Page 58 of Dare to be Wicked

“Oh, I don’t know. She was remarkably sanguine about me having taken my clothes off for you.”

Cassius blanched. “Well said. Knowing she is aware you did that, and so your father likely knows too, has focused my mind wonderfully. Now sit still.”

Lottie gave a regretful sigh, and Cassius scowled at her. How he would get through the next two weeks he could not fathom, but then… then they would be married. His father had given them a beautiful old house in Aylesbury. It was a fine Tudor mansion which the earl had extensively remodelled and was luxurious and comfortable, and the gardens were magnificent. The idea of being able to live there whenever they returned from their travels was enough to make Cassius feel he truly was the luckiest fellow in the world. So, he would be good, and ensure that Lottie was just as she ought to be when she walked down the aisle of their private chapel.

For the next half an hour, Lottie did as he asked, and did not fidget or complain, and he progressed nicely with the drawing.

“It’s awfully hot in here,” she said with a heavy sigh, trailing a finger slowly down the side of her neck.

Cassius paused, his pencil suspended in mid-air as he watched that languid hand trail down the elegant column of her throat, along her collarbone, to the neckline of her gown. It paused at the hint of décolletage, drawing his eye there as his breath hitched. The wicked digit then trailed back and forth over the tops of her breasts as she drew in a deep breath and sighed again, wistful now.

“Lottie,” he said, a warning note to his voice.

She turned melting eyes upon him, all innocence. The devil.

“What is it?”

“You know very well. Stop it.”

Lottie pouted, but resumed her pose. Cassius concentrated on capturing the lush curve of her breast, the way the soft muslin of her white gown hugged her form. The dress sat low on her shoulders, revealing a great deal of creamy skin. Cassius swallowed, took a breath, and carried on. He followed the swanlike neck, to ensure that stubborn chin was quite as determined on his canvas as it was in reality, and moved onto study her mouth. His focus faltered as a little pink tongue darted out and wet her lips. The pencil hovered, close to the canvas but not touching it. Cassius cleared his throat but made the mistake of looking into her eyes. Those great big blue eyes captured his, expressive with such blatant invitation his skin prickled all over, and then he looked back at her mouth to see the corner twitch, just a little, and he was lost.

“Lottie,” he said, though he could not muster the warning note this time, too dazed with longing to protest.

“Yes?”

“You are the very devil.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did, you provoking creature.”

“Did I really?”

“Yes, dash it. How is a fellow to concentrate when… when….”

He waved a hand at her.

“What did I do, Cassius?” she asked, her voice low. “Tell me.”

“Why? So you can use your wiles on me again in future?”

She laughed at that, a sound that made little explosions go off inside him, tiny bursts of happiness. “Yes, of course.”

He groaned and set down the pencil. “You licked your lips for one thing.”

“Is that provocative?” she asked, and he wondered at the look in her eyes.

Did she really not understand the power she held over him? Probably just as well… at least, until they were married.

“It is when you do it, when I want to feel that little pink tongue on me, against my skin.”

“Oh,” she said, sitting up straighter.

“Oh,” he echoed, lips quirking, and then realised he also had the power to have a little revenge. “Do you not find my tongue provocative if you think about it trailing over your skin, down your neck… to your breast? Just as an example.”

She sat very still, her eyes growing wider as her colour rose. As if tracing the same path, her hand went to her neck as it had earlier, imitating the path he’d just described taking with his mouth and tongue. He swallowed.

“I want to do that, very badly. I want to kiss your breasts and take each little rosy peak into my mouth and suck.”