Chapter Text
Penelope sat by herself waiting in the Bridgerton drawing room. Eloise had invited her for tea after they had tentatively patched things up between themselves last week, but must have forgotten their engagement because both she and her mother were out shopping according to their butler. He advised that they were expected to arrive shortly, and hesitantly agreed when he suggested she might wait for them. She had a book in her reticule and was always comfortable in the Bridgerton drawing room. But while she was hopeful that she would be able to see Eloise, she most definitely did not want to run into Eloise’s brother.
It had only been two days since it happened. Colin had come over to attempt an apology for his horrible behavior at the Featherington Ball last year. Prudence and her mother were out having tea with her sister Phillipa when he came, leaving them quite alone in her drawing room. Penelope barely let him speak before truly laying into him. She told him what it meant to be a person’s friend. What it meant to look after them. How one should treat a person one considers special. How it felt to hear him speak that way about her when he thought she wasn’t listening. He looked pathetic. Like a lost puppy.
And then, she did it. She had no idea what possessed her. But she told him. She told him her deepest, darkest fear. She told him she was afraid to die without ever having been kissed. And in that moment, she was so furious with him that she forgot about being embarrassed just long enough that the question slipped out from between her lips. She asked him to kiss her.
Not because the thought it would change anything. She knew how he felt about her. Not in her wildest fantasies would he court her. But he was in such a state after she refused to reply to his letters all winter that she knew he would agree to just about anything. So she took advantage of the situation. She told him it wouldn’t mean anything, that she wouldn’t expect anything more from him. She just wanted one kiss before fading back into the background and finally disappearing into her inevitable spinsterhood.
He agreed. He kissed her so thoroughly that for a moment, she was able to forget everything and give herself over to the heat and passion of it all. Colin must have truly missed her friendship – he had put quite an effort into delivering a convincing performance for her.
When he began to speak though, some drivel about kisses being for two people, reality came crashing down on her. She knew she needed to put distance back between them before her heart began to forget again. She politely thanked him for his efforts. Colin must have realized then just how uncomfortable she made him feel, because he gruffly told her not to thank him, then stormed out of her drawing room. It was everything Penelope expected.
Penelope’s focus snapped to the present when she heard a slurping sound, followed by a low but intense moan coming from the other side of the Bridgerton drawing room. Her eyes locked on the sound, then grew wide at the sight before her. Colin, wearing shirtsleeves rolled to the elbow, was hovering between the doorway and the tea table eating a peach.
Penelope couldn’t look away and couldn’t make a sound. She was frozen. Colin was angled away from her such that he hadn’t seen her, yet she had a full profile view of him as he dove back in for a second bite of the ripe stone fruit.
He led with his tongue, lapping and then sucking at the juices before wrapping his lips around the sweet flesh and tenderly biting it. Penelope felt blood rushing and pulsing between her thighs that seemed to intensify with each movement he made. Colin let out another little moan – this time higher pitched and with a hint of surprise – causing Penelope to shift in her seat. Juice streamed down Colin’s forearm. He lifted his elbow in front of him, extended his wide, pink tongue, and began slowly licking towards his wrist.
Penelope’s heart was thundering in her chest, but she kept perfectly still and silent, still paralyzed by whatever this was, her eyes still focused on Colin’s every movement. When his tongue had traced a slow path halfway to his wrist, his eyes suddenly turned to the corner of the room Penelope sat in, and he saw her.
Colin’s eyes locked on Penelope’s. They stared at one another for what felt like days, Colin’s tongue still extended to the pulse point of his exposed wrist. Penelope’s chest heaved as her breath became ever more ragged. Then, without warning, and without taking his eyes off of Penelope’s, Colin dragged his tongue across his wrist, onto his palm, along the edge of his thumb, and through the crevice he had made in the peach. He sucked at the juicy void, humming an “Mmm.” into the silence.
Penelope dragged in a breath and shifted again in her seat, squeezing her thighs together in a futile attempt to silence the demanding throbbing sensation emanating from her core. Colin’s gaze remained firmly on Penelope, denying her even a moment’s relief. He moved the peach from his mouth, wiping at his chin roughly with the thumb of his free hand.
When Colin began to walk towards her, Penelope instinctively stood. “It’s so ripe.” he said, fighting against a smirk. “Really, you have to try it.” He didn’t stop walking until his was standing right in front of Penelope, far closer than polite society would deem appropriate. But then again, polite society would not approve of them being alone together in the drawing room, nor her staring. He held the peach up in front of her.
“I couldn’t.” Penelope whispered. She was still looking deep into Colin’s eyes. He was so close now that she could feel each warm breath of his swirling around her face and neck. Her eyes darted to the peach he held inches from her mouth, then back to his.
“It is the most perfect peach in London. You simply must.” he insisted, thrusting the peach even closer to her. He was looking at her so intently that she felt as if she would burst into flames at any moment. Her eyes darted rapidly back and forth between Colin and the peach. Something about this moment had caused her to lose all capability of rational thought or reason. Tentatively, Penelope bent her face forward, taking the edge of the peach with her lips, then biting into the flesh.
“Mmm!” Penelope moaned as she pulled her head back and chewed the morsel of fruit. Her senses were momentarily overwhelmed by the intense peach flavor and perfect sweetness. “Oh my goodness! You’re right, that is the most perfect peach in London!” she exclaimed.
“Have another bite. I couldn’t possibly keep this all to myself.” he practically gushed. Penelope eyed him for just a moment, but then her desire to have another taste of that exquisite fruit overrode any hesitations that played at the back of her mind. She leaned forward to take another bite.
Penelope again wrapped her lips around a small ridge, intending to take another demure nibble. But Colin, at the last moment, turned the peach into her mouth, causing her to take a rather large, extremely juicy mouthful. A short squeal emerged from the back of her throat as juice from the peach ran down her chin and dripped onto her chest.
A deep crimson flush covered Penelope’s cheeks and neck and she tried desperately to chew the massive piece of fruit filling her mouth. She looked furtively at Colin, who seemed quite pleased with himself as she struggled. Before she could do it herself, he had reached out with his free hand and rubbed the peach juice off of her chin with his thumb.
Penelope was feeling quite mortified in that moment until Colin did the very last thing she expected. He removed his thumb from her chin and licked it. His perfect, pink tongue languidly traced a curved path around the digit. Then, as if unsatisfied by his ministrations, he plunged his thumb into his mouth, visibly sucking at it before slowly dragging it out past his lips. Penelope could do nothing but stare.
When Colin finally finished cleaning his thumb, an intense look washed over his face. He looked at Penelope’s chest, then back to her face. “Pen, you’re quite the mess.”
“It’s your mess!” she protested, meaning nothing more than the explosion of juice was his fault for causing her to take such an unwieldy bite.
“My mess indeed.” he repeated, biting at his lower lip, lowering his eyes, and allowing a whisper of a growl to escape with his breath. In one fast, smooth movement, Colin wrapped his free hand around Penelope’s waist, bent his face to her chest, and began licking the peach juice from her decolletage.
“Colin!” Penelope yelped while simultaneously melting into his embrace.
“Do you want me to stop?” he rasped, breaking away until he heard her reply.
“No.” she breathed, and he continued on. He lapped up all of the juice from her chest, teasing and tracing with his tongue for far longer than each knew was necessary. He was sure to clean her neck as well, following the sticky sweet trails up to her chin. Then, finally dropping all pretense, Colin took her lips with his and began kissing her.
“Pen.” he moaned into her mouth. “My god, you taste so good.”
Penelope felt his tongue slip into her mouth as it had just two days ago. But this was different. She hadn’t begged him to kiss her. No, he was doing this entirely of his own volition. Surely he could have handed her his handkerchief if she innocently needed to wipe away some errant peach juice. He was licking her chest and neck because he wanted to. And now he was kissing her. Again. Colin Bridgerton was kissing her again.
Penelope gave herself over to the moment. She mimicked the way Colin swirled his tongue, improvising a bit on her own. She wrapped one arm around the back of his neck, using it to balance as she stood on her tip toes and leaned into his kiss. She let her other hand press into his chest, feeling for the first time the firm muscles behind his waistcoat.
His lips were soft but demanding. She felt passion and desire behind them as they pulled and kneaded and sucked at hers. He pulled her body firmly into his by her waist, smiling against her lips as he gasped, “Pen. Oh, Pen. Penelope. Pen… Oh god!”
Suddenly she could hear it too – his mother and Eloise had just entered the front door downstairs. They snapped apart. Penelope wiped at her chest and neck, ensuring the were dry, grabbed her book, and put it in front of her nose on the settee. Colin wiped furiously at his own mouth, then practically ran to the other side of the drawing room, taking a seat and posing himself for the moment his family would walk in.
Before they did however, Colin managed to catch Penelope’s eye one last time. His expression was different then she had seen it before. It looked like a combination of dazed, confused, and hungry. His eyes softened, and he whispered one last “Pen.” at her, giving a sweet smile, then turning towards the doorway expectantly.
Violet and Eloise walked in, surprised to see Penelope on the settee reading. “Oh no! I forgot Eloise invited you today, I’m so sorry dear.” Violet exclaimed upon seeing Penelope look up from her book.
“That’s quite alright Lady Bridgerton. I’ve had Colin to keep me company.” Penelope replied, nodding to the other side of the large room.
“Some company he is!” Eloise interjected. “All he has to talk about are Cyprus and food.”
Colin looked to Eloise and Violet first before allowing his eyes to fall back to a somewhat flushed Penelope. “Speaking of, these peaches are incredible!” Colin cheered, but then shifted his tone to a low, serious gravel. “The most perfect thing I have ever put to my lips.”