other’s eyes, she stopped humming. “Oh my,” she said breathlessly.
He didn’t move, though he relished the feel of her slender belly against his arm and the widening of her eyes as her lips formed a surprised O. “Now you understand why the servants might misinterpret our . . . lesson.”
“Indeed.” With her color deepening to scarlet, she dropped her gaze from his.
God help him. That blush made everything harder. Including certain parts of his body. He would need an ice bath after this was done.
“Wh-what comes next?” she asked.
“We make two turns in this position.” But he didn’t move. When she glanced up to find him regarding her steadily, he murmured, “Are you going to hum the tune? Or shall I count it off?”
She groaned. “Of course I’ll hum. Forgive me for stopping.”
A choked laugh escaped him. “No man alive would complain about being locked in this pose with you.”
At once she started humming.
That was a different sort of torture, since he now had to move. He led them into the turn while staring into the warmth of her pretty eyes, which he wished weren’t gazing at him so greedily. If she was even aware of that.
He couldn’t stop being aware of it. Or of the sensuality of the dance. The slow swivel they made was all the more erotic because her fingers dug into his waist, probably so she could keep her balance. But he indulged in a wild fantasy that those questing fingers were sliding inside his coat . . . waistcoat . . . shirt, so he could feel them exploring every inch of his chest.
And lower.
Holy hell. It was all he could do to keep his touch steady when he really wanted to smooth his hand up her ribs and over her bodice to cover one—
“Keep turning,” he said in a guttural voice as they finished the first circuit, though his breath felt scratchy in his throat and he could hardly get the words out.
As if recognizing his difficulty, she hummed louder. Which only made him want to halt the humming with his mouth.
“Now we bring our left hands down,” he said, “clasping them together while both of us pivot to face forward, and we slide our right hands over until they meet between us where we can join them together, too. In other words, our arms should form a cross in front between us.”
It was comical to watch her expression as she tried to make sense of his instructions. After getting everything mixed up, she stopped in mid-step. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to show me that one again.”
“Of course.” He faced her once more. “Let’s return to our former position.” The one where I caress your waist and stare into your lovely face.
“Lord save me,” she muttered.
He agreed, though he doubted anything would save them from the conflagration this dance sparked between them.
As he laid his arm over the front of her waist again, her breathing grew ragged and her stomach trembled, making other parts of him catch fire . . . especially the parts that craved the touch of her hand. Which was pretty much all of them.
Best to finish the lesson quickly. So as soon as they were situated properly, he moved them into the next step by essentially forcing her hands into the position while saying, “Then slowly we turn to face forward as we slide our hands across—”
“Oh, yes!” she cried with relief in her voice. “I’ve got it now.”
“Good. Let’s start it once more from where we were, but with the music.”
She nodded as he shifted them backward into their former provocative position. Then she began to hum.
It was all he could do to take up his instructions at the next part. “We walk forward together one step and back one step, before we separate to circle around behind the couples and go to the end of the line.”
Stupid as it seemed, when they parted, he felt keenly the loss of her . . . though they’d only moved a few feet due to being in the alcove, and no one stood between them as would happen if other people were dancing, too.
As if drawn by an invisible thread, he approached her once more. “After we’re at the end of the line, we face each other and start the steps again in our new place. Bow, join hands, et cetera. That’s the dance in a nutshell.”
She stopped humming, looking reluctant to have reached the end. “I see.”