Her cheeks flamed at the naughty word, made naughtier by the way he was stroking her as if she were a prized pet. As a girl who liked to take charge, she didn’t understand why being over Ben’s lap, exposed to his gaze and powerless to his experienced touch, aroused her to such a shocking degree…but it did.
He delved lower, finding an exquisitely sensitive place that pushed a moan from her throat.
“What a sweet little bud this is,” he said. “This is called your pearl. Have you discovered its pleasures?”
As bold as she was, she couldn’t answer him. She couldn’t.
He smacked her bottom hard. “Tell me, Livy.”
“Yes,” she admitted, her face and entire being on fire.
“Good girl.” The knowing rasp in his voice scraped over her nerve endings, heightening her sensitivity to his words and touch. “You deserve a reward for your honesty.”
He began to stroke her, and she moaned, letting her head fall by his leg again. She could hear how wet she was, the slick sounds his fingers made as they rubbed her pearl and pussy. His mastery of her body, the fact that he obviously knew more about it than she did, fed her wanton surrender. She gave herself up to the sensations—to Ben, who knew how to give her such pleasure.
For him alone did she wish to be a good girl.
Then she felt him probe deeper, touching her where she’d never been touched before.
“What a nice, tight cunny you have.” His words caused that part of her to clench. “I can feel it sucking on my finger, wanting me inside yet afraid at the same time. Relax, little love, I won’t hurt you. Will it help if I frig your pearl like this…?”
His delicious depravity drove her toward a frenzied peak. She squeezed her eyes shut as the pressure inside her built and built. She needed more, even as it was too much. The stimulation of her pearl, the filling thrust of his finger pushed her right to the edge…
He took his hand away, and she moaned in frustration.
“Look at me, Livy,” he said.
Panting, needing, she twisted her neck to meet his gaze.
“Who does your pleasure belong to?” he asked.
“You, sir,” she said with tremulous longing.
“Will you look for it elsewhere? Seek diversions without my permission?” His eyes bored into her. “Will you keep secrets from me?”
Surely, he only means secrets of a carnal nature, and I would never betray him that way.
She shook her head.
He touched her drenched folds with a lightness that frustrated rather than relieved. She quivered as his fingertip neared her needy bud…and groaned when he skipped over it.
“I want the words, Livy. Will you lie or keep secrets from me?”
“No,” she gasped.
“Good.” He stroked her pearl in a hard, circling motion. Satisfaction burned in his gaze, the sapphire flames searing her soul, incinerating her will and returning it as fiery pleasure. “Then come for me. Spend all over my hand like a good girl.”
The wickedness of his demand and touch catapulted her into bliss. She cried out as she crested on ecstasy, his caresses keeping her soaring. Each time she thought it was over, he unleashed another gust of pleasure that kept her afloat.
When Livy returned to earth, she was utterly spent and as limp as a rag doll. Ben set her clothing to rights and sat her beside him on the bench, keeping an arm around her. She gazed contentedly at the man of her dreams, who was even more potent in reality. In the play of shadow and moonlight, his chiseled features had an austere cast that made him seem like a stranger…and it excited her.
Finally, he was showing her the part of him he’d held back. He was treating her not like a little girl, his pseudo-sister, but like a woman. The lover she wanted to be…and which, she realized, she wasn’t quite yet.
She peered down at the huge bulge straining the front of his trousers.
“Is there, um, anything I can do?” She moistened her lips. “For you?”
He smiled then. That slow, beautiful smile she had always loved.
“You have done quite enough, little queen,” he said.
“But you didn’t…you know,” she said shyly. “Enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, but I did,” he replied.
His gaze holding hers, he brought his hand to his mouth. He licked the tips of his index and middle fingers. When she realized those fingers had coaxed her to bliss, her inner muscles trembled.
“Delectable,” he murmured. “Next time, I am going to sample from the source.”
Even as her brain steamed up at the possibilities his words conjured, she said anxiously, “Will there be a next time?”
He studied her with unwavering intensity. “Do you want there to be?”
“More than anything,” she said fervently. “All I have ever wanted is to be with you, Ben.”
The possessiveness that darkened his eyes sent a thrill up her spine.
“Your wish is my command,” he said softly.
He wants me, he wants me! her inner voice sang. And if the teensy part of her not given over to joy fretted over the promise she’d made to not keep any secrets, she told herself she would deal with it later. The details of their relationship could be ironed out; for now, it was enough—everything—that he wanted to be with her.
Giddy with happiness, she teased, “I rather thought you were the one in command.”
His lips twitched. “Then stop being cheeky and give me your mouth.”
Smiling, she tipped her lips up and welcomed his claim.
Finally.
A while later, Livy snuggled up against Ben in his carriage. He was taking her back to Charlie’s. Luckily, before they’d departed Cremorne, Livy had spotted Charlie by the banqueting hall. She’d given her mentor, whose impeccable male disguise fooled even Hadleigh, a discreet signal that all was well. The other’s nod confirmed the same was true on her end.
Reassured
