Page 56 of One Waltz with the Viscount

‘Of course.’

‘The question I suppose I need to ask is what do you want, Sarah?’

She looked at him long and hard. ‘I promised myself I would never get involved with a gentleman above my social class. I vowed I would not end up like my mother.’ She reached out and trailed her fingers across his cheeks. ‘But I do not think you would abandon me like that.’

‘Never,’ he said quietly, but with conviction in his voice. ‘Never.’

‘You are sure you wish for this? I cannot quite believe it. I have yearned for you these last few days, I’ve been unable to think of anything else, but never did I think you would consider we might have a future together.’

‘The idea of you leaving hurts, Sarah. I wonder if I am going mad. My friends would certainly think I was, but they do not know you like I do.’

She leaned in closer, her eyes alight with happiness, and kissed him gently on the lips.

Sarah felt her heart sing as he kissed her back. She could not quite believe that, in the space of a few short minutes, they had gone from nearly having to say goodbye for ever to considering their future together. She was thankful she had been brave enough to tell him what she thought the night before at the masquerade. It must have helped him to realise that, sometimes in life, you had to take risks.

It was petrifying and exhilarating at the same time. She didn’t want to think about the practicalities involved, or ask for details of how everything would work, it was enough to know that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

With a moan of pent-up desire he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. She wriggled, eliciting another groan, before he stood, lifting her up and carrying her in his arms from the sitting room and into his bedroom.

He set her feet down on the floor, holding her as she staggered slightly. Her head was spinning as he kissed her again and then gently broke away, turning her round.

‘You do not know how many times I have imagined this moment,’ he murmured, his lips meeting the skin of her neck, making a shiver run down her spine. ‘Ever since we first met at the Shrewsbury ball I have thought almost non-stop about ripping your clothes from your body.’

His fingers followed his lips, tracing a pattern across her upper back. Sarah arched her neck, inviting him in, and was rewarded as his lips lingered for longer.

With expert fingers he unlaced her dress, pulling at the ties, stepping away just for a moment to lift it over her head. She was left standing in her chemise and petticoats, and suddenly felt naked in the bright sunlight.

‘Don’t cover yourself,’ Henry murmured. ‘You’re beautiful.’

With his eyes on her she felt beautiful, and slowly she let her arms fall to her side.

They kissed again, his hands scrunching the material of her thin cotton chemise, caressing the skin underneath.

She reached out and pulled at his cravat, discarding it as it came loose in her hands, and he helped her by shrugging off his jacket. It felt surreal to be undressing the man she had fallen in love with in just a few short days, but completely right. If anyone had told her a week ago that she would be giving herself to someone she hadn’t yet met, she would have thought them mad, but with Henry’s hands on her everything felt as it should.

Deftly he lifted off her chemise and she wriggled out of her petticoats, and finally she was standing naked in front of him. No one apart from her sister and mother had ever seen her naked before, but she strangely didn’t feel self-conscious. His eyes lingered on her body—he shook his head in wonder.

‘This doesn’t feel real,’ he murmured as he closed the gap between them again, lifting his shirt off in the process.

Now they were skin on skin, and she gasped as his chest rubbed against her sensitive nipples. He grinned and gently lifted her onto the bed, then lowered his body on top of hers.

She was a complete innocent—until a few days ago she had never even kissed a man before—but right now it was as though her body knew exactly what to do. Every time Henry touched her, her back arched to meet him, every time he kissed her, she was there waiting.

‘You taste so good,’ he said, peppering kisses down her neck and onto her chest. ‘I want to kiss every single inch of you.’

‘Surely you couldn’t kiss every inch of me.’

‘That sounds like a challenge,’ he said, a wolfish grin on his face.

He started at her lips, then moved slowly down, teasing her until she felt like she wanted to scream and hold him to her. His lips trailed around her nipples as she writhed, silently begging him for more. When he relented she let out a contented sigh, savouring the pulses of pleasure that darted through her body. He toyed with her for a moment, nipping and kissing one breast, then the other, before continuing on his downward trajectory with his lips.

She took in a shuddering breath as he came to her lower abdomen. Her body tensed in anticipation, but he lifted his head and smiled, moving down to the bottom of her leg and starting his journey up towards her thigh.

Sarah felt the heat rising from her body, and she wondered if it would always be like this. She could not imagine ever wanting to leave the bedroom—then she was distracted from every rational thought as Henry kissed her inner thighs, travelling ever closer to her most private place.

He teased for a bit longer, then placed a kiss at her centre, and Sarah let out a long gasp of pleasure.

‘You like that?’ he murmured, and then lowered his head back down. Sarah lost all rational thought as he kissed her again and again until her whole body tensed, and she was overcome by wave after wave of pleasure.