Improper Pleasures (The Pleasure Series #1) (15 page)

She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss
like a familiar lover. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, discovering her
mouth’s warm contours, deepening the kiss and tasting her before he forced
himself to pull away.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you in the foyer this
afternoon.” His breath came hard and his heart raced, unexpected from such a
brief kiss.

Astra sighed. “You make me forget all reason when you do.”

He stared down into her face. “And your desire to become
my mistress is reasonable?”

“It has to be.” She met his gaze with a seriousness that
pulled down the corners of her hazel eyes. “Certainly the heart cannot be
involved.”

Understanding dawned on him. “You don’t fancy yourself in
love with me?”

She shook her head, but her smile was a little wistful and
a little sad. “No. Nor do I want to fall into such folly. You are very
charming, James. I think if we put our mutual attraction in the proper terms,
it would be better for both of us.”

James suppressed a chill at her declaration that falling
for him would be folly. Though, he whole heartedly agreed. “So a marriage is
definitely not on your agenda, secret or otherwise?”

A flash of pain shown in her eyes, but it was quickly
replaced by anger. “I am not that obtuse. I realize I am not what you would
look for in a wife.”

“How do you know? I have not even considered what I want
in a wife. Not that I’m in the market for a wife.” He added the last a little
too adamantly. He just should have dropped the subject, but after his
conversation with Phillina and the fiasco with Melva ruining her dancing
lesson, he wanted Astra to know she was desirable in any capacity.

“I’m not a virgin. I have a child and I’m no longer in the
bloom of youth.”

James realized he found the last part more appealing than
not. He didn’t want a silly girl for a bride, but, truth be told, he had
expected to marry a virgin if he married. Not that it truly mattered, he
supposed. James decided it would be best to get the subject off of marriage all
together. “I am not ready to have children. I plan to return to the sea for a
few more years. I know other sailors go for years without seeing their
offspring but I don’t intend to do so. I would want to know my children from
conception.”

He stared at her and it only took a moment for understanding
to dawn on her.

“I don’t intend to have your child, James. In fact, I was
hoping since you are a man of the world, we can find a way to avoid that
predicament. Don’t tell me you’ve not had lovers before.  I know better.”

James didn’t bother to explain he had not done anything
with Melva that could lead to pregnancy or would constitute her as one of his
lovers, though, she was still correct. He had had more than a few lovers. Most
more experienced, but always brief, impersonal encounters. However, he reminded
himself, she was not without her own experiences. “As have you.”

She straightened, clearly annoyed. “I would not call it
that. My circumstances are quite different than yours, but I think I see what
you are getting at. Neither of us are fools. Would you agree to that?”

“I would.” James grinned, liking this version of Astra the
best. Sharp, calculating and brutally honest.

“Then please don’t insult me by thinking I have concocted
this scheme to trap you into marrying me for either my own selfish means or to
hide an unwanted child. I would not do that to Lark. Lowell will be the only
father Lark will ever know. Better to have a deceased father that loved her
than a live one who does not.”

Again, James felt like a bastard. “Touché, Lady Keane. Of
all the things that I might ponder in regards to your motivations, your
devotion to your daughter is without question. I know you’d do anything to
ensure her happiness.”

Astra took a deep breath. “Thank you. And perhaps to that
end, I have made a mistake in thinking you would want me for a mistress. It all
seemed so simple. Or perhaps, I just wanted it to be. You would have no trouble
procuring whomever you choose to share your bed and without all my demanding
stipulations.”

James strolled over to her. “But you are the one I want to
share my bed and your stipulations are no more than your due.”

“I fear I don’t know much about seduction, as you might
have guessed.”

“Ah, but then you give me the pleasure of teaching you.”

She blinked and smiled. “You would enjoy that?”

“More than you know.” James kissed Astra on the lips
lightly, his hands cupping her chin. He rubbed his palms down her shoulders,
over her breasts and circled them to the back of her waist. He had intended to
do much more than that but the afternoon grew dark and damp. And, something
held him back. Perhaps his sudden realization that his sexual relationship with
Astra would be different than anything else he’d yet to experience. No matter
what came of their affair, Astra would gain the secret knowledge of a woman
well pleasured, or at least James would give it his best effort. And James
would learn all the lush nuances of a woman who was the first he could think of
as his own. James held Astra against him and felt her shiver. “Tonight, then?”
he said near her ear.

“Yes, tonight.”

Astra discarded the robe to her silk nightgown. The pure
white confection had been a gift intended for her wedding night but had never
been worn. She studied her reflection in the cheval mirror. The candles’ glow
rendered the gown translucent. Astra squared her shoulders and sucked in the
slight roundness of her post-childbirth belly. She slid her hands over her
hips, triggering a tingling in her sex and a tightening of her nipples. The
flutter in her throat warned her she could no longer distinguished her fear
from her fierce longings. Astra took that as a good sign.

After blowing out the candles around the room, she slipped
into her bed. She left the candle burning on her nightstand and smoothed the
wrinkles from the quilt. James had managed a quiet word with her after dinner.
She had been reading by the fire while her mother tried to teach Wesley and
James London’s latest game of chance. James used the pretense of stoking the
coals to whisper to her that he would visit her room just as he had in her
fantasy. Astra could only nod, a thousand questions singing in her mind. Would
he come in the middle of the night? Should she go to sleep? As if that were
possible. James had left the group shortly after, claiming he had some work to
do. That had been hours ago and Astra could hardly stand the anticipation.

On second thought, Astra blew out the candle and lay on
her back, staring at the ceiling that clearly needed painting even in the muted
light cast by the fireplace. The spare bedroom, close to Lowell’s room, seemed
too plain to accept a paramour. A grander suite that attached to Lowell’s rooms
had been used by his doctors and Astra never once thought of moving there, not
even when Lowell was alive. Pleasant, practical, and unassuming described her
room and her life for as long as she could remember. Lord, she hoped James
would not find her as such as a lover. She shuddered at the change she brought
upon herself, wreaking havoc to her world as she knew it. Astra Seabrook Keane,
sensible to sultry.

A slight click of the door sounded and Astra barely
stopped herself from bolting to a sitting position. She was supposed to be
asleep. That’s how she had described her fantasy to James. And those had been
the words that had swayed him to give into her madness. Astra closed her eyes
and tried to relax her limbs.

A fire still glowed in the fireplace, making her acutely
aware of the light in the room. James would be able to see her clearly, but she
could only sense him in sound and vague shape behind her closed eyelids.

He padded to the bed in what sounded like bare feet. Astra
suspected that he only wore a robe and was naked beneath it, just like in her
fantasy. As she had guessed, James was proving to be a man of his word. His
weight settled on the bed beside her and a riot of nerves welled up in her but
she forced herself to remain still, sleeping. Oh touching him in reality would
be so much better than her fantasy, yet she sensed she must play her part to
the end.

Even with her eyes closed, she knew he hovered above her,
studying her. Her eyelids fluttered and her uneven breathing no doubt gave her
away. Still, James remained silent. His weight lifted from the bed and she
heard his footfalls heading away from her. Perhaps he had changed his mind.
Should she call to him? Astra remained feigning sleep. If he had changed his
mind, this would be easier, and if he hadn’t, well, this was the fantasy,
wasn’t it?

When she felt the covers move, she shifted, lifting a
knee, slightly parting her legs as she would in restless sleep. He crawled in
beside her on the opposite side of the bed. His hip brushed hers and the
intense heat of his body assured her he was naked. Before she could tame the
fluttering in her stomach of having a large naked man in her bed, he gathered
her in his arms. His erection nestled at the apex of her thighs. Her breasts
pressed against his ungiving chest. She gasped and opened her eyes.

James’s face hovered near hers, his blue eyes dark and
hungry in the shadowed light. He buried his fingers in her loose hair, holding
her still for the hard press of his mouth. Astra parted her lips, inviting his
tongue and welcoming his purely carnal assault. James slid an arm beneath her,
slipping his hand to cup her bottom while he pulled her more snuggly against
his erection. The thin silk gown provided little barrier, in fact, was
intoxicating as it magnified the urgency of his arousal. He forcefully thrust
against the silk fabric as his fingers kneaded her backside with a rhythmic
coaxing. Astra draped an ankle over his bare calf and arched her hips into his.
Her sex pulsed liquid hot pleasure, but she wanted more. Needed more.

He moaned into her mouth and matched her body’s desperate
plea with a powerful answering thrust. Not breaking the maddening kiss, he
rolled her over on to her back. He shoved the thin gown to her waist and slid
his hard cock against her slick female folds. The movement bumped the sensitive
spot hidden at the top of her sex. She gasped and gripped his shoulders. Her
feet braced on the bed. Never had she been so controlled by her body. Her mind
could not keep up. She bucked against him, angling her hips to force his entry.
He pulled back from her reach. Astra heard her own desperate pants and his soft
husky laughter. In his own sweet time, he coated his length with her wet heat,
once again massaging the tangle of nerves that sent waves of lust rippling
through body.

“Oh, James.” Astra didn’t recognize her voice or the woman
that wantonly pressed against him. Her sex clenched tightly. She ached for him.
“Please.”

“Do you want me as much as I want you, Astra?” He trailed
wet kisses from under her jaw to the hollow at the base of her neck. The rasp
in his deep voice made her body tighten another painful notch. His large hand
covered her breast through the silk, kneading her roughly. The heat from his
palm and the brush of fabric proved maddening.

She willed him to take her swiftly, to end her sweet agony.
Instead, he lifted away from her. He was poised above her, looking down at her
face.

“Tell me you want me.” His breathing was heavy, as if he’d
been running fast. Astra could not find the words he wanted. Instead, she
tangled her fingers in his hair and rose up to kiss him on the mouth. He
immediately deepened the kiss, entwining his tongue with hers.

Astra tore her mouth away from his to catch her breath,
but he only kissed the side of her neck with just as much fervor, dragging his
lips along her collar bone. He slipped the strap of her gown off her shoulder, pushed
it down and swirled his tongue around her nipple. He had begun to suck and nip,
sending shards of pleasure straight to her sex. She needed him to fill her,
touch her pulsing center.

“James.” She said his name again in a desperate plea,
unable to tell him exactly what she wanted. It vaguely occurred to her that she
should be pleasing him, after all that’s what a mistress did, but he switched
to her other nipple and rational thought was lost.

“Tell me you want me,” he repeated in-between ravishing
her breasts. Finally, he slid a single finger inside her feverish body and
Astra gasped at the pleasure. She could not stop herself from riding his
testing probe, desperate for more. He eased another finger inside her, sliding
in and out with purposeful rhythm. Astra’s body took over, thrusting against
his hand. He found her secret spot with his thumb and only a few passes
persuaded her body to tighten, hovering on the brink of release.

She pushed on his shoulders, shocked and slightly embarrassed
by her quick arousal. She was supposed to be doing this to him, making him the
one to quiver with desire.

“James, please.”

“Please what?” He quickened his pace, his fingers rocking
her with passionate intent.

She shoved at his shoulders again. “Stop, James. Please.”

He instantly pulled away to look at her face.

“Am I hurting you?” He swallowed hard to speak his
strained words. “You seemed to be enjoying it.”

“That’s the problem. I’m supposed to be pleasing you.”

A lopsided grin lit his face. “Oh, you are.”

Astra shifted beneath him, determined to check for
herself. She wrapped her fingers around him, relieved that some things were
impossible to forget, like the solid feel of a man in the palm of her hand.
Yes, he had definitely been enjoying the exchange. His cock was thick and hot. She
tightened her grip and grazed his length.

James closed his eyes, remaining poised above her on his
elbows. His breathing grew ragged and he shuddered. “Astra,” he huskily
whispered. “I’m too wound up for this.” He grabbed her wrist, stilling her
movements. “Though…” The laugh in his voice was like a new caress. “You are
doing a fine job in carrying out your duties as mistress so far.”