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“Hmmm. I see beauty.” She drew a finger from Arabella’s temple down her cheek and tipped up her chin. Arabella stared up at her, her lips parted slightly. “Your cheeks are like a hothouse peach, full and sweet. Your lips are the coral of the inside of those seashells we used to collect when we were younger. Your eyes”—Caroline tipped her spectacles down—“are wide and expressive and beautiful. Like sea glass.”

Arabella sighed and swayed a little, and Caroline moved her hands to her hips to steady her, then to press against her. “I have many other words to describe you,” she said, “but I wonder if perhaps there is something else I ought to be doing?”

“Oh! Perhaps there is.”

Arabella kissed like it was second nature, but Caroline suspected it was her first intimate encounter. She knew that Arabella was a dreamer at heart. How often had they been somewhere together and Arabella had tucked herself in a corner with her hand propped up under her chin, watching events unfold before her? Caroline expected her to be passive and thoughtful as she seduced her.

But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

She was shocked when Arabella took a step back and whipped off her day dress, then shucked off her stays, chemise, and stockings, until she was standing in the middle of the bedchamber as bare as nature intended. She folded her spectacles and put them on a side table, then turned to face Caroline.

“I’ve waited quite long enough.”

Arabella in the nude was glorious. Her body was full and generous in its proportions, her breasts plump with taut pink nipples, her hips wide and her belly soft. Caroline wanted to know if she tasted as sweet as she looked.

Caroline laughed and gathered her in her arms, adoring the feel of her smooth skin and round bottom beneath her hands. “You are a delight, Bell. But I want to make sure you’re comfortable. If you are nervous, we can get beneath the covers.”

“I certainly am not. There’s no reason for modesty with what we’re doing.” Her grin widened, and her happiness was contagious, filling Caroline’s heart. “Besides, I want tosee.”

Arabella might have been a little clumsy without her spectacles, but she more than made up for it with wholehearted enthusiasm. She tugged off Caroline’s clothes almost as fast as she had her own, and then pushed her onto the bed.

Loving Arabella turned out to be no different from anything else they did together—they knew each other so well that they were able to communicate with a look. Not that it was the only way Arabella communicated.

A lick at her breastbone caused a gasp. A touch at the swell of her breast gave way to a deep moan. Caroline caressed her shoulders and sucked her nipple into her mouth, trying to be gentle, but Arabella’s body moved under hers with abandon as she cried out in pleasure. She flung her arms above her head and wrapped her legs around Caroline’s waist.

Caroline was glad there was no one at home, not even the servants. Arabella wasn’t a lover for a quiet moment in the corner of a ballroom—she was proving to be as lusty as a sailor kept too long at sea.

Which suited Caroline perfectly.

“Tell me when you like something,” Caroline murmured as she kissed the valley between her breasts. “Or when you don’t. I want to make sure that I please you.”

Arabella’s face was shining, and she nodded.

Caroline was content to spend an eternity on Arabella’s breasts, licking and tasting and teasing her nipples, but before Arabella saidanything, Caroline could tell by the movement of her hips that it wasn’t going to be enough.

“I want more,” Arabella whispered, then buried her head in Caroline’s shoulder. “I need more.”

“Your every wish shall be fulfilled.”

Caroline smoothed her hand over her waist and down her hip and had barely touched her thighs when they fell open for her. She cupped Arabella, feeling her damp warmth beneath her palm, and she kissed her long and hard as she made sure that Arabella was accustomed to her touch before she moved her fingers against her core.

Nothing had ever felt so wonderful.

Caroline stroked her finger against her opening, and then slid inside. She loved the little sigh that came from Arabella’s lips as she entered her. Caroline gently moved again and found a rhythm with her fingers that lead to a long, heartful moan from Arabella.

Arabella urged her to go faster, gasping her name as she arched her hips and ground herself against Caroline’s hand, giving one high keening cry as she found her release and relaxed beneath her.

After a moment, Arabella stirred, and she nudged Caroline off. She moved on top of Caroline, moving her hands eager and fast over her body, as if this might be a dream that might end too soon.

Caroline’s head fell back as Arabella kissed her way down her throat and nipped at her collarbone, then covered her breast with her mouth. Arabella slipped a hand between her legs and Caroline was delighted that she was as vocal when giving pleasure as she was when receiving it. Arabella made a breathy sound of wonder as she explored Caroline’s quim with her fingers, and then gasped louder than Caroline did when she eased her finger inside.

Waves of pleasure rocked through her at Arabella’s touch, and the sweet ache inside of her built as Arabella moved her fingers deep, her weight pressing her against the bed. Caroline held her tight as her gratification reached its peak, sending her body into spasms of relief.

A long moment passed as she tried to collect herself afterward.

Sexual release was always wonderful, but this was something new for her. This emotion welling up inside of her, filling her to the point where she thought she might burst from it—she wasn’t sure what she felt, but it was raw and uncomfortable.

She didn’t know how to explain it, but she wanted to cry.