He smirked as he squeezed her hand. ‘So, you think I’m handsome?’
She laughed and gave his hand a tug to hurry him along. ‘Discussions like that would be better held in private, don’t you think?’
A laughing couple rushed past them, stopping every few steps to kiss and giggle, before they urged each other up the next level. Lillian hoped there was an abundance of rooms on the higher levels of the house, because she’d seen many couples, and threesomes, race up the stairs as if they’d suddenly decided to savor every minute of the hours left until dawn. And idea that held a lot of appeal, considering the man she’d admired…, no, the man she’d wanted in her bed for a long time was currently gripping her hands and urging her up the steps too.
CHAPTER THREE
BRENT PULLED LILLIAN TO A HALT when they reached the first floor balcony and swung her around and into his arms. He held the back of her head while he dipped his mouth and kissed her, soundly. ‘Better to get our first kiss out the way so there’s no embarrassment when we find an empty room.’
When he slowly pulled away, she sucked in a deep breath and stared up at him with wide eyes. Seeing that their first kiss affected her so much was an aphrodisiac, and his erection throbbed and made itself known. He pressed one thigh between hers and tilted his pelvis so she could feel how much she aroused him, how much he desired her. Their next kiss was hungrier, more demanding, and as he drew back, he breathed in her familiar citrus scent and rejoiced at her ragged breathing and the quick rise and fall of her chest pressed against his.
Good, she sounded as abstracted as he felt, and after only two kisses. A night of these stirring kisses and touches might kill them both but, damn it all, they both deserved one night of happiness, one night of sin. His mind raced with a dozen ways he’d please her, in addition to the dozen ways he wanted to claim her body.
Face to face so he could see her when she climaxed, from behind so he could lick her spine and play with her nipples, and yes, since the moment she’d mentioned kneeling before Geoffrey he’d envisioned Lillian on her knees. Though unlike her brutal husband, he’d ensure that she enjoyed offering herself because he’d gladly do the same. Kneel before her and worship her body, bringing her to peak after peak and demonstrating that a man and woman could explore sexually, push the boundaries, but as equals. Displaying trust in each other and having faith that neither would be hurt.
Taking Lillian’s arm, he hurried her down the corridor and past closed doors on each side. ‘We need to find an empty room before anyone else comes along here. It’s narrow enough that we cannot avoid coming into close contact with people and therefore there’s a bigger risk of someone seeing us together and connecting us.’
At each door he stopped, and listened. Squeals and giggles and moans made it easy to distinguish which rooms were occupied and what they were doing and he didn’t want to linger and cause embarrassment for Lillian, though from what she’d revealed about her late husband, Lillian’s innocence had been stripped from her during her sham of a marriage. Geoffrey had been a bastard who deserved to rot in hell for the damage he’d done to his sweet wife, and Brent longed to erase her bad memories and replace them with more amicable ones.
No noise came from beyond the last door on the left so Brent knocked softly and paused, enjoying the feel of Lillian’s hand gripping his and the warmth of her body pressed against him as they waited. No one answered his knock and there were no voices, or squeals, so he opened the door and gestured for Lillian to enter. She walked past him and towards the bed, stopping to run her hand over the plush covering and swiveling around to obverse the rest of the room’s furnishings. He leant against the closed door and smiled.
‘It’s a beautiful room.’
‘I’m not looking at the room, or Browning’s furnishings, but what I see is certainly beautiful. Stunning, in fact.’
Lillian laughed, but then covered her mouth with her hands. ‘You don’t need to compliment me or seduce me with words, Brent, because I came with you willingly. In fact, I should be seducing you out of your worries.’
He stood in front of her and spread his arms wide, grinning, and feeling lighter of heart than he had in a long while. ‘Please, feel free to do what you want with me.’ He shrugged out of his coat and tossed it over his shoulder towards the door, careless of where it landed. His entire focus was one the extraordinary lady who stood before him, biting her lower lip, and frowning. He held out his hand and when she took it, he tugged her closer. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I…I’ve realized that I don’t know how to seduce a man, any man, and especially not you.’