Lord of Pleasure (12 page)

She lowered her hand and boldly continued to hold his gaze. “What sort of good-bye?”

“The sort of good-bye we both deserve.” With that, he stepped toward her and pulled her soft body close.

Everything around Alexander disappeared as he gave in to the unfolding sensation of kissing Charlotte one last time. Closing his eyes, he forced her lips apart and pushed his tongue deep into her soft, wet mouth. A mouth that tasted of warm tea and tantalizing sugar.

She briefly stiffened against him then pressed herself into him. Her tongue thrust against his as she grabbed for his waist and tugged him even more against the warmth of her body.

His gloved hands left her hair and mindlessly skimmed the contours of her body, savoring the softness even his gloves could not hide from him. His fingers curved toward her backside and cupped her ass tightly, forcing her up against him.

He released her lips and dragged his mouth alongside the length of her smooth, bare neck, tasting and licking the heat of her skin. His hands moved from her backside to the front of her robe. There, he tugged the silk folds aside from her breasts and yanked the top portion of the garment from her shoulders, exposing the sheer chemise and tightly laced rose corset hidden beneath. The same one he’d given her. Damn, but she knew how to drive him mad with need.

She gasped and drew her head farther back as she clung to him.

He tightened his jaw, knowing that there was no way he could ever stop, and ripped the red sash from around her waist, tossing it aside. Her robe slid effortlessly from the rest of her body and cascaded down to the floor at their feet.

She stood before him, eyes closed, parts of her pinned hair escaping from their gathered hold as the rest of her hair seductively swayed against her throat and back. Her smooth cheeks were flushed, her full lips parted, and her chest rose and fell. It appeared she was just as affected by him as he was by her.

And he damn well loved knowing that.

He kneeled before her, trailing his hands down the length of her slim body. Stripping his gloves from his hands, he tossed them aside and began pushing up her sheer chemise slowly, admiring her shapely legs. Though he tried to dictate his breathing, every breath escaped more rapidly and with less reserve and control.

“Alexander,” Charlotte half whispered down at him, her hands digging into his hair. She leaned almost drunkenly toward him, her grasp tightening as her fingers wove into his hair. “We…shouldn’t.”

“I know we shouldn’t,” he rasped, his mind focused on nothing but her. Nothing but the pleasure they both deserved. “But you need this. And I need this. Just this once. Once.” He knotted the length of her chemise around his fist and yanked it straight upward, exposing the soft dark curls that hid the folds of her sex.

His cock was uncomfortably hard now, but he was determined to stay focused on her needs and her needs only. “Can you feel my desire for you?” He kissed her upper thighs, then dragged the tip of his tongue from one side of her thigh to the other.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good. Remember it. Always.” He leaned closer to her center and dipped his tongue into her folds. Dipped it right where it needed to be.

She moaned.

He licked her again then sucked at her nub, consuming the very taste of her wetness and wanting more. He opened his eyes and glanced up, wanting to see the pleasure in her face.

Her head was tilted down toward him, her long black hair encasing them like a curtain. She watched him through half-closed eyes, her kiss-reddened lips parting with each moan as she swayed against him. She widened the separation of her legs, rocking herself against him, urging him to give her more.

It was maddening to behold her need for passion. Her need to receive it. He grabbed hold of her hips to steady her and removed his lips from her folds. It was time to move her into a better position. He released her, allowing her chemise to slip back down around her legs, and leaned back.

She slowly opened her eyes.

He leaned farther back until his hands hit the soft woven rug. Laying on his back completely, he whispered, “Straddle me.”

She hesitated, then stepped around him, her eyes never leaving his and extended a bare leg on each side of him. She lowered herself onto him, pushing her chemise up to her corseted waist to allow her knees to bend. She then sat on his erection and, without being told what to do, slowly rubbed against him, resting her hands on his chest.

Alexander let out a strained groan as mounting sensations from the tip of his cock ripped through the rest of his tense body. And that was just his body responding to her through all his clothing. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to thrust himself into her. “As amazing as this is, I want you to straddle me higher. Much higher.”

She inched up.

“On my mouth,” he urged.

She paused. “Your mouth? But don’t you want me to—”

“Never mind me now. This is about
you
.” He dragged his gaze to her hidden breasts and momentarily reconsidered.

“Although”—he licked his lips, wishing he could find relief—“if you truly wish to please, pull your breasts out. So I may see them.”

She bit her lower lip and slowly reached up to the dip between the top rounds of her breasts. Using her fingers to gently lift them out, she set each full breast atop the edge of the corset. Her nipples darkened as they hardened and peaked.

He swallowed and felt his cock throb in response. “You are so incredibly beautiful,” he murmured up at her. He reached out and grazed his thumbs against both exposed nipples. So soft, so perfect. So like the rest of her. “Sit. On my mouth.”

Carefully, she moved up, settling her hands flat on the floor, placing a knee on each side of his head, while propping the tops of her bare feet above his chest. She glanced down somewhat shyly at him then lowered herself down onto his waiting and open mouth.

Alexander grabbed hold of her corseted waist and held her in place as his tongue delved inside her. A sweet wetness coated his tongue. She was already so unbelievably wet and ready to receive him. He flicked the tip of his tongue across her nub.

She moaned and rhythmically moved against him, her breasts bobbing with each agonized moan. He flicked harder, burying the entire expanse of his mouth against her, wanting and needing her to give herself over to him completely. He suckled, causing her to buck. She grabbed hold of his hair.

“
Oh!
” she cried out, riding harder and harder against him, her grip on his hair tightening. “Yes.”

He kept suckling and licking until her sweet moisture flooded his tongue and mouth. Until her nub hardened against his tongue and became more and more resistant.

She was ready for him. And he was more than ready for her. He quickly removed his mouth from the entrance of her core and slid her down the length of his chest.

“Alexander,” she whispered. “I need you inside of me.”

“I need to be inside you, too,” he whispered back. “But I hardly came prepared. I didn’t think we’d—”

She tugged at him to proceed. “I am clean, I assure you. And I trust that you are, too. Now get on with it, and do not forget to withdraw.”

As if he were going to argue with her. Pressing his hands against her back, he held her tightly against his hips and rolled her onto the floor. He couldn’t seem to move fast enough.

He whipped off his jacket, waistcoat, and cravat after fumbling with them a few moments longer than he would have liked. As he yanked his shirt over his head, he felt her fingers already unbuttoning his trousers and tugging them downward. He tossed aside the shirt and glanced down just as his cock heavily sprang forth, rigidly pointing toward her.

She puckered her lips seductively and slid her slender fingertips along the smooth tip, sending shattering sensations of bliss through his stomach, torso, and legs. He groaned.

Without caring about the fact that he still had his trousers about his legs and his boots on his feet, he grabbed his cock with one hand and lifted her hips with the other, and lowered himself toward her. Slowly, he found the opening to her core and gently maneuvered the tip into her wetness.

“All of it,” she panted. She grabbed hold of his bare waist and thrust herself upward and into him. Hard. In one swift movement, she buried him completely inside her.

Alexander gasped in astonishment as unexpected moistness and warm tightness surrounded his entire cock. He struggled to keep himself from exploding. It had been too long. Much too long.

He lowered himself onto her and caught her mouth with his, slowly moving in and out, in and out, using his hand to position himself so that his length would rub her swollen nub every time.

Charlotte moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Pressing the warmth of her exposed full breasts against his skin.

Though he wanted to slow her movements as well as his own, he couldn’t help but thrust himself harder and deeper. And though their lips were repeatedly jerked apart, he reclaimed her mouth every chance he got, not giving either of them a moment to breathe. Not allowing them to think about anything but this moment.

“Oh! Ohhh!” She bucked beneath him, pushing herself harder up against him and cried out against his mouth. Her wetness exploded all around his shaft, allowing him to thrust more easily, more quickly.

His breath hitched in his throat as he realized his own climax was coming. He yanked himself out and rolled onto the floor beside her. As he jerked his hand repeatedly back and forth over the head of his cock, his stomach muscles tightened, bringing on an explosion of sensations that wrapped his entire body with pulsing ecstasy. He groaned loudly as warm seed spurted out and spattered his hand with clinging moisture.

As the pace of his heart returned to normal, he blew out a long breath and rubbed the remaining seed against his chest, trying to get rid of it. He then turned toward her and grinned. Her eyes were completely closed, as if she were still absorbing all that had happened between them.

Alexander cradled her slender body into his arms. He leaned above her so as to better see her calm, beautiful face and slowly slid her breasts back into the corset, letting only the top rounds peer out.

Though her eyes were still closed, the smile on her face was priceless.

“That is what I call a good-bye,” he murmured down at her.

She opened one eye and widened her smile into a full-fledged grin. “Dare I ask how you go about saying hello?”

He laughed and softly kissed the bridge of her nose. “Do you
want
to know?”

She giggled and shook her head, shifting a dark lock onto her flushed cheek and sending a few hanging wooden pins from her hair tumbling down onto the floor. “No, no.” She brought a hand to her forehead and feigned distress. “I am not worthy of any more salutations.”

“Wench,” he growled, admiring the playful sparkle in her eyes as she dropped her hand back to her side. He brushed the dark strand of hair away from her flushed cheek and smoothed it back into the rest of her soft hair, wishing he could stay. Wishing he could linger.

“Allow me to help you back into your trousers,” she whispered, her hand trailing down his bare shoulder and meandering inward toward his stomach.

His heart jumped as he grabbed for her hand and pulled it away, knowing he had already gone against every rule he had laid out for himself. “You’ll never be rid of me if you do that.”

“Never? Is the Lord of Pleasure bragging about his ability to entertain for weeks on end?”

The use of his former name caught him off guard. He suddenly felt uncomfortable with the notion that she knew who he had been once upon a time in the realm of scandal.

He eased off her and edged away from her side. “Is that why you permitted me to bed you?”

She hiccupped a laugh, then reached out and smacked his shoulder. “No. That is hardly the reason.”

He still couldn’t help but feel a crushing sense of disappointment. He didn’t want her giving herself over to him because of some stupid title women gossiped about. But because of
him
. “Who told you?”

“A naughty little French bird. The same one who gallantly admitted you into the school.”

Ah, yes. A woman who kept coming into all of his conversations, even though he’d never bloody even laid eyes on her. “Madame de Maitenon.”

“The very one. She was rather cross with me for having turned you away. If you must know, your fancy titles could never intrigue me half as much as your promise to grant me pleasure.” She smiled, her cheeks flushing all the more. “Chartwell never tried. It either happened or it didn’t. And most often it didn’t. Which made me wonder what all those women were really after. For it certainly wasn’t what he had below the waist.”

Despite her obvious amusement, Alexander could not help but remain serious. And genuinely saddened. Saddened that this amazing and beautiful woman hadn’t been properly pleasured by a man.

He leaned over her once again. Their eyes met and the smile on her lips faded. They continued to stare at one another, their breaths mingling in what felt like timed and perfect harmony.

It was a moment unlike any he’d ever had the privilege of experiencing. He’d never wanted to connect with a woman after what Lady Somerset had done to him. Yet with her, he felt as if he wouldn’t be able to breathe if he didn’t.

Which was nonsense. He had breathed on his own accord since birth. He tightened his jaw. Clearly, it was time to return to reality. He had responsibilities to tend to. His family, namely.

He drew back, sliding his arms out from under her, and scrambled to his feet. He yanked up his trousers and buttoned them into place. Turning away, he adjusted his cock within his trousers, which for some damn reason was growing hard again.

He gathered his shirt, his waistcoat and cravat, and pulled them on, scrambling to fit, yank, and button everything back into place. He tried not to look at her, even though he felt her eyes watching him all along. After tying his cravat, he quickly smoothed it and checked to see if everything was where it needed to be. He blew out a breath and turned back toward her.

Holding out a hand for her, he murmured, “Allow me.”

She shyly reached out and grasped his hand, her soft warmth penetrating his palm. He lifted her up onto her feet, noting how light she was. She landed directly before him and simply stood there, chin upward, observing him. Sections of her dark hair were sliding down to her bare shoulders, covering the straps of her thin chemise and curling down toward her corset.