“Why did you follow me?” he asked.
His tone wasn’t friendly, but his thumb stroked her arm, up and down, a slow, repetitive caress he seemed to be doing unawares. The surface of her skin warmed as if she had stepped too close to a fire.
“I wanted to see how you are,” she said.
He gave a gentle squeeze. “Why?”
She licked her lips. “Because you are our guest.”
A sardonic glint flared in his eyes. He kept his mocking gaze on her damp mouth while he took off his hat and placed it onto the commode next to the door.
“A guest,” he said, dark laughter in his voice. “I see.”
He clasped the back of her neck with a firm hand and leaned down. When his lips met hers, the lights went out inside her head. The hot, confident sweep of his tongue against hers was pure relief, like a deep breath, like letting go of a weight. She made a sound in her throat, lustful desperation, and Elias pressed into her, caged her against the door with one hand buried in her hair, the other flat on the wood. His body was hard, thighs, chest, shoulders, astoundingly solid. She had expected a man’s embrace to feel different, but she couldn’t have anticipated what it did to her. It made her offer her mouth when his tongue invaded deeper, it made her arch and quiver when he possessively palmed her breast. It wasn’t so much his physicality that compelled erotic surrender but something more ephemeral, the hot ardor pulsing under Elias’s skin that said nothing and no one would have kept him from kissing her, that he would have battled the very elements to feel her body in his hands. Sensing her yielding suppleness, he gentled, and she felt the weight of his arm around her waist to urge her closer. She touched the base of his throat, where his skin was warm and bare over firm muscle. His chest hair was surprisingly soft. Her fingertips grazed the metallic texture of his chain, followed it up to his nape. Emboldened, she grabbed a fistful of his thick, luxurious curls. With a low groan, Elias detangled himself and eased back. She blinked, breathless and disoriented. The light in the room blazed too brightly, anything that wasn’t him seemed to have been burned out of existence. They were holding each other’s faces now, both panting softly. He rubbed her swollen bottom lip with his thumb.
“Is this how you usually treat your guests?” he asked hoarsely.
His heart beat a visible rhythm on the side of his throat.
“No,” she breathed.
His lips twitched with a mirthless triumph.
“What now?” she whispered an inch from his chin.
He released her and stepped away. An impressive erection strained against his trousers, and her head went empty again.
Elias took off his jacket and hung it in the wardrobe.
“Now you should leave,” he said, glancing at her while he pulled off his gloves. “You can stay, too, but then we won’t stop at kissing.”
Chapter 18
Her ears hurt with sudden pressure. His scandalous announcement didn’t seem quite real. Elias held out his hand to her, his expression calm, but the glitter in his eyes said It is very real, darling.
“Do you mean intercourse?” Her voice came out weak, as though it had lost its range.
A smirk. “No. My word on it.”
“You’re not married, are you,” she asked.
“No.” His eyebrows indicated disbelief.
Before her courage left her, she placed her hand in his. His palm felt warm and dry against hers. The flame in his eyes burned brighter.
“On my honor,” he said, “I will have the sculptures back, one way or another.”
She gave a tiny nod. “I know.”
He would keep his vow no matter what happened next between them. She left her hand in his. His fingers closed around hers, and instantly the air seemed charged with something wild and unpredictable. A tug, and he pulled her into a twirl as though they were dancing, but he just wanted her with her back against his chest. Strong arms locked below her breasts, and the tight hold stimulated her aroused senses to a fever pitch. His heart was still drumming furiously, setting a frenzied beat in her own blood. He claimed her vulnerable neck in a hungry, open-mouthed kiss, and she let her head drop back against his shoulder on a soft moan. The sensation of his sleek tongue gliding over delicate skin seemed to melt her between her legs, and she had to shift to accommodate the swelling ache. The loosening of her bodice registered with a delay. Elias leaned his cheek against hers, and they both paused to take in the lush view, the exposed tops of her breasts framed quite prettily by the low-cut corset cover.
His ragged voice was next to her ear. “Beautiful.”