The Secrets of a Viscount

by Linda Rae Sande

  The first time he entered her, Diana expected a pinch of pain. Adam’s fingers had seen to enhancing her arousal, their tentative exploration and entry into her tight, wet haven slowly stretching her in preparation for his manhood.

  When he finally did enter her, it was slowly, carefully, so that, although she felt full and stretched to her limit, she didn’t feel pain. She sensed his thrusts weren’t as hard as he would have liked, but she didn’t know what to do to encourage him. She didn’t know the language necessary to communicate her thoughts, so she used her hands to hold on and countered his thrusts with those of her own when she could.

  His lips captured hers for just a moment, his quick kiss ending just as she pulled him back into her body, her hips lifting from the bed when his manhood was as deep as it would go. “You minx,” he murmured, his head lifting from hers.

  Diana watched in wonder as his entire body seemed to seize and freeze in place, the tendons of his neck straining, the muscles in his upper arms flexed.

  She felt the heat of his release as his seed spilled into her, the bloom of warmth spreading through her abdomen. And she heard his growl next to her ear when his body seemed to suddenly collapse atop hers.

  She delighted in how he covered her, in how the warmth from his heated skin permeated her own and left her feeling satiated and happy. But most of all, she reveled in how he stayed right where he was, boneless and breathless and hers to hold for a long time.

  Chapter 36

  A Woman Awakened, a Man Emboldened

  Meanwhile, in the mistress suite at Thorncastle’s townhouse

  Elise thought she had never felt anything quite so exquisite against her skin. Even the chiffon of her nightgown wasn’t as soft as how Godfrey’s lips barely caressed her. Coupled with his warm, soft breaths, the light touches had her wondering if she should be doing something in return. And then her thoughts flew from her head when one of his fingers drew a line along the edge of the bodice of the gown.

  “May I?” he whispered, his head lifting as he waited for her to respond.

  Elise blinked, her last breath held in anticipation and her brain having a difficult time understanding what he was asking.

  Permission?

  “Please do,” she managed on the exhalation of breath.

  His finger traced where one breast was barely contained by the bodice of her gown, its heat seeming to leave a scorching trail as he gently pushed aside the fabric. When her engorged nipple was suddenly exposed, he immediately covered it with his mouth, his tongue tracing the shape of it as he gently suckled.

  “Oh!” Elise managed, sounding ever so breathless as shivers of delight possessed her entire body.

  Suppressing the urge to chuckle—he actually felt more relief than humor at her response—Godfrey moved his attention to her other breast. Using his chin, he pushed aside the strip of fabric that had already crept down her arm, the bit of sleeve that would have held the gown up if she’d been standing. As if she understood his intent, Elise pulled her arm out of it and moved her hand beneath his robe to grip his back just under his shoulder blade.

  The invitation had him kissing the newly exposed upper arm, the small of her shoulder, the edge of her collarbone, before he covered her breast with his mouth and worshipped it with his teeth and tongue.

  Elise’s reaction was nearly violent as her chest rose from the bed and her fingers gripped him, waves of pleasure cresting so she found herself almost unable to breathe.

  Concerned he might have hurt her, Godfrey quickly moved from atop her, sat up against the cushion of the headboard, and pulled her into his arms. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to—”

  “Oh, but you did nothing wrong,” Elise managed between labored breaths, her head settling onto his chest as he managed to pull the bed linens and a quilt over most of her body. Her entire body trembled despite his hold on her.

  “You’re cold. You’re—”

  “I’m rather warm, actually. Blissfully so,” she murmured as her breathing returned to normal. She lifted her head from his chest and regarded him with an arched brow, her look of contentment suddenly changing to suspicion. “I thought you said you’d never done this before.”

  Godfrey allowed a chuckle. “I have only imagined it a thousand times. Probably ten-thousand times,” he amended with a sigh. He kissed her hair before rolling her off of his body so that he could move farther down the bed.

  With her torso elevated on the mound of pillows at the head of the bed, Elise relaxed a bit and wondered what he might do next. The space at the top of her thighs seemed to throb with need, the dark blonde curls suddenly damp.

  “May I... taste you?” he whispered as one of his hands smoothed over the side of her body until it reached a thigh. His fingers gathered the chiffon of her gown into his fist until one of her legs was left completely bare.

  Elise held her breath at hearing the question, and then inhaled sharply at the sensation of his questing fingers against the soft flesh of her thigh. She gasped again as first the tip of one, then another finger trailed along the top of her leg and through her curlies, the caresses much like she had done to him only moments before.

  Taste me? She wondered, a shiver of anticipation gripping her. She had a thought to put voice to a protest, but his fingers were suddenly between her legs, their tips gently nudging her thighs apart. When she was aware of his body shifting even lower on the bed, she gave in and allowed her knees to fall apart. She shuddered as his hands moved to smooth themselves first around her hips, then beneath her thighs, and to finally hold the globes of her bottom. When he lifted them, she nearly screamed when the tip of his tongue made contact with her moist, feminine folds.

  Elise had a thought to pull her knees together, to prevent him from pursuing whatever he sought to do next. But she was suddenly boneless, breathless, and unable to do anything but grip the counterpane.

  But when his tongue touched her throbbing womanhood, her torso lifted from the pillows beneath her. She had half a thought as to what she must look like, what with her breasts fully exposed, her gown in disarray, her knees spread open, a man pleasuring her betwixt them. A wanton, no doubt, although the image didn’t scandalize her as much as it once might have. Not knowing that it was Godfrey who pleasured her—he was the only one who would ever see her like this.

  She couldn’t help the mewling sounds she realized were coming from her throat, nor could she stop the scream when his tongue set off an intense spasm she had never before experienced.

  This... this is what her sisters had intimated with their comments about marital relations. This was what had been missing from her marriage to Lancaster. But she couldn’t think of that right now. She couldn’t think of anything but how positively exquisite her entire body felt just then. She was still experiencing a wave of pleasure punctuated with darts of delight when she realized Godfrey had ceased whatever he had been doing with his tongue and lips.

  Elise dared a breath and stilled herself, wondering what was to come next.

  At the sound of her scream, Godfrey’s ministrations stopped, his head bobbing up from betwixt her legs to regard her with a look of concern. “Did I do that wrong?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. He lifted himself to his elbows and slid a hand up the front of her body.

  Elise had to suppress the urge to giggle at the same time his hand set off another series of delightful shivers beneath her skin. Will his simple touch always do this? she wondered. “I rather doubt it,” she managed between attempts to breathe. She dared a glance down the front of her body and allowed a self-conscious grin when she found him regarding her with a wry smile.

  Elise wondered at how she must look to him at that moment, her robe splayed open, her gown rucked up to her hips, the lace bodice no longer hiding her breasts from view. “You must think me a wanton.”

  Godfrey arched an eyebrow. He wasn’t exactly sure what he thought just then, other than he was feeling a great deal of relief. Pride, too, in realizing he had accompli
shed part of what he set out to do that evening. His wife seemed happy. Pleased. And, god, but she was lovely. Like a woman out of a painting created by a Master with only sexual gratification on his mind. “I only wanted to please you,” he murmured.

  Lifting her torso so she was supported on her elbows, Elise angled her head to one side. “Then you have succeeded most assuredly, my darling,” she murmured. She rather liked the look of relief that seemed to come over his expression, as if his entire reason for living had been validated. A naughty thought had one eyebrow arching up. “May I attempt to return the favor?”

  Marital relations with Lancaster had never been like this. He had never made love to her—never pleasured her or prepared her for the assault of his manhood into her body. A few minutes of thrusting, a few grunts, and he took his leave of her body and of her bed.

  There was a time she thought to learn what she might do to change their quick couplings—more to keep him from pursuing pleasure outside of their marital bed—but Lancaster had made it clear he already had others who could sate his baser urges. I can hardly tie up my viscountess to a bedpost, now can I? he had asked that night.

  Elise remembered the shiver of fear that passed through her, remembered how evil Lancaster’s eyes had seemed that moment, as if he dared her to demand fidelity.

  Her overtures unwelcome, she simply learned she was to be nothing more than an occasional tumble on the few nights a month he was reminded he needed an heir. She didn’t remind him, of course, but she was quite sure his friends did.

  Godfrey felt a bit of a thrill in hearing her endearment. My darling. He hadn’t given any thought to what he might be called in private, but ‘darling’ suited him just fine. As for her offer to provide him pleasure—he could imagine any number of things she might do in that respect—but he also realized he wouldn’t last much longer. His cock was throbbing, and if she so much as touched it, he was sure he would be spent before he had a chance to bury himself into her soft body.

  “On any other night, my sweeting, I would welcome the favor, but I fear I will not last long. I cannot abide the thought of spending another day as a...” He allowed the sentence to trail off and lifted one of her hands to his lips. He kissed the palm, then kissed the tips of her fingers, finally pulling one into his mouth to suckle it.

  Elise inhaled sharply before pulling her hand from his grasp. She moved it to the back of his shoulder and did the same with the other, her gentle tug an indication he should come atop her.

  Godfrey dipped his head to the space between her breasts as he moved up her body, the edges of his robe forming a curtain around her. He placed a gentle kiss there, aware of how her legs lifted from the bed, of how her thighs wrapped about his hips, and how her hands moved down the sides of his body. One reached between his legs and guided his manhood to her entrance, the touch setting off a groan from deep within him. The warm, wet tip hovered there for a moment before Elise lifted her hips until she was half-impaled, her hands moving to his buttocks to grip and guide him.

  Godfrey dared a thrust, suddenly aware it was what his body wanted—what it demanded. When he saw how Elise’s chest rose and her head fell back in the pillows, desire for her nearly overwhelmed his senses.

  He knew exactly what to do.

  Or perhaps his body just knew, for he pulled out of her a bit and then thrust into her again, this time more completely. Supporting himself on his elbows, he repeated the motion and nearly cursed. He knew he wouldn’t last but one more thrust, and yet he wanted nothing more than to experience the pure heaven of making love to Elise for as long as possible.

  How long could he stave off the inevitable?

  Elise marveled at how careful Godfrey made his moves, at how hesitant he seemed, as if he feared hurting her. But once he had thrust himself into her twice, a sort of excitement gripped her. Anticipation. She knew he wouldn’t last much longer—he had warned her he was on the verge of whatever it was that men experienced just before they spilled their seed. Just before their bodies froze in a sort of agony, suspended, until the intense spasm of pleasure wracked their bodies and left them boneless and breathless.

  “I love you, Elise.”

  The unexpected words had Elise pausing in an attempt to pull him back into her body, her hands still splayed over his buttocks. “I know, my darling.” She pulled hard at the same time he moved to thrust into her, the perfectly-timed motion setting off a tickle deep in her body. Once he was inside as deep as he could go, she heard the growl she knew was the beginning of his release at the same time the anticipation that had increased in her seemed to give way. Warmth flooded her lower body as a wave of pleasure curled through her. She clenched on him in response, which set off another growl from deep within him.

  A moment later, and Godfrey seemed to collapse onto her, his head landing next to hers, his labored breaths loud in her ears.

  Moving her hands to the middle of his back, Elise sighed her contentment and waited for Godfrey’s return to the here and now.

  Although, if he merely stayed where he was, she wouldn’t mind, she decided. Not one bit.

  Chapter 37

  Wedding Night Wonders

  Later that night

  At her look of bewilderment, Godfrey allowed a grin. “Just because I’ve never bedded a woman doesn’t mean I don’t know the mechanics,” he assured her. “I own several rather salacious books on the matter. Illustrated tomes, in fact.”

  “French, no doubt,” Elise said with a twinkle, her head settling back onto his shoulder.

  His brief look up and slight nod to one side suggested she might be right. “However, they are sorely lacking in what comes before all the...” He paused to take her lips again, this time sliding his tongue between her lips to separate them and then giving her tongue a quick touch with his own. When he pulled away, he continued as if nothing had happened. “Thrusting and deep breathing and mewling and groaning.”

  “You’ve paid witness to it,” Elise accused, her eyes wide. “In a brothel? Or a—”

  “My father’s bedchamber,” he interrupted, not wanting her to imagine the worst. “Whilst he made love to my mother. Not a sight a boy of ten should see, I assure you,” he said with an arched brow. “Or hear, either. I was about to admonish my father—”

  “You didn’t!” Elise whispered in shock, her eyes wide.

  “I didn’t,” he agreed with a shake of his head. “Not when I heard her speak the word ‘yes’ almost exactly the way you did a few moments ago. A rather welcome word to hear, by the way.”

  As if she couldn’t feel any more heated, a blush colored her face. “I couldn’t help myself.”

  Godfrey brushed his lips over her forehead and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “My mother let out a scream I thought would raise the dead.”

  “I would never,” Elise said with a shake of her head.

  Godfrey blinked. “Well, I do not believe it was a scream of terror or pain,” he countered. “I had the impression she was quite... satisfied, in fact.”

  Elise sighed even as her exposed skin seemed to glow with a deeper shade of pink. “I have heard...” She stopped, unable to say the word that almost came to her lips.

  “Heard?” Godfrey prompted. He dipped his head to her collarbone and traced its silhouette with the tip of his tongue.

  “Orgasms can be rather... enjoyable,” she whispered, inhaling sharply as his tongue delved into the hollow of her throat.

  “I have heard the same,” Godfrey agreed, his lips skimming over her skin until they once again reached the edge of the barely-there bodice. With Elise’s body left boneless and angled on several pillows against the headboard, he openly admired her state of dishabille. With the negligée and the tiny lace sleeve of her gown completely off one arm, she looked like the very naughtiest Greek goddess. “My compliments to your modiste,” he murmured as he used his chin to once again push the lacy fabric over an erect nipple so that he might suckle it again.
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  “Madame Fiére,” she managed before she suddenly inhaled sharply.

  “I do believe ‘fire’ is an appropriate word for how hot your skin is at the moment,” he murmured before giving her nipple a gentle bite. When she inhaled again and let out a sound of shock, far louder than she had when she was beneath him, Godfrey decided to repeat what he had done with the other.

  He rather enjoyed how her bodice gave way to the slightest nudge so that her breasts were entirely exposed for his teeth and tongue. He was reminded of ripe, juicy peaches, slightly blushed red from the sun and warm and sweet. Urged on by her slight gasps and then even more when the fingers of one of her hands speared his hair, Godfrey dared to move one of his hands down her torso until he could gather up the filmy fabric of her gown.

  Once the apex of her thighs was exposed, he slid the same hand down through her tuft of dark blonde curls. His middle finger parted her folds just as her body stiffened and he heard what might have been a sound of protest. He dipped his head to kiss one of her nipples again before asking, “Am I doing this right?” Elise wasn’t putting voice to any protests, but then, she wasn’t exactly saying anything to urge him on, either.

  Elise inhaled sharply, about to admonish him for pausing in his ministrations. “I think so,” she managed to get out, just before his finger brushed over the part of her body that seemed to throb with need. The spasm of pleasure caught her off-guard, forcing her to inhale again.

  “No fainting on me,” Godfrey warned as he kissed her nipple again, giving it a gentle tug with his lips just as he brushed over her swollen womanhood again with his finger.