His Scandalous Viscountess (Lustful Lords Series Book 3)

by Sorcha Mowbray

  The silk swept the tops of her feet as she waited for him to comment. Saying nothing, he simply stepped close to her and reached out to trace the scooped neckline of the bodice where it dipped so low it barely contained her nipples.

  “What a lovely little creation.” Something dark and a little dangerous glinted in his blue eyes. “But not as lovely as the woman it adorns.”

  Her cheeks heated, even as she trembled with need. Despite her doubts about marrying him, she knew she wanted to feel his hands and mouth on her body. Knew he could bring her all manner of pleasure when she trusted him, and she did trust him with that—if nothing else.

  “Thank you.”

  He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her collarbone, just beside the fabric that covered her shoulder. With a gentle tug on the sheer sleeve, the garment slipped down her arm and exposed one breast. Then he repeated the kiss and the tug on the other side.

  A low, soft growl escaped him as he then kissed each puckered tip of her breasts. “So beautiful, and all mine.”

  Arms trapped in her gown, she could do nothing save stand there and tremble as he slid his arms around her waist and arched her backwards. He continued to feast on her breasts, nibbling, biting, and suckling her nipples until her core ached with the need to be filled. And still he refused to stop. Her knees grew weak to the point she reached up and grabbed onto his shirt, where she could find some purchase.

  Subsequently, he pulled her up against his chest and claimed her lips. His tongue slid past her teeth to explore deep within. She met every stroke, every slide of his tongue, seeking to claim him in whatever way she could. Lost in the heady kiss and the sharp tang of whisky in his mouth, she was surprised when she found her legs suddenly pressed against the bed.

  When had they moved?

  Wolf broke the kiss, drew back from her, and looked down at the wanton picture she presented: nightgown half off, breasts exposed, hair streaming around her shoulders, and her lips swollen from their frenzied kisses.

  His dark eyes sought out her green ones, and then he grinned, a feral possessive baring of teeth. “You’re mine, Jules, and I’m never giving you up. Never letting you go.”

  His guttural declaration sent shivers cascading down her spine. She should have been frightened, scared of both the ferocious look in his eyes and the implication that he’d not release her from their marriage.

  But all she could think was that she’d always been his. Only ever his.

  Wolf wanted to howl into the air and beat his chest as Jules stared at him, her deep green eyes wide with some emotion he couldn’t identify. Or wouldn’t. The base need to claim, to dominate her and ensure she understood who she belonged to pushed him past all bounds of reason.

  Before he could consider his actions too closely, he reached down and yanked the ribbon from her waist. Then he dragged the sagging nightgown down her body until it fell away from her hands and pooled at her feet. His cock throbbed behind the flap of his trousers, intense need robbing him of the little finesse he could normally claim.

  With a grunt, he spun her around and used the tie he still held to bind her hands together behind her back. She was his captive now. His wife. His forever.

  With the curve of her arse pressed against his aching cock, he tried to reassure her. “I’m going to bend you over and fuck you, wife. I’m going to sink so deep inside you that you won’t remember what it feels like without me there. And then I am going to make you scream with pleasure.”

  Her breathing had grown choppy, her chest heaving with each inhale. Her nipples were hard little pebbles that he wished he could lick and suck on more, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. So he settled for reaching around and tweaking each engorged tip before he bent her over.

  Once her face and chest were on the mattress, he spread her legs open. Kneeling down behind her, he spread the cheeks of her backside wide so he could see all of her. See how pretty and pink and wet she was for him. He groaned and then leaned in to swipe his tongue over her sweet flesh. She moaned as her legs quivered. Drawn by her taste, he drove his tongue deep inside her, fucking her with it as he reached up and stroked a fingertip over her clit.

  “Oh God. That feels…”

  Whatever she’d planned to say was lost in another moan as she canted her hips back to allow him even more access. To let her rub her pussy against his face as he switched from plunging inside her to licking from her clit to her spasming hole.

  He had every intention of sliding deep inside her pussy, but then he saw the tight knot of her rear entrance open and close just a bit. Need burned through his plans like a spark set to dry brush. He rose up behind her and quickly shed his clothes before reaching into his nightstand to pull out a jar of salve.

  His cock strained up to his stomach, the head dark and mottled with desire. He pushed two fingers into her pussy, working them in and out until they were coated in her juices. Then he dragged them back to her tight pucker and pressed. She gasped, but quickly relaxed into his intrusion. With his fingers lodged in her arse, he aligned his cock to her pussy and sank in slowly.

  Heat and wetness engulfed him in the most mind-spinning ways. His cock sheathed in her channel, wrapped in heat and wonderful wetness, while his fingers were gripped by her even hotter rear opening, her body clamping down without mercy. He pumped in and out of her, sinking his cock until the base of his shaft and balls slapped against her clit, and the webbing of his fingers bit against her sphincter. When he deemed she was stretched enough to take him, he withdrew from both holes. Grabbing a bit of the salve to ease his way, he coated his shaft. Then he placed the tip of his erection against the slightly opened hole and pressed against the tight ring of muscle.

  “Open to me, Jules. Let me in.”

  She pressed backward and relaxed against his entry. The tight heat of her rear channel enveloped him, grabbed hold of his shaft and squeezed with a blinding intensity that had his balls drawing up tight. But he refused to blow so quickly. He slid until his hips melded against the globes of her arse, and then stilled.

  Mentally, he focused on his last round of correspondence and the long columns of accounting they contained. He thought about standing in a ballroom and making small talk with his peers, and he unsuccessfully tried to replay the last cricket match he’d watched.

  Below him, Jules’ hands wriggled at the small of her back, still bound, and she shimmied her hips a bit. “Please, Wolf. I need you to move.”

  He groaned, determined to keep his climax at bay. “Hold on—”

  “Now, Wolf. I need you to fuck me now,” she demanded, as she tried to slide forward on his length.

  He slapped her backside with a resounding crack. “Hold still, woman.”

  She whimpered.

  For a moment, his breath seized in his chest.

  He’d struck her, but would she discern the difference between this moment and her first wedding night? Guilt sliced into him until she squirmed again.

  “Wolf, fuck me. Please.” And she let the last word drag out in a plea.

  Assured she was still with him, he gathered his will and drew out of her back passage and completely out of her body. Her hole sat there open and waiting for him to plunge back inside, and he did, slamming into her arse with a long, hard thrust. He repeated the motion again and again, pulling out completely and then slamming deep inside her. He wanted her to feel him every time she sat down the next day. Wanted her to remember who she belonged to now. Each collision of his hips and her bottom pushed her chest against the mattress, and he was certain the coverlet abraded her nipples, because she yipped and moaned in pleasure again and again.

  He climbed toward his peak once more, and so shifted to a shorter stroke, remaining buried in her tight heat. Reaching around her hip, he found her soaked slit and swollen clit. Timing his touch with the slide of his cock filling her arse, he worked her hard. Her moans and groans only got louder when he added his finger to her swollen nub. And then her backside clamped down on his
shaft like a vise.

  He could barely move inside her as she exploded around him, his name a chant on her lips as she bucked against him. Her entire body shook with her release, a vibration that carried into his own frame and made him desperate to join her. As her tight grip eased, he resumed shuttling in and out of her backside, fucking her hard now that he merely had to focus on his own release.

  Three strokes later, his balls tightened, a tingling sensation his only warning before he came, pouring himself deep inside her. He continued to pump his hips, letting the extra lubrication add to the pleasant jolts that still fired through his system. Then everything settled down as he hung over her, careful of her bound hands.

  After catching his breath, he straightened up, but found himself reluctant to move yet. Concerned about her arms, he released the ribbon that held her hands tied and curved over her back as he rubbed her arms. “Are you well?”

  She chuckled, sending a ripple over his softening shaft that ultimately dislodged him from her warmth. He slid free, and with no reason to remain in place, collapsed onto the bed and pulled her with him.

  “Thank you.”

  She smiled. “I feel as though I am the one who should be saying those words.”

  “No, Jules, it is most certainly me.” He smiled and then yawned mightily. Sleep was coming for him, so he moved from the bed before he would be incapable. After quickly cleaning himself up and then Jules, he crawled under the covers. “Come sleep with me.”

  She bit her lip but nodded and followed him under the covers. “Good night, husband.”

  “Sleep well, wife.”

  He smiled, pleasure stealing through his limbs and dragging him into oblivion.

  Chapter 26

  Julia and Ros sat in Lady Stonemere’s—well, Theo’s, because the woman didn’t have a formal bone in her body—drawing room. Surrounded by both familiar faces and a few new ones, Julia smiled and nodded even as worry ate at her. She’d been married for two weeks. Two wonderfully, delightfully naughty weeks. And still, she had concerns.

  Not about Wolf. The man was proving himself to be a kind and caring husband. He was everything she once thought a husband would be, and certainly nothing like her first husband. If she were honest, a small part of her had worried that once the wedding guests had departed, the man would somehow turn into a monster, too. Perhaps she needed to change up her reading preferences from gothic horror novels to something more soothing—though she doubted she could stand a book of poetry.

  No, her lingering concerns were about herself. She’d been an independent woman for so long, and had been so determined to stay that way, that she didn’t think she could change. It was part of her internal fabric, but now that she was truly wed to a peer of the realm who was certainly an indulgent husband, he would expect obedience from her. She was doomed to fail at this, and leave both Wolf and herself heartbroken in the process.

  A small sigh escaped her. She didn’t want her marriage to fail. She wanted to change somehow, if that meant she could have him in her life forever.

  Laughter rang out around her, and she realized her sister was enjoying the female company immensely. There was another front of concern for Julia. Ros was well and truly alone now, living in their house despite their parents’ insistence she move home. Of course, they didn’t understand that living with them could never be home—probably never had been to be honest. Julia also worried that Ros would be lonely, that she might find herself at loose ends without a close companion at hand. She had gone from her parents’ home to her husband’s home, to her sister’s home, never once having spent time living alone.

  Julia still remembered her first year after her husband’s death. Though some would have considered a houseful of servants to be company, the truth was, they weren’t. She had been very much alone then, and it took a while for her to adjust to that. At first it was a relief, a great weight off her shoulders. But then, with so much time on her hands, all she could do was think about the things that had gone wrong in her life, picking apart each decision she’d made or allowed others to make for her. The first six months were the loneliest she’d ever been.

  But loneliness wasn’t an issue any longer. No, she had a much bigger and more dangerous issue now. If she came to depend on Wolf—or any man, really—could she survive being on her own again when it inevitably occurred?

  A gentle touch drew her attention.

  Theo smiled brightly and leaned toward her. “You look as though you’ve brought weighty thoughts with you today.”

  Julia tried to smile back, but couldn’t dissemble in the face of such honest, heartfelt concern. She let her gaze drop to her clenched hands. “Mayhap I did. My apologies for being such a poor guest.”

  “Do not apologize. If you have weighty thoughts, you have come to the right place. This is my marriage cabal.” She grinned wickedly. “While the husbands would be—and have been—dismayed to learn of the plots we devise here, there is no group of ladies better suited to help solve a marital issue.”

  Julia glanced about the room, seeing Emily, who she’d met through Wolf, and of course her sister and Theo. But Lady Heartfield was new to her, as was Theo’s sister, Lady Carlisle.

  Theo squeezed her hand. “Trustworthy to a woman. No secrets shall be exposed by anyone in this room. We’ve all been in the position to have doubts about our marriages, to worry about our futures. If we can aid you in any manner, you must know we will do so without question.”

  Conversation ebbed and flowed around Julia. The others were clearly otherwise engaged. The earnestness in Theo’s steady gaze reassured her, and gave her the courage to reach out. “I’m worried I cannot stay married to Wolf.”

  The room had gone quiet then, and all eyes turned to her. Cheeks hot, she looked around to see a strange array of looks. Most held sympathy, one woman—Lady Heartfield—looked amused, but Ros appeared quite angry.

  Her sister broke the awkward silence first. “Do not be ridiculous, Jules. You love him. He loves you. Why can’t you stay married to him?”

  “I’ve lived as my own woman for a decade. I come and go as I please. I have my own funds and my own way of doing things. But most importantly, I have long refused to ever find myself at a man’s mercy again. This was only ever intended to be a temporary arrangement.”

  A lump formed in her throat, making it hard to push the words out.

  Theo squeezed her hand, a soft look on her face.

  But it was Lady Heartfield who spoke up. “I was like you, possibly worse under the circumstances. I had been on my own for more than twenty years. I was the Madame of The Market”—Julia gasped at that surprise bit of news—“and I had only ever known how to survive on my own. It was a bit of a shock when Heart stormed into my life and wanted to rescue me from it. You see, I didn’t need rescuing.”

  The sadness grew within her. She had, in fact, needed saving.

  Lady Heartfield continued on. “Or at least I thought I didn’t. It turns out that I did need just a little. Once Heart battered down all my defenses and I let him in, I realized that I was a stronger woman with him than without. Not that I could not have survived…but I wasn’t living.”

  Julia inhaled sharply, the older woman’s words hitting a bit too close to home. Was that possibly her issue? She considered the last ten years of her life.

  “But I have lived. I’ve lived abroad, taken a sheik as a lover—among others—and I have come and gone as I’ve pleased. I’ve also seen many sights and places most women will never have the chance to go.”

  “Certainly, you have made a good show of living,” Ros replied. “But to truly live, one must have genuine emotion in their life. Lady Heartfield—”

  The blond woman smiled. “Marie, please.”

  “Marie is right. You’ve tucked away all your emotions since your marriage to Wallthorpe. Since Wolf left you on that street corner, waiting for him. Even with Tariq, you never allowed him close enough to breach your defenses—not that I think that w
as a bad choice. But I suspect Wolf has blasted through your walls and has your heart surrounded. And it would seem he is taking no prisoners.”

  Of course, her sister fell back on a military description. If she had been a man, she would have been a military man—a field marshal, most likely. Julia bit her lower lip in consternation. Her first impulse was to deny her sister’s and Marie’s words, but the truth was…they weren’t incorrect.

  She closed her eyes and felt the room sway around her. “I want to change, to let him in, but I’m terrified he’ll only hurt me again.”

  “When one has been deserted by love,” Marie offered with a gentle, yet knowing smile, “it can be difficult to trust it the second time around. But you must find a way to open yourself to him.”

  “I feel closest to him when we are intimate,” Jules whispered.

  Theo nodded. “That was how I learned to trust Stone. You must study his desires, learn his needs—”

  Julia chuckled. “Those things I know. I need no primer in how to please Wolf. What I need is help in figuring out how to get past my fear of making myself vulnerable to him.”

  Theo frowned. “Well, then I suppose there is no need to sneak you into The Market for a lesson.”

  Emily and Theo giggled, sharing a smile. Marie shook her head.

  Curious, Julia asked, “What is it?”

  With a shake of her head, Theo answered. “A story for another time. We must focus on the issue at hand. Marie, do you have any further guidance from your experience?”

  The woman sat lost in thought for a moment as everyone waited for her to speak. “I am afraid physical intimacy is not the solution this time. Or, I should say, not the heart of it. The next time you lay with your husband, afterwards, as you are still entwined, try speaking to him of your past. Of how your marriage and subsequent life have changed you and made you guarded. Do it while in his arms, so you still feel connected. I fear the only solution lies in opening the old wounds and excising the infection.”