A Gentleman by Moonlight

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  "No," Sophia corrected Lewis firmly. "I know that I will enjoy you. All of you." She wiggled a bit on his lap and in her innocence, likely had no idea what she was doing to him. Or how much restraint he was currently exercising with her in her present position. "There is something inside of me that aches each time I think of you. I cannot control it, nor can I force it to stop. So yes, I know I will enjoy whatever pleasure you give to me, for this anticipation that I feel is a pleasure in its own way. A physical joining can only be...more. I hope, anyway."

  Sophia's words nearly drove Lewis to the brink, and it was all that he could do not to simply roll her over and lay her on her back before driving into her lush, waiting body. He desired her that much. However he managed to call upon all of his military training in order to keep himself tightly in check. "In that case, let us begin with a few kisses and see where they lead, shall we?"

  "I would be delighted...Oh!" Sophia exclaimed loudly as Lewis ignored her mouth and moved directly to her already engorged nipple, pulling the tight bud into his mouth and suckling her lightly. "Oh, that is delightful!"

  He chuckled, unable to stop himself though there was nothing at all amusing about their current positions. "So responsive. Perhaps you are correct, Sophie, and you are ready for me after all."

  "I told you that I was," she teased as she arched her body up to offer him more of her breasts. "I might be wrong about a great many things, but not about this."

  Lewis moved them both back farther onto the bed so that they were more comfortable. He had planned to take his time seducing her, but once they were in the center of the bed, it was clear that Sophia had her own ideas about how this night would proceed. She straddled his hips more fully now and began caressing his well-muscled chest. For his part, Lewis allowed her to explore as she liked. Normally, he took control of all amorous situations but tonight had to be about Sophia and only her. Not him for once. She had to lead where she felt comfortable and retreat if she wished to do so as well.

  There was a part of him that wished to pull her hands away when she began to trace the line of his scar, but he held himself back and instead caressed her hips lightly, moving his thumbs in small circles over her bare flesh. However when she began to kiss the length of the scar, he did wonder how much longer he could maintain this control.

  "This must have hurt you greatly," Sophia mumbled as she pressed her lips lightly to Lewis' stomach. The wound there had clearly gone much deeper than in other places along his damaged body. Gently, she trailed her fingers across his scared, mangled thigh where he had taken a bullet. "As did this."

  "They were not pleasant experiences, no," he gritted out from between clenched teeth. "I must confess to having enjoyed better days."

  "I am sorry about that," she whispered as she shifted a bit and Lewis finally rolled her off of him so that her back was now pressing into the mattress. "I am, however, thrilled that you did not succumb to your injuries."

  He laughed at the sheer absurdity of her comment, just as she had hoped he would. Sophia was many things, but she was no fool and she had quickly come to realize that her request tonight likely compromised just about every principle that Lewis held dear. She was afraid that if things became too serious that he would finally come to his senses and pull away from her. She did not want that, so her solution was to keep him laughing so often that he did not think - about anything, but especially about what they might do in his bed. Sophia was not so innocent in the ways of men as Lewis clearly believed her to be, and she planned to use every trick that she knew to ensure they both found pleasure this night. She had a feeling that her very future depended upon it.

  "I am rather glad that I survived as well," he chuckled, "but if you think to distract me from the seriousness of what we are about to do, Sophie, you are sorely mistaken. I am not some young buck prone to falling for feminine wiles. I am, or rather was, a military man."

  "You cannot blame a lady for trying," she replied saucily as she attempted to wiggle out from beneath his hard body with little success.

  "I can blame her for making me desire things that I know I should not. That I have no right to want." He paused above her, making certain not to pin her wrists to the bed, lest she feel trapped.

  Blinking slowly up at him, Sophia stared at him for a long moment - teal eyes to indigo ones. "I give you permission to take what you desire from me. You, at least, asked. Alex never did. He simply took. That, Lewis is the difference. And it means the world to me." Then she arched up and kissed him lightly, breaking the tension that had been growing between them from the moment they changed positions.

  Feeling something deep inside of him release, Lewis pressed Sophia down hard into the bed. When she did not resist or fight him, he pressed harder, pushing her legs apart and settling himself between her creamy thighs. "Soon, Sophie," he whispered. "Soon."

  Then he was kissing her again, his hands roaming her body, caressing her bare flesh and teasing her swollen breasts. He tried to be gentle with her. He truly did. However Sophia did not seem to desire gentle, licking his chest and clawing at his arms with her fingernails every chance she had. Demanding more.

  Lewis suckled her breasts, lapping at her nipples and making her squirm with ever-building need. He could feel the wetness beginning to gather in her core, her body trembling not with fear but with desire.

  Over and over, he mumbled that they could stop this madness if she wished, knowing all the while that he was just about gone and would be unable to turn back if they kept this up much longer. Sophia's only response was to wrap her legs around his waist and pull his cock closer to her core as if teasing him.

  With Lewis on top of her, Sophia knew brief moments of fear shoot through her like ice, but she determinedly pushed those feelings away. She wanted this. Now. Tonight. She desired Lewis and if she did not lie with him, then she would not lie with any man ever again. He was the only man she trusted to take her to this place where pleasure supposedly lived, and she needed to be brave enough to make the journey with him.

  Lewis was being gentle with her as well. Sophia could tell that simply by the way he held himself back, not kissing her as freely as he had the other night, not caressing her the way a man ought to caress a woman he desired with his whole body and being. There was fear in his touch, as if he was worried that if he pressed her too hard, she might break. She had that same fear, but tonight she had proven herself stronger than she had ever believed she could be. She could do this. So when the first twinge of release began to build inside of her, Sophia allowed the sensation to take over her body.

  Need and passion mixed with fear and anger inside of Sophia just then. She was furious with Alex over what he had done to her, forcing her to be terrified of something that she knew could be beautiful and loving. She was afraid, too. What if she was doing this all wrong? What if, in the end, she couldn't do this and Lewis refused to stop if she asked? What if, in the end, he was just like Alex? What if she was wrong again?

  However her body craved Lewis' touch and with each lap of his tongue at her breast and each trace of his fingers so gently along the length of her overly sensitized skin, Sophia desired more. She craved more. She felt for this man in a way she had never felt for anyone else - ever. She could not put a name to this feeling, only knew that it threatened to overwhelm her, to swallow her whole, which brought on a new level of fear.

  However Sophia held strong, and when Lewis' fingers snaked down to cup her intimately, she did not resist when he slid first one finger and then another inside of her tight, womanly sheath.

  "So wet. Just for me." He whispered those words in her ear, his hot breath tickling her neck, making her shiver again - this time not from fear but from increased desire.

  "Lewis." Sophia breathed his name like a prayer as she writhed beneath him, her body ablaze and the fear still mounting though she pushed it back, now more determined than ever that Alex Selby would not win, not even in death. He had taken her innocence but she would be damned
if he took the rest of her life as well.

  She had few choices in life, that much was true. However she was alive. She still lived and breathed. She had a family that loved her and friends that cared for her safety. So in many ways, she had far more choices than other young ladies of her station. She also had her life. Alex hadn't taken that away from her and it was time she reclaimed it.

  "I want to fuck you, Sophie," Lewis growled as he used his fingers to tease her most secret of areas until she cried out with pleasure. "But first, this will be so much easier if you come for me first." His tight control was slipping now and the farther they went, the more he took back the control that he had given to Sophia. That was not how this was supposed to be. This night was supposed to be about her, not him.

  Surprising him, Sophia reared up and bit his ear so hard that he yelped. "Show me. I may no longer be innocent, Lewis, but I still have no idea how to please you. Or what would please me."

  Needing no more invitation, Lewis took back the control that Sophia had given him, teasing her intimately with strong, sure strokes, his fingers practically dancing along her slick channel until she whimpered and moaned, the sound almost torn from her.

  Over and over he pushed her to the brink of pleasure only to drop her back down again, each time heightening her desire for him a bit more until she was nearly crying as fiercely as the storm that still raged outside was. When she finally found her release, it was a thing of pure beauty, her body shattering with pleasure and her keening cry echoing through the room.

  "Now, Lewis!" Sophia begged, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist as she panted out his name. "I need you now!"

  "As you command, Sophie." For in that moment, he knew that there was nothing he would not do for her. She could ask for the world and he would find a way to obtain it. All she had to do was ask. He didn't want to think about what that meant or what the peculiar feeling in his chest at that precise moment could possibly be. All he wanted was her, to give her pleasure and to take it from her by the same measure.

  Lewis was there, his cock pressing at her entrance and Sophia felt that familiar flash of fear. She was back in that carriage, being pressed down into the seats by Alex. Then she drew in a deep breath and caught the spicy, musky scent that was unique to Lewis and him alone.

  "Shhh," he whispered as he guided his swollen cock back to her entrance, pressing the blunt tip just a bit inside of her slick channel. "You are with me, my darling Sophie. I will not hurt you. Trust me." Then, before she could change her mind, he pushed his way inside of her body until he was fully seated within her.

  Fear and terror flashed behind her eyes and Sophia stiffened in his arms. Then she felt Lewis' gentle, soft touch upon her bare skin, his hand on her hip as he guided her back to him and the sweet kiss of his lips at her breast. That was all it took for her to relax into his embrace once more. As if sensing her submission, Lewis began to stroke in and out of her, his body riding hers, gently at first and then faster as the pleasure and passion built between them again.

  Arching up to meet him stroke for stroke, Sophia reached for Lewis, entwining her fingers in his hair and pulling his head down to hers for a tongue-tangling kiss. She had never been so bold or felt so free. With each thrust of Lewis' hips, she felt the terror that Alex had left within her begin to slip away and a new, wonderful sensation began to blossom in its place. This was a feeling of release, one unlike any she had ever known before. She would not be the same old Sophia that she had been before, but she could be someone else, someone new and different. Someone better.

  Moreover, she was no longer afraid. Instead, she felt...free.

  "Sophia!" Lewis cried out her name as he continued to thrust harder and faster. "I cannot last!"

  "Then don't," she whispered into his ear and clasped him more tightly to her when she thought that he might pull out of her embrace. Pull away from her. She had come this far with him. She wanted it all. Let the consequences fall where they may.

  "I shouldn't...ah!" With one final thrust, Sophia felt Lewis spill his seed inside of her and she followed him over the precipice, finding her own release. It was glorious, far more wonderful than she had even dreamed it could be and she cried out his name as she came.

  Lewis heard his name spill from Sophia's lips, the realization of what he had just done, the sin he had just committed flitting at the edges of his brain, but he could not bring himself to care. If Sophia got with child, he would take care of her. He already wondered if he was falling in love with her, even though he knew he should not do something so foolish. They were not meant for each other. Yet at the moment, he could not bring himself to care.

  When they were both sated, Lewis reached down and pulled the covers up over them both, tucking Sophia in carefully beside him. His staff might find them together on the 'morrow but he could not find it within himself to care about that either. They were loyal to him and they would forgive. It was also likely that Crawford would come looking for them soon, knowing that it was necessary to somehow sneak Sophia back to her home before the dawn broke - if it ever did that day, for with the storm still raging outside, sunrise was not a certain thing.

  A soft snore from Sophia let Lewis know that she was already asleep, their lovemaking tiring her, as had all that had come before them that night. He wanted to simply lie here for a time and watch her sleep, for he did not know if he would ever have this chance again. However he, too, soon felt his eyes grow heavy and he drifted off to sleep as the storm continued to rage outside of his window.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Town Tattler

  I confess, dear readers, that I write this latest column with a heavy heart. The Little Season is speeding by us ever so quickly and the time has come for me to make a decision. As I write this column, parts of our fair London are still damaged by whatever curse of the weather gods overtook us nearly three days ago now. Those who know far more science than I ever shall inform me that the storm came across the Atlantic from the wilds of the sea, and of that, I have no doubt, for lovely as the ocean can be, she can also be a cruel mistress at times as well. In time, new growth will rise from the ashes of the destruction just as surely as a new social chronicler will arise after I depart. Yes, dear readers, the time has come to bid you all farewell. I have enjoyed my time among you, but I grow older with each passing year and the time is right for me to retire to the country and live out the rest of my life in peace and solitude. Until then, however, I shall continue to report upon the members of the Upper Ten Thousand and their activities, which is, it seems, among the things that I do best.

  So it begins...

  Rumor has it that among the theater patrons at the Grand Opera the night the Great Rains struck our fair Town were Lord and Lady Candlewood, Lord and Lady Radcliffe, Lord Hathaway and his sister Lady Sophia, Lord Lansdale and his sister Lady Pearl, Lord Hunt, who was in the company of Lady Aurelia Tillsbury and her mother, the dowager Duchess of Chilton, as well as Lord Blackmore. I can confirm that all of them made it safely back to Mayfair, though some in a bit of a bedraggled state, including Lady Sophia whose rose silk gown was so soiled it appeared as if she had rolled in mud. Though I am also told that her carriage, the same one carrying Lord and Lady Radcliffe, nearly overturned during the mad crush to flee the theater district and that Lady Sophia barely escaped terrible injury when she was thrown clear of the conveyance.

  That, I am certain, is the reason for the large flower delivery made on behalf of Lord Blackmore to Reynolds House. It is a terrible thing when one's beloved is nearly crushed to death in a carriage accident. Makes one think about the future, does it not, dear readers? It also makes this author wonder when the dunderheaded man will ever wake up and propose to the lady properly. It is clear for all to see that he adores her and she him. He might not possess a title, but he is wealthy beyond measure and a respected military man. If he is waiting for the approval of Society, he might never receive it, but as far as I am concerned, he has my blessing. Not that it
likely means much.

  -Madame C

  Three days. It had been three days since that fateful night and Sophia had seen Lewis each and every one of them. She was in heaven, or at least as close to heaven as she thought she might ever reach. In fact, she was seeing Lewis again tonight, this time at a small gathering at Lady Wofford's grand town home. Once more, she wondered if there would be an opportunity for stolen moments this evening, but she did not dare hope. She had experienced one night in his arms, and she should not be so selfish as to demand another.

  There had been other stolen kisses and caresses, not to mention a nibble or two at her breasts, but nothing like that exquisite night in his bed. It wasn't as if Sophia had become a lightskirt or anything. At least she did not think that she had. However now that she knew that intimacy was not something to be feared, she wanted to sample all of the delights the flesh offered. And she wished to sample them with Lewis. And only him.

  In the future, that might present something of a problem, but for the present time, they were still pretending to court so she had nothing to worry about. That was a problem for another day and only one that might resurface if her mother insisted upon pushing this idea of marriage before the upcoming Season. But that day was not today and once more, Sophia vowed to put the issue from her mind and simply enjoy the glorious weather.

  "You are quiet today," Eliza prodded as the two of them strolled along the sidewalk in front of several Bond Street shops. After the torrential rains of a few nights past, the weather had turned clement once again and the temperatures had risen, granting London's residents a brief reprieve from the frigid temperatures and foul weather that had plagued them for weeks. "Still pondering how it is that no one knows about your departure from the theater district the other night? Or that no one is aware that you passed much of that same night with Lord Blackmore?"