“You’re so lovely,” he breathed. “You can’t imagine.”

She gave him a dazed smile while her heavy gaze tracked every movement. As he began to unknot his bow tie, she sat up and placed her palms on his thighs. Alec’s breath caught as she slid her hands upward, and his mind darkened. She brushed lightly against the fall of his trousers at first, then pressed harder. Alec hissed and moved to stop, but he was much too slow. By the time he grazed her wrist, his pants were already unbuttoned and those elegant tapered fingers took hold of his length. Pleasure blazed through him, hot, reckless, and unstoppable. He was at her mercy now, no longer showing her how to be touched but craving her touch for his own sake.

She adjusted her grip, experimenting with different holds until he showed her what he liked best. After a few strokes she swiped her thumb over the moistened tip, and Alec let out a hoarse groan. Lottie glanced up, and the corner of her mouth lifted in a slow, seductive smile. Christ. He could expire at this moment and die fairly happy from seeing that expression. But then she spoke.

“As I was leaving the palazzo, I paused by an open door,” she began, her voice low and husky. “The one you pulled me from. Did you look to see?” Alec managed to shake his head. Lottie lowered her eyelids in a rather ironic display of modesty, considering what she was presently doing. “A man was seated in a chair and a woman knelt before him. I saw her take this in her mouth.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and immediately saw her in the same position. “Lottie.” He meant to say her name as a warning, but instead it came out sounding anguished. The plea of a desperate man.

“I’ve heard of such things,” she continued, “but the practice never sounded very appealing. Now, though…with you…”

Fuck.

The thought of her even considering such a thing was more than he could bear. More than he could allow.

“I—”

The rest of his noble protest died in his throat. Died at the sight of those luscious pink lips parting for him.

The heat of her mouth alone forced Alec to the very edge as a pleasure greater than he had ever known rocked through him. Her movements were tentative and inexperienced, but it did not matter. Alec had never been this hard in his life. A sound ripped out of him, high-pitched and unrecognizable, almost like the wild keen of an animal. He was speaking, too, though he could barely make sense of his own words beyond Yes. More. Dear God. Lottie.