Lords of Passion

by Virginia Henley

  He helped her out of the carriage, and she started to climb the steps. She grabbed on to his arm as someone pushed past her and ended up with her face against his chest. The scent of bay rum and warm male enveloped her, and she simply breathed him in. She wondered how it might feel to kiss his naked chest, to lick a path from his small flat nipples to his muscled belly and then perhaps even lower.

  “Are you all right, my lady?”

  She gasped and looked up into his eyes. His gaze intensified and he drew her hastily up the stairs and into the cavernous crowded hall beyond. Inside, the chatter of voices bouncing off the walls and chandeliers created a roar fit for a county fair.

  “Whatever were you thinking about?” His amused question made her blush as he nodded to his sister’s butler and maneuvered her through the crowds and toward the back of the house where it was quieter and less stifling. Her back hit a wall and he loomed over her. “Would you like to tell me?”

  She stared at his cravat. “You would think me …forward.”

  He leaned into her, one of his hands planted on the wall by the side of her face. “I would think you honest enough to answer your husband from whom, surely, nothing should be withheld?”

  She licked her lips. “I was wondering how your skin would taste if I kissed it.”

  He went still. “Which particular part of my skin?”

  She forced herself to look into his eyes. “Your chest, your belly, your …” Oh, my goodness, she couldn’t say it, she just couldn’t.

  “My?” he prompted. “My knee?”

  “Not quite.”

  He edged even closer until his mouth hovered a tantalizing half inch away from hers. “What then?” he whispered, “My cock? I’d like you to kiss that, take it into your pretty little mouth, and suck me dry.”

  His tongue traced a leisurely path along the seam of her lips and then plunged into her mouth. Louisa couldn’t have moved if her life had depended on it. Could a woman do that? Would a woman want to do that? After all, he had done a similar thing to her, licked and sucked her into complete shivering abandon.

  He stopped kissing her but didn’t move away. In the confines of the dark corridor, with his body covering hers, she felt quite brave. “Would a man like that?”

  A visible shudder ran through him. “This man would. Perhaps you might think on it.”

  “Perhaps I will.”

  He straightened and took her hand, placed it firmly over the tented front of his pantaloons. “Now we will have to wait until I’m decent to be seen again.”

  She sighed. “I don’t suppose we could just go home, not when it is your sister’s ball. She would never forgive us if we didn’t turn up.”

  Unconsciously, she petted his shaft until his fingers closed around her wrist. “Madam, if you keep that up, I’ll be coming into your hand and disgracing myself.”

  She looked around the deserted hallway and realized that they were near Lord Fotherskill’s secretary’s office. “But what if I wanted to try what you suggested?”

  “Do you think I’m going to stop you?” He grabbed her by the shoulders and hurried her into the secretary’s office, locking the door behind them.

  She sank to her knees and looked up at him. “Not if it brings you as much pleasure as you brought me.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked, even as he fumbled with the buttons of his placket. For once he sounded even less certain than she did. Somehow that helped her become bolder. “Otherwise I can …”

  She took over the task and revealed his thick thrusting shaft. From this angle it looked rather fearsome and far too large to fit into her mouth.

  “It’s all right. Just take as much as you want, I don’t expect …” he broke off with a groan at her first tentative lick over the crown. He was already wet and she tasted him carefully: the merest hint of salt, almost like thick tears. She rested one hand on his thigh, wrapped the other around the base of his shaft, and opened her mouth.

  “Ah …” He exhaled as she sucked him slowly into her mouth until the whole of the crown disappeared. She discovered that if she moved both her mouth and her hand back and forth over his flesh he seemed to adore it. He cradled the back of her head in his hand, urging her onward with every slow sucking motion.

  She also found that even as she sucked him she could use the very tip of her tongue to lick at the top of his cock, feel the wet slit, the rough texture of the under skin, and the smoothness of the whole. He groaned her name and started to angle his hips toward her mouth as if trying to push himself deeper. She gripped him tightly and restricted his motion, which seemed to excite him further.

  “God, Louisa …I…”

  He made one last convulsive movement, and her mouth was suddenly full of his seed. She had to swallow fast to avoid choking. She waited until he released his grip on the back of her head and sat back. Nicholas looked like a man who had just experienced bliss, and she was suddenly proud of herself. It seemed that lovemaking was not all about a man’s needs and desires after all.

  She waited while Nicholas tucked his cock back into his pantaloons and rebuttoned the placket. He held out his hands and brought her to her feet in one easy motion.

  “That was very kind of you, my lady.”

  “Kind? Did I not do it correctly?”

  He patted his groin. “Well everything is still attached, so I assume you did.”

  “Would it hurt if I bit you there?”

  He winced. “I should think so, although I’ve heard that in certain situations it can be quite alluring.”

  She frowned and he grinned at her, his expressive face alive with warmth and appreciation. Just seeing him like this made her want to offer to kiss him again. It felt as if she was being admitted into his affections, as if he was finally opening up to her.

  He kissed her forehead. “We should go. April will be wondering where we are.”

  “Of course.” Louisa patted her hair and opened the door. There was no one in the dark hallway, so they walked back to the main hall and ascended the stairs to the ballroom. April stood at the entrance to the ballroom, flanked by her portly smiling husband. Her expression lightened when she saw Nicholas and Louisa approaching and she rushed toward them.

  “Oh, where have you been? I’d quite given you up! My dear Gilbert was wishing me at the devil having to stand here for so long.” Since her admonishment was delivered with a smile and a hug, Louisa didn’t take her too seriously. “You look lovely, Louisa, I told you that color would suit you, didn’t I?”

  “Indeed you did. I…”

  April poked Nicholas in the chest with her fan. “Doesn’t she look well? Have you even noticed she has a new gown on yet? You probably haven’t.” She rolled her eyes in Louisa’s direction. “Men are positively dreadful at offering a compliment, even when one has spent hours at one’s toilette.”

  Nicholas took Louisa’s hand and kissed it. “I have not only noticed the gown, but I’ve complimented Louisa on it already, so you can stop your twittering, sis.”

  April gave an exaggerated sigh, linked her arm through Louisa’s, and led her toward the ballroom. “We’ll ignore him, my dear, and perhaps he’ll go away and make himself useful in the card room or something.”

  Louisa turned her head to look back at Nicholas, but his attention had been claimed by a fragile-looking beauty who clutched his arm and gazed up at him adoringly. Not that Nicholas seemed to mind, his smile was as wide and welcoming as the one he had just given her.

  April pinched her elbow. “Louisa, it is not proper to look back at your husband in that slavish manner. People will think you are hanging on his sleeve! Come and circulate with me. I’m sure Nicholas will find you later.”

  Louisa sighed and obediently followed her sister-in-law into the crowded ballroom. They were immediately engulfed by well-wishers who wanted to compliment April on the ball. Louisa could no longer see Nicholas at all. Had he even entered the ballroom? April was forever lecturing her about how best to ignore her hu
sband in society settings. It seemed that was the fashionable thing to do. What amused Louisa was how much her mother would’ve approved of April’s instructions. Mama was always telling Louisa not to expect too much of her husband’s valuable time and attention.

  Louisa sat next to April in the ballroom and suffered through the next half hour listening to April collect all the latest gossip and criticize everyone else’s gowns. It all seemed so silly to her, and not what she’d expected of society at all—or of marriage. She’d imagined days with Nicholas at her side and evenings filled with quiet conversation, and the promise of the intimacies of the marriage bed.

  “Oh, look!” April whispered. “There’s that horrid Lady Basingstone. She’s always had her eye on Nicholas. I wonder why he’s dancing with her?” She nudged Louisa. “Now that Nicholas is married himself, she probably thinks he’s fair game.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Oh, you know what I mean. Once a woman has given her husband an heir or two, most men turn a blind eye to her having a little affair of her own.” April’s smile was tinged with sadness. “And truthfully, my dear, don’t you think that a wife deserves a little fun after the inconveniences and humiliations of one’s husband having a mistress?”

  “I don’t know, April. It’s not something Nicholas and I have discussed.”

  “Of course you haven’t, my dear. You and Nicholas are newlyweds. I’m sure the thought hasn’t entered your mind.” April’s laughter sounded forced, and the glance she threw toward Nicholas was distinctly worried. “But you must know, my love, that if he did ever stray, Nicholas would always treat you with the greatest of respect.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  April squeezed her hand tightly. “I heard a silly rumor this evening that Nicholas had been seen in … well, in a place that he should not have been near. I’m sure it meant nothing. It was probably just a mistake, although the person who told me did know Nicholas quite well, but … anyway, I thought you should be on your guard. And, don’t think I won’t be speaking to him about this, because I will!”

  Louisa set her teeth as her husband swept past them with yet another woman in his arms. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, and yet, less than an hour ago she’d allowed him to persuade her to … she stood up abruptly. “I’m going to fetch myself a glass of ratafia. Would you like something, April?”

  “Oh, no, dear. I’ll be fine. You run along.”

  Louisa stayed in the quiet supper room until she felt marginally more in control of her emotions. Perhaps this was why most society marriages never developed into anything more than mild liking and mutual respect. Did Nicholas have a mistress, and how on earth could she find out without publicly embarrassing herself?

  Jealousy was a horrible thing, and she suspected she was in the throes of it. Her fingers curled around her glass. Every time one of those glamorous women looked at Nicholas, she had a strange desire to launch herself at them and pull their hair out. She bit her lip. What a lowering thought. Perhaps she really did lack class.

  “I wondered where you’d gone.”

  She looked up into Nicholas’s amused blue eyes and manufactured a smile. “Were you looking for me?”

  “Of course I was. I was hoping you’d dance with me.”

  Louisa put down her glass with a thump. “You don’t have to, you know.”

  He glanced down at her. “And what exactly does that mean?”

  She allowed him to take her hand but didn’t move. “Just that April says we have no obligation to be seen together at all. In fact, spending time with one’s spouse at a ball is considered quite gothic.”

  “Well, I’ve never agreed with April about anything, and that just sounds absurd.”

  “But she’s right, isn’t she? It isn’t fashionable for us to be seen together.” She swallowed hard, tasted him on her tongue. “I fear my ridiculous attempt to gain your attention is fruitless and bound for disappointment.”

  His smile disappeared. “Is that so?” He placed her hand on his sleeve. “Come and dance with me.”

  She was so surprised that she followed him back into the ballroom where a waltz was just beginning. She shivered as he slid his arm around her waist and held her far closer than was considered appropriate. To complete her confusion, he bent his head so that his mouth brushed her ear.

  “Have you forgotten that you set me a challenge?”

  “I didn’t set you a challenge, you just decided to, oh.” She gasped as his teeth grazed her skin.

  “Have you also forgotten that not an hour ago you had your lips around my cock?”

  Heat burned on Louisa’s cheeks, but she continued dancing; Nicholas was holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe, let alone fall.

  “I liked that, Louisa, I liked coming into your mouth, the way you swallowed my seed and took all of me without protest.” He twirled her around a corner so fast that the other dancers and spectators seemed like a blur. “And as soon as I get you alone I intend to slide my tongue inside you and have you scream and dig your nails into my skin. Will you like that?”

  She looked into his eyes. “I’m not sure.”

  “You will, because I’m going to do it until you’ve come so many times that you’re begging for my cock, begging to be fucked as hard and as often as I want. That’s what makes this evening exciting to me, the fact that even if I don’t stand next to you all night, I know I’ll have you all to myself soon, and that I can do what the devil I want with you.”

  “Oh.” Louisa concentrated on her steps as her body heated and yearned toward Nicholas.

  “Because you’re wet for me now, aren’t you? You’re thinking about what I’m going to do to you, how you’re going to feel, how you’ll arch your back and rub yourself against me.”

  “Yes.” As Nicholas whispered his erotic litany into her ear, Louisa could barely function. Despite everything, she wanted to rip his clothes off, wanted to bite him, pull his hair, and ravage his mouth until he cried out, too. “I want that.”

  The music paused and he drew her off the dance floor. “Do you understand now why I’m quite happy to watch you go off and sit with your friends and dance with other men?”

  “I believe so, but …”

  “But, what?”

  She managed an unsteady breath. “But you must know that I would never … share myself with another person.”

  “Are you suggesting I might?”

  She met his gaze, her heart beating uncomfortably loud in her chest. “I don’t know.”

  He released her hand. He looked as if she had slapped him. “I suppose I should thank you for your honesty, but at the moment I feel more like putting you over my knee. Go and sit with April. I’ll come and find you when I’m ready to go home.”

  He bowed stiffly and walked away from her, leaving her prey to the watchful eyes of the other dancers, who, sensing trouble, closed in on her, false sympathy filling their faces. With all the dignity she could muster, Louisa made her way back to April’s side and sat down. Her pleasure in the evening ruined by her lack of sophistication and stupid desire for honesty. No man liked to be confronted by unpleasant truths in the middle of a ballroom. Even she knew that.

  Nicholas headed for the card room, his expression so forbidding that several of the other guests moved quickly out of his path. What the devil was the matter with his wife? It seemed that every time he advanced the smallest step in her affections, she immediately took three steps back. What kind of man did she think he was?

  He stopped walking. The kind of man she was used to seeing in a society marriage, the kind his father had been. Damnation, she was right to be skeptical. Even he wouldn’t have believed himself capable of fidelity before he’d met and married her.

  “Nick?” He looked up into the amused blue gaze of Captain David Gray. “Is everything all right?”

  He attempted a shrug. “I’ll never understand women.”

  “Then why try?” David offered him a glass of brandy. �
��Women do tend to complicate the simplest of matters with all that unnecessary emotion, don’t they?”

  “Sarcasm doesn’t become you.” Nicholas cast David a blistering look as they settled into two upright chairs against the wall and pretended to watch the card players. “Perhaps I should be more specific. I’ll never understand my wife, and unfortunately, due to the potentially longstanding nature of our relationship, I have to bloody try.”

  “That’s true.” David contemplated the scene in front of them. “She is quite young and inexperienced, Nick.”

  “I know that.”

  “And, perhaps if I might be so bold as to mention it, your sister isn’t.”

  “What do my problems with Louisa have to do with my sister?”

  David looked at him. “Because it’s obvious that April is your wife’s closest friend in Town. Perhaps the advice your wife is receiving is a little too sophisticated and worldly for her.”

  Nicholas let out his breath. “I haven’t considered that. I was just pleased that they deal so well together.”

  “I’m sure that was important to you. You’re very fond of April, aren’t you?”

  “We survived my father together. We protected each other.” Nicholas sighed and took a long drink of his brandy. “April is eight years older than me. That makes her fourteen years older than Louisa.”

  “Between April and a socially unacceptable mother, your wife’s perception of her place in society and your affections might be a little confused.”

  Nicholas smiled. “She won’t be confused after tomorrow night. I’ll make damned sure that she understands exactly what I’d like from her.”

  “And how do you intend to do that?”

  Nicholas clinked his glass against David’s. “I’m taking her to Madame Helene’s for a spot of adventuring.”

  Chapter Six

  “We are going out, again?”

  Louisa looked up at Nicholas who had appeared in her bedchamber just after her solitary dinner. She hadn’t seen him all day, had imagined him languishing in the arms of his mistress while complaining bitterly about his terribly unsophisticated wife.