Page 53 of Broken

“Whatever you want, Giles,” Lilly agreed.

Giles shook his head to clear it of endless decadent possibilities.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The bedchamber door shut with the softest pressure of his hand and Giles hurried to turn the key in the lock. What he intended to do was arousing, foolish, and altogether reckless. An event that could see him face her father’s pistol or blade on the field of honor.

Tonight, he would share Lilly’s bed for more than a quick massage. Tonight, he’d become her lover.

Lilly’s eyes followed him as he came closer, her glance flickering over his body. Despite her bold appraisal, glances that skittered along his nerves and hastened his heartbeat, she hid beneath the covers. Perhaps she wasn’t quite comfortable with her own suggestion to share her bed with him. If she’d changed her mind, he’d give her a chance to call a halt to this mad slide into sin. He wouldn’t hold her to her invitation.

He touched the bed, letting his fingers drag across the linen as he walked around to the far side. Lilly turned to follow his movements, and that was all it took to convince Giles that he was welcome. She lay on her stomach as usual, but her shoulders and upper back were already bare.

Lilly had stripped for him, but maidenly nerves kept her buried beneath the coverlet. That image clouded his mind so much that Giles could not move for a moment. She smiled shyly and then burrowed under the covers, dropping her face into the pillow.

Careful to keep his impulses under control, Giles removed his jacket slowly, but hesitated to remove more. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make love to Lilly, but the constricting clothing would slow him down. More than anything, he wanted Lilly to enjoy his touch, his attention, even at the expense of his own pleasure.

He reached for the blanket’s edge, exposing her bare upper back to the air. Once he lifted the counterpane fully, enough to admit him to her bed, he found that his ability to compartmentalize caring for Lilly had vanished completely.

He slipped into bed, boots and all, tugged the covers over his hips and pressed his lips to her spine. “Good evening, Angel.”

“Good evening.”

Despite the situation, a smile tugged at his lips. They both sounded so dreadfully formal, but he had to speak. He had to say something to mark the moment. Unlike the other women he’d known, he couldn’t relax into bed with her so easily or so quickly. He knew what he was doing would change Lilly’s life forever. Losing even part of her innocence deserved his utmost respect and care.

Rising so his weight rested on one arm, he touched her ribs, sliding his fingers over her skin, pressing little kisses along her spine. He stopped thinking, kneading muscles and caressing Lilly in a wholly different manner than normal, more sensual and erotic. Touches designed to soothe as well as deliberately arouse.

Lilly shifted, a slight rock of her hips against the bedding, letting him know he was affecting her just as badly as she affected him. He let his hands wander into her hair and pulled the pins free, letting the soft locks flow across her shoulder and spill onto the pillow. He pushed the sweet-smelling tresses aside and buried his lips in her neck. God, she tasted so sweet, so good.

Remembering that Lilly had needs he had to cater to, he sat up and straddled her carefully, while silently cursing his reluctance to remove his boots. But he couldn’t pause long enough to remove them. The night was passing and he didn’t want himself and Lilly found together like this. He gave her the massage she sorely needed, but when he was done he kissed the back of her knee, her ankle, and captured her wriggling feet to press a kiss to the arch.

“Giles?” Lilly complained in a whisper.

He chuckled. “I thought you might like that, but it seems you are far too ticklish yet to enjoy it fully.” He crawled up the bed and lay beside her, again resting his weight on one arm.

Lilly’s passion-clouded eyes held his. “Do you like that?”

He shrugged. “No one has ever tried before so I cannot say for certain.”

Lilly, dropped her head, thinking something through. He let her think. She might want to call the whole thing off and there was still time to keep her innocent. He could still walk away from her bed, although it would be with considerable regret.

Lilly’s bare toes slipped onto the top of his boots and pressed against him. With that small encouragement, Giles kissed her back, kissed a path down her ribs, letting his breath fan across the base of spine just above her glorious derrière. He debated whether to go lower.

“What do you like, Giles?”

He rose to his knees, straddling her so he could use both hands. He settled them at her waist, slid them hard along her sides until he encountered the first swells of her breasts.

Lilly lifted her chest marginally, and he palmed her breasts. Glorious, soft and a perfect fit to his palms. He dropped his mouth level with her ear. “I like you.”

Dragging his hands away, he let his fingertips graze her hardened nipples. She moaned, body trembling at the new sensation. Giles swirled his fingertips around the hard buds and then palmed her breasts again, squeezing and rolling her flesh to give her pleasure.

Lilly tried to turn over, but his position restricted her movement. He tweaked her nipple and she shuddered. He flexed his hips so his aroused cock pressed against the firm swell of her bottom. Even that slight friction drove him wild.

But he didn’t want to rush—he wanted to please her first.

Climbing carefully over her, he fell to the mattress. Sharing a bed with Lilly was overwhelming. He sucked in deep breaths, fighting to regain control.

“Is anything wrong?”