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But I knew her better than she thought.
I made a show of poking around the room, peering behind my shirts and amidst rows of shining leather Hessian boots before I approached the curtains. As my footsteps got closer, I heard what sounded like a slight tremble, and I couldn’t help but grin in satisfaction.
The curtains were expansive. I slipped behind them from the side opposite Amelia. Behind the velvet, I was immediately consumed in a hazy darkness – only a slight glow of the rainy day outside managed to permeate the hidden space. I moved slowly and quietly, peeling back the fabric, until…
A sharp squeal, and I felt the smooth skin of her collarbones against my fingertips.
“William!”
She exhaled, letting out a sharp cry of both surprise and, to my pleasure, relief.
As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I discovered that I was much closer to her than I had realized. Our bodies were nearly touching, and my fingers need only move down a few inches to find themselves resting upon something else entirely…
I gulped, grasping for every bit of self-control I had to divert my eyes from her bosom.
Amelia was staring up at me, her wide eyes like saucers.
“You found me.”
There was something different about this moment – something special. It was as if, cocooned in the dark fabric of the curtains, nothing else mattered. As if who we were in the outside world could be forgotten. I was no longer a rake. Amelia was no penniless orphan. We were simply man and woman… as it should have been.
And for a moment, I dared to imagine that she could be mine.
As if the devil himself had possessed me, I found my fingers tracing up her exposed neck. As they slowly moved, I felt goosebumps rise along her bare skin below my fingertips, and I relished the knowledge that I had caused them. Before I could stop myself, my hands had cradled her face – that delicate, angelic face.
“Will…” she breathed, but it wasn’t an objection.
And that was the darndest part of it all. She wasn’t stopping me. I had ruined her reputation. I had caused her to lose her employment. But instead of running away, her eyes remained locked on my own, and her lips… I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, but they seemed to part ever so slightly.
Lord save me, once I noticed her lips… so soft and pink and beckoning… I knew that I was a goner.
Before anything could break the heady spell of the moment, my lips were crashing against hers. Seconds before, I had felt totally in control. But as I felt our lips touch, I was suddenly powerless. Scattered and completely tilted off center. It was as if I was careening through space, Amelia’s soft rosebud lips cool against my own feverish skin.
It was ecstasy. And it was terrifying.
I wasn’t sure how many seconds passed – it could have been just a moment, or it might have been hours. But I eventually regained some semblance of control, intertwining my fingers amidst the tendrils of her hair, and pulling her head toward mine. I let my tongue explore her mouth – first gently, and then more passionately – and reveled at the jolt of electricity it sent through her body. She was leaning into me, hungry for my touch.
And I wasn’t stopping. All I could think about was Amelia: the sweet smell of her skin, the perfect wetness of her mouth… and everything that lied, so pure and, before this moment, seemingly untouchable, beneath her dress.
My other hand began to move down her neck, tracing the bare skin from her ear to her collarbone. I couldn’t help myself from moving it lower, until I found myself cupping her breast. It was small and perfect, more than I could have imagined, and her reaction was even better. She arched her back at my touch, a small gasp emitting from her very occupied mouth.
I was overtaken… and far too gone to do anything rational. All I could think of was how there was too much fabric between my hand and her body. And how easy it would be to change that.
Before another moment had passed, both of my hands had fallen to her waist. I hoisted her onto the windowsill behind us, still enveloped in the dark velvet of the curtains. Once again, she gasped, but offered no protest. Instead, as my hands moved along her curves, she let out a sigh of pleasure.
It was too much.
I was suddenly undoing my breeches, desperate for her embrace. Exposed in the darkness, I began to move toward her, pulling up her dress to reveal pale legs…
“W-William…” She suddenly sputtered, her voice still heady and laced with desire in a way I had never heard from her before.
I froze, looking up at her. I had gotten so carried away, and her voice was like a small splash of water, re-grounding me – ever so slightly – in the reality of the moment.
“What is it, love?”
Had I just called her love? What had possessed me? But it felt so… right.
In the dim light, I saw her swallow nervously.
