“I like that,” she purred, remembering Aphrodite’s instructions. “Do it again.”
His eyes glittered. “I have a better idea….” He reached around her, his hands dangerously quick and practiced, and opened several of the fastenings that held the bodice in place.
The plum dress sagged, slipping down her arms, revealing the curves of her breasts and the delicate stuff of her chemise and boned corset. Her bosom was pushed up by the stays, and he brushed away the coverings and bared her to his gaze. Her full breasts looked swollen, and her nipples seemed to point at him.
Shocked at the sight of herself naked before him, Vivianna gasped and put her hands up to hide her flesh, but he caught them and slowly, firmly drew her hands away. For a moment he just looked, his eyes caressing her, exploring the full curves and soft white flesh, the darker tips and hard little nubs of her nipples. And then, when she thought she would die if he did not do something, say something, he lifted his hand and stroked his finger across one nipple and then the other.
“Oh,” she gasped, the sensation so intense her knees went weak.
He took no notice and, bending his head, closed his hot, moist mouth over the peak of her breast and began to gently suck upon her.
It was like nothing Vivianna had ever imagined. She heard herself make a sound like a little growl, and reached up to cup his head in her hands, holding him closer. His tongue played with her, and then his teeth grazed across that so-sensitive flesh. His other hand lifted to squeeze and mold her other breast, and as she looked down at him touching her, Vivianna felt as if she had never seen anything more exciting.
A sound beyond the door, out in the corridor. Vivianna jumped back, covering herself, suddenly aware of where they were, how dangerous this was. The danger was part of the excitement, she accepted that, but that did not mean she wanted to be found here by Mrs. St. Claire or Lady Chapman.
She began to tug up her bodice, though the rasp of the cloth against her breasts was almost painful.
After a moment of watching her struggle, Oliver gave an impatient sigh and turned her gently but firmly about, refastening the back of her dress himself. “We seem fated to be interrupted,” he said. “I see another long sleepless night ahead.”
Vivianna glanced at him over her shoulder. “I did not realize. Do you mean that you suffer, because you do not…?”
Oliver’s brows lifted. “I suffer,” he agreed.
She smiled.
Oliver ran his hands over her shoulders and down over her bodice, cupping her breasts through the cloth, and his breath was hot against her ear. “That pleases you, you little devil,” he whispered. “There is nothing saintly about you after all, is there, Miss Greentree?”
Vivianna shivered from his hands and his warm breath, but her voice was firm. “I am no shrinking violet,” she agreed.
He laughed. “Indeed you’re not.”
He dropped his hands and stepped away, and she was sorry, but also relieved. She had enjoyed the feel of his mouth on her, but she had felt as if she were on the verge of losing control again. The seductress in her had awoken and stirred and Vivianna had set her free, but there had not been enough time for her to test all her powers.
Tell him how you feel….
“I cannot slee
p either,” she said quietly.
Oliver looked up from straightening his jacket and smoothing his hair, his dark blue gaze suddenly intense.
“I dreamed of you,” she went on, forcing all thoughts of self-consciousness from herself, concentrating on him, on pleasing him, and on pleasing herself. “I dreamed you were touching me, your fingers inside me, and then I…”
“You climaxed,” he said, but there was a rigid tension in him that made her think he was very interested in what she was saying.
“Yes. I wished you were in my bed with me. Your bare skin against mine.”
He groaned and shook his head. “Go away, Vivianna, please. Go home. If you don’t, I can’t be responsible.”
Vivianna went to the door, but stopped to glance at him once more. He was watching her with a mixture of longing and irritation, as if he did not like the things he was feeling.
“Go home,” he repeated, “and get some sleep.” His eyes narrowed. “Believe me, you’ll need it.”
Vivianna closed the door behind her and found she was quite breathless. Her breasts still ached and her lips felt swollen, but she did not mind that. She did not mind that at all.
Inside the room Oliver rubbed his hand over his jaw and stared at the empty fireplace. There were too many vital matters happening right now to risk them for an affair with Vivianna Greentree.
I dreamed about you.