At her unforeseen but wholly workable suggestion, his blood resumed pumping with a vengeance. Zeus’ mind whirled faster than the wind buffeting the sagging rooftop, fiercer than the nails digging into one side of his arse.
That’s why Hastings had confined him to Duffield? The crafty solicitor hadn’t wanted him discovering Amherst was gone because… He’d been on Zeus’ side all along!
Rebuild Amherst…together. How that beckoned. He had the funds, surely. “And we could bedeck it with your magnificent embroideries,” Zeus pondered aloud.
To start anew, to start fresh…
But she wasn’t finished, not yet. As her splayed palm worked its way over his heated hindquarters, she informed him, “Applicant twenty-three tried to strike Wivy!”
So that was why the prizefighter of a footman had pounded and pummeled the last candidate on the way out? “And was repaid in kind from what I saw,” Zeus complimented. Exceptional servants were difficult to come by. Nice to know she already had them in place.
He played his last card; she’d trumped all the others. After nuzzling her downy cheek with his bristly one, Zeus pulled back to gauge her response. “But I lied to you, my sweet, I lied…”
Her eyes narrowed and another slap landed on his backside. Instinctively, he surged against her. “About?”
Heat searing his insides, he confessed. Or tried to. “My middle name. It’s not James. It’s…”
Hell, this part might be the toughest of all.
“Y-e-s-s-s?”
“It’s… Damn me, it’s Jupiter.”
She strangled off a snort and bit down on the smile that threatened, her face a study of bland inquiry that didn’t fool him for a minute. “Ah, interesting. Is that all?”
“Is that not enough? I’m Zeus Jupiter, for God’s sake!” Unable to withstand her merriment at what he’d never shared with another, he ducked and began plying her pale skin with kisses. “Mum couldn’t decide which of the ancient versions—Greek or Roman—were most exalted. So she chose both, by damn.”
“And I cannot read even one word of your grand mythological adventures,” she imparted on a rusty laugh, sweeping her nails along his back and buttocks, “so I’d say we’re well-suited!”
“We are indeed.” Rising up, he captured her mouth, allowing his kiss to convey everything he couldn’t yet articulate.
Merrowing his satisfaction, Henry used his bare butt as a launch to the back of the settee, causing them both to break apart and smile. Zeus dragged his thumb over her reddened lips, the bottom one slick from his kisses. “I’ll teach you, you know. To read.”
“You will?”
“With the patience of a saint. But we’ve another lesson to finish now. One you charged me with earlier—that of showing you passion.” Her eyes glinted, then somehow found a spot beyond his left ear fascinating. “And you might as well know, I take my assignments seriously.”
“Assignments? That’s how you view me? What I’ve become?” And suddenly she became all soft hesitance.
“Nay, not you. But helping you, aye. As in teaching you to read. As in rebuilding Amherst. Together.” He offered the commitment, and by association, himself, sincerely. “As in teaching you all about my protrusions and paraphernalia, so you have no need to ever again inquire about another’s. About—”
“As if I would!”
“About how well I’m going to love you.”
“Ahhhh.” Her gaze flicked back to his. “And how do you propose to go about something so very challenging?”
With alacrity! “Touch yourself.”
When she stared at him blankly, Zeus angled to the side and pressed his buttocks into the back of the settee to give her maneuvering room, unintentionally squishing Henry’s tail. With a sniff, the cat jumped down.
Zeus breathed a tad easier. It wasn’t necessarily that he minded an audience—Juliet’s earlier amorous appreciation had shown him that—but with the cat out of sight (and hopefully his hindquarters out of claw range) he could finally get back to the business of loving his bride-to-be.
Indicating her cleft by skimming the pads of his fingers over the sunset curls he doubted had ever, before now, seen the light of day, he again instructed, “Touch yourself for me.”
“Umm, pray, where exactly?”
“Where might you think?”
“Here?” Obviously stalling, the tide of red sweeping across her features telling the tale more clearly than any loquacious bard, she slipped one hand between them and pinpointed her index finger on the very tip of her sniffer.
“J-u-l-i-e-t.” He spoke as deeply as he could, drawing her name out with grave intensity.
“Z…eu….eu…us…s…s.” The little minx matched him, in timbre and tone.
Snagging that impudent finger perched atop her nose, he attempted to draw it lower. “You know I mean your quim.”
“Touch my…?” The adorable baggage beneath him sputtered. She resisted, rebelled. And judging by the unholy light in her eyes, damn near howled in horror.
“Come now—”
“Zeus! You— I cannot!” The hand he loosely guided downward balled into a lead weight and refused to budge beyond her navel. “A lady never— She absolutely never!” The man above her choked on his own laughter. “’Tis not funny!”
“Aye, it is. From my vantage point, absurdly so.” He released her straining arm and settled in beside her. He even refrained from freeing a sigh when the marmalade purr bucket hopped up behind him once again.
She must’ve seen it in his expression though. Wrinkling her recently emphasized nose, she apologized, “He thinks you’re usurping his position. As my champion.” A quick swish of a fluffy tail confirmed she had the right of it. “He’ll learn to share me. He likes you, I can tell.”
But Zeus refused to be distracted. A man on a mission, he plowed straight ahead. “A lady courageous enough to advertise for a husband, to forfeit clothing and exchange kisses for a taste of passion can do anything she damn well pleases.” He let that sink in. Then he added, “Especially when her chosen husband requests it of her.”
As if daring her to deny his assertion, he raised her shift to her waist. Exposing her charms completely. “Now, my lady, touch yourself. No more balking, hmm?”
Mayhap I’d rather touch you.
The naughty thought took
