Again, Algernon appeared pained by the mention of her purchase.
“Even seeing you on that stage, with that bright yellow dress that contrasted all of the dark in that terrible room, I knew you were a woman apart,” he replied.
While the tone of his voice was honest, it was the earnest look in his dark green eyes that told Beatrice that Algernon was being truthful.
“Thank you, Algernon,” she said quietly, lacing her fingers together before her.
He gave her a single nod then cleared his throat, the sound ending the short, sweet moment.
“Now that you know this, perhaps you can use such knowledge to fuel your confidence,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Your life, from what little I know of it, was difficult. I can sympathize. However, Beatrice, you must understand, that partisover.”
This time, she gave a single, punctuated nod.
“Quite right,” she agreed. “I am anew.”
“I am glad we agree,” he replied.
“We do.”
“Now kiss me.”
Beatrice blanched. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, looking him up and down.
Algernon glanced around her room then walked toward a small sitting stool a little over a foot high. He picked it up and brought it back to where she stood, placing it between them. Without warning Algernon’s hands wrapped around Beatrice’s waist, and she gasped as he picked her up and placed her feet upon the stool so that they were eye to eye.
“Kiss me,” he stated again casually. “I have a dance instructor coming for you in an hour to start you on the basics, and Mrs. Sheer, my housekeeper, will be joining you for dinner this evening to teach you proper dining etiquette. Those lessons will help you however you must know what to do with a man beyond that.”
Beatrice froze, her mind whirling back to the night of their first kissing lesson. The moment his lips had touched hers, it had sent her entire body into a frenzy of heat and delightful shivers. She’d barely slept that night, too filled with longing from an act that was supposed to be entirely educational. She was not so sure she wanted that to happen to her again.
“I—What if I am bad at it?” she whispered.
“You are not,” he said with a quickness.
Then she saw something pass through his eyes, as if he had not meant it to say it or at least not as fast. Even still, she felt a little comforted by his response.
“I mean, for a novice, you took direction from my body quite well,” Algernon explained. “But this evening, it is you that willbe giving the direction. You will be guiding me to what I can and cannot do with just your kiss.”
Realizing then and there that she would not know how to do such a thing until she tried, Beatrice drew in a steadying breath and nodded. She lifted her hands toward his shoulders then paused.
“May I touch you?” she asked.
Algernon’s pupils dilated.
“You may,” he agreed, sounding slightly breathless. “In fact, it is encouraged.”
Beatrice nodded and placed her hands on his shoulders. Beneath his jacket, she could feel the hard cords of his muscled shoulders and the heat that radiated from them. Even just that made those butterflies take flight in her stomach. Then she leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against his. Again, she was taken aback at how soft they were. They appeared so sculpted, so hard like the rest of him, yet they were anything but.
She lingered there for a few seconds, not moving a muscle as tiny little shocks traveled between their lips, and then pulled back. She did not have to look in the mirror to know that a flush had taken over her cheeks.
“How was that?” she whispered.
Algernon’s pupils had grown a little, eating away at some of the beautiful dark green, but they were not as wide as they were the night of their first kiss.
“It was quaint,” he stated.
Beatrice drew up a curious brow.
“Quaint?” she repeated.