When they reached twenty Buxton stopped and the assembled group clapped. Then he pulled on her underclothes, baring her bottom. Lady Turnstall giggled like she’d heard a good joke and asked for the rest of her spanking. Lord Buxton delivered twenty more swats before the room broke out in applause again.
“Since it is Lady Turnstall’s fortieth birthday, I have delivered forty swats,” Buxton said aloud. “Now, she will receive a bonus spanking of fifteen more swats.”
He delivered the “bonus” quickly, the cane popping against her bare bottom. Lady Turnstall moaned and begged for more. When Buxton was done, he stood Lady Turnstall on her feet and led her from the room accompanied by applause.
“Does she not want to see who is here?” Carin asked as Ellington caressed her arms.
“No, part of the pleasure for her is not knowing who is watching,” Ellington answered. “She told me once she enjoys meeting people at a party and wondering if they have watched her receive a spanking. It excites her. Has it excited you to watch?”
Carin nodded.
“Good, then let us return home and I’m make good on my promise.”
“Shelia McCoy is in love with you,” Carin said as they made their way back to his house.
“Nonsense. She is in love with my money and my position,” Ellington said. “Trust me, I’ve met women like her many times, and all she wants is to be called a Lady.”
She wanted to say if he took her to many more events like tonight she would feel the same way. It was so different from her life. But she wouldn’t, because as much as she’d enjoyed tonight’s events she was afraid if she admitted her feelings he would hold back from the activities they would engage in later tonight.
She repeated his words in her mind, that it was just for fun and not for love.
“Remember, I don’t want a wife,” he said. “I want a friend and lover.”
“Are we friends?” she couldn’t keep the question from popping out.
“I hope we are becoming so,” he said. “It’s my opinion that friends make the best lovers. They trust each other, they are there for each other, they laugh together and want to have fun. And sex can be so very much fun. I’m going to make you climax very hard tonight.”
Carin giggled. “You’re already making me hot.”
“Good.” His gaze became intense. “When we get in the house I want you to go into the library. There will be a maid in there who will help you strip down to your corset and stockings. I so love seeing you in those garments.”
“Are we going to have sex in the library? Or is there a secret room behind one of the bookcases?”
“No secret room, and no questions,” he said. “I want you to be surprised by everything we do.”
Carin smiled. “Then I shall be properly shocked, I think, because there is no telling what you have in mind.”
When they were at home, and she was properly suited out in her corset and stockings, Ellington came into the room with a piece of rope in his hands.
Her mouth opened in a perfect O. She hadn’t expected rope.
“I don’t want to be tied,” she said.
“It’s imperative for what I have in mind,” he said. “But don’t worry, you’ll be able to wiggle out if you feel the need. All I ask is that you trust me, one friend to another.”
She barely knew the man, truthfully, but she liked the idea of trust. She also liked the idea of a good, hard orgasm, which she knew would come from whatever he wanted to do.
“Hold your hands out in front of you,” he said.
When she’d done as he asked, he bound her wrists together. The rope was soft, which surprised her. He used what he hadn’t wrapped around her wrists to lead her from the library. She felt naughty and extremely excited as they mounted the stairs.
Once in his bedroom, Tristan led her to the bed. She expected him to tie her as he had the first night they’d met. But instead of telling her to lie down he jumped on the bed and pulled her arms above her head. He pulled the rope through a metal ring, and then jumped down so he stood next to her.
“I’m going to hand you the end of the rope,” he said. “You have to promise me to keep hold of it. Unless you decide you don’t like what is happening. If that happens you can drop the rope and I will stop.”
Carin’s breasts had popped out from the corset when he’d lifted her arms above her head. He stepped behind her and pressed his cock against her ass as his hands cupped her breasts and gently squeezed.
“Agreed?”
“Yes,” she said. She clasped the rope and held it tight. She took several deep breaths, working to control her nerves.
“Does this involve pain?” she asked, thinking about her spanking the other evening.
“Not tonight,” he said. “I wanted to show you that items used to induce pain don’t always have to be painful.”
She heard him walk away from her, and she turned to see if he was disrobing. But he wasn’t. Instead he opened the wardrobe and she watched as he pulled out a flogger.
She immediately let go of the rope. It hung there, limp as a dead flower, as if it, too, were disappointed with her decision. “No.” She turned and worked to get the ropes off her wrists. “Absolutely not.”
“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, sounding very wounded.
“That is used as the most severe form of punishment,” she said.
“What did I say? Tell me.”
“It sounds good to say you’re not going to hurt me, but… I don’t think I can. I’m sorry.”
She could tell he was disappointed.
“Too much too soon,” he finally said. “Lie down on the bed, on your stomach, please.”
“I can do that,” she said. When she was in position she felt him sit down on the bed, next to her legs. And then she felt the strands of the flogger trace over her bare buttocks and thighs.
He moved the flogger over her bottom, ever so gently, stroking it up and down her bottom.
Carin hated to admit the sensations aroused her. She lifted her hips from the bed, and he used the handle of the flogger to push them back down.
“I would have better access if you got back in the position I had you in before,” he said.
She knew he was right, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t frightened by the idea. She didn’t answer and he continued to tease her, lightly running the strands up and down her legs.
He slapped her ass with his hand and she groaned.
“Play with your quim you naughty girl,” he said, just before he slapped her again. She made to roll over but he stopped her.
“Stay where you are.” He slapped her bottom again and then started to once again tease her with the flogger.
“How can I?”
“Worm your hand between your legs,” he said. She expected another slap but it didn’t come.
Carin wiggled around to follow his instructions. He continued to assault her senses with the flogger while she did as instructed. As she stroked herself he alternated between slapping her bottom and moving the flogger around on her skin.
“Touch your clit,” he said. “Do the same things to yourself that I do, stroke and pinch hard, and stroke again. Work the little nub until it is ready to reward you with the ultimate pleasure.”
She could feel it building inside her as he slapped and played, slapped and played. When he climbed on top of her, fully clothed, she found it hard for her fingers to do as he’d asked.
“When you spend, I want you to know it could have been much more intense if you’d allowed me to guide you by doing what I know would pleasure you.”
Carin tried to nod, but her mind reeled. She knew it was true. The orgasm that finally hit was good, but not as good as the ones Ellington had produced in her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just… I’m sorry.” She couldn’t very well say she was just chicken, or didn’t trust him, could she?
“Just remember,” he said. His weight lifted off her and she heard the rustle of cl
othing.
“Up on your hands and knees,” he said. And then, suddenly, he was inside her, grasping her hips and pumping into her until she thought she might explode again. But she didn’t. Instead, as she felt him fill her, she wondered exactly how intense it would have been if she’d followed his instructions, and she wondered if he would try this game again so she could.
Chapter 10
Later that evening they lay in bed, their limbs entwined. Her body still hummed with pleasure at the things he had taught her, for she’d never touched herself in that way before. She would have to remember it for the days after their relationship was over.
Now, Carin sighed as she ran her hands through the soft hair on his chest.
“Tell me about this club you spoke of this evening, the one that brought about Lady Turnstall’s spanking.”
“Well, we call ourselves The Rakes of Mayfair,” Ellington said as he pulled her close. There are ladies involved, obviously, but they must have a male sponsor. We have to make sure they enjoy the Club’s pursuits.”
“And how did it start?”
His laughter made his body shake, and it brought a smile to her face.
“Buxton and I were randy little whelps,” he said. “We are the oldest members of The Club, and I admit that we started it all by being, well, rakes.”
“Explain it to me,” she said. She continued to run her hands over his chest because she found that she just didn’t want to stop touching him.
“All right,” he said. “We were in our early twenties. On a visit to Paris, we found a brothel that catered to rich men. One of the ladies whom I visited asked me if I wanted to spank her. I’d never thought such a thing was possible. I told her so and she’d laughed. Then she guided me through my first delivery.”
“I enjoyed it so much that when we came back to London, I found young widows who also enjoyed that particular sport. When I confided to Buxton that I liked it he told me that he too enjoyed it, and with many of the same widows.”
He paused, and Carin wondered if he were deciding what he should tell her. Maybe he was leaving things out. “The first meeting of The Club was Buxton, The Duke of Wessex myself, Lady Turnstall and Lady Walton, who has since become the Duchess of Wessex. I married a few years later and my wife joined into the fun.”
Ellington gathered Carin closer to him and kissed her soundly. “So, you formed a sex club.”
His laugh filled the room. “If you want to call it that, then, yes, I suppose that’s what we did. We don’t have orgies, but we do enjoy public scenes. It’s the spice of life, so to speak.”
She could see how The Club could spice up people’s lives. Hers had definitely been heated since she’d been captured in Ellington’s bedroom.
“And how have you found members?” Carin’s voice was soft as she nibbled her way down Ellington’s neck toward his chest. She nipped at his nipple and he sighed. She took advantage of the fact he was flat on his back and she straddled him.
“Through our friends, of course.” His voice was deep with desire and Carin looked behind her to see his cock stirring. “Men have a tendency to talk, you know, with their friends. If someone we consider trustworthy expresses an interest in the activity, the members talk amongst themselves to see if an invitation is proffered.”
“And the ladies?”
Carin settled herself on his thighs and dropped her face to his crotch. She leaned over and licked his cock. His moan of approval emboldened her, and she did it again.
“The ladies are widows who ask for male company and express an interest in what some might call the darker side of intimacy: spankings, tying up the ladies, anal sex.”
Carin lifted her head at the activity. “You’ve never…”
“I have, and I like it,” he said. He had his hands behind his head now. “There was one widow in Bath who entertained Buxton and myself at the same time. He put his cock in her pussy, and I put my dick in her ass, at the same time. She loved it, and it is a quite stirring act.”
“You’re putting me on,” she said with a laugh.
“Never,” Ellington said.
She giggled again, but in the soft light of the candle she could see that he was completely serious.
“How could that be?”
“All it takes is a little experience,” he said. “Or guidance from someone who has the experience.”
What he suggested was something she’d never consider. She might have to give in for his affinity for tying her to the bed, if it was the choice between that and taking a prick up her backside.
It was time to take his mind off the subject at hand. Carin lowered her head once more and ran her tongue up and down his prick.
“You little minx,” he said on a sigh.
She giggled and took him inside her mouth, sucking gently. This wasn’t anything new to her, and she’d always rather enjoyed it. She moaned as she moved her head up and down, enjoying the sensation and the feeling of control that it gave her.
“Is this something you’re Club would do?”
Ellington groaned, and she wondered if he was trying to get her to concentrate on his cock, and not ask questions. “Suck now, talk later,” he said.
“I want to know,” she said. “Please, tell me what is on your mind.”
“Shooting my seed down your throat,” he said, his voice raw with need. “Suck me, Carin, make me shoot off or I will spank you as I did the first night I found you in here.”
She sucked him, running her tongue over his foreskin and down around the head. “Like this?” she said, right before she took him as deeply as she could.
“Suck hard, little thief,” he demanded, and Carin found his words and the tone of his voice exhilarating.
She did as he asked, keeping silent as she sucked and tugged as her late husband had taught her to do.
When he spent, she found it hard to keep her mouth in place and the seed went all over her. But she didn’t care. It was another way for her to take him into her, just not in the way he’d told her. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she hadn’t done as he’d asked.
But when she looked up at him she could see his eyes were closed. Her gaze dropped to his chest, which rose and fell in even breaths. He was asleep. Perhaps they could talk more in the morning.
Carin got up and wet a cloth. She cleaned up herself and wiped around Tristan’s chest, worried that she would wake him. But she didn’t, not even when she crawled into bed and snuggled up next to him.
She closed her eyes and joined him in slumber, her last thought that his chest made a better pillow than any she’d had in her life.
When Carin woke the next morning, Ellington was gone. After she’d dressed and gone downstairs, Mrs. Walker informed her that he’d left early and would be back in time for tea.
“He said for you to rest, as you would be attending a play tonight. I’ll bring up a tray.”
Carin went to the French doors and opened them. The balcony looked out over the gardens and she breathed in the fragrant air. How her life had changed in the past few days. Earlier this week the stench of the Thames would have reached her nose when she awoke. Now, it was the sweet smell of flowers and, truthfully, the thought of him taking her in the garden amongst the wonderful flowers.
She supposed she shouldn’t think of such things. After all, when they found the person responsible for her father’s death their association would be over with, even if he had promised to take care of her. She didn’t like the idea of being a mistress, but then again, she would not be able to find employment with no recommendation from Mrs. Thompson, and she wouldn’t get that, given how things had gone at the end.
Of course, she wondered if they would find out who killed her father, if they continued to go to balls and plays instead of seeking the information that would lead her to the truth.
Would that be such a bad thing?
Could she live without what Ellington had introduced her to, the incredible sex that made her feel as if sh
e were riding on clouds? What about cuddling up to his chest at night? Or the feelings he produced in her body, in her mind?
She quickly ate, bathed and then dressed in a yellow day dress that had been waiting for her when she woke up. She had just finished tying back her hair when a knock came at the door.
“Miss Piper, if I may?”
Temple’s voice was muffled as it came through the closed door. Carin smiled at his use of the word Miss. He knew, she was sure, that she and Ellington were lovers, yet he treated her as if she were the ward she was supposed to be.
“Yes, Mr. Temple?” she asked after she told him to come inside.
“Shelia McCoy has arrived to see you. Shall I tell her you are unavailable?” Temple’s voice was soft, and he gave her a questioning look.
Carin’s mind went into overdrive. What would Tristan want her to do? He hadn’t said she couldn’t receive anyone. Perhaps this woman had something to do with either Lord Simon or the Duke of Rafferty and Carin could try and get information out of her.
“Give me a minute, Temple,” she said. “I’ll be downstairs soon.”
The butler nodded. “I’ll have her wait in the drawing room, the second door on the right. Mrs. Walker will prepare tea.”
Carin entered the room quietly and watched as Shelia walked around the room and surveyed her surroundings. Lord Ellington’s house was fantastic, full of rich and beautiful furnishings. Carin wondered what the other woman was thinking.
Shelia picked up a vase and examined it, and Ellington’s words came back to Carin’s mind… she wants nothing more than my money and position.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. McCoy,” Carin said. “This is a surprise.”
Shelia turned a pretty smile toward Carin. “Well, I also am new to London and don’t have many friends. I thought we could spend some time together.”
The lie seemed to roll perfectly over the younger woman’s tongue. Carin sat down in a chair and indicated that Shelia should sit on the sofa.
“How long have you been in London?” And why exactly are you here?
“For a few weeks,” Shelia said. She took a seat on the sofa, and Carin knew at that moment she should have refused the woman’s visit. Shelia studied her as if she were trying to memorize her face, as if she were trying to place where she’d seen her before.
His Disobedient Thief (Rakes of Mayfair Book 2) Page 12
