Page 14 of A Lady’s Dangerous Secret (Scandalous Secrets #1)

“I want you, James.” He let out a choking sound before he withdrew his moist finger and brushed two digits over the most sensitive part of her womanly area, her pearl.

“More!” Charlotte demanded, surprised by her outburst.

“James, I want more,” she pleaded. His name sounded so right on her lips.

“I want you looking at me when you find your release.”

“Yes,” was all Charlotte could say. His words caused the flame in her core to burn even hotter.

She looked into his hooded eyes. His fingers sexually tormented her again and quickened their pace.

Charlotte’s hips unconsciously rocked, trying to ride his hand.

James switched to stimulating her pearl with his thumb and then thrust two fingers back into her cunny.

Charlotte heard mewls she realized were coming from her. Her hips found a rhythm that matched that of James’s fingers. A pressure built deep inside her core, and she chased a sensation she did not understand.

“Let go,” James commanded. A look of raw desire simmered in his gaze. Charlotte did not comprehend what he was saying. Her body was fighting a rising feeling she was trying to control. Her brows furrowed while her hips continued to thrust.

James’s voice softened. “Let your body take over. Allow me to pleasure you,” he coaxed.

The intensity in his eyes broke her concentration, and all of a sudden, the pressure released. Charlotte felt an explosion in her body, and her vision was momentarily shrouded in darkness before stars flashed behind her eyelids. Her entire body convulsed.

James’s fingers flickered over her pearl and thrust in and out of her cunny. His voice broke through the sensations. “Look at me, Charlotte. Look at me.”

Her body shook, but she was able to pry her eyes open. James’s mouth covered her own to muffle the staccato of screams. His fingers continued to work her, allowing wave after wave of pleasure to roll through her body. Her hands tightened around his neck. She never wanted to let go.

The pulsations lessened. Her body collapsed from utter exhaustion. Charlotte dropped her hands and rested her head against James’s chest, where she heard the racing of his heart. She felt all was right in the world, a sentiment she had never experienced.

Distantly, she noticed James’s arousal still throbbed against her leg.

He slowly removed his hand from underneath her skirt and kissed the top of her head.

His arms wrapped protectively around her body, and she felt safe in his cocoon.

She lifted her eyes to look at him, and though there was still desire, there was also a tenderness she had not seen before.

“Charlotte! Charlotte!”

“Good God,” James muttered at the sound.

The moment shattered.

Charlotte’s head whipped toward the direction of the voice.

“Oh no!” Charlotte jumped off James’s lap. She pulled down her skirts and tugged her bodice in place as best she could. Her hands flew up to her hair and tucked wayward strands back into her chignon.

“My aunt.”

Her bloody aunt .

James was having the most remarkable experience of his life, and it was ruined by her blasted chaperone.

In addition, his arousal remained unabated, to add insult to injury.

He watched as Charlotte slipped out of the alcove, her shoulders back and her head held high.

He had kissed many women. Hell, he had sunk himself into many as well, but he had never felt anything like what had just happened with Charlotte.

Charlotte .

He could not think of her as Lady Charlotte of the ton anymore. No, she was bold, vivacious, and witty. After feeling like a shell of a person following the war, and well, even before the war, she was a breath of fresh air.

Charlotte made him feel alive.

All he wanted to do was sequester the two of them somewhere far away where he could make her scream his name over and over again.

But that could only happen if she were his wife.

A shrill voice broke through his thoughts. “Charlotte, what are you doing out here? Were you having a dalliance? Your dress is wrinkled!”

“Of course not,” Charlotte replied evenly.

“You saw how I looked in the carriage. I believe I’m ill.

I danced with the Duke as is my duty, but then I felt faint.

There wasn’t anywhere to sit on the balcony, and I was afraid I would swoon.

I came to the gardens to find a place to sit and just breathe. ”

James listened intently as Charlotte seamlessly concealed their liaison from her aunt. He knew deep down that hiding it was for the best, but he could not deny a part of him wished they were caught.

He would do the honorable thing and make Charlotte his wife.

James’s stomach dropped and his arousal vanished as their reality reemerged. A marriage between them was impossible. He could never force Charlotte to be tied to a nobody for the rest of her life. She was destined to become a duchess.

James’s fists curled from the futility of it all. Being near her and knowing he could never have her was torture.

James waited on the garden bench until Charlotte and her aunt left, then he returned to the ballroom.

Once inside, he wore a look of indifference, but that did not deter the marriage-minded mothers.

Soon, he was surrounded by eligible ladies yet again.

This time, he signed up for as many dances as he could.

He needed a distraction from what had just transpired with Charlotte, and knew that because of his sister, Gabe would have to stay for a while.

Dance after dance, James peered down at beautiful, accomplished debutantes who would be the belle of any ball, but none compared to the fiery Charlotte.

Gabe and his mother and sister were finally ready to leave, so James joined the women in their carriage back to their town house, while Gabe left in a separate carriage to attend to his mistress.

The women chattered excitedly about the ball and with whom Lady Bridget had danced, while James listened in the corner, feeling frustrated.

Once they arrived home, James went to Gabe’s study.

The room was dark, aside from a banked fire.

The servants knew the master of the house rarely slept at home, but always had his study at the ready, just in case.

James poured himself a glass of his friend’s finest brandy, settled in a wing chair near the fireplace, and stared at the specks of embers.

He knew he did not deserve Charlotte, yet he could not stop thinking of her.

He took a gulp of brandy, hoping it would numb the pain. It did not work.

His thoughts shifted to Charlotte’s unnamed suitor, the Duke of Somewhere.

James knew he could never compete with a duke and that he should not interfere with the life that was being planned for her.

Yet, this realization did not dampen the frustration and hopelessness he felt at never being able to truly be with Charlotte.

James never liked to lose control but tonight was an exception. One glass of brandy became two, two became three, and so forth. He drank until he could drink no more, and stumbled up to his bedroom for a night of fitful sleep.