“Did your mother know of it too?”
“My father had no secrets from her, so yes.”
Julius wondered if the countess had kept one particular secret from her husband. “Did your father show it to your uncle too?”
James’s brows rose. “I have no idea.”
“Did you look in that drawer after your parents were killed?”
James shook his head. “My uncle took us both off to London within weeks of their deaths. I confess I was too distracted at the time, dealing with my own and my sister’s grief, as well as accustoming myself to being the new earl, to give that drawer so much as a second thought.”
“So it’s possible Metford does not know about the drawer or its contents?”
“It is possible, yes,” James confirmed slowly. “Although, if he does not, then I fail to see how what is inside is going to help prove my uncle paid to have me murdered.”
It wouldn’t, Julius conceded. But it might help confirm exactly who Bethany’s father was: David Metford or his brother, Adrian.
Chapter Nine
Bethany bathed and changed out of her riding clothes as she waited for Franklyn’s eventual departure from his employer’s rooms. She then waited another five minutes before leaving her own suite to move silently down the hallway and knock softly on the door of Julius’s bedchamber.
She stepped back in surprise when she immediately heard the sound of swearing coming from inside the room. A clear indication Julius did not welcome this further interruption.
The key turned in the lock, Julius starting to speak the moment he opened the door. “Damn it, can’t a man be left in peace to continue pleasuring himself— Oh dear God!” The angry flush in his cheeks deepened to embarrassment, and his grip tightened on the front of his unfastened pantaloons until the knuckles of his hand showed white. “This is so much worse than when Ja—Franklyn walked in on me a short time ago,” he groaned.
Bethany was aware of her heart pounding loudly and the heat coloring her cheeks.
Not because of what Julius said, but because he looked debauched. His hair was in disarray. His eyes were feverish. There was that unnatural flush in his cheeks. His lips were slightly swollen, as if he had been biting or chewing on them.
What had he said before he realized it was her at the door and not his valet returning? Oh yes. Can’t a man be left in peace to pleasure himself…? She wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but she wished to know.
Bethany moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Is pleasuring yourself what you were doing when I knocked on the door?”
Julius opened his mouth to speak. Closed it again. Before opening it again. “Yes,” he finally managed to mutter in a strangulated voice.
The warmth increased in her cheeks. “Is that why your pantaloons are unfastened?”
“Yes.”
“How does a man go about pleasuring himself?”
Julius gave a slightly dazed shake of his head. “This really is not a suitable conversation for an unmarried young lady.”
Her gaze met his steadily. “I have no mother, nor am I comfortable asking my uncle about such intimacies, so how else am I to learn if someone does not explain it to me?”
He scowled his frustration. “No doubt your guardian would say you should not be learning about those intimacies!” He felt sure that her brother would second that opinion.
Her brows rose. “Then I am to go to my marriage bed with no knowledge of how to please my husband?”
The rage that swept through Julius at the mere mention of Bethany being married and pleasing her husband was unprecedented. Indeed, he could not have imagined himself capable of such jealous fury until this moment.
A red haze had appeared before his eyes, and his breathing quickened. His hands clenched with the urge he felt to wrap them about the throat of the faceless man who would one day become Bethany’s husband and have the right, the pleasure, of caressing every delicious inch of her.
Julius fought against that rage. “What do you want to know?”
“I do not think this is the sort of conversation we should continue in the hallway,” she teased.
As far as Julius was concerned, it was not a conversation the two of them should be having anywhere!
Nevertheless, the thought of refusing Bethany—anything—was also out of the question. “You had better come inside.” He stepped back to allow her to enter, his nostrils filling with the floral musk of Bethany’s perfume when she swept past him, causing his cock to once again throb its demand for release.
Twice now, he had managed to get as far as taking his cock out, giving it a couple of strokes, before being interrupted. No wonder it was throbbing its displeasure.
Bethany was feeling less confident now that she was alone in Julius’s bedchamber with him. Her heart thundered loudly when he not only closed the door behind her but also locked it again.
“You may leave any time you wish,” he assured her. “The turning of the lock is to keep people out, not in. I have had more than enough interruptions this morning.”
Her eyes widened. “Did Franklyn really walk in on you touching yourself earlier?”
He grimaced. “Yes.”
Bethany stepped farther into the bedchamber. “He seems to be a likeable fellow.”
“He is, but I am sure even he has his limitations,” Julius drawled.
She glanced at him. “His accent is…interesting. It is how they talk in the London lower class, I believe,” she explained when Julius raised a questioning brow.
He held her gaze. “I would never have attributed you with possessing the same pompous snobbery as your uncle.”
Color flared in her cheeks, and her chin rose. “I do not. I was merely curious as to how the two of you could ever have met.”
“One usually advertises for a valet.” And Adams had been Julius’s more than capable valet for the past ten years. With Julius’s traveling into Suffolk, and James acting as his valet, Julius had insisted Adams go to Wales to enjoy a holiday with his family.
“And Franklyn was the only one who applied?”
“He was the best man for his current position,” Julius avoided.
This conversation appeared to be stuck on one subject—namely Franklyn—which would eventually succeed in entangling Julius in so many half-truths, he would not be able to explain or excuse himself when the time came to tell Bethany the truth.
Was he prepared to divert Bethany’s attention onto the subject she came in here to discuss?
He studied her through narrowed lids. Her cheeks were rosy, her lips plump, there was a slight flush down her throat and across the tops of her breasts.
The latter from arousal?
At the thought of Julius baring his cock and demonstrating how to give a man pleasure?
It was shocking for Julius to even be contemplating doing such a thing in her presence.
Except…
He did need to divert Bethany’s attention from his valet, and his cock remained a constant and painful throb which longed to be freed from inside his pantaloons and then stroked and pumped until he attained that long sought-after release.
Which Julius knew would ultimately be more pleasurable if he had Bethany as his audience.
Even so. “Are you not concerned regarding the negative things your uncle has said about me?”
“What things?”
He snorted. “I believe the implication was that for years, I have hidden behind the Prince Regent’s coattails in order to avoid joining the army and becoming involved in the fighting.”
Her brow cleared. “Oh, that.” She shook her head. “I am fond of my uncle, and I am sure he means well, but he has an unfortunate habit of not seeing the broader picture.”
Julius very much doubted the other man had meant well when he had James murdered. “How does that apply to my situation?”
Bethany smiled. “I have thought about that several times.”
“And your conclusions?”
“Well, for one, I do not believe the Prince Regent would condone cowardly behavior in one of his closest friends, which you appear to be. Secondly,” she continued as Julius would have spoken again, “I know it to be untrue.”
He eyed her curiously. “How can you say that with such certainty?”
“I have known you for only a short time but it is long enough to be sure you are not a coward. After careful thought, and since speaking to John—one of the smugglers from the other evening—I realized that his recognition of your name and praise of your character is more than likely based upon his at one time having helped to facilitate your entry back into England. As he has done with so many others. As those other people had traveled into and then out of France clandestinely, your own return possibly occurred after you had carried out some secret work in France for the Crown.” She held Julius’s gaze challengingly.
Julius was finding Bethany more and more attractive the longer he knew her. She was beautiful and vivacious, and her intelligence was certainly not in question either. “I could not possibly confirm or deny such wild conjecture,” he drawled.
“The fact you cannot tells me my thoughts are correct ones.” She tilted her head as she eyed him curiously. “Was this conversation meant to divert my attention from the reason you invited me in here?”
Too intelligent on occasion, Julius acknowledged ruefully. “Are you going to complain of being shocked afterwards? Even though you are the one who asked to witness this?”
Bethany could not guarantee she would not be shocked. But she also knew how excited she was at the prospect of seeing Julius’s bare cock, let alone watching as he pleasured himself.
“If I should be shocked, then be assured I shall keep that emotion to myself,” she promised.
“Very well.” He moved to sit on the bed before leaning back against the already raised pillows and looking at her expectantly.
She moved to sit on the bed beside him. Her cheeks now felt as if they were on fire from a mixture of embarrassment and arousal.
Her breathing became shallow as she watched Julius unfasten the flap on his pantaloons, and she ceased breathing altogether when he folded that flap back and revealed his bare cock jutting up almost to his navel. It was long and thick, with a throbbing vein running the length of it. The bulbous top was red and angry looking, and slicked. It became even slicker with the juices escaping from the slit at the top.
She drew in a sharp breath as that long length seemed to pulse and lift from resting against Julius’s abdomen, leaving behind a trail of those viscous juices.
“Do not touch,” Julius instructed harshly the moment her hand moved tentatively toward him.
Bethany snatched her hand back to cradle it against her breasts. “I apologize. I merely wished to know if your skin felt as velvety soft as it looks.”
“I am not angry with you, Bethany.” Julius took her hand in one of his and raised it so he could kiss the back of it in apology. “And yes, the skin on my cock is very soft considering the hardness it contains. But if you touch me now, even lightly, I will surely release.”
Her eyes widened. “Without touching yourself?”
He smiled slightly. “I know exactly how to touch myself for the greatest pleasure and ultimate release, but at this moment, a woman’s touch, however inexperienced”—he squeezed her hand gently to take away any sting his words might have caused—“is more likely to cause a quicker ejaculation.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. “I do not wish to hurry this in any way.”
Julius smiled slightly at her daring. “You are unlike any other young lady of nineteen I have ever met.” He doubted even the wives and soon-to-be-wife of his three close friends were as brave and adventurous as his Bethany—
Goddamn it, she was not his anything!
Bethany looked distressed as she no doubt saw the fierceness of his expression and misunderstood the reason for it. “Do you mean that in a bad way?”
Julius felt bad for causing her a moment’s discomfort. “Not at all,” he was quick to reassure. “Here.” He lifted her hand and guided it toward his now copiously leaking cock.
Her eyes widened at his obvious intent. “I thought you said—”
“Sometimes I—like every other man on the planet earth, I believe—talk nonsense that would be far better for a lady to ignore,” Julius said, mocking himself. “I would very much enjoy having you touch me,” he added huskily.
“You will not release if I do?”
Julius’s desire was so intense, his control balanced on a knife’s edge, he doubted he could promise that with any degree of certainty. “I shall endeavor not to do so.” He held her gaze with his as he slowly removed and then dropped her lace glove to the floor before guiding that now bare hand toward his straining cock.
He groaned long and deep the moment the heat of her fingers stroked and then curled about his engorged flesh. “Yes!”
He closed his eyes as he allowed his own fingers to encircle hers, and he proceeded to guide her in exactly how tightly to grip his pulsing cock and then how quickly to pump it. Once she had those two things mastered, he added a little twist into the upward stroke, removing his own hand and groaning with pleasure as her movements became sure and practiced.
Bethany’s hand stilled. “I did not hurt you?”
Julius opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Only with pleasure.” James would want to kill him if he ever learned of this intimacy between Julius and Bethany having taken place, but for the moment, Julius simply did not care. It was undoubtedly the most intimate experience of his life to have Bethany sitting next to him, the pumping of her fingers becoming bolder as her other hand cupped and gently squeezed his balls.
Bethany might not be the most experienced woman Julius had ever been with, but she was certainly the most arousing. Perhaps because of that lack of sophistication? There was something very erotic in knowing Julius was the first man she had ever touched this intimately.
“Oh God…” He groaned long and deeply as, his balls still held in her palm, her index finger had ventured lower to stroke along that sensitive band of skin between his cock and anus. If that finger strayed anywhere near the latter, Julius knew he would come instantly.
“Tell me how it feels,” she encouraged, her movements sure and firm as she pumped his flesh harder.
Julius’s lids closed again, and he slid farther down the bed as he concentrated solely on the pleasure of her caressing hands. “Your hand is like silk against my cock, a direct contrast to the hardness of the flesh beneath. It is the most exquisite pleasure when you stroke down and then up, and it causes me to shake when the soft pad of your thumb strokes over my cockhead.”
Julius’s huskily spoken words caused a reaction in Bethany’s body. Her skin felt overly warm, her breasts too tightly confined in the bodice of her gown, the rosy tips hard and tingling. Between her thighs felt equally as hot and swollen, the release of juices from her channel dampening her drawers.
She grew bolder, her palm and fingers gripping harder and moving faster along the length of Julius’s cock. She was rewarded with another low groan as an outward show of his pleasure.
Even more emboldened, her hand cupped that sac tighter beneath his cock. Her finger stroked along the taut flesh beneath, and once again she heard his throaty gasp and low groan as she pressed more firmly before moving back farther still.
“Dear God…” Julius’s hips rose as he groaned achingly.
His flesh felt rougher here, but was obviously still as responsive, for he began to tremble as her fingertip traced a circle around that ring of muscle.
“Bethany!” His fingers tightly encircled her wrist, stilling her hand.
She eyed him quizzically. His face was flushed, his eyes feverish, his bottom lip slightly swollen from being chewed between his teeth. “You do not like it?”
“Too much. Continue, and I shall— Oh fuck!” Julius’s body arched up from the bed as he shuddered and
shook and thick ropes of his release shot up the front of his shirt the moment Bethany pressed her fingertip against and then through that ring of muscle.
Bethany gripped his cock more tightly as she continued to pump it through that lengthy release, her heart feeling as it if might burst out of her chest with the knowledge she had given this pleasure to Julius.
Chapter Ten
“Is it always this…awkward? Afterward?” Bethany asked when Julius gave her a questioning glance.
Awkward for whom, Julius wondered, as he inwardly chastised himself for having allowed this intimacy to happen at all.
Rising quickly from the bed to put some distance between the two of them before he compounded his own error by making love to her, Julius moved behind the screen to give himself respite from the hurt expression he could now see on Bethany’s face.
He concentrated on wiping and then tidying himself and his clothing. Finally, he accepted he could do nothing about the telltale stain which remained on the front of his waistcoat and shirt. He would change into clean clothing the moment he was alone again.
Once Bethany had left his bedchamber after pleasuring him until he released!
What had he been thinking to have allowed such a thing to happen?
He hadn’t been thinking at all, only feeling.
Forget the formality of a duel, Julius should just bare his throat and let James strike him down for having behaved in such an impulsive and unacceptable manner toward his sister.
Except Julius was not known for behaving in the least recklessly. He was always completely in control, in any situation that might be thrown at him.
Except when that situation involved Bethany, it seemed.
He gave a self-derisive shake of his head as he emerged from behind the screen, looking somewhat less disreputable, he hoped. His pantaloons were refastened, at least, even if his open waistcoat and shirt still bore the evidence of his release, despite his attempt to remove it.
Julius's Passion (Regency Club Venus 4) Page 7