Chapter 4

CC turned her gaze away from the dancing flames to watch Niles enter the library. She swallowed a mouthful of bourbon and said, "It's about time. What did you do, walk?"

"We can't all travel by broom," he responded lightly.

CC pursed her lips to keep from smiling. "Did you get the right dress, at least?"

"What does this look like, Babcock?" He questioned, and lifted the leather luggage, swinging it in front of her face.

"Like a garment bag that holds anything an uninformed butler could cram into it," she responded, rising from the sofa. She deliberately let the blanket fall from her shoulders.

Niles exhaled and took the bourbon from her hand, gulping down half the amber liquid in the glass.

"Hey, hands off!" CC exclaimed, but he just reached her the dress and finished the whiskey.

"Lousy bourbon thief," she grumbled, but took the bag and stretched it out on the sofa.

Niles tried not to watch the way her knickers framed her backside as she leaned over, but it was an effort in vain. He tore his eyes from her and walked over to refill CC's glass. He took a healthy swig, then topped it off, the glass full to the brim.

CC had turned to watch him, and he offered her the tumbler, holding it out across the distance between them. A few drops splashed onto the wood floor at his arm's movement.

"I'm not drinking after you," she said, and added a delicate shudder for good measure.

"Have it your way," he shrugged, and drank deeply.

"Aren't you going to get me one?" She affected outrage, but she didn't take her eyes off his lips on her glass.

"Contrary to popular opinion and previous experience, Miss Babcock, I do not work for you."

She turned and unzipped the bag, pulling the dress from the protective covering. "One of these days you just might."

Niles set the tumbler down with a thump and came up behind her. He sidestepped her and pulled the clothing from her hands. Holding up the ivory dress, he said, "He's not going to marry you, you know." The words stung, though there wasn't as much cruelty in them as she might have expected.

Still, CC flinched at the perceptiveness of his comment. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Niles tossed the dress carelessly onto the sofa, then turned to face her. "I would." He spoke softly, and wrapped his fingers around her forearm, reaching with his free hand to push her hair behind her ear.

"Take your hands off me," she warned, her voice brittle.

"No," he said firmly. "Can't you see that—" he stopped short.

"That what?" She wrenched her arm from his grasp and stepped backwards.

Whatever he had been about to say, he swallowed the words and stepped closer to her. CC was at the point of bumping into the wet bar when she turned fluidly and grabbed the abandoned glass full of bourbon. She gulped some, then handed the glass to Niles, waiting for his reaction. He let his fingers graze against hers as he took the tumbler from her; she felt her grip slipping just as he took the glass from her grasp. He drained it then set it back on the table.

Neither one could tell later who moved first, but somehow, they were standing chest to chest, their arms around one another as if this were not the first time they'd stood together like this. Niles dropped his forehead to her neck, catching his breath and inhaling the scent of her perfume. It was much stronger on her skin, he thought absent-mindedly, than it had been in her closet. The hint of sandalwood was intoxicating, and he couldn't stop himself from bringing his lips to her throat. He didn't kiss her, not quite, but he lingered there, his mouth only just on her.

When his lips touched her skin, CC felt her knees go weak, and she almost laughed at herself. She was not the kind of woman to be weak-kneed because of a man's embrace—especially this man—but here she was. She took a step back and leaned against the bar, grateful for support she didn't have to ask for. Niles raised his head and cocked an eyebrow. When she didn't shove him away, he stepped closer and leaned in again, finally kissing her throat.

CC couldn't hold back a moan of pleasure as his tongue made contact with her skin. He glanced up to see her expression, and before he could lean back down she lifted a hand to his chin to interrupt him on route to her neck. Disappointment washed over his features. But instead of stopping him entirely, she just tilted his head up and captured his lips with her own. His five o'clock shadow burned her fingers as she leaned into the kiss, and she trailed her hand down to rest on his shoulder. Her grip on him grounded her, grounded them both.

And oh, god, the taste of bourbon in his mouth was better than the best Kentucky had to offer, and she thought she was going to drown in it. Their lips slid together for what seemed like hours, for what seemed like seconds. When they finally parted to breathe, they both gasped in air and avoided each other's gaze.

Niles bit his lip and paused to see what she would do next. He looked at her first, but CC immediately turned her head back to face him, stiffening her spine. "What," she growled, "the hell was that?" She placed her hands on her panty-clad hips and shot him a look that filled him with equal measures of apprehension and arousal.

"If you don't know yet, I'm just going to have to show you again," he said, and he didn't know where he had found the confidence he injected into the words.

She would have snorted at his bravado if he hadn't pulled her right back into his arms, his hands grasping her hips this time to pull the lower halves of their bodies together.

She brought her hands to his face and whimpered at the contact. She never whimpered. But the feel of him through her panties and his trousers combined with his tongue in her mouth made her desperate to remove the layers between them, and she pushed away from him.

His lips parted from hers with a popping sound that might have been embarrassing if he weren't too turned on to pay attention to it. Her nipples were full and jutting at the tops of the cups of her bra, and he wasn't sure but he thought he had never seen anything more stunning than CC Babcock trying to catch her breath because he had stolen it with a kiss.

Fumbling, she shoved at his tuxedo jacket until he moved his shoulders to help her slide it off. She reached for his trousers and handily maneuvered the button and began on the zipper, while he reached tentatively for his bowtie. She glanced up. "God, yes, take that thing off. I hate them."

He made short work of the knot while she jerked at his trousers. "Be careful, would you, Babcock?" He complained as his zipper stuck and prevented his pants from sliding down.

She leaned back, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Take them off," she ordered.

"Bossy as ever, I see," he said, and she twisted her mouth before shoving past him.

He sorted his zipper and toed off his freshly shined shoes as he slid his trousers down, stepping out of them and following her towards the sofa.

"What do you think you're doing?" She taunted him as she sat down primly on the only corner of the furniture not covered by one of her two ivory dresses. Her formality was somewhat spoiled by her state of undress and the smear of lipstick on her mouth.

"For Christ's sake, do you need a manual?" Frustration and amusement warred in his voice.

She scowled at him. "Move my dress so you don't wrinkle it," she directed him.

Deliberately, he shoved the dress onto the floor. Which was, he was well aware, perfectly clean, because he had mopped it himself that morning.

She huffed in disgust. "Swine." She turned sideways, pulling her legs up onto the sofa.

He put a knee between her thighs, tilting her head up so that he could kiss her. "You love it," he mumbled against her lips.

She did snort that time. "You don't know me very well."

He lifted his head so he could look her in the eye. "I know you better than anyone," he said, and he spoke so frankly that she almost wondered if it were true.

Ill at ease with that topic, she pinched the white fabric of his button-down shirt and asked him, "Why are you still wearing this?" She pulled the loose bowtie from around his collar and tossed it on top of her dress.

"Wasn't sure I had permission to take it off." He narrowed his eyes at her.

She rolled hers back at him. "I wasn't aware you required permission," she mocked, and pulled him down on top of her.

The shirt momentarily forgotten, they both sighed as she spread her legs to cradle his body between them. He supported some of his weight on his elbows as he kissed her again, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the feel and the taste of him. He pulled back slightly, her bottom lip slipping from his teeth, and she poked him. "Take off the damn shirt."

"Yes, sir," he said, and if he hadn't been leaning on his arms, he would have saluted her.

She reached up and dealt with the buttons, then held his lower body in place with her knees as he struggled out of the shirt. She leaned back into the cushions and only just kept from groaning at the friction as he moved above her.

Niles stilled and settled back between her thighs, sliding down a bit to kiss the tops of her breasts. "If I may be so bold, why are you still wearing this?" He mimicked her words, then caught her bra between his teeth and pulled it down, exposing a nipple. Looking up at her to gauge her reaction, he found her eyes closed, her bottom lip sucked into her mouth. Since she didn't seem to be objecting, he shifted back and laved his tongue across the newly exposed flesh.

She bucked against him, bringing her hands to his head and running them through his hair. "Don't—just. Don't stop," she moaned, letting her hands drift to shoulders that were more muscular than they appeared when he was fully clothed. Niles skimmed his hand across her hip and down to her thigh, releasing one of the garter belts.

It flipped against her skin and she yelped, then smacked his arm. "I like whips as well as the next girl, but you gotta give me some warning," she drawled near his ear, then bit the lobe.

She grinned wickedly when she felt him grow harder against her panties. His breathing was labored, and he reached down to release the other belt, making sure it would sting as he unclipped it.

CC narrowed her eyes and managed not to react to the sharp twinge. "Oh, you're in for it now," she murmured, and he looked at her expectantly. The next morning, when his muscles ached as he moved, he would ask himself how he had ended up flat on his back on the floor in front of the fireplace but even then, he wasn't sure. His head had landed on CC's voluminous dress rather than on the hardwood floor, so at least he didn't have to worry about a concussion.

He looked up at her, and the cup he had lowered had slipped even further, exposing most of her right breast. He reached up and palmed it, squeezing gently. Whom was he kidding; he'd risk any number of concussions for this.

CC bit out, "Harder," as she writhed above him, straddling his hips and bearing down on the bulge in his briefs.

Niles pinched her nipple and they both gasped. He thrust up, and she scooted down and shoved his underwear aside, freeing him.

As he groped with one hand to help her out of her panties, a moment's hesitation overtook her. "What are we—Niles," she swallowed a moan as he twisted her nipple between his fingers. "Are we really doing this?"

He looked at her, dropping his hands to his sides on the floor. She had to exercise real restraint to avoid whimpering at the loss.

Niles closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. "If we're not, you need to find someplace else to sit. Right now." His voice shook, and he kept his eyes closed.

Her pause seemed interminable. She shouldn't, but fact of the matter was, she wanted to. Wanted to feel him under her and inside her and all around her. Wanted it to be Niles, even, for this brief moment, and the next day, she'd be discussing that desire with her psychiatrist, but for right now, she had made her decision. CC took his hand and brought it back up to her breast. "As you were," she told him, her voice rich and resonant, and lifted off him to shove her panties off completely.

Niles's eyes flew open as she repositioned herself above him, and at that moment, her breast came near his mouth. In one movement, he sucked her nipple between his teeth and bit down, hard. CC cried out, loudly enough to jolt her out of the pleasure caused by the pain. "Oh my god, what if someone heard that?" She asked, leaning back, her hand over her lips, self-conscious for the first time all evening as she remembered just where she was and what was happening outside the library.

"Just in case they didn't, let's see if I can make you do it again," he grinned.

She laughed grudgingly. "Don't you dare," she threatened, but shifted her weight backwards, her hand around his cock as she rose above him and then sank down, hissing as she took him inside her.

Niles closed his eyes so she wouldn't see them roll back in his head, and pushed against her, the rhythm awkward at first, but soon becoming more natural. He reached up and pulled her other cup down so both breasts were exposed. He didn't care that he'd broken the strap as he took both swollen nipples between his fingers and thumbs.

Gritting her teeth, she warned, "Niles, if you…" but she couldn't finish her thought because he pressed his fingers together hard and she came with an intensity that shocked both of them.

As her muscles clenched around him again and again, Niles drew in a ragged breath. "Baby, next time we need to get you some—"

She cut him off, still moving above him, but unable to deal with the potent mixture of emotions and pheromones coursing through her body. "What next time, baby?" She said it cruelly because she didn't know how to be kind, didn't have it in her to contemplate what it might mean that this man—this servant, she corrected herself—had made her come undone in a matter of minutes. He still—god, he still felt so good, and though she meant to lift herself off him and let him finish on his own, she sank back down again, almost vicious in her movements.

He couldn't look her in the eye, but he couldn't take his eyes off her, either. Gingerly, he brought one hand back up to her breast, the other to her clit. Though she scowled, she didn't stop him. He held her tenderly at first, but as she moved more and more erratically above him, he was soon rubbing her beyond the point of pain, and she clenched around him again. She arched her back but managed to remain silent. Moments later, he came with a guttural exclamation that might have been her name, but she refused to acknowledge the fact that she liked hearing it on his lips.

He lowered his hands to her hips, and his touch seared through her senses. She opened her eyes and looked down at him, at where they were still joined, at his hands on her body, and didn't meet his eyes.

"Babcock," he said hoarsely. "Look at me."

Studiously avoiding his gaze, she reached to pull her bra back into place and saw the damaged strap. She hadn't even noticed when it had happened, but she glowered at him now, before she could stop herself.

In his eyes, she saw something like affection, and she glanced away. "You owe me a bra," she said, and lifted her knee to scoot off him.

"Shall I go purchase it and bring it in to the office tomorrow?" His tone was cutting, and he watched her as she rose gracefully from the floor and grabbed a towel from the wet bar to clean up.

She glanced at him. "If you ever even hint to Maxwell that this happened, I'll ruin you." Her voice was like steel and he was inclined to believe her.

"When you figure out that Mr. Sheffield doesn't give a damn what or whom you do, you let me know. Because whether you're willing to admit it or not, what just happened was as good for you as it was for me." He said it snidely but he also meant what he said.

"Oh ho, the butler's got a lot of confidence," she ridiculed, as she tossed the towel at him. She'd be damned if she ever acknowledged any truth in his statement. "Could you get out? I need to dress and get back to the party."

He rolled onto his side and came slowly to his knees, adjusting his briefs as he did so. "Don't I get to zip you up?" He asked, and it could have been a jab at her as much as it could have been a request.

She looked him up and down. "Maybe next time," she responded, licking her lips. She bent down and handed him his shirt.

"Oh, well played," he said, looking at her in admiration. Did she say it to taunt him about what he would never have again, or did she mean that maybe there would be a next time? "At least I can live on in hope of that." It could have been sarcasm.

He quickly finished dressing and looked only a little worse for the wear. "Miss Babcock, it has been a pleasure."

She smirked at him, that look he could never interpret except to know that it turned him on. "Out, Niles," she commanded, and didn't look around until she heard the door close behind him.

She picked her dress up from its spot on the floor, attempting to shake out the wrinkles. A bit crushed, but otherwise presentable, she admitted, wondering if the butler had actually done some work for once. She reached behind her and unsnapped her bra, tossing it towards the luggage on the couch. She would be slightly scandalous in the ivory dress without one. Upon closer inspection, though the room was still lit only by the flames in the fireplace, she noticed an assortment of bras in the bag. Had he…? She ought to reprimand him for touching her things, but she was so grateful to avoid going braless in her dress that she quirked her lips into a smile. More evidence of him taking care of her, but she chose not to analyze the emotions that evoked.

She walked over to the intercom on the wall. "Niles, could you come in here? My zipper seems to be stuck."

THE END

A/N: Thanks to E for doing a quick read-through of this last chapter. And thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to review. I appreciate your comments more than you can imagine.