Page 16 of Just Think of the Scandal (The Fairplace Family Novellas #2)

E liska inwardly sighed. He must be dull-witted. Which was a true shame, because she’d enjoyed everything about Theophilus Fairplace thus far. How much more obvious did she need to be? She was trying to seduce him. On purpose. And he was as oblivious to her as a cow chewing cud.

Continental European girls weren’t as prudish as their British neighbors, but even they couldn’t waltz right up to a man and ask him to tup her. Well, she could, if she wanted to be labeled a shameless trollop.

Eliska wasn’t ashamed of knowing about sex, nor about wanting it. She’d never had it, of course, but she’d heard raving reviews about it from a few married women. Good girls were allowed to enjoy sex once married. She was pretty sure she’d got that right. She sighed. Perhaps curtailing their betrothal had been short-sighted after all. This could’ve been her wedding night.

She was fairly certain she could be a good girl and enjoy sex. It was a radical notion, but she’d read a few pamphlets by French feminists, and they seemed far more knowledgeable about the topic than she. Eliska just couldn’t quite overcome her virginal modesty enough to rip her clothes off and say, “Take me now, Theo!”

“Eliska,” he said in the growly voice he used when he was frustrated with her. Her toes curled and she gripped his thigh.

“Yes?” she breathed, raising her head so it would be easier for him to kiss her.

“What are you doing?”

She floundered. If only she was like those sophisticated French feminists.

“Well?” he demanded, his body tense against her.

“I…I was remembering last night,” she improvised. It was true. “How you warmed me with your touch. And kisses.”

He froze. “Eliska,” he said evenly.

“Yes?”

“Please be very clear.”

“Very well.”

“Are you asking me to kiss you?”

She gathered her courage. “Yes. Because the train is cold, you see, and— umph!”

His lips captured hers in a searing kiss. He devoured her, sending burning fire down her throat, through her whole body, and down to her icy toes.

Eliska moaned and rose on her knees to better reach his mouth.

His hands delved into her tangled hair. He stroked and teased, twisting her locks and lifting them off her shoulders so he could trail kisses down her neck. He nibbled at her pulse as she pressed tiny kisses across his temple, his forehead, his cheekbones. The scrape of whiskers roughed her lips, and she shivered in desire.

Suddenly Theo grabbed her hips and swung her around, until she straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips. He growled again and his fingers pressed into her skin, through her chemise. “You’re everything,” he murmured against her skin, his lips making a searing path back up to her mouth. He bit her lower lip, drawing a gasp from her, then soothed it with his tongue.

She opened to him, and he responded, tangling his tongue with hers. The wet heat of him sent tingles up and down her spine, as did the vulnerable position he held her in. Eliska planted both hands on his shoulders and gripped them as his hands moved from her hips to her backside. He grabbed her buttocks and groaned, sending vibrations from his mouth to hers.

“Theo,” she gasped. She plucked at the buttons of his waistcoat, fumbling through the haze of her passion.

His hands roamed her body, then he cursed and ripped her corset open. Cold air rushed in as her chemise gaped, but it was quickly replaced by hot, questing fingers. He massaged her shoulders as he kissed harder and harder. His mouth went back to her bosom, where he exhaled right above her nipple. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she scrambled with the shoulder of his waistcoat, shoving it off, and then went for his limp and bedraggled necktie.

“You’re so lovely, so perfect.” He peppered her with compliments as his hands ran up and down the outside of her legs. He even stroked past her knee, reaching to cup the back of her calves to warm them.

Eliska’s body ached with emerging desire. Her core grew slick with need, and her intimate skin throbbed nearly to the point of pain. “Theo, please! Theo, more.” She widened her legs.

“Are you spreading your legs for me, sweet Eliska? Do you need my hand to soothe you?”

“Yes!” she nearly sobbed. “Yes.”

His strong, hot fingers turned to the inside of her thighs. She was so sensitive she nearly jumped at his touch. But once she realized what he was doing, she leaned closer, silently begging him to trail those fingers higher and higher.

She buried her face next to his, panting in his ear.

“You sat there so demurely, like you didn’t want me. Didn’t want my hands to do this.” He did something exquisite with just the tips of his fingers against the edge between her thighs and her core, then dragged them away.

“Pretending to be such a good girl.” His voice was sin incarnate.

“I am a good girl,” she huffed indignantly.

“Yes, you are,” he agreed, stroking the inside of her quivering thigh. “And good girls do as they’re told, don’t they?”

Eliska’s mind bucked at that. “I’m a grown, unattached woman.”

“Of course you are,” Theo agreed smoothly. “But here, when it’s just us, when it’s just me, you’ll do as I say. Because it makes us both happy.”

“Oh,” she sighed as his fingers stroked the short curls of her mons. “Yes, just for you.”

“And why is that?” he asked, turning his face to nip the lobe of her ear.

She shook her head, unable to speak.

He suddenly pinched her thigh. Not hard enough to hurt, but in her sensitized state it was like an electrical shock. “Why is that, Eliska? Tell me, so I know what to do.”

“Because it makes us both happy,” she groaned.

“Very good.” He rewarded her with two fingers gently swiping up her folds.

She keened, unable to hold such pleasure within her body.

Theo chuckled, and part of her wanted to pull back and tell him not to take pleasure in her neediness, that he shouldn’t relish having this much power over her. But then she heard the tight undertone of his laugh, felt the tension in his shoulders, and the tremor in his hand steadying her with a grip on her hip. He was just as needy, just as affected. In fact, she might have him in her thrall.

“Oh, so wet and perfect,” Theo groaned, sliding his fingers up and down her sex. “Already prepared for me.”

Eliska nodded, her face in the crook of his neck.

“What if I want more?” he breathed, rubbing her gently. “Can you give me more of yourself? Can you make yourself wetter, if it would please me?” His voice was rough now, less controlled. “Will you be a good girl and do as I say?” Then his thumb touched the bundle of nerves near the top and she gasped, shuddering against him.

“Ah, there’s a lovely lass,” he praised. “Now tell me what you want.”

Eliska shook her head, so overwhelmed she wasn’t sure what to ask for. Wasn’t sure she could get the words out even if she did.

Theo read her hesitation correctly. “Then I’ll tell you what I want. Because you want to make me happy, don’t you? Then rub yourself against my hand. That’s it, buck if you need to. I’ve got you. You’re only doing as you’re told.”

The tension in Eliska’s body rose to greater heights. Pleasure swirled and swooped inside her, and yet it wasn’t enough. Her hands turned to claws, gripping his shoulders so tight she wondered if he’d have fingernail marks underneath his shirt.

“I’m telling you now that I need to see your breasts,” Theo grunted. “And you’re going to obey me, yes?”

Eliska released his shoulders and grappled with her chemise, dragging it upward and tucking it under her chin. She didn’t have a chance to feel cold, for Theo whisked a blanket around her shoulders, creating a safe cocoon.

“Oh, such beauties,” Theo declared. “I knew they’d be perfect.” His hands resumed their place. “Now: I’m busy seeing to your pleasure.”

Eliska ground against his palm, thighs tight and breasts heaving with need. “Yes.”

“So that means I deserve a little pleasure, too,” Theo continued. “And you’re going to be a good girl and give me what I ask for.”

Eliska grunted.

“Take your hands and bring your breasts up to my mouth,” he directed. “It would give me great pleasure to taste your nipples.”

Face flushing, Eliska did as she was told. She cupped her warm breasts and brought them to his lips, even though it put her in a precarious position, trying to balance over him.

“That’s right, that’s exactly right.” Theo put his mouth to one nipple, sucking and licking.

Eliska cried out as he drew pleasure right out of her core, spreading it up her abdomen and across her breasts like little sparks of sunlight. The position, where she depended upon his hands for balance, sent a thrill of arousal through her.

“That’s perfect,” he murmured between her breasts. “I could feel you clenching. Whatever you thought of, do it again, my love.” He spun his hand and inserted one finger into her sheath.

Eliska’s arousal shot high at the sensation.

“Yes, again,” Theo directed. “So wet, so ready to please me.” He carefully and slowly inserted a second finger.

It was tight. Eliska shifted on her knees, wanting to do this all night but knowing her legs would give out soon.

Theo took his mouth to her other nipple, and he bit gently. She mewled as the pleasure drove her higher. She felt dizzy with desire. “Oh, please, Theo, please,” she babbled.

“Such a good girl, asking so politely,” he complimented, then kissed her nipple. “Good girls are rewarded.” He turned his hand again, making a motion with his fingers inside her and simultaneously rubbing his thumb in a circle over her clitoris.

She exploded in a shower of sparks, pleasure arcing through her body. Her head rolled back, and the chemise dropped, curtaining the marvelous sensation his hand had caused. “Oh my,” she said once she got her breath back.

Theo stared at her, breathing just as heavily. His hand emerged from her chemise. His fingers glistened in the lamplight. “Breathtaking,” he whispered to himself, never once looking away from her face. His two fingers slid into his mouth, and he sucked them clean.

Eliska was not prepared for how aroused the sight made her. She sank down, setting her bare bottom on the edge of his knees. “What about you?”

Theo stiffened. “Oh, you mustn’t feel the need to reciprocate. I don’t expect anything.”

Hmm. So he was being dull-witted again.

Eliska leaned forward until she could feel the ridge beneath his trouser falls. “Are you sure?” she asked breathlessly. “Good girls always make their friends feel welcome. And thanked.”

Theo choked. “Oh, God.”

Eliska counted that as progress. She slipped a hand down and gripped his clothed erection. She’d been kissed a few times, had even felt a man’s cock as he crowded into her space during a kiss. She knew they liked to call it a cock. But she’d never touched one, even over the trousers. She’d have to be bold.

“I did everything you told me to,” she encouraged. “I was a good girl, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, very,” he gritted. Both hands now clasped her waist.

“So I deserve a reward.”

He laughed. “I already gave you your reward.”

She batted her eyes shamelessly, and his lips quirked upward at her obvious attempts. “You’re being difficult, Theo.”

“I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret tomorrow, love.”

“I’ll never regret you.” It was truth. Eliska rubbed his length in what she hoped was a seductive manner.

Theo rolled his hips against her, face taut with repressed desire. “I don’t know.”

“You said this would make both of us happy.”

His face softened, and he cupped her cheek. “Oh, love, you have made me very, very happy already.”

Eliska’s heart ached. “I want to be with you. In every way.” She took a steadying breath. “Please?”