Simply Sinful (7 page)

“I know you run a shipping business. It must be very time consuming.”

Her voice had a slight huskiness to it, which belied her innocent looks. He escorted her into the dining room, pulled out her chair and waited until she sat down. She waved him into the place set on her right.

“It certainly can be. Although, I confess, I enjoy being busy.”

“Unlike me.” James’s laughter rang out as he entered the room behind them and took the seat across from Peter.

“I beg to disagree,” Peter said. “Running an estate such as this must take up a considerable amount of your time.”

“Abby runs it, not me.”

Peter studied his hostess, who had started to blush and bite her full lower lip. Her skin was as fine as porcelain, her manner that of a woman unused to receiving a compliment.

“Is that true, Lady Beecham? Perhaps you and I should sit down and talk about the problems of maintaining a full staff and the iniquities of our government’s fiscal policies.”

She stared at him for a long while. He held her gaze, willing to accept her scrutiny if it gave her some measure of his willingness to please. He inclined his head as a footman offered him some pea soup.

“Mr. Howard, you almost sound sincere.”

“I meant to.”

She blinked at him. “Not many men believe a woman is capable of doing much else than fine embroidery and gossiping.”

“Then they are fools. Some of the best managers I have ever known are women.” He smiled at her. “Why should you not use the gifts God gave you?”

“Why indeed?” James replied for her, glass in his hand as he toasted his guest. “I told you Peter would understand, Abby.” He winked at his wife. “At heart she is a true businesswoman. She was the one who recommended I speak to your business partner, Valentin Sokorvsky, about investing in one of your cargoes.”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “Really? Then perhaps we might discuss that at your convenience as well, ma’am.”

He returned his attention to the excellent soup and quickly finished it. The dining room was small and intimate. Faded green silk painted like a woodland scene covered the top of the walls. Intricate oak paneling encircled the bottom.

To his surprise, he sensed little tension between his host and hostess. As he listened to them talk, he hastily revised his opinion that they were at odds. In truth, they seemed to be the good friends James had sworn they were. Their ease with each other demonstrated a relationship of long-standing affection.

Perhaps James was right. With a little help from Peter, they might be able to find true companionship in bed as well. Lady Beecham intrigued him. Behind that shy exterior was an intelligent straightforward woman. He was almost looking forward to seeing her and James in bed with him.

“Do you like the countryside, Mr. Howard?”

He turned to address his hostess. “I have little experience of it, my lady. I’ve mainly lived and worked in the city. Do you prefer it yourself?”

Her chin went up several notches. “Have you ever met me in town?”

“Touché, madam. Of course I haven’t or I would surely have remembered you. I assume you prefer to live here quietly all year round.”

She sighed. “That was not well done of me, was it? I should learn to be more polite. Perhaps that is another reason why I wouldn’t fare well in the heart of the
ton
.”

“Because you are honest?” He captured her gaze. “You may be right but it certainly is refreshing. And you may always be honest with me. I would much rather have a conversation with someone who speaks the truth to my face than someone who smiles at me and later stabs me in the back. Perhaps I should come and live in the countryside for a while and learn how to be so direct.”

She was saved from answering him by the arrival of the main course. Peter selected from several dishes including some succulent pork in a mint sauce, and then the servants withdrew, leaving them to serve themselves. Something nudged his foot. He realized that the tip of James’s boot was rubbing up the inside of his leg.

He concentrated on his dinner, aware that his cock was half-erect and that James was edging closer to it with every sweep of his foot. Lady Beecham ate her dinner, seemingly unaware of the heightened sexual tension around the small dining table. The toe of James’s boot nudged Peter’s balls.

“Do you like this?”

Peter straightened with a start as he realized his hostess pointed at a steamed treacle pudding and was not referring to what her husband was doing to him under the table.

“I’ve always been partial to a good pudding, ma’am.” He pushed his chair back an inch and James’s foot fell to the floor with an audible thump. “It was one of the things I missed most during my time abroad.”

Abby glared at James. What was he doing to make their guest so uneasy? Mr. Howard appeared to be blushing. Her gaze dropped to the table. Surely James wouldn’t be so outrageous as to provoke their guest right in front of her? It seemed that Mr. Howard felt the same as she did. There was a place and a time for everything.

She’d often wondered exactly what James did in bed with another man. She’d tried to imagine how it might be different and how the same. Would a man enjoy James’s strength and power pressing him into the mattress? She always felt powerless and suffocated. She glanced at Mr. Howard. He didn’t seem an easy man to intimidate. Perhaps another man might control James more easily.

Mr. Howard was not what she had expected at all. He was fair haired with sleepy blue eyes. His skin was tanned, which only highlighted the numerous small lines on his face, making him even more mysterious and attractive. He was also one of the most relaxed men she had ever met. And yet she sensed behind the stillness a wary quality that spoke of hard-earned experience and lessons learned.

His interest in her wasn’t feigned either. He truly listened when she spoke and answered her in the same manner as he did her husband. Her curiosity stirred, and she went as far as to contemplate what it might be like to share a bed with this glorious silver-haired, silver-tongued man.

After dinner, she correctly left the men to their port and escaped up to her bedchamber. The curtains were drawn and the room was warm and safe. Nothing could hurt her here. She knew James had put Peter in the bedroom beyond his own, which meant that if she didn’t choose to see him, she didn’t have to.

The question was, did she want to?

The ludicrous notion of allowing another man to show her and James how to deal better with each other in bed suddenly seemed possible. She knew instinctively that Peter Howard was not the kind of man who gossiped or sought scandal. He’d told her to be honest with him. If she were true to her desires, she knew she wanted to find out more about him.

Her plain white nightgown lay on the bed, and she slipped into it. Her body felt different, more alive, her skin heated and sensitive. Was she brave enough to march into James’s bedchamber and tell him that she wanted to go ahead? She put on her embroidered dressing gown and settled down to list all the arguments in her head.

6

P
eter accepted the candlestick James gave him and followed his host upstairs. As they ascended, their huge shadows played hide-and-seek with the portraits and faded curtains. The house creaked around them like an old man settling his bones into bed. James stopped at the last door on the long corridor and pushed it open.

“This is your room.”

Peter grinned at him. “I know. I came up here to change.”

James smiled back as he closed the door behind them both. He leaned forward to press a kiss on Peter’s mouth. He pointed at a door set in the middle of the opposite wall.

“But more important, that’s the door into my room. My father kept his mistress, Rose, here and my mother on the other side in the countess’s chambers.”

“How convenient for him. And what did your mother think of that?”

James shrugged. “I think after producing six children she was quite relieved. In all their years together, I never saw her and Rose exchange a cross word.”

Peter shuddered as James slid his hand down over Peter’s flat stomach and erect cock to cup his balls. “Have you missed me, then, Peter?”

“Yes, can’t you tell?”

James squeezed hard and dropped to his knees. “Let me suck you quickly before I go and meet my valet.”

“It won’t take long. I’ve been hard since I got here.” Peter sighed as James swallowed his whole shaft in one sudden motion. “Ah, God, that feels…” He came fast, pumping his seed down James’s throat.

James stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Perhaps you’ll return the favor later?”

“If you promise it will not disturb your wife.”

James tore his gaze away from Peter’s now-flaccid cock. “If you let me into your bed and we are reasonably discreet, there’s no reason she will ever know.” He frowned. “Why, does the thought of fucking me here make you uncomfortable?”

“I like your wife. I wouldn’t wish to hurt her, especially in her own home.”

James grimaced. “Thank you for reminding me of that. She deserves a better man than me.” He glanced toward Peter’s bed. “It’s true that I’ve never brought a man home before. I’ll ask Abby if she minds.”

Peter tried not to show his amusement at James’s candid remarks. He truly did have a remarkable marriage if he could discuss such matters openly with his wife. “Does your wife inhabit the countess’s chambers?”

“She does.” James glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. “In fact, she usually comes into my room to chat after I’ve sent my valet away. Why don’t you meet us there in about half an hour?”

Peter paused in the act of removing his cravat. “Are you sure, James? Don’t you think my appearing in your bedchamber might seem a little premature?”

James laughed as he opened the connecting door. “If Abby doesn’t want you there, she’ll tell you so herself. But I think I know her well enough to say that her curiosity is definitely aroused.”

Peter contemplated his reflection in the mirror. Common sense told him it was too soon and that he should take his time to ascertain exactly what Lady Beecham wanted before he strolled into her husband’s bedroom dressed in his nightclothes. Instinct told him James was right and that he might as well find out now whether he was in with a chance of success.

He slid his breeches down and stroked his cock as he removed his underclothes. Lady Beecham intrigued him—her sharp intelligence an instant attraction in a woman who appeared to have no vanity or ability to flirt. If she truly was as straightforward as she seemed, he should be able to decide exactly what she wanted from him in the next few days.

He stripped off the rest of his clothes and washed himself, concentrating on his cock. James’s quick, rough mouth had aroused him and he wanted more. He enjoyed the slick feel of the soap on his shaft, which was more than ready to fuck again. He wanted to pull James under him and make him beg to be allowed to come….

Peter shivered as he wrapped his aroused body in his long, black dressing gown. In James’s room he made out the softness of a woman’s voice. He tightened the belt on his robe and looked at the clock. It would soon be time to find out whether he was truly welcome.

“Do you mind if I sleep with him?”

James’s opening question made Abby want to smile. He lounged against her bedroom door looking as anxious as a schoolboy who expected to be punished. She walked past him into his bedroom.

“In here?”

She indicated the imposing ducal bed, complete with embroidered curtains emblazoned with the family crest and motto. The room’s unspoken assumption that she was ready and willing to produce the next heir always made her shudder. “Are you sure the ancestral ghosts will approve?”

“I don’t care about the ghosts. I care about what you think.” He followed her in and shut the door. “And no, I wouldn’t fuck him here. I’d go to his bed so that you wouldn’t be disturbed.”

Abby stared at the door opposite that led into Peter Howard’s chamber. Fuck was such an evocative word and one that James had never used in front of her before. She glanced at him. How would she feel knowing her lawful husband was performing indecent acts with another man two doors down from her bed?

James shifted his stance. “Abby, I’d be discreet. None of the staff will know, I promise you that.”

She shrugged. “You’d be surprised what they know. They already know how little time you spend in my bed. I’m sure they take great delight in reporting that back to your mother.” The hint of bitterness in her voice surprised her.

“That would never do.” He went to pour them both a brandy. “The last thing I want is to make matters worse here for you. I can wait.”

She sighed as he gave her the glass and sat down. “I sound like a shrew, please forgive me.”

He took her other hand and kissed her wrist. “That’s not necessary. I’m behaving abominably as usual. Peter told me I was being inconsiderate.”

Abby hid a smile. Her husband’s lover was reminding him of his manners? Perhaps she should thank him later.

“Do you like him?” James sat opposite her, brandy glass poised in his hand.

“Yes. He is a very interesting man.”

James smiled at her. “I knew you would. He is unlike anyone I have ever encountered before in the narrow world of the
ton.
”

“I think he is a man you could trust.”

“I think so too.”

She glanced up as there was a knock on the door. James met her gaze.

“Are you ready to see him, Abby, or shall I tell him to go?”

She drew in a deep breath. “I want to talk to him.”

Still holding her gaze, he turned his head. “Peter? The door is open; come in.”

Abby held her breath as Peter Howard came into the room. He wore a long, black dressing gown, which covered him from shoulder to toe. Even though the garment revealed less of his body than his evening clothes, the sight of his long, lean figure made her shiver. Did James understand how hard it was for her to step outside the safety of the life she had created to achieve her goal? Somehow she sensed Peter would understand that better than her husband.