Alex may have been a little bewildered at her sudden enthusiasm, but it came nowhere near his delight. And that didn’t come anywhere near to the overwhelming lust that started in his groin and expanded to encompass every nerve ending in his body.
His hands traveled up her back, into her hair, down her shoulders and to her waist. He reached around and cupped her bottom, bringing her tight against the proof of his desire.
She groaned into his mouth, and the sound made him a little crazed. Easing away from her, he hooked one arm beneath her knees and lifted her high against his chest. He made slow progress to the makeshift bed, finding it difficult to remember where he was going. She was doing the most amazing things with her mouth. Nibbling on his lips, nipping at an earlobe, trailing wet kisses down his neck. They were untutored caresses, but they elicited a response from him the most skilled of courtesans could not have managed.
“My God, Sophie,” he breathed, finally finding the linens on the floor and lowering them both until she lay beneath him.
“I should wait,” he mumbled kissing his way down to one still-clothed breast. “You deserve a real bed, a—”
“I don’t want to wait,” was her breathless reply.
“Thank God.” Alex pulled the fabric of her dress down to expose a single taut nipple. He lightly trailed his tongue over it in experimentation. She gasped. He grinned against her skin and did it again, teasing her endlessly, lapping, circling, blowing gently against the damp nub, until her gasps became moans. Then he latched on and suckled. She cried aloud and threaded her fingers through his hair.
Alex could have stayed there for hours. Well, maybe not hours exactly, he was more than a little eager to explore other parts of her. But he could have stayed there for a good deal longer if the weatherworn fabric of her dress were not scraping at his chin, a reminder that it was an obstacle to what lay beneath.
“This has got to go,” he said, giving the nipple a final kiss before sitting her up and helping her unbutton the back of her dress.
They undressed each other in stages. His coat, shirt, and waistcoat. Her gown and stockings. All the while stopping to kiss, to caress, to explore.
Sophie was fascinated by every inch of him. He was all hard angles and muscle.
“Amazing,” she whispered.
Alex chuckled. He unfastened his breeches but left them on. He’d never made love to an innocent, but he rather thought they might frighten easily. God knew their mothers did them no favor by keeping them in ignorance. The thought gave him pause.
Sophie, still in her chemise, was watching him undo the buttons on his breeches with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked at her a little worriedly.
“Sophie?” he said in that way people have when they’re about to ask a question but aren’t quite sure how to go about it. “Sophie, we’re…that is…do you know what we’re doing?”
She blinked. She would have though that was fairly obvious. Then a terrible thought occurred to her. “Did I…do something wrong?” she asked in a horrified whisper.
“No, sweetheart, no. You’ve done everything right, better than right, perfect.” He reached out and gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I just don’t want to frighten you.”
“Because I haven’t done this before,” she explained, not quite over the scare that she may have committed some horrible faux pas.
“Yes, I know, and I can’t tell you how ridiculously pleased I am by that. But do you know what to expect?”
“Oh…Yes?” She sounded more hopeful than certain.
Alex didn’t think that was a very promising sign.
“I have a general idea,” Sophie explained. “But I’m a little fuzzy on the specifics.”
He considered that for a moment. “Why don’t you tell me what you do know,” he suggested.
Sophie pursed her lips. “Well…I know it involves kissing.”
“There is that,” Alex drew his thumb along her bottom lip. “Have I mentioned how partial I am to your lips? Lush, ripe…” The tip of his finger dipped inside, back out again. “Perfect.”
A shiver traveled up her spine and he pulled his hand away.
“What else, Sophie?”
“Um…touching…I know it involves touching,” Sophie managed.
“That is also true,” he said, trailing a finger down the length of her cheek.
“And…” He was making this awfully difficult. “The removal of clothing is necessary.”
Alex’s hand slid down to rest at her hip. “Certain pertinent articles, at any rate.”
“You mean it isn’t necessary?” She rather liked the idea of being able to do this without having to be completely naked.
“It is to night,” he growled, gripping her other hip and pulling her onto his lap. He leaned over to trail slow hot kisses down the side of her neck. “What else, Sophie?”
It took a moment for his words to seep into her passion-clouded brain. “Are you really determined to talk about this?”
“Talking about it can be almost as much fun as doing it,” he murmured.
“Really?”
“Almost,” he clarified.
He straightened a little and gently tugged on her ear with his mouth. Her senses were humming.