Page 119 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

“I don’t want to watch a movie.”

“Read then?” I say, nuzzling at the base of her throat then. “That first book ended on a cliffhanger.”

She laughs, her hands sliding into my hair, holding my mouth against her. “As good as book two is, that’s not how I want to spend the rest of the night.”

“No?” I drag my hands up her sides, resting them on the silk and velvet of her bodice, feeling her lungs work beneath my palms.

“No,” she says, drifting closer.

“Then what, love?”

In answer, she reaches behind her.

It’s not until I hear the soft ziiip that I realize what she’s done.

And by then, she’s nudging her dress down, sending it puddling to the floor, and—sweet baby Jesus—she’s stepping out of that circle of material.

Wearing—

“Fuck,” I rasp.

She smiles shyly, her cheeks going pink. “I was hoping you’d get to see it.”

It being miles and miles of creamy skin lovingly encased in emerald lace.

“You’re beautiful.”

More pink, but she just smooths her hands over my chest, slipping them beneath my jacket, pushing it back off my shoulders.

It lands silently next to her dress and then she’s working at the buttons on my vest, my shirt.

“Baby,” I say. “We don’t have?—”

“I want to.” She caresses my bared skin, sending shivers down my spine and blood to my cock. “The question is…do you?”

My actions are my answer.

I scoop her up and carry her down the hall.

Not to my bedroom—I haven’t slept a night in there, not since that first night she let me hold her close.

“You romantic,” she teases as I settle her on the mattress of the guest room.

“Pathetic, more like.” I stroke back her hair. “Your scent faded days ago. I was just pretending it was still here.”

“I stole one of your shirts and slept in it at night.”

“Yeah?”

“I like the real thing much better.”

I chuckle and climb onto the bed beside her. “Yeah, I do too.”

Peaks and valleys, soft skin and luscious curves.

“I love you,” I murmur, tracing a finger over her torso, connecting a path of freckles.

“I love you.” She captures my finger, brings it to her mouth, pressing a kiss to the tip. “But I wanted you for a long time, honey. Will you…” Her cheeks flush. “Will you make love to me?”