Improper Pleasures (The Pleasure Series #1) (18 page)

“And you, my lord, better get used to my mug. I plan to
see you as baron until you’re old and gray or I’m dead. Not losing another
baron on my watch.”

Mr. Rudd turned to leave, pausing only to bow to Astra who
lingered on the other side of the study. Once Mr. Rudd firmly closed the door
behind him, Astra made no move to lessen the gap between them.

“I see you two still aren’t getting on well. I know he
saved your life, but you should not let him speak to you so disrespectfully.” She
wrapped her arms protectively around her trim waist and practically hugged the
far wall.

James stood, came around the desk, and breeched the space she’d
tried to insert between them. The moment he gathered her into his arms, she
clung to him and buried her face in his shirt front. Thankfully some of his
clothes had been in the laundry and had not been ruined by the smoke. His old
clothes. So, though he got what he wanted, he’d have to endure the fittings
again.

“You could have been killed, James.”

“But you saved me with your wanton ways.” He kissed the
top of her head. Fumbled to feel her beneath the bunched material padding the
back of her dress. Her waist was similarly barred by her stiff corset. “Now how
am I going to get you out of this contraption?”

She tried to push him away. “You are terrible. I’m
serious.”

“I was never in the room, Astra. Well, at least not until
after the fact. And if I had been, I would have smelled the smoke and the whole
incident would have been avoided.” The fact that he’d been drowsy as hell
before he’d left the room and not sure he would have noticed the smoke at all,
he kept to himself.

Instead of being pacified, she stiffened and pushed harder
against his chest until he released her. “We could have been caught together.”

“But we weren’t.” James watched her escape to stand at a
window, staring out on Eastlan’s lawn instead of facing him. He came up behind
her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Was your daughter frightened?”

She leaned against him and James was startled by a surge
of relief. He feared she intended to call the whole thing off. Their brief
encounter only fueled his longing for her. James found the idea of not having
her again unbearable.

“Lark was disappointed that flames didn’t shoot from the
roof like fireworks. She thinks the whole thing was begun by mischievous little
people. Lady Phillina was deeply concerned about you. You need to visit her
later. She’s abed today due to all the excitement.”

“I’ll see her and assure her that I’m in fine shape.”
James wrapped his arms under her breasts, feeling their weight on his forearm,
still not fully believing his luck to be able to take such liberties. “And what
do I have to do to reassure you?” He nuzzled her neck.

“You make me forget everything when you do that.” She
sighed.

“Good because there’s nothing to think about. Nothing to
worry about.” He cupped her breast, lightly grazing it through her dress. A
hardened nipple strained against the rose-hued fabric. He flattened his palm
against the proof of her arousal, the sensation shooting straight to his groin.
“Ensuring Eastlan is in good repair has become my top priority. Making love to
you my second.”

Her breathing grew ragged and she pressed her hand over
his where he covered her breast. He moved in closer behind her, maneuvering his
hips into her skirts until he found the hidden swell of her backside. He drifted
his free hand down stiff, silk-covered armor binding her stomach until he
discovered the dip between her legs. There he could feel her heat. He pressed
his palm on her mound, guiding her soundly against his unsubtle erection.

He was entirely too randy to be going so fast. In fact, if
he had any tact he would delay his plans to take her in his study with broad
daylight streaming through the windows and servants milling around behind the
door. Just the thought made him want to explode. He had planned to be more
sophisticated in his performance the second time with Astra.

And despite the anxiety she carried into the room, she now
seemed to be just as aroused as he. He rocked against her and she angled her
back to meet his teasing caress. He imagined if he reached beneath her skirt
she would be wet, swollen and welcoming.

That is if he could reach beneath her skirt. She had so
much flouncing and padding disguising her lithe figure, he doubted he could
maneuver all the layers of material. James rotated his palm, grinding into
Astra’s sweet flesh, his attention only hindered by layers of cloth. Her
pleasured gasp urged James to be creative. Fortunately, James’s fantasy offered
insight to his quickest way to get under Astra’s skirts.

“Would you sit on the desk for me?”

She stiffened.

“I need to touch your skin. Today is my fantasy or have
you changed your mind?”

“No. I haven’t changed my mind.” She slid away from him,
glanced at him over her shoulder, seductively he’d have to say, then sauntered
over to the desk.

He walked quickly to the door, locked it, then strode to
her side before she could reconsider. With gentle restraint, he slid his palm
across her cheek, cupping the back of her head while he kissed her, infusing
all the urgency from a moment ago. She clung to him, parting her mouth. He
licked her lips and he wasn’t sure how their tongues entwined after that, only
that he needed to take her swiftly.

He gripped her slight, corseted-waist and set her on the
desk. The skirts he thought insurmountable, hardly registered annoyance when he
slipped his arms under the hem to grip her stocking-covered knees, spreading
them. He stepped between her legs, then reached for her and slid her to him,
the silk of her skirt being very cooperative. Even through the material of his
breeches, her wet heat seared him. Above the waist, she was quite secure. Below
the waist she was naked, and waiting.

His penetrating kiss captured her shocked gasp at his
swift maneuver.

***

Astra strained to listen for any sounds of movement outside
the door before James’s kiss burned away the last of her common sense. James
slipped his hands up to her thighs, finding her bare skin. In the light of last
night’s events, she had ignored his request to wear less rigid undergarments,
at least from the waist up. She knew she would have needed medieval armor to
resist his sensual assault below her waist.

The restraints of her corset and stiff stomacher kept her
back properly straight, a sharp contrast to her spread legs and raised skirt.
James slipped a finger inside her and Astra braced her hands on the desk. Her
need to rock against him was only intensified by her hampered state. The
sensation proved wildly erotic, embodying all the wicked ecstasy Astra
associated with being a mistress. Perhaps it was the anticipation after last
night, or the carnal knowledge of how thoroughly James could pleasure her, but
Astra’s lust surged with a force that left her mindless to everything but her
own need.

James must have felt it too because he suddenly tore at
the buttons on his breeches. “Hold up your skirts,” he said on a ragged breath.

She gathered the layers of material, compressing the fine
silk at her waist and exposing herself to James’s hungry stare. He moistened
his lips and she watched as he dropped to his knees. Astra jolted with the
sensation of his mouth on her most sensitive flesh. Her fingers gripped the
sides of the desk as she steadied herself. He used his tongue in ways she
couldn’t have imagined, finding her sensitive button, sucking and nipping and
stroking with his tongue until she thought she might die of sheer pleasure.
Waves of liquid heat filled her as she realized she was lost to everything but
the feel of his tongue on her. Growing slick and hot, she felt her face flush,
then closed her eyes, praying he would never stop.

When she thought she could not stand another delicious
moment, he pulled his mouth away from her and she looked down at him, taking in
a sharp breath.

“You want this as badly as I do.” He flicked his blue gaze
to hers, a cocky half-grin in contrast to his heated stare.

“More,” she said without thinking, but was rewarded with a
flare in his eyes and the fall of his grin. He stood abruptly. His cock surged
from his unfastened breeches and Astra hardly had time to catch her breath
before he grabbed her thighs, yanked her to the edge of the desk.

“Oh, yes,” she said as he drove deep, lifting her so
nothing would impede his motion. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and
held him to keep from falling.

In her position, she could do little more than receive his
powerful thrust. He filled her so completely that she shuddered at the
fullness. He captured her mouth with his, kissing her with the same abandon
that he took her body. An intense wave of pleasure seized Astra after only a
few deep strokes. Astra moaned into James’s mouth as her body pulsed around
him. She felt his body abruptly stiffened and he pulled his mouth from hers.
Astra was aware he was gazing down at her as her release consumed her and she
threw back her head in rapture, holding in the cry of pleasure she longed to
let go.

“Damn,” he cursed then abruptly pulled out and away from
her, setting her firmly on the desk.

She had to brace her hands on the black lacquered surface
to keep her balance.

James’s bent shoulders jerked. He gasped hoarsely, his
struggle not to moan aloud apparent. Astra gently touched his flushed face
while he rode out the last tremors of his own orgasm.

“Perhaps if I make you come enough, I’ll get used to the
feel of it.” He glanced up at her, still visibly trying to catch his breath.
“You make me crazy when you do that.”

This time she had no need to question his pleasure in her
finding her own. And suddenly she realized that never again would she doubt her
power as a woman. Lying alone in her bed after the fire, yearning for James and
second-guessing the choices she had made, she had not fully named the anxiety
that had plagued her. Now that it was vanquished, she knew that she still had
been holding onto an old fear that James would reject her after she’d given him
all of herself.

She reached out to him, and he set aside a handkerchief
she hadn’t noticed before and stepped into her arms. “Thank you,” she whispered
and kissed his cheek.

“You can thank me tonight.” He pulled away and gazed into her
eyes suspiciously, no doubt hearing the touch of emotion in her voice. “I hope
to be able to hold out for more than a few minutes next time.”

Astra’s hazy contentment dissipated with his words. “I
don’t think we should see each other tonight.”

“Are you sore?” James gently traced her lower lip with his
thumb and wiped away moisture from her cheek, rearranged a stray wisp of hair
that had come loose from her braid. “I should have taken a little more time,
not attacked you like a crewman on a short leave.”

“No, after last night we must be more discreet.” And she
could not have him in her bed on a regular basis. More than physical intimacy had
passed between them in the dark. In the light of day their urgent coupling
could be mistaken for nothing but a physical need. It would be best to keep it
at that.

Instead of arguing, as she thought he might, he nodded
thoughtfully. “I’m afraid you’re right.” He stepped back, brushed down her
skirts and set her on her feet.

His serious tone sent Astra into a panic. “Does someone
know?”

He shrugged but didn’t meet her gaze. “I think it best if
we not create a pattern, that’s all. I’m going to speak to Wesley today about
vacating his rooms. We’ll be closer then.”

“You are taking over Lowell’s apartment?” She pressed her
hand to her chest. Oh, that would never do.

“Taking you on the desk was a novelty. I don’t intend to
do it all the time. I want you in bed so we can take our time.”

Oh no, having him with her in the quiet of the night in
her own bed was far too dangerous for her heart. It would be tempting to fall
in love with him then. Making love in Lowell’s former room was out of the
question. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself of their pact.

Astra walked to the window and tried to assess her
appearance in the blurred reflection in the pane. “I think we should find a
spare bedroom to meet. But not always at night and time is something we can’t
take for granted. Lark might need me.”

Astra turned to find James gazing at her with a look of
disappointment that tugged at her already bruised heart.

“I suspect I’m going to be more frustrated in having you
in bits than not at all.” He brushed his fingers through his hair, dislodging
the loose black tie that held it back.

“Ah, but then you won’t stop craving me.” She strode to
his side and reached on her toes to place a closed-mouth kiss on his lips.
Before he could deepen it, she pulled away.

“That’s not likely to happen anytime soon.” He gripped her
shoulders and tried to kiss her again.

She twirled out of his reach. “Perhaps we can make an
arrangement for later tonight.” Astra strode to the door. “But now I must
discuss the menu for our ball with the cook. The guest list keeps multiplying.”

James groaned. He fumbled with his hair and clothes,
looking just as rumpled and dashing as always. Really, it would be a shame for
her to try to make him into a proper gentleman when he looked so handsome as
the libertine American. Astra slipped past the door before she was tempted to
help him with his attire.

“Thank you for your time, Lord Keane,” she said loudly
from the hallway. “I shall see you at dinner.”

“My pleasure, Astra.” He remained standing were she had
left him, clearly not enjoying her abrupt ending of their time together.

Astra closed the door, relishing being a fallen woman far
more than she anticipated. The trick was, she told herself as she merrily
strode down the hall, a pleasurable ache humming between her legs, was to keep
James at arm’s length in regards to her personal life. Everything else was fair
game.