A Gentleman's Wager (24 page)

Louisa shuddered, unable to prevent the reaction. She lowered her gaze to the carpet to avoid facing the cruel smile playing about his lips. He brushed her neck with the paintbrush, then circled her protruding nipple. ‘It must be hard work always being so nervous. You should learn to relax, Louisa. You’d enjoy everything so much more.’

Louisa closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. If
she
kept her nerve and didn’t react to him, he would grow bored and leave. The brush continued to tease her through the light fabric. She felt his hair graze against her neck and expected to feel his lips, but the kiss never came. She opened her eyes and found to her surprise that he was gone.

The remainder of the day passed without incident, but Louisa awoke the next morning to find wild heather on her pillow, tied up together with a soft-bristled paintbrush. Consequently, she was still in bed and deeply confused at midday, when Bella knocked to enquire if she was all right and collect her for lunch.

It was shocking enough to think he’d been in the room while she was asleep, particularly since he must have passed through a door that was bolted on the inside, without contemplating what he might do next time.

‘Are there any secret passages in the house?’ she asked Lucerne as they left the dining room after lunch. Lucerne paused a moment and thought.

‘Not as such. There are a few dusty corridors in the east wing, and a couple of doors in odd places, but none of the windy mysterious passages our novelists are so fond of. Why do you ask?’

‘Oh, no reason.’

Lucerne gave her an odd, quizzical look.

‘I just thought I heard something behind the wall in my room,’ she added, and his look softened. He smiled beneficently.

‘Probably mice. I’ll get someone to take a look for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Louisa waited until he’d moved away, then frowned. If he hadn’t used a secret passage, how on earth had he got in? There were no other doors to the room, and even a spare key from one of the servants wouldn’t slide the bolt.

‘What was all that about secret passages?’ asked Bella as she came up behind Louisa.

Louisa bowed her head in dismay. She didn’t really want to explain to Bella, but she was her only real ally in the house.

Bella gently touched her arm. ‘Lou, what is it?’

‘He’s been in my room.’ Louisa stared at the wall, and hoped for a little sympathy.

‘He?’

‘Vaughan.’

Bella immediately checked over her shoulder. ‘What did he do? Did he hurt you?’

‘No. He left a bunch of heather on my pillow. I just don’t understand how he got in when I had the door bolted all night.’

Bella pulled her into the alcove below the stairs. ‘Are you sure it was from him? Couldn’t it be from someone else?’

‘Such as?’ Louisa shook her head. ‘No, it’s definitely him. Besides, it was tied up with the paintbrush he was teasing me with yesterday.’

A strange gleam appeared in Bella’s green eyes. Louisa imagined she was thinking of the marquis sneaking about her room at night as she lay dreaming beneath the sheets. Despite Bella taking every opportunity to criticise Vaughan, her friend did seem to have a soft spot for him.

‘And you’re definite the bolt was drawn?’ she said. Louisa nodded. ‘What about the window?’

‘My room is on the first floor, Bella. Have you seen any ladders? Anyway, it was shut tight.’

‘Then it certainly is a puzzle.’ Bella frowned. She sucked in her cheeks as she thought. Louisa looked past her to the walls of the vast second entrance hall and wondered whether it hid passages Lucerne was not aware of, but that Vaughan had somehow discovered.
Perhaps
the secret lay behind a tapestry or in the cellar, where it wouldn’t easily be found. She stared at the oil painting to the right of the door, expecting to see roving eyes watching her.

‘Oh Louisa, you ninny,’ Bella suddenly cried, and dragged her across the hall to the front door. The wind was bitter outside and the porch steps were slippery beneath their flimsy pumps.

‘Look!’

Bella pointed towards Louisa’s room, just above the brow of the porch. ‘He must have climbed out of the parlour window, there –’ she indicated to the right ‘– and scrambled across the roof. The drop to the lintel isn’t far. I don’t suppose it’s so difficult if you’ve a mind to try.’

‘I suppose not.’

Louisa hugged herself. Bella, immune or oblivious to the cold, continued to stare up at the icy plinth as if she expected to see him climb out of the window at any minute. ‘I imagine he’s had lots of practice climbing in and out of bedroom windows,’ she said. ‘Lecherous rake that he is.’ She lay a reassuring arm around Louisa’s shoulders. ‘Don’t fret, you can easily fasten it down.’

That night Louisa sat upright in bed with her legs bent before her, hugging her pillow for comfort. The door was bolted and she had done her best to lash the window down with a piece of brown string, but she still didn’t feel safe. During the afternoon, she had nearly asked Bella if she could share her bed, but had dismissed the idea. After all, if ravishment was his intention, why hadn’t he taken her last night instead of leaving tokens on her pillow?

Vaughan the rakehell who emerged from the shadows carrying the threat of erotic promise, she understood, but Vaughan the sensitive gallant she did not. Again, she
considered
the possibility that it might have been somebody else.

‘No,’ she said aloud, and retrieved the soft blue paintbrush from the quilt. It was definitely Vaughan. She ran the bristles over the back of her hand thoughtfully, stopped, then blew out the lone candle on the bedside and snuggled beneath the covers. Her eyes fell shut and she yawned, pushing her hand and the paintbrush under the pillow. Let him come if he must; she could always scream.

Unbidden fantasies came to her. Vaughan crept into her dreams and draped something dark over her eyes. He slipped between the sheets to lie naked beside her, and the heat of his body warmed and excited her. Fingertips danced over her curves and hollows, and a thumb traced the outline of her lips. Kisses fell as rain on her face, neck and breasts. Firm hands parted her thighs, and a thrilling hardness stood poised to claim her maidenhead.

He pressed into her, and she opened to receive him.

She gasped and awoke with a start. Her pulse raced and her skin was bathed with sweat. It was past midday and she was alone. She sighed with relief, or perhaps regret, thrust back the quilt and got out of bed.

‘We should have asked Louisa to join us,’ Bella said as she climbed into Lucerne’s carriage. ‘We used to ride over to Meyrick Lodge to see Mrs Castleton together before she went to live with her aunt.’ She thought back to the days when Mrs Castleton had arranged introductions to young gentlemen for the two of them. Some had been tolerable, at least, but none had had the dark, heady appeal of Lucerne or Vaughan.

Lucerne closed the carriage door, tapped the side wall to signal the driver to move on, and finally reclined on the upholstered leather seat. ‘I didn’t realise you liked
sharing
so much.’ Bella’s eyes widened as he parted his thighs and stretched his palms over them. His uncharacteristic directness was just as exciting as the thrilling bulge in his tight-fitting breeches. So this was what the impromptu social call was about; not so much a necessity as a chance to have her alone without Vaughan for three or four hours.

‘Come here.’

‘Not scared of my brother any more?’ asked Bella.

‘What’s done is done.
Carpe florem.’

Bella knelt on the carriage floor between his knees. Expectation prickled through her body as she watched him slowly unbutton his breeches. His cock sprang to attention, almost leaping into her open mouth. Unable to restrain herself, she pushed out her tongue and gave it a sly lick.

As the carriage rumbled over the rough track, she gazed up at Lucerne. As he dipped his head to kiss her, she slid her hands around his neck and into his thick blond hair. ‘A gallop was too obvious,’ he said.

His prick rubbed between her breasts. A compulsion to handle it, to pleasure him, shot down her throat to her nipples, and they sprang to attention. She wanted him to cup her breasts, tease them, and then fill her up.

‘Let me breathe, you vixen,’ Lucerne gasped. He held her back as he regained his breath and some of his poise. Meanwhile, Bella contemplated his shaft. Her hands crept beneath the hem of his shirt and into the golden hair that grew in a thin line from his navel to his prick. He watched her with lustrous eyes. ‘Suck me.’

‘What!’ Surprised by his crudity, she sat back on her haunches. ‘What happened to the well-mannered libertine I thought I was with?’

‘Lovelace.’

Bella frowned in incomprehension.

‘The word you’re looking for is Lovelace.’

‘Never mind,’ Bella said, still a mite stunned, though she curled her fingers around the base of his shaft.

‘I was after your mouth, not your hand,’ Lucerne drawled.

Bella laughed. This would be a rare pleasure. She leaned forwards. His musky scent tingled in her nostrils, sending anticipatory shivers down her back. He tasted somewhat musky, too, as she put her tongue to work on his plum.

‘Ah,’ he sighed. His fingers worked urgently at the back of her neck, caressing that sensitive area of skin as she rhythmically sucked him, swallowing as much of his shaft as she could.

Bella’s jaw ached but she was enjoying herself far too much to stop. Having his cock in her mouth was making her wet. She rucked up her skirt to reach her aching clit, and flicked her middle finger across the pearly bead a few times before dipping the tip into the pool of dew. Her head spinning with wicked thoughts, she then lifted her slippery finger and stroked it along his perineum. Finally, she circled his anus impishly.

‘Don’t you dare,’ he warned her.

Pretending she hadn’t heard, she continued the circling motion. The low gasps from his lips became progressively louder. Bella slid the tip inside up to the first joint and waggled it gently.

‘Bella!’

Between her lips, he was as stiff as a broom handle. She squeezed her index finger into him beside the first, whilst her tongue lapped at the eye of his cock. Lucerne gasped as if all the air had been knocked out of him. His whole body tensed, and then his hot seed pumped into her hungry mouth.

Bella held him between her lips until the last drop
had
leaked from his cock, and his erection was all but gone. Only then did she sit back on the carriage floor with a contented sigh. Lucerne remained with his eyes closed for several long moments, while his body continued to spasm with the echoes of orgasm. When he finally opened his eyes and reached for her, it was with a beaming smile plastered across his lips.

‘You’ve a wicked tongue,’ he said against her hair.

‘And wicked fingers.’

‘Hmm.’

Bella twisted to see his expression. It was unfathomable. ‘Does he do that to you?’ she asked without forethought, and immediately regretted the question. It put an end to their embrace.

Lucerne frowned. ‘He may do,’ he said evasively.

Bella straightened her clothing. There was a damp patch on the front of her gown where his pre-come had leaked. She hid it beneath her fichu then glanced anxiously at Lucerne, who turned away. The carriage soon rumbled to a halt. Bella railed against herself; she’d spoiled everything with one stupid ill-considered remark. However, as the footman opened the door and lowered the steps she felt Lucerne’s breath on her neck. A quick glance back at him told her that she need not have worried. A mischievous twinkle danced in his eyes and he nipped her earlobe.

‘Your turn on the journey home,’ he said as he led her from the carriage.

Louisa paused at the library door. Behind her in the hall, the familiar sound of the clock striking the hour reverberated. Across the room she could see Vaughan’s forearm, draped over the edge of a leather armchair facing away from her. She knew it was Vaughan’s arm from the spill of lace at the wrist, and the jewellery. She
guessed
he was reading, an occupation he favoured when not engaged in some debauchery. Clearly Lucerne’s collection of cracked leather volumes and exotic texts held greater appeal than a quick glance at their spines had suggested to her. Her book lay on the table to the right of the door. If she was lucky, she’d be able to get it without disturbing him. Carefully, she stepped into the room.

‘Annabella has accompanied Lucerne on a visit to Mrs Castleton, so you won’t find her in here,’ Vaughan said, before she’d completed three paces.

Louisa turned to him. ‘I only came in for my book.’ He waved her towards the table.

She quickly crossed the remainder of the carpet to retrieve it, and yelped as Vaughan’s arm snaked in front of her. He picked up the book and read the title. ‘
Novella Justine
. An interesting choice,’ he commented. ‘Doubtless recommended by the delightful Miss Rushdale. I trust you find it informative.’ He handed her the slim volume.

Louisa snatched it from him and took a hasty step away. Vaughan arched a single eyebrow and then took a deliberate step towards her. When she retreated again, she found herself pressed against the bookcase.

‘Ooops, trapped,’ he said.

Louisa quaked. The shelves dug into her back. He was very close to her and she could feel his breath on her face. She wondered if he could smell her fear.

‘Put aside your book, Louisa dear, and let me educate you.’

‘No,’ she said, and her voice sounded rather shrill.

‘Don’t you trust me?’ he chided. Louisa began to say something, then changed her mind and stared at his chest. Vaughan tilted her chin up with his fingertips. ‘You look worn out,’ he observed, gazing at the dark circles below her eyes.

‘Do I?’

‘Yes, you do.’ He caressed her cheek and brushed a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. Louisa felt numb, as if all her strength had seeped out of her toes into the carpet. Yet again he had switched from wicked intent to tender concern, and it muddled her thinking. In his eyes she read hurt, but he still had her pinned.

‘This will not do,’ he said in exasperation. ‘I really think things would be more pleasant if you didn’t try so very hard to despise me.’ He took a large step back and turned away from her.