“What?” She gaped.
“Disappointed? Are you so rarely wrong?”
“No, no. I simply cannot believe anyone can make that much noise sober.” She placed a hand on his arm. “I am sorry, Luke. I should have asked a different way. It was only because you clattered up the stairs, as it took me back to the night of the sherry raid.”
His lips pressed together, he muttered, “’Tis fine.”
“Actually, it is not. You deserve a reward.”
He perked up, his brows raising as his lips relaxed. He should make her go through the three steps of begging his pardon, but he was too eager to take advantage of her interest from the night before.
“Like what?”
“Anything.” When he opened his mouth to respond, she added a quick qualification. “Anything other than wine or spirits.”
“I don’t want that.”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Replaying his quick refusal, he realized it was proof he was on the path to being cured of his dependence.
“Shall I offer some choices then?” she asked.
“No, thank you. I know what I want. I want to touch you.” Since before he held her feet in his hands, he’d wanted to see all of her, touch all of her. He stalked toward her. For every one of his steps, she retreated a step. The back of her knees hit her bed, and she lost her balance, sitting hard. Dropping to his knees before her, he put his hands on her ankles.
She looked nervous, but played it off with a blasé tone. “Another foot rub? ’Tis rather unimaginative of you, Clodpate. But I suppose I can live with it.”
“Hmm. Unimaginative? I dare say, I can do better, my Belle.”
She glared at his use of that name.
Undoing his cravat, he began unfastening his shirt.
“What are you doing, Clodpate?”
“Given your interest last night, I thought to offer you visual stimulation whilst I take my pleasure.” He tugged his shirt off and sat back on his heels. When she remained silent and her gaze roamed his chest and belly, he grinned.
With that, he slid his hands up to just below her knees and yanked her closer to the edge of the bed. Off balance, she fell back. Before she could rise, he slid the satiny fabric up her body as far as her supine position allowed. He held the hem in place with a hand on her belly, his lower palm burning at the feel of her bare skin.
She gasped.
“I want to worship you in all the ways you’ll permit.” He licked the top of her knee. “You taste far better than that cider. You shall be my sweet treat and reward all in one.”
Her mouth closed and opened.
He smiled for a moment. His Belle was finally speechless. He scanned her silk-clad form. The hard tips of her nipples and rapid rise and fall of her chest told him she was not averse to this act of contrition. But he needed to hear her permission.
Lowering his head, he ran his lips up one inner thigh from knee to crease, then the other. At long last, his hands resting on her hipbones with thumbs teasing the edge of her nether lips, he asked, “May I enjoy my reward?”
Chapter Fifteen
Belle knew heneeded her to form words, but they were beyond her. She needed a minute to process. Having a man solely focused on her pleasure rather than his own had been rare in her role. Rarer still were men interested in putting his mouth where Luke’s was. For a time early on, she’d been known as a dominant lover, willing and able to direct men to worship her at a whim. However, she’d done that because men were willing to pay surprising amounts to be debased. She’d discovered to her disappointment that they’d rather kiss her shoe than her quim.
For a man to choose this of his own volition was unheard of in her circles, and in fact only her favorite client, North, had enjoyed the act. This—Luke requesting it ashisreward—was a whole new level of interest.
She flinched at yet another disconcerting similarity between Luke and the client she’d loved most.
Until now. She shook off the thought, replacing it with a better one. If she was going to be hurt, why not enjoy the time she had with him? He had succeeded in eschewing temptation even sitting in a pub with two friends who were drinking. She no longer needed to oversee his recovery. They were equals, or as equal as they’d ever be.
