Improper Pleasures (The Pleasure Series #1) (16 page)

Astra released him, determined to become his lover
tonight. “Then, sir, it is time for you to do yours. I want you. Make love to
me.” Though her own words shocked her, her efforts were instantly rewarded when
he swiftly reached for her gown. Astra shifted, helped him pull the white silk
over her head, their movements in harmony. She lay back on the bed, ready to
return to the mindless tug of her own need, and hopefully his. There would be
no mistakes tonight. He would not find her lacking in the harsh light of day. This
time, she’d make sure of it.

He paused above her, his weight on his knees between her
spread legs.

She rested her hands on his hips to encourage him to
continue. Instead, his gaze roamed her body. Astra had the urge to shift. She
was far from voluptuous and his hesitation ignited fears that he might find her
lacking, though nothing in his suddenly serious expression hinted at that.
Astra studied him to keep her own nerves in check.

His shoulders were broad and in the firelight, she noticed
a few nicks and white scars across his chest. Without clothes, she could see he
was not as heavy as she suspected but deceptively lean and sinewy, but his
broad, heavily muscled shoulders made him appear massive. She dropped her gaze
to his determined arousal that if anything had grown, not slackened. She let
her hands drift over his hips and down his thighs and up the front, inching
closer to stroking him again. Perhaps that was what he was waiting for.

He placed his palms over her hands halting her progress.
He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. Astra had the sinking fear he
had changed his mind. Something definitely seemed to be troubling him.

“I have a sheath in the pocket of my robe, to keep you
from conceiving, but I don’t want to use it. It might be uncomfortable for you.
I’ll pull out instead, if that’s all right?”

She smiled at him with relief. “I trust your judgment,
James.”

He leaned down and kissed her again, slowly, coaxingly,
almost lovingly. She stopped the flutter in her heart at that thought, focusing
on the stirring in her lower belly instead.

He stretched out on top of her, bracing his weight on his
forearms and knees that he planted between her spread legs. He covered her
mouth again. The hard head of his cock tested her wet passage. Swiftly he
changed his position, sliding down until their bodies pressed more fully, using
his powerful legs to spread her own further apart.

He sunk into her deeper. The fullness bordering on
discomfort surprised her. She was told coupling wasn’t supposed to hurt after
the first time. When he pushed forward with determination, she sucked in her breath
and stiffened. He withdrew slightly, then gently nudged past the tightness of
her body with small teasing thrusts. The light open-mouthed kisses he dropped
on her neck were like a brand of fire. He trembled slightly under her hands on
his slick shoulders. Soon she grew accustomed to his size and the shallow
rhythm became torture. She tried to arch up and take more of him but he pulled
back. She felt his grin in his kisses that were as gentle as his thrusts.

Astra wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting the return
of his unbridled passion. He pulled his mouth from hers and she felt his heavy
breaths against her ear as he quickened his thrusts. His teasing pace wasn’t
easy for him either. Astra slipped her hands along his ribs and across his
tight flank. She tightened her grip, urging him on.

“Wrap your legs around my hips.”

Astra slid her feet around his lower back. The position
forced her to tilt her hips, opening more fully to him. On his next thrust, he
slid all the way inside her, filling her, his body melding with hers in
complete union.

He stayed nestled against her, arching his hips in a way
that nudged against the highly sensitive spot hidden by the folds of her sex.
He pulled back and surged forward with the same movement. The burst of pleasure
left Astra mindless with each impact, and she arched her hips to meet his next
thrust. James filled her senses and her body, and she was desperate for more of
him.

As if sensing her need, he covered her mouth with his as
his movements became deeper, more powerful. His tongue took control of her
mouth as his cock had her body. She was a single sensation and it was James.

Erotic waves coursed from their connection. Astra forgot
to breathe as every muscle in her body tightened. Her sex clenched in a deluge of
spasms. She could not stop her hoarse cry of pleasure.

James broke the kiss but remained poised above her
completely still. Before she recovered from the throws of her release, James
fell back on his knees. Astra opened her eyes, gasping at his abrupt withdrawal.
She had made a mistake. Her own pleasure had taken over.

She forced herself up onto her elbows to find James on his
knees between her spread legs. His eyes were closed, his head bent. He gripped
his engorged cock and appeared to be in pain.

“I’m sorry. What did I do wrong?”

She touched his cheek and he flinched. He shuddered with
his release, spilling his hot seed across her breasts and stomach. He groaned
in the back of his throat, an animal sound that made her shiver. He was
vulnerable, completely unaware of anything but his own crippling orgasm. And in
that moment, Astra felt more powerful than she ever had in her life. She had
brought him to this. She, Astra Seabrook Keane, was sincerely desirable.

He gasped for breath then opened his eyes, meeting her
gaze. Instantly, he dropped his and crawled on top of her, kissing her neck and
snuggling against her. He used his hand to wipe away the evidence of his
release. She gripped his arm to stop him and she grinned at him as Eve must
have at Adam, silently letting him know she enjoyed sharing his lust. In an act
of pure instinct, she guided his hand to her mouth, kissed his knuckles, licked
his palm. He shuddered then gathered her into his arms and curled around her.

“Sorry, ‘bout that. I couldn’t hold out. I couldn’t stay
inside you a moment longer.” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “When you came,
you drove me over the edge.”

“Oh, was I not supposed to do that?” Astra felt suddenly
guilty. Had she failed at being a mistress already? Perhaps she was not
supposed to find her release at all, rather only focus on his needs.

His hand drifted to possessively cup her breast, lazily
sliding his thumb over her nipple. Astra tried to stamp down another surge of
desire. He seemed spent.

“You can do anything you like. And I liked that very much.”
He sighed and she could hear his breathing even. She feared he was on the verge
of falling asleep.

Though Lark’s nanny rarely woke Astra in the middle of the
night, she could not take the chance that her daughter might ask for her. Or
worse, and more likely, she too fell asleep and they woke to the light of day
sharing a bed. Astra shifted but James had already become immobile. “James,”
she said, but received no response. “James,” she said again, nudging him to
gain his attention.

“Hmm?” he mumbled.

“Would you like to have relations again?”

He slowly pried his eyes open. “Would
you
?”

Actually, she did, but the sleepy film covering his gaze
warned that further intimacy seemed unlikely. “I would like to do whatever you
would like to do, but you can’t sleep here.”

He blinked and slowly sat up, all the warmth in the room
instantly leaving. “I see. Well you are certainly efficient in your duties, are
you not?”

“My daughter. She might wake in the middle of the night.” Astra
shrugged and gave him a shy smile which was completely out of place since they
were both naked, sticky with his semen.

“Oh,” he rubbed his heavy eyelids. “Again, I’m an idiot.
The role I seem to play most often with you. I didn’t think.” He slung his arm
around her, drawing her near. He kissed the top of her head. Astra pulled him
close when he tried to pull away. If she had the right to, she would say that
she would love for him to spend the night in her bed, but she knew that would
be a mistake. He was not hers to have and to hold. Theirs was a secret,
improper affair.

He lifted her chin and kissed her first gently, then with
growing passion. His hands roamed over her curves and he drew her hand down to
press her palm around his unbelievably full erection.

“Oh, so you do want to make love again?” she whispered
near his ear.

He tightened her grip with his hand covering hers and
guided her to slowly stroke his length. “No, I just want to torture myself so I
can plan for tomorrow. Prepare yourself for my fantasy, woman.”

“I look forward to it.” Things would be much easier if she
longed for James only in the purely physical.

He had removed his hand from hers, but she continued to
stroke him, increasing the pressure and the rhythm, sensing his growing desire
by his change in breathing. Abruptly, he gripped her wrist and removed her
hand. “Enough or I’ll change my mind. I want you well rested for tomorrow.”

“I’m intrigued. And a little worried.”

Though the fire in the grate had dimmed, she could clearly
see him stroll around the bed to retrieve his robe. Astra pulled the covers
around her, chilled by his departure from her bed and stunned that she could
have a naked man parading around her room, his cock stiff and fierce against
his flat belly.

“You should be worried.” He slipped into his robe. “I
don’t know what you wear under all those fancy layers, but for tomorrow, less
will be better.”

“So you plan to accost me in the pantry or perhaps the
wine cellar?”

“You’ll see,” he said with a smug smile. Their gazes met and
their shared lust flared. James shook his head. “I need to go. Now.”

He kneeled on the bed and kissed her one last time. “Until
tomorrow.”

He silently left the room and shut the door.

She lay back on the bed, knowing sleep would not come
easily. No doubt she would relive the last hour over and over and over again.
“Until tomorrow.”

***

James strolled down the long shadowed hall insanely
pleased with things. He had suspected his encounter with Astra would be like no
other and he was right. Though, he was indeed vastly more experienced, he had
been unexpectedly enlightened as well.

For one, he realized in his previous sexual encounters
with women, mostly the disreputable sort, they had feigned more pleasure than
they likely felt. Perhaps it was merely the tight fit of Astra’s neglected body
that let him experience each spasm of her release like a hard grip on his cock.
Though his decision not to use the sheep skin sheath he still had in the pocket
of his robe was not the most logical, he knew he could not use it with Astra.

An unease he couldn’t shake slowed his pace. Astra was a
widow with a child, not an innocent. He hated that he constantly had to remind
himself of that.

James rounded the corner that would lead him into the wing
of the house that held his suite of rooms.

Was that smoke?

He paused at the distinctive smell of something burning,
then strode forward, quickening his pace. The fire that had been lit in his
room before he’d left should be out by now. Long out. The other rooms
surrounding his remained empty, reserved for houseguests he’d been told. His
was the only room that would have had a fire that night.

And he would not have even bothered with a fire at all if
not for Melva’s unscheduled visit that evening. In fact, when he’d arrived in
his rooms after dinner, he had not even noticed that the coals that usually
burned in the grate at night were cold. Sexual anticipation of his scheduled
rendezvous with Astra had kept his body temperature quite high. The bouts of
pacing that interrupted his attempt to focus on a paper about sheep breeding
had not helped his agitated state.

Melva had shown up at his door with brandy, and her
thoughtfulness was not unwelcome. He had wanted a drink before heading to
Astra’s bedroom, in fact, but had found his own decanter empty. The maid had
hinted at wanting to do more, but she’d finally agreed to leave after she’d lit
the fire, adding more coal before she’d departed. But, instead of merely
relaxing him, the brandy had made him surprisingly drowsy considering how much
he had been anticipating his meeting with Astra. He’d shaken off his surprise,
then roused himself and headed to Astra’s rooms shortly after, assuming the
fire Melva had lit would simply burn out on its own.

James turned another corner and was immediately engulfed
by thick clouds of smoke. He covered his mouth and nose with the lapel of his
robe and sprinted. His first thought was of the servants who lived in the rooms
above his. He’d been told by the butler when he complained that his valet was
sneaking up on him that there were back stairs for speedy access, but hidden so
as not to be intrusive.

Angry black smoke slithered from beneath the closed door
of his room. He immediately reached for the door handle but didn’t register
heat that he belatedly expected. Perhaps the fire was small and he could
contain it, which might be faster than trying to outrace it to save the
servants upstairs.

The handle didn’t turn. James was almost sure he hadn’t
locked the door, though he had seriously contemplated it. The thought had
crossed his mind that Melva might return or worse, Mr. Rudd would find him
missing and wake the whole house searching high and low for him during his late
night visit to Astra’s room.

Jesus, Mr. Rudd!
Despite his obvious animosity, Mr.
Rudd had appointed himself James’s keeper. James frantically searched his
robe’s pockets though he was sure he had not locked the door after all.

After finding nothing but the tattered sheepskin condom
and no key, James steadied himself and then rammed his shoulder into the door,
but the heavy panel refused to budge. That he still didn’t feel any waves of heat
did not hinder thick smoke from pouring around the door’s edges. Regretting he
didn’t have on boots to kick in the door, James heaved his shoulder against the
wood three times before the hinges gave way, then two more before the door opened
against the force. James had to fall back as a solid wall of smoke made
breathing impossible. He gulped as much clean air as he could and ran into the
room. Once inside, James dropped to his knees, the smoke so thick above him
that he would surely collapse in short order.