With a care that left her trembling, he flicked open the last of the buttons on her breeches and slid them down her legs. Victoria watched as he took a calming breath, a muscle working at his temple with each beat of his heart.
Her own pumped fiercely as she let him start with the ties at the neck of her shirt. There were only three before he lifted it from her body, and she was left with nothing but a corset and shift beneath.
"You may sit back down," he suggested, his voice deep and raspy as if the words were hard to speak.
She did as he asked, gasping when he kneeled between her legs, pushing them open with a determination she did not expect from him. Victoria bit her lip, wondering what this was going to be like. How on earth was she allowing such liberties with her body? Albert had muddled her mind in more ways than she first thought.
His large hands and strong fingers slid up her legs, massaging her muscles as he glided ever closer to her sex. Her body ached, her senses alive and needy.
She realized with no small amount of shock that she wanted to see his mouth on her, watch him make her reach pleasure as they had the other night.
His hands grasped the backs of her knees, and he pulled her toward the edge of the settee. His heavy-lidded eyes fixed on her core, and he licked his lips. Victoria let out a huff of breath, having not expected to like his reaction to her so much.
"You're so beautiful, Victoria. I ache to taste you."
Her eyes spied the book, open on the page of the sexual act they were about to perform, and she shivered.
He kissed her leg with slow, torturous strokes, and Victoria moaned with need. She was so open to him, a shiver of vulnerability stole through her, hoping that he approved of what he saw, would not shy away from her after they did what they were about to do.
Although she did not want to marry, she did enjoy Albert's company, liked him very much. She wanted to help him, but something told her that nothing would ever be the same again after they did what they were to do.
Would she be able to walk away from him, stand by and watch him marry another? Know that he would make love to another lady night after night, and that lady would not be her?
He kissed along her leg, his warm breath marking her skin. His fingers flexed on her thighs, pushing her wider. He marveled at her a moment before dipping his head. She gasped, biting her lip as his lips touched her, and then his tongue flicked out, caressing her most private flesh.
Victoria leaned back, closing her eyes, reveling in his touch. He kissed her, flicked her aching, throbbing nubbin with his tongue before suckling and sending her wits to flee. His mouth devoured her, taking his fill. His muffled moans of enjoyment met her ears, and he kissed her cunny with abandon.
It was too much. Too wonderful. How had she never known with her husband that such acts were possible. For all of Paul’s rakish wiles, he knew very little at all. Or did not want to do these things with her.
She pushed the unhelpful, hurtful thoughts aside, lifting herself toward his mouth. Ignoring the wantonness of her action. He scooped her legs over his shoulders, taking her with a need that surpassed any she’d ever known.
Victoria reached down and ran her fingers into his hair, holding him to her, grinding herself on his face like a woman out of her mind. And perhaps she was a little out of her mind with need.
Pleasure teased her senses. She was hot, clammy, and wanted to shatter to a million pieces. Albert flicked his tongue across a sensitive place, and finally, she tumbled over the edge. Stars burst behind her eyes, and she undulated against him, not caring how she looked, how much she moaned, his name a chant of pleasure.
He kept her against him as the last tremors of her release echoed through her body before ending how he began, kissing along her legs, watching her through heavy-lidded eyes that burned with his own need.
Victoria could not move. Every muscle felt lax and as heavy as a case of gold. Albert reached over, taking a rug from the settee, and laid it over her legs as he came to sit beside her, picking up the book that lay on the floor.
"What did you think, Victoria? Should I not disappoint my future wife?"
Victoria shook herself free of the muddling pleasure that cloaked her to what Albert was saying. Disappoint his wife? The idea made ice run through her veins. She sat up, taking the book and flipping the pages, anything but to dissect why it was his words upset her so much.
"I think your wife will be most pleased, and today, when we return to the house, we shall sit down and play cards, learn how to interact together in that setting. It is not only in the art of lovemaking that you require tutelage. You also need to feel confident and sure when hosting and courting during the season. We cannot lose ourselves in this way when there is still so much to learn.”
"Instead of cards, what do you think if we partook in an archery contest? Or lawn games. There is a chance next season that I will host a house party here at Rosedale, and I know ladies like to take part in that pastime."
"We can do that too. We have a few days to fill before the country dance, but tonight I think cards would be best."
"Whatever you think," he said.
Victoria shuffled out of the chair and
