Lessons From a Scarlet Lady (28 page)
He wasn’t Robert, downing wine this evening like he had a financial interest in the vineyards of France, but he did feel off balance enough to wonder if he was dreaming. Brianna’s recent fatigue made him leery of taxing her strength by keeping her up late, and he’d promised himself to not approach her this evening.
Instead, she’d approached
him
.
him
.
“Close your eyes.”
The sultry suggestion made him laugh, a sound torn from deep in his chest as she walked across the room toward him, her hips moving in a seductive sway.
“If you wished me to close my eyes, madam, you shouldn’t have chosen that particular attire,” he said, admiring the gentle shift of her breasts with each step.
“Can you humor me?” There was a breathless quality to her voice, and her midnight blue eyes held his with a curious luminescence.
I would give you the world.
He didn’t say it out loud, and even the thought was startling. Brianna had taken on a new persona in his eyes. She wasn’t just a very beautiful young woman who aroused his lust and graced his bed. Over the past five days he’d watched her interact with his grandmother, charm his brothers, act the gracious hostess to their guests, laugh with her friends, and most of all be his
wife
.
wife
.
Not just the Duchess of Rolthven. No, not just that.
But his
wife
. He had the oddest feeling that if he lived in a fish shack off the shore of Wales and relied on the sea for his living, he would still be happy with her at his side.
wife
. He had the oddest feeling that if he lived in a fish shack off the shore of Wales and relied on the sea for his living, he would still be happy with her at his side.
The most confounding thing of all was that he realized he’d never even considered the
idea
of happiness before. That emotion was just something he’d always assumed was his. He was privileged. Titled. Wealthy. Powerful. Hence . . . happy.
idea
of happiness before. That emotion was just something he’d always assumed was his. He was privileged. Titled. Wealthy. Powerful. Hence . . . happy.
Upon reflection, no, not so. He knew too many of his class who led meaningless lives. They spent their fortunes, drank to excess, exchanged mean-hearted gossip, and avoided one of the fundamentals that made existence on this planet worthwhile.
Love.
It was the first time he’d contemplated the matter, and with his wife so close—and so naked—he couldn’t exactly concentrate. “Humor you?”
“Close your eyes,” she repeated. “And put your arms over your head.”
He’d walk across glowing coals for her at this point. “I see little sense in your request, but I’ll comply.”
Colton let his lashes drift down and lifted his arms above his head so they rested on the ornate headboard. His cock, hard against the plane of his stomach, pulsed in time with the beat of his heart.
Brianna joined him on the bed. He could feel the give of the mattress and the wash of her evocative scent made his muscles tighten. When she bent over him and her silky hair brushed his bare chest, he groaned. “Don’t move,” she ordered.
It took some effort to not simply trap her in his arms and roll her onto her back so he could take possession of her luscious body, but he was curious. He felt the slide of fabric a moment later, encircling his wrist and he realized incredulously she had bound his arm to the bed. His eyes flews open. “Brianna, what the devil are you doing?”
“Rendering you helpless to resist me.” She knelt next to him, finishing tying the knot. Slender fingers grasped his other wrist, urging it back into position. “Though I imagine you could get free if you truly wished to, so it is more symbolic than anything else.”
It was insane—that’s what it was. He’d never had a woman try to tie him to a bed. “I am almost afraid to ask this, but symbolic of what?” Colton muttered.
“Trust.” She looped the silk twice just above his hand, and then tied it to the post of the headboard, her brow knitted in concentration. “Are you comfortable enough?”
His shoulders were propped against the pillows and other than feeling a bit a foolish over being trussed, naked and fully aroused, to a set of bedposts, he was fine, so he gave a grudging nod. “Can you please tell me why the issue of trust has arisen?”
Her fine brows rose as she sank back and surveyed her handiwork. “
I
trust
you
. It goes without saying. You are much larger and stronger and if you wished, you could do whatever you pleased and I would be helpless to stop you.”
I
trust
you
. It goes without saying. You are much larger and stronger and if you wished, you could do whatever you pleased and I would be helpless to stop you.”
“I would never force you to do anything against your will,” he protested, testing the bonds. There was enough slack he could move his arms a little, but he hardly wanted to tighten the knots into impossible tangles, so he tried to relax.
“I know.” Brianna looked down at him with a glimmering smile. “I trust you to want to give me pleasure, and not just take yours. That is what this is about. I wish to give
you
pleasure.”
you
pleasure.”
“You always give me pleasure.”
That purely female smile deepened to something else, a small dimple appearing in her cheek. “Yes, but this time I will do all the work. Does that sound appealing?”
It did. A man would have to cease breathing to deny it. She sat next to him on the bed, close enough he could feel the warmth from her body, her wicked gown revealing more of her beautiful form than it concealed, rosy nipples peeking from beneath a veil of lace, the downy thatch of golden hair between her slim thighs enticing him with each movement she made. Her hair, so pale and shimmering, fell over her bared shoulders to nearly her waist and he ached to touch it, to bury his fingers in the satiny strands, to see it spilled over the bed as he took her.
“Does it?” Her fingers went to the tie at her bodice and she looked at him under the fringe of her lush lashes. “Colton?”
He’d forgotten the question. He was pretty sure he’d forgotten to breathe, his gaze riveted on her hand poised to reveal paradise. “Yes,” he said, his voice just a rasp of sheer need. “Do whatever you want.”
“I rather hoped you’d say that.” His wife pulled the ribbon free and the filmy garment slid down, over the full, pale globes of her breasts, past her thighs, and she shifted to remove it completely. Gloriously nude, Brianna rose on her knees, her hand lifting to trail down his bare chest, past the tense muscles in his stomach to his stiff cock. He gasped and closed his eyes as she gently circled him and began to stroke.
Up and down, base to crest, squeezing gently at the top. He felt the fluid of his own discharge from the distended tip begin to aid her efforts, the slick motion of her hand increasing its erotic rhythm. His hips lifted spasmodically, his spine arching as he broke out in a sweat. Between his teeth, Colton said, “You should probably stop or this will be a very short evening.”
“You like this?” Her fingers tightened, just a fraction. Almost a fraction too much, for he was ready to explode.
“I like it,” he confirmed.
“Then why should I stop?”
He didn’t have a definitive answer since the glide of her hand held him spellbound.
“Do you ever do this yourself?”
The extremely personal question made him open his eyes. It didn’t help matters. The sight of her caressing him to climax almost made him lose control. Ejaculation was about two heartbeats away. “What?” he growled.
She looked thoughtful, continuing her erotic torture, the motion of her hand the focus of his world. “I have never touched myself, but I know women do.”
How the hell does she know that?
It was too much. The image flashed into his brain of Brianna, naked and flushed, bringing herself to climax, and he went over the edge. Any control he had vanished and he felt the hot rush of ejaculation over his chest, his cock flexing as he spilled, her hand still working him until he went lax in the prison of his bonds.
She released him, and when he was able to have a coherent thought, he realized his lovely wife had an odd expression on her face. She reached out a finger and traced a path through the pool of hot seed on his skin. “I am not sure I realized that was exactly how it works. I mean I’ve felt you do that inside me but it’s quite a bit more than I supposed.”
How the hell could she be so innocent and at the same time exhibit more sensuality than any woman he’d ever known? “I’d rather do it inside you,” he said. “And I intend to if you’ll give me a minute or two.”
“You forget, darling.” Her voice was a low sensual purr. “I happen to know you can, well, do
this
more than once in a short amount of time. Here, let me clean you off and then see what I can do to help.”
this
more than once in a short amount of time. Here, let me clean you off and then see what I can do to help.”
She used her peignoir to swab the stickiness from his torso and then she stretched out on top of his supine body and kissed him. Slow, soft kisses with delicate little swipes of her tongue against his lips, wiggling just enough against him in a manner so effective he felt the returning swell of his erection in record time. The sorcery continued, her supple body moving, arousing, her arms clasped around his neck as they lay skin to skin in a position so sexual, so
intimate
, he felt moved, and it was more than just the returning hardness of his cock. Brianna kissed his neck, his jaw, the shell of his ear, her breath warm and moist, her breasts cushioned against his chest. Her nipples were jeweled peaks and he longed to taste them, to suck them deep until she made that special little sound he loved.
intimate
, he felt moved, and it was more than just the returning hardness of his cock. Brianna kissed his neck, his jaw, the shell of his ear, her breath warm and moist, her breasts cushioned against his chest. Her nipples were jeweled peaks and he longed to taste them, to suck them deep until she made that special little sound he loved.
True to her promise, she made love to him.
When he was ready, she straddled his hips and lowered herself onto his throbbing shaft, her silky heat slowly taking him deep. Colton found himself for the first time in his life fascinated by the look on a woman’s face as he was inside her, not just by the sensation the act itself evoked. Brianna moved and wooed exquisite feeling as she rode his hips, her hands braced on his shoulders, the faint furrow of concentration on her brow as arousing as the symmetrical sway of her breasts with the motion of their bodies.
Still bound with his arms above his head, he could do nothing for her, but he needn’t have worried. She climaxed first, her mouth parting, her lithe form going tense as her inner muscles clenched and she made a sound somewhere between a scream and a gasp.
It undid him, and his powerless body responded, his hips surging upward so he could deposit his seed against her womb. When she collapsed against his chest, he managed to say, “Untie me.”
“When I can move, I will,” she mumbled against his damp skin. “That could be in about a century or so.”
There was no help for it; he chuckled. “I have a vision of your maid coming in tomorrow and finding us like this. I am not sure how I would explain it.”
“I’ll try to revive enough to release you.” Brianna lifted her head and gave him a heart-stopping, teasing smile. “Though I am tempted to keep you my prisoner.”
He was already too much her captive. “That sounds pleasant enough,” he said in a husky tone.
She reached up and slid loose the knot confining his right wrist. “I warn you, I am not done with your birthday gift yet.”
Colton gave a theatrical groan. “I am not eighteen any longer. Have mercy.”
“It will require no more stamina, I promise.” She loosened his other wrist, wrestling with the tie.
Something in the tone of her voice and the averted angle of her profile gave him pause. “Is that so?” he asked slowly. “You can only imagine my anticipation. So far this has been an evening of pleasant surprises.”
“I rather hope you will find this pleasant, Your Grace.”
The use of his title was usually an indication he was in trouble of some kind. Colton peered at his wife, trying to read her expression.
“I love you.”
He went entirely still. Paralyzed. Immobile.
She whispered again. “I love you. I’ve wanted to say it before but there never seems to be the right time. I thought perhaps I should finally tell you.”
I love you.
“I’ve known,” she went on, when he didn’t speak or move, “since the second we met. And I really believe that is true. Actually, it might have been before we were formally introduced. I looked across the room and saw you and just
knew
.”
knew
.”
Good God.
“Could you possibly say something?” Brianna looked at him with those beautiful dark blue eyes, her mouth trembling just a little.
No, he couldn’t. He literally could not speak. Instead, he caught her to him, taking her lips in a crushing, soul-shattering kiss.
Chapter Sixteen
Instead of attempting to move around the obstacles in your way, occasionally it is necessary to bump into them. It is the same with love.
From the chapter titled: “The Philosophy of Romance”
“I
understand Lord Robert left quite early.”
understand Lord Robert left quite early.”
Rebecca looked up sharply, not sure how to interpret Loretta Newman’s remark. Or if there even was an interpretation. Maybe the woman was just making conversation.
“Did he?” Rebecca picked up a piece of toast and took a small bite.
“At dawn’s light. It’s a nasty day for travel, isn’t it?” Mrs. Newman glanced at the window, which showed streaks of moisture. The morning was dismal and gray, but at least it coincided with the end of the party, not the beginning. When Rebecca had risen and gone down to breakfast in the vast dining room, she’d discovered Robert had been as good as his word and departed for London hours before, despite the drizzle falling steadily from sooty skies.
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