Diana sobered. “To answer your question, Northcliffe called on me the morning after your ball with the intention of suggesting an affair between the two of us.”
Her friend’s eyes widened. “But that was fully nine days ago, and you have said nothing to me about it before now?”
She grimaced. “That is because he has monopolized all my time, and in truth, I have no idea how to explain the relationship to myself, let alone you. I never thought myself capable of having an affair, and certainly not with someone as…as forceful as Northcliffe.”
“But you had a relationship with his brother,” Tabitha gently reminded.
Diana had never confided, not even to her closest friend, the misconception she and Percy had been forced to adopt because the laws of the land forbade a relationship between Jeremy and Raphael.
Because a secret told to someone outside the inner circle of that confidence would no longer remain one. Tabitha would not mean any harm by it, Diana was sure, but there was every possibility her friend would have shared that information with her husband, and that he in turn would tell someone else. None of it would have been done out of maliciousness, but it would still have placed Jeremy and Raphael in mortal danger.
“So I did,” she accepted lightly. “But Northcliffe is so much more in every way than his brother. Or Percy, for that matter,” she added with a guilty frown.
Tabitha’s smile was full of admiration. “I will give you this, Diana, when you decided to leave widowhood behind, you chose to be with a man that all women would welcome to their bed.”
Her brows rose. “Including you?”
“I love Thomas dearly, but Northcliffe is… He is devilishly handsome, arrogantly self-assured, and every woman’s fantasy of what an elusive lover should be. Except, in your case, he is obviously no longer elusive.” Tabitha grinned. “Did he give you the beautiful hairpins you are wearing this evening?”
Diamonds and pearls. “Yes.”
“And the matching earbobs?”
“Yes.”
“He is a very generous lover.”
“Yes.” And not only with material things. Xavier never failed to ensure Diana received as much pleasure in their lovemaking as he obviously did. Many other gentlemen, she had heard other women gossip, were not so generous.
“Is he as forceful in bed as he is out of it?” Tabitha prompted eagerly.
Diana was unaccustomed to discussing such intimate matters as this, and had certainly never done so in regard to her marriage to Percy. Yet she could understand Tabitha’s curiosity. Until nine days ago, Diana, along with the rest of Society, had believed Xavier to be the most coldly aloof and unattainable gentleman in England. He was no longer cold or aloof in regard to Diana, but he remained as unattainable to her as he was to every other woman, in or out of Society.
Did she want Xavier to be attainable?
Of course not.
Did she…?
Whether she did or did not was unimportant when Diana knew their affair would last only as long as Xavier wished it to.
She sighed heavily. “Is rapturous sex not enough?”
Tabitha looked at her searchingly. “Is that all there is?”
“Of course.”
“Diana,” her friend chided.
Pain lanced through Diana as if from a physical blow. Because it wasn’t all there was. She, at least, had fallen in love. Deeply. With Xavier Asherton, the Duke of Northcliffe.
How could she not fall in love with a man who treated her with such care and attention, and as his equal, in and out of bed?
She and Percy had been so very young when they married, and they had learned together what pleased them sexually. Being with Xavier, a man of far greater experience, had shown her how little she and Percy had really known. Xavier made love to and owned every part of her body.
Except one.
Yes, except one, and Diana was no longer as averse to that intimacy as she had been, knowing that whatever they did together, Xavier would ensure it was enjoyable for her. Besides which, Diana wished to give him a part of herself no other woman ever had. To be remembered by him as someone special, in a way none of his other lovers had been.
“Perhaps not,” she answered Tabitha. “For all the good it will do me.”
“You do not believe Northcliffe’s emotions to be equally as engaged?”
Her smile was rueful. “I believe he desires me exclusively. But once that hunger has run its course, I will no doubt be discarded as so many others have been before me.”
“But have they?” Tabitha was deep in thought. “Oh, no doubt Northcliffe has had many encounters with ladies of the demimonde over the years, but I have never heard of him taking a mistress before. And I feel sure we would have heard,” she added dryly, “because none of the ladies in Society would be able to hold their tongue if they had managed to capture Northcliffe’s attention.”
Nor had Diana ever heard any talk before of Xavier having a mistress. Which did not mean he had not; knowledge of their own affair had not been broadcast either.
She gave a shake of her head. “It is of no importance.”
“But—”
“His Grace the Duke of Northcliffe, my lady,” Tabitha’s butler announced grandly only seconds before Xavier swept into the parlor.
Both ladies rose to their feet, Diana noting with a rapid pounding of her heart how devastatingly handsome Xavier looked. He always did, of course, clothed or unclothed.
This evening he was carrying his top hat but still wearing his cloak over his dark evening clothes, an obvious indication that he had no intention of lingering.
“Lady Walker.” He bowed and kissed Tabitha’s fingers.
“I trust my husband is also on his way home?” she teased.
“I believe so.” Xavier released her gloved hand. “I am come to collect Diana.” He turned to offer her his arm.
The eyes Diana had once believed to be icy gray were filled with fire as Xavier’s gaze devoured her, a sensual smile curving his sculpted lips as she placed her hand lightly on his forearm.
Thank goodness she had explained the situation to Tabitha, because her friend could not possibly miss this show of Xavier’s possessiveness, or his impatience to be gone.
“Of course.” Tabitha smiled brightly. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Xavier intended doing exactly that.
The meeting in the House had dragged on far longer than it had held his interest. How could it when all he could think about was being with Diana again? This past week, she had become as necessary to him as the air he breathed.
Their afternoons were spent learning of their likes and dislikes.
Their evenings and nights were when Xavier gave in to his need to touch her velvety skin. To thread his fingers in her golden locks when he kissed her plush lips. To suck her responsive nipples until they were as big as ripe berries and caress her silky waist and thighs. To devour the wetness of her pussy. To thrust his cock deep inside her slick channel, again and again, until they both exploded in climax.
Only to start over again minutes later.
Every night, over and over.
Because no matter how many times the two of them made love, Xavier couldn’t seem to get deeply enough inside Diana. But that didn’t prevent him from trying as he thrust fully inside her time and time again, until they would both fall into an exhausted sleep before waking at dawn and Xavier took her again before she left him to return to her own home and life.
A life which did not include him.
Which, Xavier had realized this evening as he sat in brooding silence half listening to one of his peers drone on and on about something or other which bored him intensely, was at the root of his problem. He wanted to possess all of Diana, her daytime hours as well as the nighttime ones, and he resented anything and anyone who prevented him from being with her.
Once they had left Walker House and were inside his carriage, Xavier chose to sit beside Diana rather than oppo
site. His hand rested firmly on top of the one she had placed on his forearm. He was determined to keep that physical link between them until he was able to be alone with Diana in the privacy of his bedchamber, where he intended to dispense with their clothing and bury himself inside her as soon as possible.
Supper, he decided, could wait until after he had satisfied his hunger to devour all of her.
Chapter Nine
“What is it about you, in particular, I cannot resist?” Xavier growled minutes later against Diana’s throat, his hands restlessly roaming every naked inch of her as they lay in his bed together. “Diana?” he prompted harshly when she gave no response.
She looked startled by his aggression. “I did not think it to be a serious question.”
“Too bloody serious for me to make a joke out of it!” His eyes narrowed. “Thoughts of you have taken possession of my mind as much as my body craves yours. It is an uncomfortable state of affairs.”
Diana winced. “I apologize?”
Xavier snorted. “That appeared to be a question rather than an apology.”
She appeared bewildered. “Because I do not know what you want from me.”
Everything.
Xavier wanted everything that was Diana. Her thoughts. Her opinions. Her pleasure. Her joy. Her sadness. Her tears. Her laughter. He wanted it all.
Xavier moved up onto his elbow beside her. “Our current arrangement no longer satisfies me.”
Diana somehow managed to maintain an air of calm, even if inside she felt as if her heart were breaking. She had known their affair would end at some stage. Of course she had. She just wished it did not have to be quite so soon, when she had only hours ago acknowledged to Tabitha that she had fallen in love with Xavier.
She hadn’t wanted to love him; had never thought she could love anyone again after Percy. But Xavier was like a force of nature, and just as unstoppable as he strode arrogantly through all her defenses and demanded she give him everything he wanted to take from her.
Except one.
She turned onto her side. “Can we talk about that again later?” She nuzzled against and then suckled one of his hard nipples into the heat of her mouth.
“Diana?” Xavier sounded surprised by her having taken the initiative.
No doubt because, in the past, although fully engaged, she had allowed him to be in control their lovemaking.
Diana knew why she had done that. It was partly because she did not wish for Xavier to think her too forward or wanton, but also because if Xavier took, then she could tell herself she had no choice but to give. But if tonight was to be their last, then she intended to be the one to take and give, for part of it at least.
She placed her palm against Xavier’s chest and gently pushed until he fell back against the pillows. She moved up and then over him, able to feel the hardness of his aroused cock pulsing against her as she lay between his parted thighs. She kissed her way down the silky path of hair on his chest and abdomen, lingering to lick up the pre-cum that had leaked from his cockhead, before continuing downward.
She heard Xavier’s groan of pleasure as she began to lick and suck on his balls, one of her fingers stroking and pressing against the sensitive flesh behind them. She had noted previously that this increased his pleasure, and she wished for Xavier to have nothing but pleasure tonight.
Which was exactly what she then set out to do, sucking and licking his balls until their tightness told her he was poised on the edge of releasing. Then she encouraged him to roll over so that she could kiss and touch every muscle and sinew down the long length of his back.
Diana paused after sweeping her tongue over the twin hollows above the muscular contours of Xavier’s arse. Wondering if she dare continue. If Xavier would let her.
Xavier had no idea what had come over Diana tonight, but he had no intention of stopping her. He was happy to be the one to usually initiate and control their lovemaking, but having Diana now take over that role showed how much she also enjoyed their encounters, which filled him with indescribable pleasure.
He meant it when he said they couldn’t continue as they were.
Because he couldn’t.
Knowing that Diana could end their arrangement at any time, without discussion or reason, had him constantly on edge. Wondering where she was all the time they weren’t together, who she was with, what she was doing, was slowly driving him toward the type of obsessive madness he had always eschewed as a lack of backbone when he had seen it in others. Which meant he couldn’t continue like this—
Holy fucking hell!
Xavier’s back arched, his fingers digging into the pillows either side of his head, the moment he felt the wet sweep of Diana’s tongue between the cheeks of his arse. Not by accident either, as her fingers held his arse cheeks apart to allow her access.
He hadn’t known…
Had never imagined…
Dear God, it was the strangest and yet most erotic experience of his life as Diana’s tongue alternately edged and then flattened against that sensitive ring of flesh. Until Xavier once again felt himself close to release, and without his cock being touched this time.
“No more,” he groaned as he rolled over, only to groan again the moment he saw her flushed face and red and swollen lips. “Diana, what—” His breath rushed from his lungs after her lips had parted around his cock and it was sucked inside that moist and burning heat.
He had never before had a lover who could relax the muscles at the entry to her throat in the way Diana could. She did it now, taking his cock deeper still, until her nose was buried in the dark curls at its base. Xavier’s fingers gripped tightly onto her shoulders as those muscles in her throat squeezed and massaged the throbbing length of his cock as she slowly lifted up and then plunged down again. Time after time, until Xavier once again felt himself poised on the edge of release.
Which was the moment Diana chose to release his cock fully from her mouth with a noticeably popping sound.
“Nooo!” Xavier protested that loss.
“I want— Xavier, I want—” Her gaze shied away from meeting his as she began to chew her bottom lip between her teeth.
His own desire was instantly put aside at this show of vulnerability on her part. The two of them talked of many things when they were out of bed, but never in it. They kissed and caressed, pleasured each other witless, but Diana had never specifically asked him for anything when they were in bed together.
He sat up to swing his legs to one side of where she knelt in front of him. “Tell me, Diana,” he encouraged. “You have only to ask, and I shall give it to you.”
Her gaze remained lowered. “I wish— I want— You said when this began, you would possess me everywhere.” The color deepened in her cheeks.
Xavier’s heart leaped. “I did, yes.”
She moistened her massacred bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. “You have not done so.”
“No.”
She flicked a glance at him before looking away again. “I want your cock to claim me there.”
Xavier had been holding back on taking that last step, knowing he would never be able to separate himself from her ever again once he had taken it.
Did he want to separate himself from Diana?
Hell no!
He wanted more of her, not less.
He lifted her chin with his hand. “Look at me,” he ordered when she kept her lashes lowered. “Diana! Better,” he praised huskily when she looked at him through those long lashes. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes.”
“You must be very sure—”
“I am!” she interrupted impatiently before her gaze skittered away from meeting his again. “Sorry. I just— Please do not—do not make me ask again.”
Xavier gave her one last lingering glance before he moved to slide open the drawer of his bedside cabinet, taking out a glass jar before closing it again.
“What is that?” Diana eyed the container suspicious
ly.
“A salve to ease my entry.”
She recoiled back. “You said you had not done this before either,” she accused.
“I have not,” he assured softly. “I use this salve when I pleasure myself. It allows for an easier glide in and out of my fist.”
Diana wished he hadn’t told her that, as it instantly brought forward images of Xavier lying alone in this bed, pumping his own cock until the hot cum shot from its tip.
In fact, she was beginning to think this whole venture into the unknown was a bad idea altogether.
“Obviously, our relationship means I have not needed to use it for some time now,” Xavier added dryly as he released the top of the jar and placed them both on top of the side table before scooping up a generous amount of the creamy contents into his hand. “Roll onto your stomach for me,” he encouraged gruffly.
Diana had trusted Xavier this far, and she knew she would trust him with much more than this. She just wished they could have gotten on with this enterprise without having to engage in conversation or further awkwardness.
“Delicious.” One of Xavier’s hands parted the globes of her bottom once she was lying on her stomach.
Diana buried her face in the pillow when his long and knowing fingers stroked along the entrance to that hidden gem before the tip of one finger slid past the ring of muscle.
She kept her heated face buried as that finger thrust in fully, moving in and out of her as it slicked and stretched that opening. She felt a slight burning sensation when a second finger joined the first, but her body was quick to accommodate as both those fingers thrust slowly and gently. She drew in a sharp breath seconds later as a third finger was added to that stretch.
Xavier froze. “Am I hurting you?”
“No. I— It is a strange sensation.”
“Unpleasantly so?”
Diana was silent for several long seconds before answering. “No.” She swept the moistness of her tongue over her lips. “I never thought to ever have anyone touch me there. It feels… It is forbidden, and yet so very naughty and arousing.”
Xavier could not have expressed it better. Watching three of his fingers sliding in and out of Diana’s stretched hole, and imagining putting his cock there shortly, was causing copious amounts of pre-cum to leak from his cockhead and dribble down its length.
Wanton (Regency Scandal 1) Page 6
