Chapter 7 #2
She ripped her mouth clear of his. “Take your coat off.”
“Just my coat?”
Gripped by a fiery recklessness she’d never felt before, Carenza tugged at his waistcoat. “All of it.”
He undressed with a grace and speed that spoke of practice and an assurance Carenza had never had. And, oh God, he was beautiful. Lean but well-muscled, his chest just hairy enough, and his stomach flat. He was also fully aroused.
She met his gaze. “I want you.”
“Tell me how.”
She swallowed hard. “Hard and fast, and right now.”
One eyebrow rose. “Just as you are?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I want to feel everything.”
Julian took a moment to consider his options. His cock was one hundred percent in favor of doing exactly what Carenza had asked for, but—
“I can make you ready,” Julian’s better half offered. “No.” Carenza was pulling up her skirts to expose the soft curve of her thighs and above. “Just do it.”
He smoothed a hand over his already wet and straining cock. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care.” Carenza looked at him.
“You might be sore tomorrow.”
“I’d like that.”
Julian desperately tried to remember that he was a gentleman and a renowned lover, but his instinct was roaring at him to take what she offered and make her his.
“As you wish.” He picked her up again and placed her on the side of the bed, spreading her thighs wide. “This is a better height.”
She set one of her heels on the bed, exposing her most secret places to Julian’s lust-addled brain.
He wanted to drop to his knees and feast on her, but she’d asked for his cock, and he was in no mood to deny her.
He pulled her as close to the edge of the bed as he dared and lined his cock up with her entrance.
She watched his every move, and it made him even more excited.
“If you change your mind,” he murmured. “Just—”
“Just do it, please.” She hooked one foot around his arse and kicked him like a horse.
He pressed forward, aware that she was wet but that she was tight, so very tight, that he would have to work to get fully inside her.
He rocked his hips and eased forward, gaining a little each time as her reluctant flesh yielded to the stiff unrelenting pressure of his shaft.
It was the hardest he’d ever had to work for a fuck, and he gloried in every minute of it as she gasped his name and strained to take all of him.
Eventually, he could go no farther, and he looked up at her.
To his surprise, she was looking down at where their bodies were almost perfectly joined.
“Hard enough for you?” he asked.
She bit her lip and rocked her hips slightly forward, allowing him to gain another inch. “God, yes.”
He met her with another thrust of his own, and she gripped his arm so hard her nails went into his skin. He kissed her very gently.
“Shall I slow down now?”
“No!” She was back to scowling.
“But I want you to climax,” Julian said, his breathing as uneven as hers.
“Then make sure that I do.”
Her fierce demands were both unexpected and incredibly arousing.
“As you wish.”
He slid his middle finger between her lips to make it wet and then moved his hand down to cup her mound, his finger placed firmly on the throbbing center of her bud.
His hips came forward, thrusting his cock as deep as he could go, and she growled his name and met him with a twist of her own.
He forgot about being a gentleman, about making sure of her pleasure, and simply fucked like a man possessed until he felt her come, and then he joined her with a roar and a final thrust that made her fall backward onto the bed with him on top of her.
It took him a few minutes to gather enough breath to ease his cock free and stand. She remained on the bed looking up at him, her gaze sultry, satisfied, and so alluring that his cock twitched again. He climbed up beside her and began to remove her clothes.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Getting you naked for our next bout.”
She smiled at him. “That was exactly what I wanted. Thank you.”
“We’ll see whether you’re still thanking me tomorrow when you’ll be sore,” Julian said as he unlaced her stays to reveal the glorious mounds of her breasts. “I suspect you’ll be cursing me every time you sit down.”
“I’ll certainly be thinking about you,” Carenza said. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Julian knelt to kiss her exposed nipples and felt her shudder as he sucked on them and then groan when he grazed them with his teeth. He hadn’t expected her to be so … demanding. He’d always been the dominant party in bed, and he still wasn’t sure how he felt about being ordered around.
“You might think about me, Carenza, but if I came around and demanded to fuck you again, I suspect you’d tell me to wait for a few days.”
“Would I?” There was a faraway look in Carenza’s eyes that made everything male in Julian spring to attention. “Or would it be even sweeter?”
His cock had hardened again, and all thoughts of a leisurely session of lovemaking flew from his mind in a tide of possessiveness.
He used his knee to spread her thighs wide and simply thrust himself home again.
Carenza made a sound of deep appreciation as he began to move, her feet sliding up his thighs to rest on his arse as she took every onslaught and gave it back to him.
He curved his arm under her buttocks, lifting her higher into his shorter thrusts, his groin grinding against her sensitive flesh until she came again.
This time he didn’t come with her and wrenched another climax out of her before he had nothing left to give.
He rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling wondering what on earth had happened to his polished bedside manner.
A disturbing thought crept into his head. “Carenza …”
“Mmm?”
“We should have discussed this before we began, but if you are pregnant, I will marry you.”
She came up on one elbow. Her thick, fair hair had escaped almost all its pins and hung over her shoulder. “I can see why you and Mrs. Mountjoy are such good friends. She warned me not to engage in sexual congress with any man, including you.”
“This isn’t a cause for levity. I was remiss. I should have taken better precautions.”
“I can’t have children,” Carenza said. “And even if I could, I don’t regret what we just did together.”
Julian looked at her composed face. It was a personal subject that he was loath to probe, but he should have discussed such matters with her earlier, and he was furious with himself for putting her in such a position.
He opened his mouth to speak, and she placed her fingers over his lips. “I do not wish to talk about this right now. Rest assured, I will not be presenting you with a child at any point.”
He held her gaze. “Are you quite certain?”
“Yes.” She smiled at him. “Now, will you help me get dressed? If I don’t return soon, Allegra will be sending for the Bow Street Runners.”
He did as she asked, again amazed at her ability to shut that demanding sexual part of herself away so easily and return to the even-tempered, calm creature everyone knew.
Downstairs, he sent one of the kitchen maids to call a hackney cab for her. A few minutes later, he watched Carenza leave from the back door, her head held high, and a becoming flush on her cheeks.
After waving her off, he turned to see Anna watching him.
“Would you like some tea?” she asked.
“Yes, please.” He followed her back into the deserted kitchen and sat at the table.
“I know who your mystery woman is,” Anna said as she brought the teapot over. “We did our curtsies to the Queen in the same year. It’s Lady Carenza Musgrove, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure I don’t have to ask you not to mention her name again, ma’am,” Julian said somewhat stiffly.
“Like that, is it?” She shot him an amused glance. “Is there a husband in the vicinity?”
“No, he’s dead.”
“Well, thank goodness for that. After Lady Brenton, you’d be wise to be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I am.” Julian sipped his tea, his thoughts still with Carenza and her unexpected effect on him. He liked the snap of her temper, her urgency, her need for him to satisfy her on her own terms.
“I found a place for Mary O’Leary,” Anna said.
“Excellent news.”
“Ask the Cartwrights to keep an eye out for another candidate for me.”
“I will.”
She laughed. “You seem somewhat distracted. I wonder why.”
Julian finished his tea and set the cup back on the tray before rising to his feet. “I should go. Thank you for your help.”
“I was intrigued that you actually asked me for something.” Anna looked up at him. “Now I think I know why.”
Julian shrugged. “Affairs are commonplace, ma’am. Having seen the consequences of such liaisons, you, of all people, know that.”
She regarded him for far longer than he was comfortable with. Finally, he broke the silence.
“Please don’t worry about Carenza. I will make sure she suffers no ill effects from this.”
“I’m not worried about her, Julian. All my concern is for you.”
He nodded and left the room, pausing only to pick up his hat and cane before departing through the front door and heading toward Grosvenor Square.
He had no idea why anyone should worry about him.
He rarely made mistakes and prided himself on his social relationships, especially with women.
If there was an art to being an excellent lover who would never embarrass a lady in public and end an affair with a smile and the promise of friendship, he was the master of it.
Once he and Carenza were done, they’d return to being friends, with no hard feelings on either side. He paused before he crossed the street and instinctively brushed his tongue over his slightly swollen lip where she’d bitten him.
At least, he hoped she would. Carenza in a rage would be something to behold.