Second Chance with His Cinderella, page 14
She pasted a smile on her face. ‘Do you want to set a theme for the party?’
‘No.’ The vehement answer from Sebastian was so definitive that it made Kitty and Guy laugh and she immediately felt less on edge.
Sebastian continued. ‘I want the party to be relaxed and quite different from the stuffy parties I know my grandfather used to host.’
‘To mark a change in direction from the new Delfont on the block,’ Kitty said.
‘Exactly,’ he said.
‘The cool new baronet on the block,’ said Guy. ‘Your uncle Oliver would be proud of the way you’re handling this.’
‘Uncle Olly certainly was one for a good party,’ said Sebastian, but Kitty could see the remembered pain in the rigid set of his jaw.
She swung right back into event planner mode. ‘So, a cocktail party on the agenda for the Saturday after next,’ she said. ‘I’m confident that our two cooks Alisa and Josie can create food that’s fashionable yet delicious.’
‘Can we have crostini on the menu?’ Sebastian asked. Kitty’s eyes met his across the desk.
‘Of course,’ she said with an inner secret smile, dropping her gaze in case she gave away the game to Guy. She didn’t miss his speculative glance between her and Sebastian. They would have to be careful if they wanted to keep their changed relationship private. Until they knew where it might take them.
She continued, ‘And we need to secure some really good bar staff specialising in cocktails—some call them mixologists. The drinks as well as the food need to be outstanding to get some buzz happening.’
Sebastian smiled. ‘A party totally unlike anything my grandfather would have planned.’
‘Indeed,’ said Guy.
‘One other thing we need to consider—music,’ said Sebastian. ‘Friends of mine from uni play in a soft jazz quartet. I’d like to book them.’
‘Done,’ said Guy. ‘Just shoot me their details.’
How little she knew about Sebastian, Kitty thought, as he and Guy chatted. Yet what she did know about him pleased her very much. That chasm between them no longer seemed as deep as she might have imagined. Did she have the courage to take a leap over it?
Guy got up to go. Kitty did likewise.
‘Kitty, can you stay behind, please,’ Sebastian said. ‘I’d like to talk about the food for the party in more detail.’
Guy left, closing the door behind him, making an elaborate show of closing it properly. He knew.
Sebastian immediately strode around the desk to Kitty.
‘I’ll talk to the cooks about the food and—’ she started.
Sebastian made a dismissive gesture with his hand. ‘I don’t give a flying fig about the food.’ He pulled her into his arms. ‘During that entire meeting I just wanted to do this. I don’t even remember what Guy said about the strategic importance of inviting two company directors with a known history of animosity towards my grandfather.’
Kitty looked up at him, his lean, handsome face already so familiar. ‘Is it ridiculous to say I missed you, even though we’ve seen each other several times today?’ she said. They’d talked, together with Evelyn Lim, about bathroom designs, bumped into each other as Kitty was leading housekeeper candidates into her office. But, until now, not for a second had they been alone.
‘I’ve missed you too,’ he said hoarsely.
The night before, after returning from Widefield, it had seemed an unspoken understanding that, while they’d kissed each other goodnight, they had each gone alone to their own rooms. It would have been too soon.
Kitty nestled in against his shoulder with a sigh of pleasure. For a long moment she was content to just be close to him in the circle of his arms. It was the first time they hadn’t had coats as a barrier between them. Kitty was wearing her blue wrap dress, Sebastian black trousers and charcoal shirt. It would be so easy to unbutton his shirt and slide her hand through to find warm, bare skin. It seemed the natural next step, but surely it was too soon for that. She was super aware of how strong he was, the firmness of his muscles, the solid comfort of him. Then that comforting closeness was no longer enough. With a murmur of impatience she wound her arms around his neck, pressed her body closer to his—close, closer, as close as she could get with the pesky barrier of their clothes. She couldn’t wait any longer to feel his mouth on hers and she reached up and kissed him.
Their first kiss in private, behind a solid door that no one would dare open without Sebastian’s say so. The kiss was immediate, urgent, snatched from their everyday life in the house where she was his household employee. It wasn’t a kiss that started with gentle questing lips and slowly built up in increments of passion. It started hot and proceeded to flaming in just seconds flat. Urgent. Demanding. Greedy. Her nipples pebbled and she was melting with want as she pressed her body closer to him. She scoped out the room. There was a desk, there was a leather Chesterfield sofa...heck, there was the floor or the wall. Kitty whimpered her need for him and heard the same need in his deep moan. She was lost in one of her own fantasies of seducing her boss.
The tie of her wrap dress had loosened and he slid his hand through where the top gaped open to cup her breast and thumb her hard nipple so she gasped her pleasure and need.
Then a knock on the door. They stilled, then sprang apart. Sebastian cursed under his breath, as did Kitty. She rearranged her dress. The knock came again. Josie, today’s cook, called through the door, ‘Excuse me, Sir Sebastian, is Kitty still with you? I urgently need to talk to her about tonight’s dinner menu.’
Kitty signalled with her eyes for his help. He cleared his throat. ‘Yes, she’s still in a meeting with me. I’ll send her down to the kitchen when we’re finished.’ His voice sounded remarkably normal.
‘Thank you,’ Josie said, and Kitty listened until the cook’s footsteps receded.
Kitty looked up at him, her lips curved in a teasing smile. ‘Finish what, I might ask?’ she murmured.
‘Not what we were starting,’ he said in his deep posh voice.
Kitty felt overwhelmed by the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it, a thirty-two-year-old baronet and owner of this grand house and her twenty-eight-year-old self compromised like a pair of hormone-crazed teenagers. She ached with the effort to suppress her giggles. What made it worse was that Sebastian was trying not to laugh too and they were setting each other off. They held each other as they both shook and spluttered until finally she was able to control her breathing and his voice returned to normal.
She stepped back from him, tugged her dress into place, pushed her hair back from her face where Sebastian had raked his fingers through it. She probably didn’t have a scrap of lipstick left. ‘Do you think Josie guessed?’
‘I doubt it; we often have meetings in this room.’ He paused. ‘Perhaps it was fortuitous Josie came along when she did.’ He drew her close to him. ‘I don’t want our first time to be rushed and uncomfortable.’
She followed his gaze to the wooden desk, the carved wooden chair. He smiled and she smiled back. Could he tell how thrilled she was at his words? Our first time. It sounded romantic, sexy and thoughtful—all of which augured well for, well, their first time.
He kissed her slowly and thoroughly. The fire of arousal that had been so abruptly doused by that knock on the door still smouldered, and little flames of desire started flickering through her. Reluctantly she pulled away.
‘I don’t think we’d get away with it a second time,’ she said. ‘I think Guy suspects something.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Sebastian. ‘But he would be too discreet to gossip about it, I can assure you. He was loyal to my uncle and is loyal to me. I trust him as I’ve come to trust you.’
She kissed him briefly on the mouth. She, of all people, knew how easily trust was lost and how hard it was to earn. ‘I’m honoured,’ she said.
She reached for her laptop case. In an inside pocket she kept a comb and a lipstick. Sebastian watched as she did a quick repair job. ‘I’ve never seen a woman put on lipstick without a mirror,’ he said.
‘A trick I learned years ago from a friend.’ She turned to go. ‘I won’t kiss you again as it would mess up my lipstick and I don’t want to walk down to that kitchen looking like I’ve just been kissed.’
‘Even though you have been kissed and you’ll be thoroughly kissed again the second I get the opportunity.’
‘I’ll look forward to that,’ she said. She trailed her fingers over his cheek in lieu of the kiss she ached to plant there, thrilling at the intimacy of the contact. But she didn’t want people gossiping about her, especially in the run-up to the cocktail party.
She turned to go. Sebastian put his hand on her arm. ‘Wait.’ She turned back to face him.
‘Dinner tonight?’ he said.
‘I’m not sure I—’
‘Not at a restaurant. In the kitchen. Just you and me.’
There wouldn’t be anyone else in the house. The cook would prepare the dinner and go home. Guy would go home to his husband.
‘I’d love that,’ she said.
* * *
That evening, Sebastian worked alongside Kitty in the kitchen as they heated up the chicken poached in coconut milk and Thai herbs Josie had prepared for dinner. The room was filled with warm spicy aromas that should send his mouth watering. But thoughts of Kitty overwhelmed every other sense. His hunger wasn’t for the dinner, it was for her.
That blue dress, although it was long-sleeved and high-necked, did nothing to hide her luscious curves, or the way she moved with such grace and sensuality. All it did was emphasise how incredibly sexy she was and make him want to peel the dress off her to discover and explore those curves for himself.
Her grandfather Stan—in a moment when Kitty had been chatting with a nurse—had warned Sebastian not to let his granddaughter’s prettiness and sweetness blind him into thinking she was anything less than very smart and very talented. Sebastian had known all that from the get-go—it was part of her appeal. Along the way, he’d learned that she was kind and funny and perceptive. It wasn’t just her looks that attracted him, but right now they were top of mind. She was beautiful and alluring and all he could think about was how much he wanted her.
Kitty turned from the stovetop and caught him in full, heavy-lidded appraisal of her shapely behind. She knew immediately what he was doing and smiled a slow, lascivious smile as she let her eyes, in turn, roam over him. And succeeded in arousing him to fever pitch.
She put down the spoon she was holding. ‘I don’t think you’re hungry at all.’
‘Not for dinner, no, delicious as it undoubtedly would be,’ he answered honestly.
‘Me neither,’ she said, switching off the gas burner and taking a step towards him. The invitation in her blue eyes was unmistakable and his body responded accordingly. ‘This kitchen would be no more comfortable than your study,’ she said.
‘I imagine it would be exceedingly uncomfortable,’ he said. ‘Not to mention inappropriate for so many reasons.’
‘A bed—vanilla as that might seem—comes to mind as the ideal place for our purposes,’ she said in a silky, sensuous voice.
‘It has a long-standing reputation as such,’ he said, scarcely able to choke out the words.
‘There is a very comfortable bed in my apartment, just a short elevator ride away,’ she said.
He shuddered as politely as one could shudder. ‘A room where Mrs Danvers once resided does not appeal.’ An image of the bad-tempered old housekeeper flashing into his mind could put him off his stroke.
Kitty climbed her fingers up his arm. ‘Can you nominate somewhere you believe to be more appropriate?’
‘A beautifully appointed guest bedroom in this very house where I can personally attest to the comfort of the bed.’
‘Shall we assess it for possibilities?’ she murmured, sliding her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth to his. She flicked her tongue along the seam of his mouth. He moaned his want and opened his mouth to her. They kissed for a long, arousing moment before he disengaged from the kiss. He had to take a deep breath to steady his voice. ‘Before we go any further, I have to ask you—are you sure this is what you want?’
Consent was essential from anyone, but particularly so from Kitty, who had suffered a heinous assault from someone she should have been able to trust. Kitty was important to him, and growing more important every day, until he was at the point where he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. He had to get this right.
‘You absolutely have my consent, wonderful Sebastian.’ To his stunned delight she then proceeded to whisper in his ear the intimate acts to which she was giving her wholehearted consent and how she would like to both receive and give them.
Sebastian growled his assent to anything she wanted, swung her up into his arms and headed for the stairs.
* * *
How many fantasies had Kitty had of making love with Sebastian since she’d come to live in his house? Even her most fervent and erotic dreams had nothing on the reality of being carried by Sebastian up the stairs and towards his bedroom. It was like a scene from one of his mother’s books—only way sexier.
The journey from kitchen to Sebastian’s bedroom was punctuated by laughter, kissing, stumbling as they tried to walk to the elevator while kissing, and a display of extreme impatience with the elevator. She felt giddy, not from the one glass of wine she’d had in the kitchen, but from desire, racing hormones and excitement. Over all the emotions she was feeling bubbled joy. She was falling for this man and enjoying every step of the journey. It was all so different and exciting because of him. Sebastian.
She didn’t notice the details of the bedroom when they reached it, except that it was elegant in a Lady Enid style of way. But she didn’t want to pause for breath to admire the room when all she wanted to do was to make love with Sebastian. Fortunately, he seemed as eager to make love with her.
They kissed, deeply, hungrily as if they could never get enough of each other. She unbuttoned his shirt to splay her hands against a hard wall of muscle. In her eagerness to undo the buttons one tore off and bounced to the floor. She gasped and went to pick it up. ‘Leave it,’ he said. She gladly complied. She didn’t want to think about anything but him.
‘How do you get this wrap thing undone?’ Sebastian grumbled as he played with the ties that secured her dress at the waist.
‘How about I stand still and let you undress me,’ she said, loving the look of eager impatience on his face.
‘Great idea,’ he said hoarsely.
It felt intensely erotic to put herself into his hands and stand still as he undid the ties of her dress, as he pushed it off her shoulders, as he touched her anywhere he felt so inclined. Every such touch sent urgent messages through her body to all those erogenous zones he’d unlocked simply by being him.
Her dress pooled on the floor and she stepped out of it to stand just in her underwear and high-heeled shoes.
‘Wow,’ he breathed. He stood back and looked over her, every glance a caress as real as if he were actually touching her. ‘You have the most beautiful body,’ he said.
Kitty had to swallow the response that had been automatic until she’d fought to suppress it. I just need to lose a few pounds. He thought she was beautiful just the way she was and she should accept that unconditionally. ‘Thank you,’ she said instead.
‘Now you,’ she ordered. She started to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt, button by button, but her fingers fumbled in her haste. ‘Darn it, I just want this shirt off you.’ She struggled with his belt. ‘And your trousers.’
He laughed, shrugged off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his trousers, leaving him in only black boxers that made no secret of how ready he was for her.
‘Oh, my,’ she sighed at the sight of his broad shoulders, powerful chest and six-pack belly. ‘When it comes to beautiful bodies...’ She took a deep breath. ‘I just want to kiss you all over.’
‘Please don’t hesitate to start,’ he said, flinging his arms wide in invitation.
As she kissed first his mouth then down his jawline, tasting him, stroking him with her tongue, down the strong column of his throat, across his shoulders, he was caressing her breasts, removing her bra, sliding his hand down her waist to cup her bottom and caress inside her panties.
She looked up at him, whimpered. ‘Enough of the slow burn. I can’t wait any longer. Please.’ They were on the bed in seconds, with all remaining underwear discarded and tossed aside.
She stilled. ‘Protection. I didn’t think...’
‘I did,’ he said, reaching for the bedside drawer. No fantasy could match the sensation as he pushed inside her, filling her, thrilling her, taking her rapidly to orgasm. But it was more than sexual pleasure—it was a sensation on a different level that urged her to believe they were meant to be lovers.
Their first time was urgent, hungry and utterly perfect. Their second time was slow and thorough as they explored each other’s bodies. It was also utterly perfect. To Kitty it seemed as if they had been waiting for each other, and that everything in her life had built up to this moment. Him. Sebastian. The man she had fallen in love with without really realising it had happened. She should be panicking because she had only known him for less than a month, but at a deep soul level she believed he felt the same way.
* * *
She woke very early the next morning to find herself lying with his arm slung possessively over her chest. He looked so beautiful when he was asleep. His black hair was ruffled from when she’d run her fingers through it, his face relaxed, dark stubble shadowing his jaw. The linen sheet was rucked up around his hips and she took a long moment to admire his body, his smooth olive skin, his muscled chest with just the right amount of dark hair, his powerful shoulders. She shivered with remembered pleasure of their lovemaking and felt boneless with desire.
