“Keep going and you’ll find out.” He can’t see my shy smile. It’s in my voice though. He kept going, faster now, until he reached the last few inches that followed the rise of my ass. Then he stopped. I moved fractionally, trying to turn, but Lorcan covered my hand with his, forcing me to face the wood again, and said gruffly, “I’m not done yet.”
“The dress will come off now,” I protested.
“I’m. Not. Done.” He kissed my back between my shoulder blades. “Admiring you.”
Oh.I swallowed and tried to rein in my impatience as another surge of damp warmth pooled between my thighs. Lorcan went back to work. The silk drooped and cool air wafted over my heated skin. He exhaled harshly. I smiled, knowing what he’s discovering: sheer mesh held together with satin ribbon on either side of my hips.
“Now can I turn around?”
I didn’t wait for permission. The lace peeled down my arms like a snake shedding its skin. I push it off until the heavy gown puddled around my ankles. I turned to face him and stepped out of it, advancing on him as he took in the full ensemble—strapless corset, garters, stockings with wide, disbelieving eyes. Until that moment, I was nervous, unsure he’d like it despite Scarlett’s assurances. The blue of his eyes is a thin sapphire ring around his blown pupils.
Two steps, and he was on me, shoving me hard against the wall, bracing against the impact with one forearm behind my head. I clutched at him, trying to get beneath his jacket, locking his mouth to mine.
“Why are you wearing so much clothing?” I complained between kisses.
“Do you need the knife?” he taunted, pinning me to the door with his hips. His erection dug into my stomach. Not where I want it. I get my hands into the space between us and tug furiously at fastenings.
“You’re not helping,” I grumbled when he nipped and licked his way down my neck, exploring my waist and breasts through the sheer top with warm, deft hands. At last, I got the buttons on his placket open—no help from him—and shoved it down his shoulders. Lorcan reared back long enough to strip his shirt off over his head.
Hot hands stroked down my flanks, tracing the lines of the garters to the tops of my thigh-high stockings.
“Gods,” Lorcan breathed into my neck. “Can you wear this every day?”
I huffed a laugh. “You’re supposed to be taking them off. Remember?”
He brought his hand beneath me and slipped it inside the edge of my panties, dipping into the soaking wet silk.
“Fuck, Zosia.”
“Pleeease,” I begged through gritted teeth, rocking my hips forward. He slid two fingers inside me to the knuckle. No resistance. A choked sob, whether from him or from me, I didn’t know. Or care.
I clutched at his shoulders, his hair, scrabbling and panting as he worked me. The crest hit fast and hard. Lorcan breathed into the crook of my neck while I clenched around him, taking me through it, making it last.
When it’s done, we both exhaled in a long, shuddering sigh. Lorcan withdrew his hand from my panties and sucked his fingers clean with half-closed eyes and a low groan. Shocked, I covered my mouth with one hand, then lunged at him for a kiss. We both stumbled, his back hitting bare stone, while I snaked my hand down between our fronts, unfastened his trousers and finally got inside to palm his cock.
Lorcan gently removed me. “Not against the wall. Not after you’ve been so patient, Princess. We do this properly.”
“Queen,” I reminded him, not that it matters. Princess has been my nickname for almost as long as it’s been a title.
“Goddess.”
“Am not.”
“Face the wall, Zosia.”
“Again?” I whined. He covers my hands with his and whispers, “Don’t you dare move.”
I stay where he’s placed me when he moves away, tamping down my impatience.
The touch of cold steel high on the backs of my thighs made me shiver. My mouth fell open as he sliced the stockings straight down my leg all the way to my ankle, first the left, then the right.
“I thought you liked the lingerie,” I gasped, airlessly.
“I do. Wear it later. Tonight, I want all of you.”
He tugged confidently at the tiny hooks of the garter. No longer unsteady with unspent adrenaline. They fell away, taking the damaged stockings down with them. The corset falls next.
Turning, I launched myself at him. Lorcan grinned against my mouth as he caught me. There’s a bed right here, but of course he bypassed it. Always letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, this man.
