Page 70 of The Assassin and the Libertine
Warmth filled me at the thought of his resourceful, plucky sister. I smiled. “Ah. Yes. I hope she’s well, too.”
He nodded. An awkward silence settled between us.
This was interminable.
“I have been working with The Order quite a bit,” I blurted suddenly—and a touch loudly. I winced, but carried on. “That’s why I was coming to see you. I’m trying to get a task force together to work with the vampires—looking for a cure, discussing their rights and grievances…trying to prevent that revolution you’re always on about. So far, The Order isn’t entirely on board; neither are the nobility, for that matter. I could use your help.”
“My help?” he repeated, looking stunned. “Yes, of course. You’ve taken up my cause?”
I nodded. “Oh, and Charlotte has joined, as well. We have been designing missions for other members. We’re forming a group of primarily women agents. It’s been quite thrilling.”
“How is Charlotte? Well, I hope?” A pained smile crossed his face.
“Yes, quite well, now that everything’s settled with her estate.”
“Good. Good.”
“Yes, it is good, isn’t it?”
The clock on the mantle chimed nine o’clock. The fire crackled in the hearth. I was going to die of discomfort.Tell him, Daphne. Tell him you’re in love with him. Tell him you want to be his forever.
Étienne studied me, his hazel eyes glittering like gold coins. He seemed to relax a fraction, then offered me the first genuine smile I’d seen all evening. The smile broke into a warm chuckle that turned into a full-throated laugh. I giggled along with him.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I sighed. “The tension between us.”
“Yes,” he smiled. “But I don’t know why it should be.” He took my hand in his and our eyes met. “I miss you, Daphne.”
“You do?” I said somewhat breathlessly. “Why have you stayed away so long?”Have you found another woman?
“I wanted to give you a respectful distance after everything. For a time, I convinced myself that you would want to be rid of me—that there was nothing left for us. Our conversation at Versailles that night felt so final, I convinced myself that I’d have to let you go. That you deserved a long, happy, mortal life—a life without me. But I don’t know if I can accept that, unless you tell me otherwise. If you say so, Daphne, I swear I’ll leave you alone and never darken your doorstep again. But if there’s hope—if you feel differently… I came here tonight to…to…”
“To find out?”
He nodded, his handsome face a study in angst. Desire gathered in me.He was mine.
“Shall we see, then?” I breathed. I didn’t wait for him to respond, or for the confusion to fall from his face. I leaned forward and set my lips to his.
He melted into me immediately, returning the kiss with the full force of his passion. He brought his hands up to my head, lacing his fingers into my hair as he had before. Pins scattered across the couch and the floor. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth and stroked it with his tongue. Lust stormed through me, setting my skin ablaze, tightening my nipples, and heating my core. I bent over him, pushing him back against the cushions. He moaned against me at the feel of our bodies pressing against each other.
“God, Daphne,” he growled, breaking away to drop tiny kisses along my jaw. “How I’ve missed you. You don’t know how much. You’re all I can think about. It makes every day without you feel like a hundred years.” His fingers found the buttons of my bodice and he frantically tried to undo them, seeking the feel of my bare skin.
“Why the Hell do all your gowns have so many damn buttons?” On an oath, he wrenched the fabric in two, sending buttons flying in all directions.
“Étienne! I liked that dress,” I protested. He dropped his head to tug one of my nipples into his mouth, and the dress was forgotten. I ground my hips against him, loving the feel of his arousal beneath my legs. He sucked in a breath.
“I missed you, Étienne. I was so worried that you didn’t care for me, or that you’d found another lover since we—Oh, yes, right there!I cannot go back to my life the way it was, the wayIwas, before you. You were right about me—about everything. I don’t want to be without you, Étienne.” I fumbled with the buttons on his breeches and he reached for the hem of my skirts,lifting them up to my thighs. When he pushed them up to bare my sex, he bit back a groan.
“Perfection,” he breathed, sliding a finger through my damp heat. He circled the bud of my pleasure and I cried out. “You’re so wet—so ready for me. So responsive to my touch. It’s one of the things I love most about you, darling. I’m afraid this won’t last as long as I’d like. It’s been a while since?—”
I grasped his hard length and he huffed in torment.
“Drink from me,” I murmured.
“What?” he gasped, growing harder in my hand. “Darling, no. I will not just use you for blood.”
“I want to be yours, Étienne, completely. I want to be yours forever.”
His eyes snapped open and found mine in the firelight.
