She loved the way he said her Christian name too.
“Luke,” she whispered. “Do not leave yet, and do not stop this.”
Clearly, he needed no more encouragement, for Luke pressed his lips to Annie’s with such eagerness that she stumbled back a step from the energy of it. Her hands wound themselves up his chest, past the lapels of his jacket and reached for the waistcoat beneath.
Annie didn’t think about what she was doing. She chose not to think of her mother back at the dinner party, nor Mr Knight, who was also to arrive that evening. She only wanted to think of Lord Yeatman, now Luke to her, and what this was what they shared.
When Luke’s hands slid across her waist, pulling her to him so that she arched against him, she gasped into their kiss, just as he moaned too. There was something about the friction of their bodies pressed together that made Annie weak and long for more of it.
The more she clung to his waistcoat, she began to hear buttons un-popping. The sound pulled their lips apart, just enough so that their noses still brushed together, and she caught a glimpse of Luke’s mischievous smile.
“You should not tempt me so, Annie,” he whispered playfully. “I already succumb to weakness whenever I am near you.”
“What if I wanted you to succumb?” Annie whispered, feeling bold. At once, Luke’s eyebrows shot up, and his smile grew wider.
“What happened to your propriety?” he murmured. “Annie, what you and I are doing could hardly ever be called proper.”
“I find I do not care anymore.” She threw caution to the wind and stood on the balls of her feet, closing the distance between them once again. The keenness of her kiss was mirrored by Luke, with his hands gripping to the curve of her waist all the more.
Annie felt backed up a second later, colliding with the desk behind them. She laughed into their kiss, that sound only stalling when Luke moved his kisses to her neck. He tarried on a sweet spot at the curve of her neck, just below her ear. It made her mewl against him, wanting more of this thrill, this excitement that coursed through her body.
With her pressed against the desk, she felt his hands go to her waist again and lift her to sit on the very edge. When he pulled at the skirt of her gown, urging her to lean back from their kisses, she couldn’t stop her growing smile.
“Annie, you can tell me to stop at any time, and I will,” he whispered to her. She nodded, knowing he would stop, yet she had no wish to. When she said nothing at all, he seemed to growl at the back of his throat, before returning his lips to hers.
There was nothing chaste about their kisses now, only heat and need. Annie leaned back a little on the desk, loving the way his body moved against hers, when she suddenly felt one of his hands reach under her skirt. With a gentle touch, he slid his fingers under her knee and pushed it to the side, creating a space in which he could stand and press their hips together.
That brush of their bodies made their lips part. Annie looked at Luke’s eyes, seeing the same need in his expression that she was sure was in her own.
“Please, Luke,” she whispered, looking down at where their bodies were brushing together. He needed no more encouragement, for his hand slid up her bare thigh to where it was completely hidden by the skirt of her gown. The touch of his fingers against her skin was tantalising, practically as intoxicating as a glass of claret. Annie tilted her head back, basking in that feeling, just before Luke’s fingers found her core.
That first touch made her gasp, but that sound was quickly muffled by another kiss from him. Whether it was a kiss of passion, or one intended to keep her quiet, so they were not overheard in the corridors, she didn’t know. As he began to move his fingers against her, Annie found her body acting in a way she hadn’t thought possible.
There was a pool of wetness at her core, where she ached for his touch. With each movement of his fingers, her body began to arch against him. Even her hips moved in a rhythm closer to him, desperate for more of that feeling.
“Do you trust me?” Luke whispered, leaning back a little and moving his kisses to her cheeks.
“I do.” Her quiet murmurs changed something, for his fingers slipped inside of her. The rush of excitement that followed made her buck against him before he set up a rhythm, pleasuring her in a way she had only ever heard of before, whispered by Peggy or servants on the backstairs of houses.
Then the feeling changed. The pleasure seemed to grow, and it made her body tense as if she were nearing some precipice. Her hands clung to Luke all the more, gripping at his waistcoat for dear life, afraid she might fall away from him at any second. His name tumbled from her lips more than once before he thrust his fingers inside of her one last time. A feeling washed over her she had never known before, one where the thrill was so great that her body stilled and she had to close her eyes, for stars speckled her vision.
Once more, Luke quietened her sounds with his kiss. Annie basked in that kiss as her body came down from its pinnacle of pleasure, startled at how her legs trembled on either side of Luke’s hips.
When they parted, they both had ridiculous smiles on their faces.
“I did not know it could be…” she murmured softly, unable to finish the sentence.
“Thatwas something special indeed,” he said quietly, kissing her another time. This kiss was chaste, just a press of lips together, but it still had the effect of making her body tingle.
“I suppose we’ll have to go back to the dinner party now and pretend nothing has happened,” Annie said as Luke moved his kisses back to her neck.
“Damn,” he murmured. “I would have preferred to have stayed here all night with you.”