Beauty and the Earl (6 page)

Her body wasn’t normally so pliable. She found pleasure, yes, with every lover, but not like this. Not like a wildfire that needed to be extinguished before it destroyed everything in its path.

The power of it
did
frighten her, even if she denied it.
 

“You are beautiful,” he breathed, lifting his gaze to look at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “And I want to be inside of you, to take some of that beauty for a short time.”

She drew back at that unexpected sentiment. She examined his face, all the hard lines and angles, the dark green eyes dilated with pleasure. It would be easy to only see control, passion, lust there…but deeper, in a place she doubted he wanted anyone to see, she saw desperation. Sadness.

“Take what you need,” she whispered as she reached for the waistband of his trousers. “Take everything.”

He kept his stare on her for a moment, then brushed her hands aside and all but tore his buttons open. His pants dropped around his ankles, and she sucked in a breath.

The lean, muscular body she so admired was something to behold in a fully nude and fully ready state. His cock nearly touched his navel, proud and heavy with lust.

She reached around to cup his firm backside as she drew him closer, kissing him, tasting his tongue and letting the ache of desire he had satisfied with his fingers just a moment before build again, this time to greater, more frantic heights.
 

“Lay down,” he ordered, his voice rough and low as he pulled away from her kiss.

She slid onto the bed and rested back against the pillows, enjoying every moment as he crawled up to join her. He covered her body with his, settling himself between her legs and letting the tip of his cock nudge at the opening of her body. She wiggled, trying to get closer as he delved into her with a deep kiss that stole everything that kept her grounded.

She clutched at his shoulders, massaging his hard, warm flesh as he dragged his hand between them and guided his cock to the right place.

He thrust, and she was utterly lost. She lifted to meet him, kissing him deeper. He was heavy over her, but she reveled in his weight, reveled in the rhythmic thrusts between her legs. His pelvis hit her clitoris every time he dove deeper into her body, and it didn’t take long before her second orgasm of the night began to build deep within her.

She tilted her head back against the pillow, biting her lip as pleasure mounted, mounted and finally burst like a dam holding back water for far too long.

“Scream for me,” he ordered, staring down as she did just that, losing herself in release so powerful that the world spun before her eyes as she rocked through it.

His movements came faster now as she continued to come, squeezing his cock with her body while the tremors spiraled faster and harder. She could see he was on the edge, the tendons in his neck straining, his mouth tightening. He barked out a massive shout of relief and then pulled from her to spill between them in a hot burst of satisfaction.

Then he collapsed over her, his mouth against her neck where he showered light kisses and his body shaking with the same powerful pleasure that still made her tremble too. She put her arms around him, holding him as their breath merged into one. And as she stared at him, she wondered yet again if she was truly prepared for what she had agreed to in London that seemed like so long ago.

Liam shut the chamber door and walked back to the bed with the heaping tray of food balanced precariously on his good arm. As he set it down on the rumpled coverlet, Violet let out a sound of excited pleasure that made his stomach clench and his cock ache.

Damn, but the woman did entice. Especially when she was wrapped in nothing more than his thick white sheets, which seemed to accentuate the olive tones of her soft skin.
 

“Oh, this looks divine,” she breathed as he sat down beside her.
 

He looked at the tray, which was laden with food easily eaten in just such circumstances. He was certain his cook wasn’t pleased to have been asked to alter her supper menu, but the olives, cheeses, chicken and breads did look tempting.

“Eat,” he ordered as he shed his robe and slid into the bed beside her.
 

She popped an olive between her full lips and almost rocked with pleasure. “Mmm, so famished. I’m so glad you didn’t decide not to feed me.”

He looked at her in surprise for a moment, then laughed. She was like no woman he had ever known. Certainly not like any of the women he had bedded since the accident. She didn’t coo or play or pout. In fact, he never knew what she
would
do or say.

“How long are you in Bath for holiday?” he asked.

She buttered a slice of thick-cut bread before she answered. “A few weeks, and you?”

He felt his smile fall at the question, but kept his tone even. “I had not made specific plans.”

“Hmmm,” she replied, her eyes still on the plate of food. He thought he saw her cast a side glance in his direction, but her gaze flitted away too swiftly for him to be certain if there was any meaning to the look.

“Violet, why don’t you forget your place in Bath? Stay here with me instead.”
 

The moment he said it, he shook his head. He hadn’t intended to invite this woman to stay with him. And yet here he had done it and somehow he did not regret it. He should have been finished with her, but he wasn’t.
 

She tilted her head with a slight smile. “You mean as your houseguest?”

He shifted slightly. She was teasing him, but she was also forcing him to ask for what he wanted directly. Another move in what was turning out to be a battle for control between them. He found it rather…invigorating, actually. Too often everyone just gave him what he wanted, either out of deference to his title or pity for his past.

“No,” he said. “Stay with me as my lover.”

She didn’t respond for a long moment, nor did she look at him. “I told you, my lord, I am not in the market for a protector at present.”

“And I told you, I’m not in the market to become one,” he replied, his voice a little sharp.
 

She jerked her face up at the statement, and her eyes narrowed. “You are saying you want me to come here as your lover simply because I choose to be? No ulterior motives, no exchanges of promises.”

He looked at her evenly. He understood why a woman in her position might not accept such a bargain. He’d never judged courtesans for trading in their bodies for survival. And although he hadn’t spent time with Violet over the years, he had seen her enough and heard about her enough to know she was very good at the bargains she made. Men liked her, wanted her, and they were willing to pay for the privilege of her company, both in and out of bed.

But he couldn’t go down that road. Keeping a mistress was not in his mind, and he wouldn’t insult her by implying she was a lightskirt who would accept trade for a night. Nor would he lie just to keep her. It wasn’t fair to her.

“So far we have had no promises or ulterior motives, have we?” he asked.

Her gazes flitted away for a moment, and he stiffened. Despite her claims at the baths that she had come to him simply for pleasure,
had
she approached him with the idea that he would keep her? He couldn’t blame her if she had, but he wouldn’t have his mind changed.

“You do intrigue me,” she admitted as she rested back on the pillows and stared at him through a hooded gaze. “Let me think about your offer.”

He pushed the tray aside and reached up to the edge of the sheet. Slowly, he pulled it down, uncovering her breasts inch by inch. She gasped at the fabric dragging across her skin.

“Let me give you something to think about,” he whispered as he leaned up and braced his arm beside her head. She opened her legs and he took the unspoken invitation, driving hard into her body with a groan of pleasure that spiraled him away from reality, away from everything but the tight grip of her pussy around him.

As he pounded into her, her body jerking beneath his as her pleasure built, he realized how much he wanted to be lost in what she offered. For a few weeks, he needed what she provided.

After that? Well, he had his own plans. And they were ones which no one in his life could alter. Even the woman whose legs were wrapped around his hips, whose mouth dragged across his, whose folds clung to his cock as he fucked himself into blissful, pleasurable oblivion.

Chapter Five

The sun was already high in the sky when Violet slipped back into the home Lord and Lady Rothcastle had let for her. She smiled at the servant who greeted her.

“Thank you, Simms. Could you tell Rachel to begin preparations for a bath?”

The butler sniffed dismissively, but nodded regardless of his obvious judgment of her. “Yes, miss. Right away.”

Violet held back a sigh as she walked up the stairs toward her chamber. She had grown so accustomed to her own home in London, with her tolerant servants, that she found herself stung by the new man’s disregard. Though she recognized some of that sting was multiplied by her own hesitation about what she was doing.

She sighed as she turned the knob at her chamber door. She hadn’t fully opened it when the chamber across the hall opened and revealed a bleary-eyed Olivia, still in her dressing gown.

Violet forgot the snotty butler and laughed. “You were still abed?”

“I am not a morning person.”

“Lucky for you it is afternoon,” Violet teased.
 

Olivia stuck out her tongue as she crossed the hall and gave her friend a squeeze before she followed her into her chamber. Violet sat down to toe off her slippers.

“Considering you are just returning home, I assume things went well with the earl?” Olivia asked, motioning Violet to turn around so she could unbutton her, since Rachel was likely arranging water for the tub that was set in the corner of Violet’s chamber, behind a screen.

To Violet’s surprise, her cheeks flamed with sudden heat at her friend’s observation. She lifted her hands to cover them and shook her head. She hadn’t blushed in years! She prayed the pinkness would fade before she was forced to look at Olivia again, for her friend would surely notice and crow endlessly.

“He wants me to stay with him,” she said.

Behind her, Olivia unfastened the last button and then grabbed her by the elbow to swing her around to face her. Her friend’s eyes were wide. “Really?”

Violet shoved out of her gown and caught up the robe that was draped over the chair beside her fire. Before she could respond, Rachel opened the chamber door and smiled.

“Good afternoon, miss. They’re bringing the water now.”

Violet nodded, stepping back as footmen entered the room with steaming buckets of clean, hot water. She could feel Olivia bouncing with impatience as they filled her tub and Rachel fussed with scented oils to add to the water.

For her part, Violet was just as happy not to have to respond to Olivia’s surprise right away. Although she had come here with the express purpose of getting closer to Liam, his invitation had surprised her. Especially when he kept repeating his mantra that he would not, could not keep her.

She brushed aside any unwanted feelings his declaration might have foolishly caused in her and turned to Rachel as the other servants left her room.

“Thank you,” she said to the girl. “Will you oversee the laundering of the gown?”

She motioned to the discarded outfit, and the girl swept it up. “Of course, miss. Will you need anything else?”

“I’ll help her,” Olivia volunteered.

Rachel bobbed out a nod and once again Violet was grateful for a servant she knew well. Rachel had been with her long enough to be accustomed to the fact that she and Olivia often spent long hours gossiping and chatting, sometimes while requesting privacy. Rachel didn’t even find it odd anymore, nor did she intrude.
 

And right now, Violet did not want intrusion.

“Very good,” the girl said. “I will come back in an hour to help you dress and do your hair.”

She slipped from the room without another word, shutting the door behind her.

The moment they were alone, Olivia faced her. “You are trying to drive me mad! What did you say when Windbury asked you to stay with him?”

Violet shrugged from her robe and stepped into the tub. Before she answered, she sunk under the scented waters with a sigh of pleasure. She ached from the sexual acrobatics of the previous night, though she would not take back a moment of pleasure.

“Violet!” her friend said with a laugh as she dragged a chair up next to the tub.

“I told him I would consider the request,” she finally replied.
 

Olivia leaned back, eyes wide. “Consider it? I thought
that
was your whole purpose in coming here.”

Violet grabbed the soap and scrubbed a thick lather onto her hands as she pondered the point. “It is,” she admitted. “But I need him to
want
me, to pursue me.”

Her friend laughed. “Ah, I see. A merry chase, even if it is only pretended on your part. You are cold.”