by Josie Dennis
“You’re the earl’s valet.”
He smiled, as bright and sunny as the dappled light surrounding him. “My reputation precedes me.”
She smirked. “I’ve been raised in a great house, I’ll have you know. I might not be titled, but I’m aware of servants and their hierarchy.”
He gave a slow nod. “Yes, there is a particular ranking. I am indeed the earl’s valet. Jackson Hartley at your service.”
His voice was teasing, and she found herself smiling. “My service, Jackson?” She felt a little bit naughty, using his first name. “I think not.”
“Oh? At Liam Hawk’s, then?”
The mention of Liam’s name made her gasp. “You are serving Liam, as well?”
“During his visit, yes.”
“You…” She swallowed as she imagined all that might entail. “You’ve helped his dress.”
Jackson stepped closer. “And undress.”
She gaped at him. “Oh my.”
“Indeed. I am his valet at present, after all.” He winked at her, the effect charming taken with his open visage. “And you are his Charlotte.”
She gave a violent shake of her head. “I am not his Charlotte. Not as you might think.”
He shook his head. She reached out and took his hand, a bold move that felt slightly scandalous here in the woods. Her hands and his were bare, and their touch was gentle. Nevertheless, her nerves skittered.
“Please don’t be troubled, Miss Crane. Liam has had a shock since coming to Hawksfell Manor.”
Charlotte clicked her tongue. “He has had no use for me well before our trip here, Jackson.”
“Now things may change.”
“For him? Definitely.” She found herself on the verge of tears. “For him and me? I daresay we shall go on as we have for years now.”
Jackson’s expression turned serious. “Don’t cry, Miss Crane.”
“I cannot seem to help it.” She sniffed. “Liam despises me, and I have no notion why he should feel that way.”
“Don’t you?”
“What?”
He winced. “I don’t mean to say he despises you, Miss Crane. I merely mean that he feels a certain way around you, and you should be aware of the circumstances.”
“You make no sense.”
His lips thinned, and then he shook his head. “I shouldn’t say a thing. It was spoken to me in confidence.”
“So Liam did tell you that he hates me.”
“No.” He seemed to war with himself a few moments longer and then let out a breath. “He doesn’t hate you. Far from it, actually.”
She bit her lower lip. “What do you mean?”
Jackson moved his hand up her arm, stroking gently. “He cares for you. One cannot blame him for that. You’re quite beautiful.”
Charlotte stared at him. She had been told she was handsome. Graceful. Endearing. Never beautiful.
“I am not.”
“You most certainly are.” Jackson laughed softly. “What is it about Sheffield House? Does it have no mirrors?”
That made her laugh, too. “Jackson, you are not anything like Liam’s valet.”
“His valet isn’t handsome and charming?”
She laughed again. “He looks well, but I have no notion of his charm.”
“Liam’s loss then, I imagine.”
“This is so strange, standing out here in the woods talking with you.”
“I seem to inspire disclosures, even when not trying to do so.”
“Disclosures?”
He slanted her a look. “You want Liam.”
“I…” She blew out a breath. “I do want him. He, however, wants nothing to do with me.”
Jackson shook his head again. “I wager if he were out here, he would be tempted to kiss you.”
She licked her lips, suddenly craving such a caress. “Truly?”
“You are very tempting, Miss Crane.” He leaned close, and his fresh scent wrapped around her in the warm breeze. “I would love to taste you myself.”
“Jackson,” she whispered. “Kiss me.”
He brushed his lips over hers for a briefest moment and withdrew. “I shouldn’t press you, Miss Crane.”
“You shouldn’t call me Miss Crane.”
He blinked those pretty hazel eyes at her. “What?”
“If you are going to kiss me, you should call me Charlotte.”
He breathed in, moving to grasp her bare upper arms. “Am I going to kiss you? Charlotte?”
“Yes.” She stretched up on her toes to bring her mouth into line with his. “Please kiss me.”
He made a growling sound in his throat. “This is dangerous, Charlotte. Kissing the girl Liam Hawk wants.”
“Liam doesn’t want me.” She reached up to touch his thick golden waves. “Do you?”
In answer, he pulled her close to him.
Chapter Five
Jackson’s body was surprisingly strong beneath his crisp uniform shirt. He wasn’t built as large as Liam, but she could feel the hardness of his chest. His thighs. That intriguing piece of him pressed against her belly.
“I can see why you drive him daft,” he said.
It was heady, having this beautiful man telling her she affected him. Indulging herself for a few moments of pleasure suddenly seemed quite seductive.
“Will you touch me, Jackson?” She kissed him, rubbing her breasts against his strong chest. “Kiss me again?”
He crushed his mouth to hers, taking her breath. His hands were tight on her bottom, and she felt her drawers grow damp. He seemed to be everywhere at once. His hands, his body, his lips, made her pulse race as she gave herself over to him.
“Charlotte.” His mouth was hot against her throat. “You are an incredible package, do you know that?”
“I am?” She arched as his hand closed over her breast. “Oh, that feels so good.”
“You’ve never touched yourself, Charlotte?” His hand slipped under her skirt to brush over her throbbing center. “Never brought yourself to pleasure with a certain Hawk in mind?”
Her entire body flamed at the memory. She had imagined Liam loving her, but it never elicited the feelings Jackson caused this afternoon.
“I’ve never found pleasure that way,” she admitted, her eyes squeezed shut. “I have imagined it, however.”
Jackson’s touch became more insistent, stroking her as she shivered in his hold. “You need to come. Your pussy is wet and tight.”
“Come?” she asked, confused.
“Find your release, Charlotte.” He brought his mouth to the top of her breast, his tongue darting out to stroke very close to the edge of her bodice. “To climax.”
Her head spun, and her blood raced in her veins. His fingers were on her flesh now, teasing over the nub of nerves hidden in her curls. When his mouth closed over a bared nipple, she let out a cry.
“Easy.” He bit down, causing her to moan in pleasure. “I’ll get you there.”
She didn’t even know this man, yet his mouth and hands seemed to know everything about her body. Tears leaked from her closed lids as she neared some pinnacle just out of reach. A pinch to her center, her pussy, caused her to spiral upward with a rush.
“Oh, Jackson!”
Trembling against him, she…came. Her climax was astounding, and she felt it from her center outward. She was limp against him, breathing open-mouthed against his chest as she slowly came back to herself.
“There’s the girl.” His voice was a bit rougher now. Less teasing. “My God, he would love to see you this way.”
“He?” She opened her eyes, staring up into his face. “Liam?”
Jackson nodded, withdrawing his hand from her body and righting her bodice. “Limp with satisfaction? There is nothing more gratifying to a man.”
“He shall never see such from me.” She heard the despair in her voice and squared her shoulders. “I never should have indulged myself.”
“Yourself?” Jackson touched her cheek bef
ore gently kissing her. “I indulged myself, too, Charlotte.”
Her gaze fell on the front of his trousers, seeing the outline of that most vital part of him. “Do you need release?”
“I do.” He took her hands in his. “Not from you at this moment, Charlotte. I won’t use you that way.”
“What way?”
He smiled at her and covered his groin with his hand. “I can see to this in the privacy of my room.”
Realization dawned on her. “Oh, you’re going to touch yourself.”
“Yes.” His eyes sparkled at her. “I take it you aren’t outraged by such a thought.”
She bit her lip, her pulse giving a kick. “Not in the least. I find it most intriguing.”
He seemed to consider something, and then he nodded. “I pleased Liam just last evening.”
Now she was outraged. Or, perhaps, she should be. If she were forced to name what she was feeling at the moment? She would admit that she was titillated. Aroused again by this gentleman.
“You pleased Liam,” she breathed. “And did he please you?”
“He did.”
Her heart squeezed. “You made love with him.”
“I did not.”
“That is something, I suppose.”
“Would you be jealous if I had?”
“No. I would be saddened that I missed seeing it.”
“You are a singular young lady, Charlotte.”
“I am, I suppose.” Her shoulders slumped, all of her bravery and sauciness fleeing in the next breath. “I am never going to see any such thing. Or experience any sort of passion with Liam, Jackson. That is certain.”
“Perhaps not as certain as you might think,” Liam said from behind her.
* * * *
Liam watched Charlotte’s rounded eyes as she backed away from him. “Liam!”
“Hello, Liam,” Jackson said. “Enjoying an afternoon constitutional?”
Liam had only caught the last bit of their conversation, but from the rosy glow on Charlotte’s face and the wrinkles on the front of her skirt, he knew they had been about something together. Something he sorely regretted having missed.
“Not as much as the two of you, I imagine.” Liam stepped closer to them. Their scent was thick here. Charlotte’s sweetness and Jackson’s freshness. “Jackson, you told Charlotte of our encounter?”
“In the briefest of terms, I assure you.” Jackson stepped beside Charlotte, his stance protective. “She was most interested to hear the particulars, however.”
Charlotte bit that full lower lip of hers, and Liam stared. She’d tasted pleasure. That was clear. At Jackson’s hands, his lips most likely, and Liam was astonished to discover he wasn’t the least bit jealous.
“Had I arrived in the woods a few minutes earlier, I imagine I would have seen something very particular,” he said.
Charlotte held her hands in fists at her sides, raising her chin to meet his gaze. One breath in and out. Two breaths in and out. Then she nodded.
“Liam, I was with Jackson,” she said in a rush. “He made me come.”
“Come?” Liam’s lust began to rise, but he tamped it down. “Jackson taught you a few naughty words, did he?”
Jackson chuckled. “I did. Touched her pussy, too.”
Liam closed his eyes and groaned softly. “You’re killing me.”
Charlotte huffed. “I’ve had enough of your cold dismissals, Liam. I do not need you to scold me in front of this sweet man.”
As she went to pass him, Liam couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to grab her wrist. “I’m not scolding you, dear Charlotte.”
“Dear?” She gaped at him. “How can you address me so?”
“Is it too forward?” he had to know.
“It is false.” Her brows snapped together. “I am not your dear. You cannot stand to be in my company.”
“That is true,” Liam admitted. “But I trust Jackson has told you the reason why?”
She snorted, an adorable sound given her pique. “Jackson says you want to kiss me.”
“I do.”
The admission felt right, and from the light in Jackson’s eyes, he seemed to agree with that.
“You want to kiss me,” Charlotte repeated.
“I want to more than kiss you.”
Her lush lips parted, and he brought his mouth to hers. “Damn, I’ll bet you’re very sweet.”
“She is,” Jackson said. Amusement traced through his tone. “Everywhere.”
Charlotte pulled away from Liam, her eyes shiny. “Please don’t toy with me, Liam.”
“I promise to always tell you the truth, Charlotte.” He rubbed his lips against hers. “My dear Charlotte.”
He kissed her at last, softly at first and then with more passion than he’d ever felt before. Even kissing Jackson last night couldn’t surpass the taste of Charlotte. He could taste that man on her tongue, too, however. The combination caused his cock to twitch in his trousers.
Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he breathed in deeply. The scent of her sweet heat. The freshness of Jackson so close to him. The heated air even in the shade of the woods. He was nearly overwhelmed.
“Charlotte, we cannot stay out here.” He pushed away from her. “We have no real privacy.”
“He’s right.” Jackson placed a hand on Charlotte’s arm, a tender expression on his face. “Perhaps we can meet this evening. Liam?”
“God, yes.”
Charlotte blinked, and then she giggled. “Liam, I’ve never seen you flustered.”
Liam bent his head to give her a quick kiss. “After this evening, I imagine there will be little you haven’t seen.”
She looked from him to Jackson and back again, worry clear in her eyes. “Are you certain, Liam?”
He thought for a long moment. Taking Charlotte would change matters greatly between them. She was his mother’s ward, but wasn’t he responsible for her future, as well? He would reason that through later. Now he was faced with having his most precious desire and he would give her the truth as previously promised.
“I want you, Charlotte.” He lowered his gaze to the ground beneath his feet. “I think I’ve wanted you for a very long time.”
When he looked up again, the hope on her face took his breath. “Then I shall see you both in the blue room this evening.”
With that, Charlotte turned and hurried back to the manor.
“Both?” Jackson’s searching gaze ran over Liam, the question hanging in the thick air between them. “Liam?”
Liam nodded. “Yes. Both. Charlotte is clearly attached to you.”
“I’ve known her but an hour.”
“And yet you managed to give her more pleasure—hell, more affection—than I ever have.”
Jackson’s brow furrowed. “Pleasuring each other was one thing. Taking an untried young woman who is clearly in love with you? That is another thing entirely.”
Liam studied this man he hadn’t known before yesterday, an unfamiliar pull churning in his belly. He wanted Jackson. That was certain. Nearly as much as he craved Charlotte. His beast seemed to be idly watching what was going on, and the lust Liam was feeling seemed separate from it. Different.
“Jackson, I’m afraid to hurt Charlotte. I have no notion of how to protect a woman’s heart.”
“You are very affable, Liam. I hadn’t known you five minutes before I knew that the brooding glumness I initially saw in you wasn’t your usual demeanor.”
“You are a good judge of character. Let me guess, another attribute you gained while growing up in that great house in London?”
“Perhaps. I know I still want you. Completely.”
Jackson’s words were laced with need. Need Liam felt spike through him, as well.
“Then let us move deeper into the woods, Jackson. I cannot bear to wait to secret ourselves in my guest room.”
Jackson moved in a flash, bringing his mouth to Liam’s for a deep kiss. “Fuck me, Liam.”
&nbs
p; Liam growled as his cock grew rock hard. He pulled back a hairsbreadth. “Are you certain?”
Jackson took Liam’s hand, tugging him deeper into the woods. “Diddling your girl left me needing release, Liam.” He brought his fingers to his mouth and gave them a lick. “She is damned sweet.”
Liam took Jackson’s hand then and licked those same fingers. There was that rose scent and a sweetness he could taste himself. “I can’t wait to taste her tonight.”
“You may. I’ll devote myself to those tight pink nipples of hers.”
Liam groaned again. “I can imagine your mouth on her, Jackson. As mine is on her cunt.”
“And I can imagine your thick cock buried deep inside of her.”
Their closeness, their scandalous words, had Liam’s body primed for release. As they were enveloped in the woods, darker and far more private than even the glade where he’d come upon Jackson and Charlotte, they tore at each other’s trousers and drawers until they were raw and naked from the waist down.
“I want to come inside you,” Liam said, turning Jackson away from him. Jackson braced his hands on the broad tree in front of him. “God, your ass is beautiful.”
Jackson shivered as Liam stroked his palms over the taut cheeks of his ass. He dipped his thumb into Jackson’s hole, and Jackson moaned.
“Liam, in my jacket pocket.”
“What?”
“Cream.”
“You carry such with you?”
“I pilfered it from your dressing table last night.”
“Why?”
Jackson looked over his shoulder, a crooked smile on his face. “I imagined sneaking away with you sometime.”
“Today?”
“I was hopeful, but even I couldn’t imagine this would happen so soon.”
Liam nodded, kissing Jackson on his lush mouth. “I applaud your quick thinking, Jackson.”
He found the small jar of cream, which was cool on his fingers and smelled faintly of flowers, and shuddered as he smeared some on his cock. Unable to wait another moment, he closed the jar and positioned himself at Jackson’s entrance. The head of his cock just teased Jackson’s inner muscles.
“Please, Liam.” Jackson’s voice was thick with need.
Liam couldn’t make a coherent answer. Instead, he moved forward and buried himself deep inside him. Jackson arched, moaning as he gripped the bark of the tree in front of him. Liam grasped his narrow hips, moving smoothly in and out of him as he let his passions free.
