Page 74 of A Lady’s Guide to Subterfuge and Science

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Oliver produced a French letter and presented it to her. “No risks.”

“Yes,” she breathed, relief evident on her pretty face. “No risks. How clever of you.”

“Clever?” Oliver repeated, positioning himself atop her once fully protected. “That’s more than a compliment coming from you, my clever girl.”

Kalila tugged him toward her, pressing her mouth against his in a delectable kiss. He responded in kind before sucking and nipping down the pale length of her throat and along her collarbones. Settling at her breasts, he took one pebbled nipple in his mouth, savoring the slight bucking of her hips beneath him even as she remained quiet as a mouse.

He shifted to her other breast. “Are you always this quiet?”

“Always,” she gasped. “It’s not—you.”

Still, he was able to tell exactly what she responded to. It was evident in the rise and fall of her chest, the flush that crept over her skin, the delicate arching of her hips. His hands found a tiny scar by her hip, barely visible in the firelight.

Truly, he was nothing if not a skilled microscopist.

“Where did this come from?” he asked, his mouth against her skin.

She lifted her head. “I fell out of a tree at Heatherden.”

“Heatherden?”

“My family’s home,” she explained, head falling back against the pillow as he trailed kisses across her abdomen.

Heatherden. Kalila hailing from a place called Heatherden sounded like something right out of a fairy tale. And though she was sharply intelligent and analytical, it suited her. It suited the dreaminess that sometimes overcame those dazzling hazel eyes and the tender, reverent way she ran her fingers through his hair.

Finally at his goal, Oliver pressed his mouth to her inner thighs, inching ever closer to the very center of her, spread before him like an offering. When he finally kissed the slick folds that were undoubtedly begging for attention, she tensed beneath him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” she said, panting. “It’s just—new. Different.”

“And?”

“Do it again. Please.”

Oliver obliged, the feel of her against his tongue threatening to drive him to madness. She tasted sweet and perfect and as if she belonged to him, and the very thought coaxed a satisfied groan from his throat as she began to writhe beneath him. She wouldn’t last much longer and, truth be told, neither would he.

“Kalila,” he said, positioning himself over her until his weight was pushing her into the mattress, “I need you. I need to be inside you. Now.”

She shifted, the sensation of her nipples ghosting across his chest sending a shock of electricity through him. He stared down at her, arrested by the sight of her brilliant gaze. She nodded, and so he positioned himself at her entrance and slowly, carefully buried himself inside of her.

“Jesus Christ,” he ground out, forcing himself to stay still. “Kalila.”

She moved first, lifting her hips to pull him closer, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. He followed her lead, words spilling out of his mouth, asking her what she wanted, how she felt, what he could do for her. As much as he was able, he paid attention to her every sigh and breath, wanting more than anything to make sure this felt like more than nothing.

Nothing was unacceptable. He would give her everything.

Reaching between their bodies, Oliver rubbed at the neediest part of her, a decision that had her arching in desperation beneath him. He persisted, knowing that he wouldn’t last much longer. She was too wet, too warm, too perfect, and he was quickly approaching his breaking point.

“I’m so close,” she gasped, the sound going straight to his cock. “Oliver, I’m—”

Before she could finish her sentence, he felt her clench around him, felt her fingernails rake down his shoulders and her ankles drag along his sides. He followed, coming with one final, deep thrust, her name falling out of his mouth like a strangled prayer. After a moment’s stillness, Oliver rolled to the side, barely able to focus on the canopy above them.

Unnerved by her silence, he said, “Well?”

She responded with a dry, “Is there anything you aren’t good at?”