her—beat her so badly that what I did was nothing in comparison.”
“She wanted to continue seeing you?”
I brushed the side of my mouth with my thumb. “Yes. But I put an end to it. We were very different.”
“You fell asleep the other morning,” she said.
“How was that? I am curious?”
She bit into a nail, making my back stiffen. “You held me tightly.” She paused. “I mean really tightly. You don’t remember that?”
I shook my head. “Hell.” I took a deep breath. “Did I hurt you?”
A decisive shake of her head did little to quell my self-loathing. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep. That was never meant to happen.
“Then you understand why?” I touched her hand.
She lifted her lids and looked at me seriously. “Why are you like this?”
“How?”
“Messed up.”
Opening out my hands, I said, “I’m not sure.”
“You must know.”
Oh, Penelope, if only you knew. You would run a fucking mile.
“What now?” I asked.
“Like, right now?” she asked, sitting up, a hint of a smile radiating some much-needed warmth and respite.
“Dinner?”
Her smile grew. “Why not? And hey, I suppose we’ve only just met, and perhaps with time, I might be able to help. That’s if you want to talk.”
“Does that mean you’ll come back to my place?” I asked, trying to keep my tone cool, despite the flush of warmth showering over me.
* * *
AS WE LEFT THE RESTAURANT, I took her hand. She looked up at me and a sweet shy smile touched her lips. Although we were over the kind of formality new lovers exercised, there was still an element of that between us.
Opening up to Penelope had liberated me to some extent. I felt lighter as we rode back to Mayfair. Holding her hand, I asked, “Would you like to come to Bath on the weekend? I need to visit an estate I’m about to acquire.”
Her head did a sharp turn. “Really? You want to spend a weekend with me?”
“I’d like that.” I took her into my arms and kissed her cheek.
26
* * *
PENELOPE
BLAKE REMOVED HIS JACKET and came toward me, brushing his lips with his tongue. I melted into the armchair. All night his eyes had been in ravaging mode.
In the car, he’d unclasped my bra and smothered my breasts with his hands, his heavy breath in my ear. I wanted his eyes all over my body and doing things to me that I’d never thought of before.
Our lovemaking had become raw and needy. Maybe Blake wanted to ensure that my body could take it, knowing that I was relatively inexperienced. It could take it all right. Multiple sheet-ripping orgasms had made me insatiable.
His bulge caught my eye as he walked toward me. I shifted in my seat to unstick my panties, which had almost dissolved onto the cushion of the brocade sofa.
He crooked his finger. “Come over here.”
I walked toward him, and he gestured. “Remove your dress.”
He sat back and unzipped his pants.
I giggled nervously. “You want me to strip?”
“Let me watch you.”
I bit my lip. I’d let this man do things to me I couldn’t have ever imagined. However, the thought of him seeing me naked with the light on made me tense.
My tummy protruded, and no matter how much I tried to suck it back, it remained stubbornly full. My ass was big, and my tits were bigger than I would have liked. I imagined them becoming woeful pendulums once I aged.
I just couldn’t process the idea of being ogled by a debonair, stunning six-foot-two man, whose muscular body was like that of a Greek god.
My eyes remained on his face while my green dress pooled at my feet.
He lowered his pants. His dick pushed hard against his briefs. He removed them, and his cock sprang out. My sex ached, and my mouth watered. I’d never sucked a man’s dick before, but as he remained seated, with his cock hard and red-blue from arousal, that was exactly what I craved.
“Remove your bra.” His tone had an authoritative bite that normally would have made me stick up my middle finger in defiance. But my body was in command, and I complied.
Driven by dark desire, Blake didn’t hide his attraction for my body. His raspy sigh at seeing my breasts naked made me feel beautiful.
“Fondle yourself,” he said.
I palmed my nipples and jiggled my breasts, which made me giggle.