“Master Blackwood, you must unhand me.” The words left her lips mechanically, because she knew that it was what she was supposed to say, but Lily had no heart behind them. Will's kiss left her whole body tingling and yearning for more.
“You're right,” said Will, much to her chagrin. He removed his arms from around Lily and pulled his face away, though he could not resist smoothing her hair back from her forehead. “I already besmirch my family's name on a weekly basis, no need for added complications, hm?”
“Quite,” Lily agreed weakly.
“Best get back to the party then. Are you well, Mrs. Blackwood?” Will got to his feet and offered her his hand.
“I should think so, Master Blackwood. I thank you for your assistance.” Lily took Will's hand and stood, grateful that the change in posture was no longer accompanied by a wave of dizziness. Never again would she take for granted the ability to breathe!
She followed Will back to the ballroom and he disappeared into the crowd. Lily stuck to the wall and was content to watch, which was a good thing because she was not acquainted with the assembled and neither of her escorts had bothered to introduce her to anyone. She was far too tired to socialize anyway, so Lily helped herself to another glass of punch and conjured visions of Rosie hobnobbing with the upper crust and being ushered into a much easier, happier way of life than hers had been.
Both Lord and Master Blackwood were drunk by the time they piled into the carriage to return home. Even Lily was a mite tipsy from tippling punch on an empty stomach. Lord Blackwood staggered inside and passed out on a divan in the foyer and was snoring loudly before Lily even set foot inside the front door. She scowled at the great, fat, drunken louse as she handed her shawl to Old George, only it was not Old George who took it, but Will.
“Oh, thank you,” Lily said, caught off-guard by his sudden appearance at her side. She could smell the punch on his breath and the tobacco smoke on his clothes.
“Anything for you, Mother dear,” Will murmured, dropping Lily's shawl on the floor only to slide an arm across her bare shoulders. Lily turned to pick up the shawl, since it was a costly embroidered silk with tassels and rhinestones and everything, but before she could get to the garment, Will sidestepped and blocked her. Lily found herself with not three inches between herself and the younger Blackwood, who was staring down at her intently.
“Master Blackwood,” Lily whispered, her tone somewhat indicating protest, mostly poorly concealed desire.
Will stared at her a moment longer, then slid his hands around her tiny waist. He pulled her close to him and kissed her again, forcing her lips apart with his tongue, making Lily shiver and whine a little in the back of her throat. He started kissing down her neck and Lily gasped and squirmed, trying to free herself from his hold.
“You must let me go, Lord Blackwood is right there!” Lily hissed.
“Lord Blackwood won't wake up until teatime on the morrow,” Will mumbled into Lily's neck, “the old boor is more than twice your age with less than half the wits and no grace at all, you are wasted on him, and I will not let you go to waste. I must have you, Miss Monroe.” He kissed her neck again, then moved down to the tops of her breasts, so brutally constrained by the corset, but sensitive nonetheless. Lily mewled and tangled a hand in Will's hair.
“You... you mustn't,” Lily said, arching her back into his touch, “you make me feel so strange, Will Blackwood, I have never felt this for a man before and if you persist I shan't be able to resist any more.”
“Then stop resisting,” he grunted.
“I--... I want to,” Lily admitted, which made Will's head pop up so that he could look at her with mild incredulity. She giggled at the expression on his face and looked away. “I have never felt... pleasure... of this nature,” she confessed, “when I saw you and the servants in the garden the other night, I had a... a feeling...”
“A feeling?” Will bit his lip and began hitching up Lily's skirts. Lily watched him in breathless excitement. “Tell me more,” he prodded.
“Between my legs,” Lily all but squeaked, her small, pale fingers digging in to Will's arms as his hand delved expertly through her layers of undergarments. “There was a... a heat,” she elaborated.
“Did you like it?” Will said. His voice was husky and low, his eyes half-lidded. “Did you touch yourself?”
“Yes,” Lily breathed, her lashes fluttering as she felt Will's hot hand against her bare skin, burrowing down the waist of her bloomers. “Oh, Will,” she gasped, holding tight as his fingers began to explore her folds, “I was so jealous of Minnie that night, I--... I wanted to be her. I wanted to know what made her--”
Lily was about to say moan, but her voice dissolved into an inarticulate moan of its own as Will pressed a finger to her pearl. Lily pitched forward and pushed her face into Will's chest as he stroked her, and held her against his strong, slender form. She shuddered and gasped as he released his finger, then pressed again.
“Then you shall know,” he said huskily.
His arm tightened around Lily's shoulders as he pleasured her, relishing in the chorus of sweet little noises she made, her voice high and breathless as she tried to keep quiet with Lord Blackwood snoring soundly not twenty feet away. When her noises intensified, escalating from short, quiet moans to longer and louder ones, and she was near the edge of climax, Will withdrew his hand from her folds slowly undressed her bottom half. Lily could see Will's member straining against his trousers and when she was naked beneath her skirts, he unbuttoned his trousers, and the sight of him excited her. She looked at him hungrily, hypnotized as he came forward and took her hand and guided it to his shaft. Lily gasped again, because she wasn't sure she had ever felt a man's organ before, not like this, and it felt curiously warm and silky and firm. She explored the sensitive head with her fingertips, earning a shuddering sigh from Will which excited her in turn.
Before Lily knew what was happening, Will had her pressed up against the wall, and she worried that things were about to take a turn, but he picked her up and braced her back against the wall and threw her legs around his waist. “Hold tight,” he whispered with half-lidded eyes, and Lily whimpered helplessly as she felt Will's girth penetrate the sensitive tightness of her opening.
“Oh, Will,” she panted, her hands feeling weak as they dug in to his shoulders and he began thrusting inside of her, and it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. His member pressed against the top of her, creating a delicious pressure that was driving her positively mad with pleasure. He paid close attention to the sounds she made, and varied his speed accordingly, until Lily was pawing at him and crying out over and over, her voice high and needy as he pushed her closer and then over the edge of orgasm.
She clung to him, shaking in the aftershocks, and Will held her for a moment, then gently lowered her feet back to the floor. Lily nearly collapsed, but he held her up until she was steady and then helped her collect her undergarments, giving her bloomers a hearty sniff before handing them back to her. Lily scoffed, scandalized somehow by this more than being taken in the foyer, and watched Will drunkenly saunter off, presumably to the courtyard for a smoke. Dazed, exhausted, and confused, Lily mounted the stairs back to her own chambers to sleep.