Chapter Five #2
“Which is why I want to have some fun in mine,” Charlotte said in a soft voice.
“There are times when I’m so very exhausted by the status quo, of being prim and proper, of doing everything correctly but still never having victories.
” She shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I seek out things that will benefit me, or at least give me fleeting enjoyment? ”
That was something they had in common, and he felt that deep in his soul.
Did that mean she would be receptive to a bit of slap and tickle here and there?
There was only one way to find out. “Since you and I aren’t exactly looking for marriage in our respective lives, would you be open to a different sort of relationship? ”
A soft gasp left her throat. This time, she stopped walking and turned to him in order to peer up into his face. “What are you trying to ask, Lord Wolcott?”
“William,” he said with a bit of a narrowed gaze.
“What?”
“My given name is William. Please make use of it.” Why did it annoy him so much that she remained stubborn regarding what to call him?
She pushed her spectacles up on the bridge of her nose. “Fine, William. What, exactly, are you asking of me?”
What indeed? Of course he couldn’t lie to himself, for he wanted to throw her to the ground and have his way with her merely to evict her from his mind, but would one time with her be enough?
“Would you have any interest in indulging in the scandal of your choice?” After all, if they were to do this, even if he would fully be in control in seducing her, she should have a say in it, since it would be her ruination.
“Oh, I…” Her eyes rounded behind her spectacles’ lenses, making them even more deeply blue. A blush deepened in her cheeks. “That might be…”
The tendency to not finish sentences was becoming maddening.
“I don’t wish to push you into anything.
” Much. “However, you did indicate that you wanted to do something purely for your own benefit as well as for fun.” He let his gaze rove down her body and then back up again to meet her gaze. “Perhaps I can help you decide.”
“How?”
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught William’s attention.
When he glanced that way, he frowned when he recognized Scarborough and his wife.
As of yet, it didn’t appear the duke had seen him.
“Damn.” Absolutely he didn’t want to be caught in a conversation with his friend, at least not right now.
“Come with me.” After taking her hand, he urged her off the bridle path and through a gap in the hedgerow.
The foliage afforded them a bit of privacy from anyone on the path.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a curious whisper, but her grip on his hand was strong.
“One of my friends is approaching with his wife. Frankly, I don’t want to see them or to have to field questions on why I didn’t like their dinner guests the other night.”
“Ah.” Charlotte nodded. “I can sympathize. No doubt my parents will host yet another dinner with new candidates.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” A stab of something went through his chest, swift and deep. Surely it couldn’t be jealousy. He didn’t know her that well, so what prompted that feeling?
“So am I. It’s quite exhausting.” Then she giggled and he was nearly lost. “I wonder what they would do if I were to lean over and kiss one of them?”
That stabbing pain repeated, and it prompted a growl this time.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Seconds later, he yanked at the satin ribbon beneath her chin.
Once her bonnet tumbled from her head to bounce once upon the grass, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
“In the meantime, you can kiss me.” Then he crashed his mouth down onto hers and kissed her as if his life depended on it.
When a soft moan escaped her, Charlotte slid her palms up his chest to clutch his shoulders. To be fair, she did her best to kiss him back, mimicking everything he did to her lips, and that very inexperience worked at his undoing.
To be closer to her, to begin to explore her lush body as he’d wanted since yesterday, William deepened the embrace, intent to chase her tongue.
As he did so, he roved his hands up and down her body.
When he hooked his index fingers into the bodice of her day dress, he gave the fabric an experimental tug.
Would she slap him this time? For he meant to have a look at her breasts.
“Bid me nay, Charlotte, and I’ll leave you untouched,” he whispered against the soft skin of her neck. God, there was something about this woman that drove him to insanity, or perhaps his brain was rotting due to not having done anything carnal with a woman for a few months.
“I…” A sigh escaped her. “Please continue. I’m quite curious as to what will happen next.”
“Good.” So am I. Damn the fact he hadn’t removed his gloves, but there was nothing for it. When he dared to urge her bodice down enough that he was able to free her breasts from the fabric of her underthings, he let out a breath. “They’re perfect.”
“Oh!” She blinked up at him with her spectacles’ lenses half fogged. “That’s lovely to know. My fiancé never tried to touch them, let alone wished to gaze upon them.” Then she frowned. “I always thought my breasts were my best feature, but my sisters say they’re too large for my frame.”
“Nonsense.” Such gammon, all the way ’round. As he spoke, William took one in his hand, gave it an experimental squeeze that elicited a gasp from her, then he dipped his head and took one of those bright pink and quite hardened tips into his mouth.
The squeak she uttered set his pulse to racing.
It was different, this pleasuring an innocent, but in an odd way, he looked forward to the challenge, to the work he’d need to put in to see her find release.
Her back arched of its own accord, and she dug her fingers into his shoulders. “Dear heavens…”
With the pad of his gloved thumb, he teased and tormented the other nipple while suckling and soothing the first with his tongue and teeth. How easily he forgot where they were, for she was a literal handful, and he couldn’t wait to have her writhing beneath him.
For the next several moments, he lost himself in the glory that was Charlotte’s plump, soft breasts.
The barely audible sounds of pleasure and encouragement she made urged him onward, and he tugged her closer.
Seconds later, she lost her balance, gave a squeal of alarm, for he’d apparently stepped on the hem of her dress.
The unmistakable noise of fabric ripping reached his ears and penetrated the fog of desire in his brain.
The more Charlotte clutched at him, the more he lost his own stability, then before he knew it, the both of them tumbled through the shrubberies to fall out the other side, with her breasts on display and his front falls bulging because of a cockstand.
Unfortunately, he landed on top of her with his face between her legs and her skirting hiked up to her knees.
He was quite close to where he would have tried to be if he’d laid her down in the grass, had they remained hidden…
if his wretched luck had not mucked up what should have been a rather lovely afternoon.
“Wolcott?”
Of course, Scarborough was now three feet away with his wife, and they both gawked at him while Charlotte scrambled to put her clothing to rights.
Unfortunately, another couple was headed their way from the other direction, and they started as well.
A scandal was well and truly brewing, and he was directly in the thick of it.
Shit. Shit. Shit.