Page 78

“What is it?” She still looked puzzled.

William slowly raised his hand, caressing the tip of her nose with his thumb. “Just a smudge of flour,” he murmured.

Her lips parted in surprise at the gentle contact.

He rubbed away the pale powder, letting his fingertips linger perhaps a moment too long. “There, flawless once again,” he said softly.

Instead of stepping away, Victoria’s eyes fell closed, and she leaned into his touch. And they stood like that, with William’s hand cupping her cheek, his thumb caressing her nose.

“Victoria,” he said with all his longing laced into his voice.

“No.” She shook her head, before opening her eyes and taking a step toward him. “Don’t say anything. Just… kiss me.”

William’s eyes widened, and he was shocked into inaction for one long moment. Too long. Longer than it should have been.

In his thoughts and dreams, whenever Victoria asked him to kiss her, he didn’t linger for a single moment. And there he was, frozen.

Victoria parted her lips to say something else, but William couldn’t let her say another word. He wouldn’t make her ask him twice. He wouldn’t make her beg. And, most of all, he wouldn’t let her take it back.

He dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.

A sweet sigh escaped her lips and then her arms wound around his neck, her body pressing against his. A gentle caress of their lips quickly turned into a heated embrace. She clawed at him, her pelvis rubbing against his, her leg raised and hooked behind his knee as if she were trying to climb him.

It was a scene right out of his dreams.

William picked her up, and she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands went to caress her buttocks through the skirt of her gown, as his tongue swept into her warmth.

She returned his kisses with equal ardor, her tongue dancing against his, little sighs of pleasure escaping her throat. William took a few steps and lowered her to sit on the edge of the table. His hands delved under her skirts, stroking up her legs, caressing the back of her knees, then tenderly sliding up her thighs.

He broke their kiss only to move his mouth down to her jaw, her neck. He sank his teeth into the crook of her shoulder, then soothed the area with his teeth. Victoria whimpered, arching her back, her breasts rubbing against his chest, her beaded nipples tickling him even through the layers of their clothes.

“Oh, God!” she cried as his hand moved to stroke her breast. “I almost forgot how good you are at this. How wonderful this feels.”

William raised his head and looked into her hazy eyes. “I dreamed about this every single night. And yet none of those dreams feel anything like the real thing.”

“William,” she breathed, and he groaned, before covering her mouth with his again.

His name on her lips was the sweetest sound nature had ever created. And with his kiss, he wanted to lick it out of her tongue.

He wanted to swallow her every whimper, every sigh. “Spread your legs wider,” he commanded against her lips. And when she did, he moved his hips, his cock rubbing against her center, spreading her juices over the fabric of his breeches.

She cried his name again, her pelvis joining in the sensual rhythm, her tongue stroking against his.

“Mm… I like the feel of your tongue,” she whispered between their kisses.

“Do you, now?” he rumbled deep in his chest.

She licked her lower lip in a slow, seductive manner. “I do. I missed it greatly.”

William grinned. I missed your tongue, too. He gently swept her hair away from her shoulder and kissed her neck.

“Mmm…” she moaned, the sound stirring him from the inside. Then she tilted her head more, giving him more access. He opened his mouth and licked her skin. “Ah!”

He bared her shoulder and traced her skin with his tongue. “Do you like this?”

“Mm… very much.”

“Tell me, where else do you want to feel my tongue?”