A soft gasp of surprise left her as his tongue replaced his thumb, circling and sucking, while Georgina could do nothing more but whimper and push her hips more firmly against his mouth. She’d heard about this act but never—
“Oh.” Her breathing grew ragged as the pulse of her body built up to a sharp edge, waiting only for Leo to force her over. He paused, his mouth moving to nibble the inside of her thighs while she thumped the cushions, frustrated that he continued to hold something wonderful just out of her reach. Over and over, he teased her until Georgina became wild with need, her hips thrusting shamelessly in his direction.
“Beg,” he breathed against her sensitive flesh.
“What?” Her fingers pulled at his hair. She bit her lip. Shook her head. She wouldn’t do it. Wouldn’t beg. It was unfair. Cruel. “Damn you.” Georgina twisted her hips, trying to put herself back in his mouth.
“Tawdry and damned I might be, but right now, I daresay I’m the most important person in the room.”
In desperation, she tried to reach down between her legs, and he grabbed ahold of her wrists. “Please,” she gave in with a sob. “Leo. Please.”
Georgina, much to her everlasting shame, screamed out his name as the most amazing, exquisite bliss flooded her body. Pleasure rolled over her in waves. She was sure everyone in Elysium heard her. At the very least, whoever was stationed outside Leo’s office door had to have heard unless they were deaf. Her heels dug into Leo’s back, body straining upward until the last tremor left her. Finally, panting and sated, she lay back against the settee upon one of those silly cushions, a tassel tickling her ribs.
“So that’s what all the fuss is about. I’m glad I didn’t know before, else I would have cheerfully ruined myself,” she whispered.
“Georgie, my beauty.” His big body slid up the naked length of hers. She felt terribly vulnerable with the buttons of his waistcoat cold and catching at her skin. He cupped her face tenderly, thumb brushing at the corner of her mouth. His lips parted, as if he would speak, but instead, he only kissed her.
Oh, how he kissed her.
As if she were precious. Adored. Worshipped. She could live the rest of her days on this kiss. On his touch. The heat of his body felt so good against hers. Right in a way she hadn’t expected. What was the point in continuing to salvage her pride?
Georgina fell into Leo, giving up any pretense she didn’t want him. Later, she would hate herself and him. But not now, not when she could taste herself on his lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers sliding into the silky threads of his hair. There was no fight left in her. Not an ounce of pride. His mouth slanted over hers, hard and greedy, claiming her as his.
Oh God. I suppose I am. At least for tonight.
Leo Murphy collected opera singers and actresses. There was always a merry widow or two who trailed behind him at Elysium. The ladies of thetonmay not care for his pedigree, but it didn’t stop them from jumping into his bed when the opportunity presented itself. There was even a rumor that one unhappy young wife had threatened to drown herself in the fountain of her husband’s estate when Murphy had ended their affair.
I’m not even an affair. I’m, at most, an indiscretion.
Georgina adamantly refused to be one of those women, waiting for Leo to turn his attention in her direction again. She had no interest in being one of his paramours. The mere thought wounded her.
He ran his knuckles gently along the line of her jaw before standing to loom over her naked form. She started to draw her legs together, aware of how exposed she was but Leo shook his head.
“No. Don’t move.” He shrugged out of his coat, a deep blue superfine that didn’t deserve to be tossed so carelessly into one of the empty chairs. The waistcoat came next, a garish rendition of bright colors which made Georgina somewhat dizzy if she stared too long at the pattern.
“I don’t understand why you wear anything so hideous.”
“So you’ve said.” The husky whisper scratched against her breasts as he tore off his cravat and unbuttoned his shirt. “Keeps me from being confused for a lord.”
“I doubt anyone makes such a mistake.”
There was far too much ruthless ambition humming beneath Leo’s skin, something that was absent from many of the titled gentlemen Georgina had met in London. He was different from the lords downstairs, but not in the way he imagined.
The shirt was violently flung atop the waistcoat. He sat on the opposite end of the crimson settee and removed his boots.
Georgina couldn’t help but stare at the ripple of muscles in his arms. Leo was broad across the chest. Solid. A dusting of dark hair covered his torso before thinning into a tight line and disappearing beneath the waistband of his trousers. The desire to touch all that skin, wind her fingers through the crisp hair, had Georgina’s fingers twitching. There was nothing fine-boned about Leo. Not an ounce of refinement. His body was all rough edges, bone and sinew carved and cut beneath the flesh. Powerfully physical. Strong. Without the expensively tailored clothes, Leo’s appearance of being a gentleman disappeared completely.
Leo ran a hand up his thigh, drawing attention to the heavy muscles and the thick length tenting his trousers.
“I assume Masterson has bedded you.”
Georgina lifted her gaze to his. “Twice. Neither was...memorable.”
His thumbs hooked into the top of his trousers. “And who before that, Georgina? Masterson certainly didn’t teach you how to kiss. You don’t behave as a woman who has never been touched.”
She swallowed, not wanting to think about John Winbow with Leo standing over her nearly naked. “It isn’t relevant.”
“I see.” He shucked off his trousers to stand naked before her. His cock jutted out from a thick nest of dark hair. “Everything where it should be?” He leaned over and brushed his lips against her mouth.
