‘As I was,’ Juliana mused, ‘although it was hardly my own free will that brought me here.’
Guy looked at her to see her eyes were twinkling merrily. ‘Minx,’ he said, kissing her again. He could hardly get enough of her, a feeling so alien to him it was unnerving.
‘God, but I wish we had met under more favourable circumstances!’ he ground out, feeling again an overwhelming urge to protect her. How had she come to this? He had to know.
‘And you, what is your story?’
Juliana’s voice was quiet as she talked of her family, of her hard-working coach-maker father and the vivacious mother she barely remembered. Self-made, proud people with a zest for life, so at odds with the uppity and eventually cruel Dora. As she described her stepmother’s cruel attitude towards her and the eventual assault by Mortimer and her subsequent banishment, Guy’s arms tightened around her.
‘Bastard. He sounds a lot like Sinclair. I’ve had to drag him off more than a few girls in the past. We have more in common than it would seem, perhaps.’
‘Why did you quarrel yesterday?’ she asked, and he winced as he related the story of the serving girl and her brother. ‘He will squander all we have and leave our mother destitute, if he has his head.’
‘You have to go back and try to reason with him. A duel? That is an act for desperate men. There must be a better way. Why, the victor could well end by being strung up.’ Juliana gasped at the thought. Already she felt a strong attachment to this man, although she tried to tell herself it was stupid. Such feelings could only lead to heartbreak.
She was right, of course, but Guy feared the outcome of a showdown with his brother. Some things, when done, changed the course of one’s life forever. Meeting with this woman had been one of them, he thought with a jolt, and he began to wonder if he had a chance at a future that held more than dealing with the family’s honour. He tried to tell himself his feelings came from his shock at finding her a virgin, the sense of honour that said he couldn’t take her and then abandon her, but he knew if she had had a thousand men he would still feel the urge to make her wholly his. She had moved beneath him as if her body had been made for his, had looked up at him with such trust and longing that their lovemaking had been so much more than a fumble by the fireside with a pretty woman. But he dared not give voice to his feelings. What could he possibly offer her, when by this time tomorrow he would be either a murderer or a dead man?
Juliana laid a kiss on his shoulder. Her lips were cold and startled Guy out of his reverie. The fire was dying down. He lifted her, carrying her to the bed, and though she fought it, her lids fluttered. He laid her in the bed and covered her with the blankets before going to the chair, but she pulled him back.
‘Won’t you sleep with me?’
‘I did not want to presume.’
‘A little late for that,’ she retorted sleepily. He smiled as he slid in beside her, curving around her back. Her body fitted into his perfectly, her soft buttocks causing a stirring in his groin even though he had just fully emptied his desire into her.
‘If I go back tomorrow, come with me,’ he whispered into her hair, ‘if only so I can make up for what I owe and see you get back to your lodgings safely.’
He felt her stiffen, then nod. He stroked her cheek, not knowing how to give voice to the unfamiliar feelings that flooded through him. The thought of her returning to life as a courtesan—especially now that he had in effect damaged her prospects—turned his stomach. If he had his way, she would do no such thing; she deserved better. The idea of taking her home with him and having her in his life drifted through his mind. Must they only be pleasant dreams? Guy felt a surge of hope that the morning may bring more than either death or dishonour.
Juliana fell asleep in his arms as if she belonged there.
Chapter Five
Juliana woke feeling the sun on her face and Guy’s warm body wrapped around her. Dreamily she nuzzled into him, and he murmured in his sleep. She opened her eyes, remembering the night’s events. She felt strangely calm. Content in Guy’s arms, she wished they could lie here forever. Forget about his brother, and whatever awaited her back in London, and simply lie in each other’s arms, her body thrilling with its newfound knowledge. To hell with Lord Salter and anyone else who wanted to barter for her virginity. Whatever befell her now, she would always have the memory of last night, and of this man. Her highwayman who had turned out to not be a highwayman at all. Juliana grinned to think what her stepmother would say if she knew Juliana lay in the arms of a lord. It would have surpassed all of her ambitious marriage plans. Though of course this was no marriage. The thought sobered her somewhat and she lifted her head to look at Guy.
The rush of desire made her catch her breath. He truly was the most handsome man she had ever seen, strong and tanned, every inch of him cut to perfection. As her eyes went downwards she couldn’t resist a peek beneath the blankets, to see his member, so swollen inside of her last night, now soft and smaller against his thigh. Tentatively she reached for him, and even in his sleep he stirred beneath her hand, growing harder and thicker underneath her touch. She moved down the bed, kissing his chest, nipping at his nipples, bolder now, determining that she would do everything Rose had described to her in such lascivious detail, experience everything with this man before she would out of necessity bed anyone else. She would have these memories.
He mumbled but did not wake as Juliana moved ever further down, kissing his groin and stroking his shaft, amazed to see it grow to full glory again at her touch. No ‘training’ could have prepared her the reality of him. For the sight and smell and taste of his arousal, for the wanton longing that was aroused in turn in herself. She licked the end of his shaft, shyly then more boldly, then encased him in her mouth, revelling in the new sensations, then looking up as she heard him groan. The sight of his face creased with desire—for her—quickened her pulse. This was what it felt like to have power over a man. Some of what Rose had told her did make sense. But she didn’t want to use Guy’s desire for her for her own ends, rather, she wanted to share in it. She lowered her head with enthusiasm, swirling her tongue around him and stroking the tight skin of his sack. She looked up again, her hair falling over her face.
His eyes were open, but sleepy, and he looked at her with undisguised lust as she tasted him, a look of wonder crossing his face.
‘Juliana. Come here.’ He pulled her up and over him so she was straddling him, and pulled her down to kiss him.
‘So it was not all a dream,’ he murmured, burying his hands in her hair. She nibbled at his lower lip as he moved his hands to her breasts, touching her expertly.
‘No,’ she agreed, pressing her hips into him so she could feel him hard against her, ‘it was no dream.’
A look of confusion crossed his face. ‘You said you were a virgin?’ he asked delicately, looking pointedly down at his groin. Juliana smiled shyly as she explained to him about Rose’s ‘lessons’.
‘But that was the first time I’ve had the chance to put them into practice,’ she assured him, loving the look of relief on his face.
‘Well, you are obviously a very good student,’ he murmured. Indeed, the feel of her mouth on him had excited him so much that if he hadn’t stopped her, he might well have embarrassed himself.
He pulled her body down to his and turned them so he was now on top of her, in between her thighs, pinning her arms and kissing her face and neck until she laughed with delight.
; ‘I could kiss you all day,’ he said into her ear. ‘You have bewitched me, woman.’ She thrilled at his words. He reached for her sex, finding her already wet, but he kept his touch gentle. ‘Are you sore?’
She shook her head. Although her body felt different somehow, almost raw, it was not unpleasant. When he slipped inside her, she rose to meet him, and he turned and lifted her on top of him again, holding her close, moving her with his hands on her hips in a rhythm that rubbed against that most sensitive part. She moaned into his mouth and clutched at his shoulders, her hair falling into his face. His hands returned to her breasts and he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples in time with his movements until she was making soft sounds of delight. The heights of pleasure this man was able to bring her to amazed her.
He lifted her breasts to his mouth, kissing and licking around the rosy rings at their peaks and then drawing each of her nipples into his mouth in turn, allowing his teeth to graze her skin ever so lightly, causing intense sensations to ripple from her breasts down to her sex until they blended into one and she was bucking against him, her body begging for release. He captured her mouth again, plunging his tongue into her as he thrust harder inside her, and she moved with him. Finding a fierce rhythm that had them both crying out. It was such a sweet yet overpowering feeling that Juliana lost all care for anything else but this moment, with his body inside hers and his mouth claiming her own. Only, when she climaxed it was a bittersweet release, bringing with it a rush of emotion and leaving tears on her cheeks that wet his shoulders as he held her, shuddering into her while moaning her name.
When she raised her head to look at him, her face flushed with the aftermath of orgasm, she looked so beautiful it took Guy’s breath away. A rush of feeling welled up inside him as he looked at her. He wanted this woman, and if there was any way to resolve all this, he would have her by his side.
The tender look in his eyes sent another tear rolling down Juliana’s cheek, and he reached for her. Rolling her over, he kissed the tears from her cheeks. He went to say something, to try to articulate the overpowering feelings, but she raised her fingers to his lips and kissed him again. She did not want to give voice to all her fears now, not while she lay in his arms not knowing if she would ever get the chance again. He was no highwayman, but she was still for all intents and purposes a courtesan, and how could she dare hope he would not discard her now?
Besides which, there were other matters to attend to. She looked out of the window at the bright morning sun. ‘Well, it’s well past dawn,’ she said. Guy sighed and sat up, rubbing his hand over his chin.
‘You are still going?’ she asked, wondering if he would honour his promise to recompense her, then feeling guilty as she remembered what he might walk back into.
Guy nodded. ‘Yes, and you are coming with me? I can pay my debt to you at least before I confront Sinclair. I can only hope that the morning brings with it some reason in him.’
Juliana stroked his back, her fingers playing over his broad shoulders. How silly men were, she thought, fighting duels and squabbling over inheritances. Or some men, at least. Still, she could not believe Guy’s brother would truly intend to shoot him, no matter how bad he sounded.
They ate what was left of last night’s supper and dressed in a strange silence, both of them lost in their own worries yet unable to resist stealing glances at each other and then smiling when caught. Guy felt almost giddy, even as he tried to concentrate on the tasks ahead. He had felt wretched last night, and now this spirited girl had given him a renewed sense of optimism. Perhaps he could settle things without bloodshed after all. Something in him had changed; though he could not say exactly what it was, he knew it was all to do with this woman and the feelings she evoked in him.
Guy thanked the innkeeper, noting gratefully his sly-eyed daughter was nowhere to be seen, and saddled his horse, lifting Juliana up after him. She was a competent horsewoman, he noted with approval.
‘My father bought me a horse,’ she told him, ‘though she sold it when he died.’
‘I have a pretty little mare you can ride,’ Guy said without thinking. Juliana didn’t answer. What would she do with a horse now? It was beginning to occur to her that after last night, after tasting the delights of true desire, she could not abandon herself to an empty life as a bought companion, perhaps never to experience such desire again. But what were her options? She could go back to simply being a maid perhaps. She was certain Rose would not turn her out, though she may find it hard to understand Juliana’s choice.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked instead.
‘Bradcote,’ he told her. ‘It was left by my father to me much to Sinclair’s disgust. Sinclair has the London house and a house in Bath, though he spends little time there. It was deliberate, I believe, that he wanted our showdown to be at Bradcote.’
Juliana was curious to see his home, though she had to wonder what on earth people would think when he arrived with her on the back of his horse.
By the time they arrived, her thighs were aching, though she had enjoyed holding on to him, her arms around his waist and head at his back. She had laughed, tipping her head back and letting her hair stream in the wind when Guy had let his mare gallop. Now he lifted her down as a stable hand came for the horse, and he paused while his eyes roamed her face. He leaned in and she thought he would whisper something, or even kiss her again, when she heard a door open and a man’s sarcastic drawl.
‘So the prodigal returns. And who is this? A present to apologise for your mistreatment of me? It will take more than a whore to get you out of this pickle, brother.’
Guy’s face darkened with fury, but Juliana gripped his arm and he swallowed, fighting his anger down. ‘Hold your malicious tongue, Sinclair. Juliana is a lady who met with some distress last night. Hence my being late for your summons. I was hoping the morning might have brought some sense into your gin-soaked head.’
His brother snorted with derision. He looked a lot like Guy, Juliana noted, but fleshier and with a cruel twist to his mouth. There were fresh bruises on his forehead and cheek that Juliana assumed to have come from their brawl the night before. Listening to Guy’s tale last night, she had assumed Sinclair’s challenge to be drunken hamming, a result of his hurt pride at having his younger brother best him in a confrontation, but the hatred in his eyes now as he glared at his brother was palpable. Juliana pulled her pelisse around herself, suddenly chilled.
Sinclair stepped towards his brother menacingly, and Guy raised a hand. ‘We will sort this brother, but first let me see the lady inside.’
Sinclair’s mouth curled in a sneer. ‘Quite the gentleman, aren’t you? Aren’t you worried bringing her here might tarnish her opinion of you? Does she know her gallant Guy has planted a facer on his own brother?’
‘You were trying to throttle me as I recall. Now would you let me in?’
For a moment Juliana thought Sinclair would go at him, but he stepped aside and let them pass, openly leering at Juliana’s breasts. Guy gripped her arm and pulled her towards him as if to shield her from his brother’s lecherous eyes.
Bradcote was beautiful, she thought as Guy led her up the wide staircase, waving off the butler who looked at Juliana quizzically before resuming a blank expression. As they reached his rooms, a maidservant looked at Juliana with undisguised curiosity, then with disapproval as she took in her attire. Juliana forced herself to hold her head up in pride, resisting the urge to shrink back as Guy ushered her into the dra
wing room.
‘Must I wait?’ she hissed through her teeth. She was sure the servants would be gossiping about her as soon as he was gone and was reluctant to merely sit and wring her hands while he faced Sinclair. ‘You’ll be fine,’ he whispered back, ‘I must go and talk to Sinclair, not to mention make provision for you to get back into town, if that is your wish. I don’t want Sinclair or any of his goons hassling you.’
Juliana nodded, feeling her heart sink at the mention of his words about her return, then lift again as he added ‘If that is your wish.’ But surely he was just being polite. What else could she say to him—‘no let me stay’? Thoughts of last night’s and this morning’s lovemaking made her insides twist with both desire and apprehension. How could she return to Rose and the drab life that awaited her after this? After having lain in his arms and found such pleasure as she could never have dreamed of.
But he had other matters to attend to now, and he wouldn’t need her simpering all over him. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and an order to the maidservant to bring her refreshments, and left her to wonder what fate would befall them both.
Guy’s thoughts had been on Juliana as he had gone to find his valet, and in spite of the impending confrontation with Sinclair he couldn’t prevent himself from smiling when he thought of her. She had been so sweet, so responsive in his arms, and was so refreshingly direct in her manner; he had never met a woman like her. He couldn’t let her go back to Covent Garden. He thought of her straddling him that morning, of her mouth exploring him, and with the rush of lust came a surge of jealousy at the thought of her doing that for another man. He’d be damned first!
Providing Sinclair didn’t get to him, of course. He pulled his valet, James to one side; the man looking flushed and agitated.
‘Does my brother truly intend to go through with this duel?’ The valet nodded, glancing over his shoulder as if Sinclair would appear like a wraith behind him.
THE VIRGIN COURTESAN Page 4
