” she whispered.
His hands swept around her waist. He made no move to kiss her, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away from the sight of her body through her thin chemise. She shifted in his lap, letting out a muffled cry as the little nub between her legs rubbed against his hardness.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he slid his hands up her torso. His gaze shifted to her face. He watched her carefully as he stroked his thumbs over the underside of her breasts, studying her reaction. She made a mewling sound. “Yes, Edward, please—”
That was all the encouragement he needed. His hands immediately cupped her breasts through the fine material of her shift, his thumbs caressing her peaked nipples. Now she was rocking back and forth against the bulge in the front of his trousers, and sounds of desire rose from both of their throats.
Slowly, deliberately, he brought his hand to the ribbon that gathered the neckline of her shift. He paused and looked at her, giving her the chance to tell him to stop.
She reached up and untied it for him. Elissa didn’t know how far he was planning to take things, but it really didn’t matter. She’d been in love with Edward Astley for half her life, and this would probably be the only chance she would ever have to be with him. If he wanted to take her virginity right here, right now, on this stone bench, she was ready and willing to give it to him, consequences be damned. What did it matter if she was ruined? It wasn’t as if she had any marriage prospects.
“Elissa,” he moaned, pulling the neck of her shift open to reveal her breasts. He reached out to cup them, his expression full of wonder. She felt herself jerk at the delicious feeling of his hands upon her bare skin.
He began kissing her neck, traveling inexorably downward. She wanted his lips on her nipples so badly, it was all she could do not to grab the back of his head and put his mouth where she needed it.
His lips were reverently brushing the upper swell of her breast when she heard the clip of boots on the marble steps of the folly.
As Elissa emerged from her lust-induced haze, she ascertained that the footsteps were getting louder.
Someone wascoming.
Edward had noticed them, too. They both froze, staring at each other in horror. Then, as one, they began a mad scramble to put their garments back to rights.
