Page 43 of A Gentleman's Wager

Of him? Not a thing. He was not her goal, no matter how lovely he was to look upon. She watched him part his lips and slowly lower his dark lashes over his eyes, the gesture curiously as enticing as it was vain.

“Why did you warn me away from Lucerne?”

For a brief second, rage like splinters of diamonds showed in his eyes. He rocked forward as if about to storm past her, only for his body to then relax, and his anger to seemingly melt away. He sighed, touched the end of the curl of hair she had looped over her shoulder. “Always Lucerne… Is that the only reason you followed me out here, or was there something more you wished of me?”

He leaned closer as he spoke, so that the warmth of his breath whispered against her skin. She recalled the touch of his lips, the flick of his tongue. This time, he didn’t reach for her hand but grazed her bottom lip with his thumb.

Bella remained unsure of his purpose, and indeed her own. She was certain she did not care for him, but she was intrigued, and desire whispered through her body so that she harkened to his touch. When his lips met hers, she had no mind to move away, only to pull him closer.

Lord have mercy, but Louisa was right. Nobody had ever kissed her the way he did. Pennerley made her burn with a heat that washed straight to her cunt. He was fierce where Lucerne had been generous, savage rather than refined.

Vaughan grasped her shoulders and thrust her against the blackened oak panelling with enough force to make a thump and dash the air from her lungs. She didn’t notice the pain, only the rush of desire and vertigo, like a foretaste of orgasm. His teeth met her neck and nipped the delicate skin, while he loosened her stays enough for him to slide his fingers between fabric and flesh. Bella in turn pushed her hands inside his coat. Nothing about this made any sense, nor did it seem to matter. All her instincts craved penetration, screamed for her to submit to him. She hooked her thumbs into his waistband and tugged, only for him to escape her hold and sink gracefully to his knees.

“My lord?”

Vaughan grasped her hem and bunched her skirts to her waist. He bussed his cheek against her stockings, pressed a kiss to the skin above her left garter, then cupped her buttocks with his bare hands and tugged her forth so that her pussy met his tongue. But his mind was not focused on any sort of satisfaction. He teased, toyed, coaxed her into a lather only to let her stew.

“A gentleman ought to use his tongue fairly in the presence of a lady.”

Vaughan snorted. He pulled back long enough to eye her archly. “A lady has two essential attributes: modesty and the presence of mind to be shocked when a fellow tastes her pearl.”

Bella almost kneed him on the chin.

How easily he swung her between anger and desire, revulsion and raptures. Yet she could not find it within her to hurt him. The sweep of his tongue drained her of all such notions, leaving her crooning her enjoyment into the night air.

“Do you like that, my nightingale? How sweetly you sing.”

Bella shook her head, trying to stifle the purrs rising in her throat. She wanted to deny him the proof of his skill. He didn’t deserve the praise.

“You’re a harlot,” he said. “’Tis what Lucerne sees you as. Perhaps I should use you like one. I could throw your skirts over your face, ride you hard against the stone and leave you a crown for your trouble. One hazards that you might even be a spritely ride.”

“Bastard,” she hissed. “Do it if you dare.”

Vaughan laughed and returned to his feet. “Maybe I will.”

Bella’s heart skittered over several beats. She whimpered as he began to massage her, fingers moving slickly in her wetness. If he entered her now, he would slide into her all at once. She tugged at the buttons on his waistband, then touched the head of his cock. He was hard for her and slippery with dew. He hissed through his teeth when she grazed her nail along the line of his slit.

Abruptly, he stepped backwards. Bella’s eyes snapped upward to his face.

“Vaughan?”

In disbelief, she watched him stride to the door.

“My lord?”

On the threshold, he stopped, glanced back over his shoulder. Desire still coursing through her body, Bella reached out towards him to reel him back. Slowly, he shook his head, a cruel smile stretching over his lips as she crashed from ecstasy into anguish.

He blew her a kiss and left.

Abandoned, Bella slumped to the floor, devasted. What sort of devil of a man did that to a woman? Why, what was the purpose of it?

Blinking back tears of shame, she reached down with one trembling hand and gave herself the relief he’d denied her, imagining all the while the weight of his body above her, pressing her down into the cold tiles, as his cock drove her to utter distraction.

-28-

Louisa

Louisa lay in bed for a long while after Bella left, but although she yawned repeatedly and the quiet darkness made her eyelids heavy, her thoughts raced like the wind outside the window. Eventually the rattling panes drew her from her bed, and once up not even the cold could drive her back between the sheets.