“No,” he said quickly. “Not in the least.”
“Madame LaSalle and I help distribute them to women’s groups across the city,” she explained with a smile, putting him out of his misery.
“Ah,” he said, visibly relaxing. “Let me stress that I have absolutely no issue being with a woman of experience, but I was already feeling woefully out of my depth.”
“You have nothing to worry about on that front,” she said as she moved toward him. “I assure you.”
“Still, I know I… I can’t possibly measure up to Benjamin.”
Alex was willing to wager her entire personal fortune that Benjamin had given very little, if any, thought to her pleasure. “You do not need to worry about that at all.”
“That is most encouraging,” Lucien said, then grunted as she straddled his lap.
“I will admit our time together was notentirelywithout pleasure—”
“I am less thrilled to hear that,” Lucien cut in.
Alex smiled at his petulance and pressed him down onto the bed. “But, and this is the important bit, so listen closely: He never made me feel as good as you did with only your fingers.”
“No?” His wide-eyed hope filled her with such fondness she nearly lost her breath.
Alex leaned in until the tips of their noses touched. “Not. Even. Close.”
Lucien responded by capturing her mouth in a deep, insistent kiss. “Good,” he rasped. “I want you to forget him entirely by the end of tonight.”
She threw back her head and let out a throaty laugh. “Please do.”
His hand cupped the back of her neck as he brought her toward him for another lush kiss.
“I have been wondering how you’re so good at kissing,” she admitted once he finally released her.
He shot her a sly smile. “I don’t have quite the same qualms about kissing as I do for the other bits,” he said as he began to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. “And it seemed that Paris was a good place to learn how to kiss properly.”
Alex laughed again as she craned her neck back to offer him better access. “Lucky me, then.”
“I’m very glad you think so,” he said as his hands slid along the exposed flesh of her thighs where her nightgown had ridden up to pool around her hips.
Just as that ache began to build between her legs, Alex shifted and began to unbutton the front of his trousers. Lucien said nothing but he stared at her face with an intensity that was nearly overwhelming on its own. Then together they pulled his trousers down past his hips. She took him in hand then, and though he was already impressively hard and hot, she stroked him a few times for no other reason than to hear the surrendering gasp escape his lips.
“Alex,” he panted. “Enough.”
She smiled. “Very well.”
He caught her eye and his hands tightened on her hips. “You know what I want.”
She rose on her knees and positioned him at her entrance. As soon as the tip of his erection brushed against her overheated flesh, Lucien let out a hiss and squeezed his eyes shut.
Alex paused, holding herself still as she stared down at him. “Shall I continue?”
He let out a pained nod and gently tugged at her hips. Slowly, so slowly, she began sliding down, down, down until finally he was in her to the hilt. She gasped in surprise at how he filled and stretched her. Howgoodit felt to have him inside her.
She began to rock her hips, chasing that flutter of pleasure at her apex, and Lucien let out something that sounded very much like a whimper.
“Alex,” he murmured and dug his fingertips deeper against her flesh.
She moved a little faster then, finding a rhythm that caused the flutter to bloom. She let out a gasp and leaned her head back.
“Look at me,” Lucien suddenly commanded. Alex had been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn’t noticed his heated stare. As their gazes tangled, the intimacy of the moment nearly overwhelmed her but she fought against the urge to look away.
