Three Nights with a Scoundrel (Stud Club #3)(45)

He gasped for breath, looking over his shoulder to make sure they hadn’t been followed. Light shone through the open door, casting a cone of illumination into the dark alleyway. With his heart drumming in his ears, Julian scanned the surroundings.

No one, thank God.

“Did that man in the brown suit know you?” she asked, twisting in his arms. “Is he a friend of yours?”

“No.” Damn it. Wrong answer. The correct one would have been, What man? I didn’t see any man. There was no man.

“Then why did he follow us? And why have you brought me out here?” She looked to the sky and shivered. “Perhaps we should go back inside.”

“No.” He cinched his arms about her waist, pinning her close. “We can’t.”

“Why not?” In the dark, her pupils were wide and inquisitive.

He had to do it. He had to supply some reason for dragging her out here, and he had to stop the flow of questions from her lips. Really, it was the only way.

He dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers. “Kiss me. Just kiss me.”

Again and again, he feathered light, teasing caresses of his lips against her mouth. Just the merest suggestions of a kiss. She went soft in his arms, releasing a sigh of pleasure.

“Kiss me, Lily,” he whispered, teasing the seam of her lips with a flick of his tongue. Telling her what he wanted in clearer terms than spoken words. “Let me know that you want this. Kiss me.”

He stopped, pressing his brow to hers. Their breath mingled in the ribbon-thin gap between their lips. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted so much more than that. God, how he wanted. But if this went any further, it had to be because she wanted it, too.

Kiss me, he silently pleaded. The real me. The man who cares nothing for clubs or parties or the current style. The man who spends all day thinking of you, wondering where you are and what you’re doing and what it is you’re thinking. The man who wants nothing more in this life than to come home to you after a day’s honest work and listen to anything and everything you have to say before sweeping you off to bed.

Kiss me.

Arching her neck, she pressed her lips to his, just softly. Then retreated. Teasing him as she’d been teased.

“That’s it,” he murmured, nearly mad with the effort of holding back. He nuzzled closer, letting his breath warm her cheek and lips. “More.”

And there came an instant—a blissful instant—where the air around them took on an electric charge, or the night warmed a degree with revelation. Somehow, he just knew it was going to happen.

Still, he wasn’t prepared for it to happen so fast.

She flung her arms around his neck. Caught off-balance, Julian stumbled a step in reverse. She tightened her arms around his shoulders, stretched up on her toes, and gifted him with a warm, passionate, open-mouthed kiss. His lips fell apart, and she slid her tongue between them, exploring his mouth with an innocent, fearless passion.

He was, honestly, more than a little surprised.

But he was not complaining.

He let her have her way, forcing himself to be patient as she tentatively swept her tongue against his, over and over again. So delicious. She tasted of wine and that essential Lily sweetness he’d sampled earlier that day. But there was something new in this kiss. Determination had replaced curiosity. She kissed him not only to satisfy needs of her own, but to incite need in him.

And damn, was it working. He craved her like nothing he’d ever known. That mad rush of blood and energy that had fueled their escape—rather than dissipate, it took new purpose, surging all through his body and centering in his groin. Julian couldn’t think; he could only act. He kissed her back, taking control of the embrace by fisting his hands in the heavy wool of her cloak and pulling her tight against his chest.

“Wait,” she said, tearing her mouth from his and stepping back. Her fingers went to the ties of her cloak. “This thing is unbearable.”

“Don’t. You’ll catch a chill.” He turned his palm to the heavens in demonstration, and a few droplets of rain collected in his hand.

“You’ll keep me warm.”

The cloak fell to the wet, filthy ground. The instant it hit the cobblestones, Julian knew the garment was irretrievable. Deepest apologies, Holling.

“There’s no one to see,” she said. “No one but you.” The brilliants and pearls sewn into her gown sparkled and flashed. “I want you to see. I only wore it for you.”

He groaned as she ran her hands down the bodice, smoothing her palms over her slight br**sts and hips.

“Well? How do I look?”

Stupefying. Words failed him for a moment. Until at last, he peeled his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Like the most brilliant, beautiful star in the heavens, fallen to earth.”

She laughed, drawing closer. “It’s too dark. I have no idea what you’re saying, but I love the way you’re looking at me. As if you’re not even seeing the dress, but what’s beneath it.” She picked up his hand where it dangled at his side, then pulled it to her waist. “Put your hands on me.”

He did. Devil take him, he put his hands all over her. Skimming her trim waist and gently rounded hips, reaching up to cup one pert, perfect handful of breast.

And he kissed her, hard. So hard, her head recoiled with the force of it, and for a terrible moment he feared he’d hurt her. But then she moaned eagerly around his tongue, renewing her own efforts with vigor. Giving him back as good as he gave. She wound her fingers into his hair. Her fingernail scraped the flesh behind his ear, sending a sharp burst of pain to sweeten the pleasure. He would find a mark there tomorrow. Proof he hadn’t imagined it all.