Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 52: The Emperor's Penmanship (Not in Question)

They stared down at the front of Emilie's dress. The "v" slit had ripped open about three inches. Emilie's eyes went wide and she slapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't know whether to laugh or whether she was going to melt as soon as he reached for her again. Elias' expression, on the other hand, dropped instantly in horror and he tore his hands back from her.

"I am incredibly sorry," he choked, pressing a fist to his mouth. Underneath it he muttered, "I had no intention of doing that. I- I don't know what happened."

Just imagining Cedric having to sew this extremely conspicuous tear back up made Emilie want to throw herself out the window, but it couldn't be helped. It was already ripped and it wasn't even in the process of Elias getting it off her, so she shouldn't have to fret about it.

Emilie raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips as she grabbed hold of the necklace in front of Elias. She sauntered backward into the large, tile mosaic on the wall, next to the bed.

"Oh you had no intention, did you?" she taunted as she leaned back against the wall, "you, who was talking about freeing me of this nightgown all evening?"

"There are stronger men than me, I shouldn't have been able to rip it so easily," he fought back with his eyes narrowing.

"If you wanted to see my breasts so badly, you could've asked."

"Is that not what I've been doing?"

"Well, maybe you should be more direct about the asking."

Elias moved in close to her and looked down at her in a way that she had to send her eyes all the way up to see his. "Emilie, take off the nightgown. I want to see you."

Down her chest and her back, Emilie felt the hot molasses drip of her desire. She swallowed and turned her head out to the side, seeing as the space between them was growing ever smaller. With quivering lips making a dam to her abundant smile, she breathed, "hmm... that didn't sound like a question."

"Emilie!" he groaned, but he did rephrase to ask, "will you take off your clothes?"

"No..." she mused, turning back to face him. She reached out and took his hands, leading them to the two corners of her neckline that contained the rip. Her eyes flitted up to his and she said then, "I don't think I will."

Elias paused as he took in the sight of her hands overlapping his, both gripping the fabric of her nightgown. Emilie had her mind made up about it, but Elias had to take a beat and seek the second confirmation in her eyes. As soon as she started yanking on the fabric, he caught on and together they ripped her dress open down to her navel. Though the tear was far bigger than the one that paused their embrace, neither one of them noticed it as they were locked in each other's gaze. Emilie held his eyes still as she slipped her arms out of the sleeves falling off of her.

The air between them mixed with their two breaths before Elias slid his fingers under the tightened necklace around Emilie's neck and pulled and Emilie grabbed the two strands of beads around Elias' neck and pulled and they both slammed into each other with equal force.

Emilie felt her way down his chest with palms pressed flat with hungry fingers. Elias took handfuls of her breasts and squeezed. For a moment, Emilie couldn't tell which tongue, lips, or even which hands were hers. Her nightgown had been sojourning over her hips and now it departed, reaching it's destination on the floor around her feet.

Elias tugged away from her, panting for breath. The urgency in his movements never wavered as he took the necklace off from around his neck and plastered his hands to Emilie's hips, sending her back into the wall that she drifted from. She expected him to kiss her again, on her lips or elsewhere, but he gripped her waist and coaxed her to spin around. He quickly came up behind her, matching his bare chest up with her back and immediately making up for the time apart by tasting the skin on her right shoulder. Emilie's cheek hugged to the wall and her breasts pressed against the cool tiles of the mosaic as he pinned her against it.