Delight and Desire by JOANNA MAITLAND

sucked so strongly that she felt the pull all through her body. Desire grew and settled at the junction of her thighs with hot, heavy longing. She gasped out his name.
    ‘That is a most beautiful gown, but you will be much more beautiful without it.’ He led her across to the fireplace, for there were no lights in the room. He bent to touch a spill to the hearth and lit two candles. ‘Mmm. Better. I want to see you.’ With caressing hands, he turned her round and round, touching, admiring, dropping tiny kisses on exposed flesh. ‘Beautiful. And about to become more so.’ He undid the fastenings of her gown and pushed it to the floor. Her petticoats followed. And then he bent to kiss her breasts, above her stays. She could feel his fingers at her back, deftly undoing her laces while at the same time, he sucked eagerly on her breast. The combination was so arousing that her knees turned to water. They buckled, just as he pushed her loosened stays from her body.
    ‘Ah.’ He caught her into his arms. ‘You are a diamond.’ He lifted her and carried her across to the bed where he set her down for a second, threw back the coverlet, and laid her on the cool, smooth sheets. He removed her shoes and kissed her ribbon garters. He started to kiss her outer thigh, just above her stocking. Then he kissed his way across to the soft skin of her inner leg, the tiny beginnings of his stubble teasing through the silken mesh. She let her thighs fall apart. This was what she wanted. This was the way to fulfilment.
    He undid her garters and slowly rolled her stockings down to her feet, kissing all the way. It took his mouth away from the core of her, where she wanted him to be. It was tantalising, torturing. Wonderful.
    She was floating away, eyes closed, as if on a supporting cloud. But suddenly he was gone! She opened her eyes. He was standing near the fireplace, with one of the candlesticks in his hand. And he was laughing!
    ‘One day—’ He was laughing so much he could barely speak the words. ‘One day, that rogue of mine will meet his match.’ He raised the candle so that its light fell on a small table in the darkest corner of the room. On it stood a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Robert threw her a rueful smile and reached for the bottle. ‘My batman, I fear, is too clever by half. But, on this occasion—’ He paused, gazing across at Isobel. She knew she looked like a wanton, spread across his bed, clad only in a chemise that clung damply to her curves and concealed nothing at all. ‘You look good enough to eat.’ He began to twist open the champagne. ‘Or to drink,’ he added wickedly.
    In a moment, he was carrying two full glasses to the bedside. He returned for the bottle, and the candle. ‘Champagne, my sweet?’
    She nodded and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. His response was a sharp intake of breath, as she sat up and reached for her glass. She sipped, and swallowed, and sipped again. He simply watched her. Then he took the glass from her fingers and set it down. He had not touched his own.
    ‘I find the touch of glass on my lips much too cold and hard.’ He put his hands to the hem of her chemise. Slowly, reverently, he pulled it up and over her head. At last, she was totally, blissfully, naked in the bed of the man she loved.
    ‘Oh, yes,’ he breathed, and gently pushed her back on to the pillows.
    Now he would remove his own clothing and join her, surely? But he did not. He was standing on the floor beside the bed. He bent to drop a kiss between her breasts and then on, down past her ribcage and over her flat stomach. ‘Not hard, not cold.’
    She relaxed into the pillows and closed her eyes. She would not try to predict what he would do. Fulfilment would come, and the journey would be wonderful.
    ‘You are the most beautiful vessel any man could ever drink from.’
    What? She opened her eyes to see him holding a champagne glass just above her breasts. He was smiling wickedly down