by Kizzie Hayes
“Breathe with me.”
He placed her hand on his chest. He took a long slow breath and she struggled to do the same. In and out, over and over. Each one was easier than the one before. The storm abated.
“There we go,” he whispered. “There we are.”
“He proposed.” Her legs felt heavy beneath her body, and unwilling to hold her up in the wake of her rampant feelings.
“And you accepted.”
“No,” she said. She shook her head again, feeling the weight of her hip length hair sweep over her back.
“Emily, you are wearing his ring.”
She looked down, and saw it glimmering there. How had she ever seen diamonds as warm? They were filled with cold promises. “No, you don't understand.”
“Are you engaged to Hudson Wright?”
She blinked. “I honestly have no idea.”
He laughed, and it was an oddly manic sound that seemed to come from a bleak place within. “Curse you, woman.”
“I love you.”
“Do you?”
“I have no idea.”
“Curse you again.”
He kissed her like he could devour her from the mouth down, and she melted. His kiss was nothing like Hudson's, though she hated to compare them. There was no awkwardness to the brazen way that his mouth slid over her own. His tongue delved between her lips to taste her, over and over again. She drowned in his own intoxicating favor of wine and spice.
He pulled back to let her breathe.
“More,” she begged. “Oh, Owen, more.”
He pushed her unto the chaise and pulled her dress away from her body. In moments sunlight, muted by the misty gray of rain clouds, was spilling across her bare skin. His mouth sank along her body, over her neck and breasts and hips. He left nearly no part of her untouched, unworshiped.
“There you are,” he groaned, when his fingers slid along the wetness of her sex. “There is my demure little vixen.”
His fingers plunged inside of her, opening her body to him. Deep pleasure swam through her, crashed through her. Yet all it did was fuel the storm of her need.
“Owen, I need more.”
“Tell me, tell me what you need.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips, and pulled him to her. Emily felt his length pressing inside of his breeches. She thrust her hips in wanton desperation.
“Take them off.”
He hesitated. “Emily, if they come off I can make no promise to your purity.”
She gripped his face in her hands. “I do not care. My purity...take it. I want them off.”
He made a sound more animal than human and jerked his pants down his hips. The next time he lay over her she felt the hot press of his blunt tip.
“Oh yes, Owen, yes!”
“Are you sure, Emily. Say it, tell me that you are sure.”
She thrust her hips towards him, enamored of the wet glide of his masculinity across her cleft. “I am sure, Owen.”
He buried his face between her breasts and she felt him nudge himself against her opening, still he hesitated. She wrapped her arms over his back and tugged him closer.
“Don't stop now.”
“God, Emily, you are my undoing.”
He slid into her. Emily expected to feel pain, but it never came. Perhaps her body was too willing, or his fingers had been preparation enough. All she felt was her own wetness and the glorious heat of him inside of her. He moved and she groaned. Her hips arched towards him with ardent abandon.
“Oh, Owen, yes!”
She was aware of everything, his breath on her body, the tickle of his hair along her neck. The long line of his chest as he moved over her, again and again. She lifted her hips to cup him to her.
“More, oh God, Owen, more.”
And more he gave her. His hands slid beneath her body and lifted her from the chaise so that only her shoulders were mated to the fabric. He surged forward over and over again. She could no longer determine where he ended and she began, nor could she bring herself to care. Her body had never felt more alive.
“Emily,” he grunted, his voice near to breaking.
“Yes,” she told him. “Oh yes.”
One hand fondled her breast and her eyes rolled back as the rough tender tip of her nipple scrapped along his palm. Her skin felt too tight for her body.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“Fall with me,” he gasped. “Fall with me, Emily.”
She could do nothing else. She felt the hot flood of his release inside of her and she gave in. With a final surge of his body, she broke into a thousand pieces.
*****
She was not sure when she dozed off, but when she woke he was still inside of her. The light from the study window had turned gray with a late hour, casting shadows across the room. She pressed her hand against his shoulder and he roused.
“Emily?” he asked.
“Well who else?”
He swallowed once before quipping, “Might have been a scullery maid.”
“You are not half so funny as you seem to believe yourself.”
“True. But I am twice as funny as most and that is enough.”
“Fine, now please remove yourself from my person, I would like to breathe.”
“As you wish.”
With a move that she could not have performed on her best of days, much less in a state of half wakefulness, he rolled off of her and sprang gingerly to his feet. She curled her legs to her chest and watched him search for his trousers. He was a gloriously built man.
“What do we do now?”
He glanced up at her. “What do you mean.”
“Come, now Owen, now is hardly the time to joke.”
“I am not joking.”
A cold feeling began in her belly. “I have already said you are not funny.”
“I am not attempting to be. Emily, I made what I wanted abundantly clear.” He stopped looking for his garments, and instead gave her a steady glance.
“I, I don't understand.”
“I told you that I did not want to get married,” Owen offered.
“Well, yes, of course you did. But I had assumed...”
“I also told you that I was many things, but I am not a liar.”
Her heart felt too small inside of her chest, small and breakable. Without understanding the 'why' of it, she pulled her chemise over her otherwise naked body.
“So, you will not marry me?”
“No, but that does not mean that we cannot be together, Emily. I will not push you out of your home, we can stay here and be together.”
She shook her head, as much to clear her angry thoughts as to tell him 'no'. “I cannot do that. I am...I am a lady.”
His brow shot up his forehead. “Oh?”
She opened her mouth to give a retort, but another voice stopped her.
“Emily?”
Hudson's shocked face filled the doorway. How she had forgotten about the door was well and truly beyond Emily. She knew what it must look like, with Owen standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but his shirt, and she wearing only her chemise. Their scattered clothing a clear indication of their late afternoon activities.
“Oh, Hudson, I...I'm sorry.” She should have said more, but no words would come out of her throat.
“We were to go to the Avington's soiree tonight, I...the butler let me in, I've been waiting...”
Her stomach sank. Why the butler hadn't come to her, or why he hadn't sent Hudson on his way was well beyond her understanding right this moment. It didn't matter.
“I...can't.”
“That is clear. I will...excuse me. I should leave.”
Hudson swept out of the room.
“I told you he was a ponce.”
Emily brought her hand clearly across Owen's face, this time the slap, unmuted by gloves, was truly satisfying. He said nothing as she stormed out of the room.
~*~
The Briarmont gala was everything an en
d of season gala ought to be, bright, and cheerful and filled with new couples who were adamantly engaged in showing off who they had managed to snag. Emily wasn't sure that she had ever been more depressed to see couples together before.
She had arrived without escort, which had already caused a stir, and managed to corner Hudson Wright in the Briarmont's rather resplendent music room.
“Hudson, we must talk.”
“No, Miss Crawford, I am not entirely sure that we do.”
He was angry, and she could hardly blame him. He paced across the span of the music room, clearly not sure if he would leave her there or yell at her.
When he had worn himself out, he plopped unceremoniously onto a piano bench. He looked pitiful, and she realized that she hadn't just hurt him, she had broken his heart.
“Was it the kiss? Was it so terrible?”
She thought it was very unfair that he asked. He had been there, after all, he knew exactly how terrible it had been. Still, perhaps it had only been so terrible for her because she had had something terribly wonderful to compare it to.
“There was nothing wrong with the kiss. It is only that I hadn't realized until that moment that my heart belonged to another.” She moved to sit next to him on the bench, he slid to one side to afford her enough space.
“Why him? If there were a man who were gentler, or wealthier, or even more willing to marry you I would understand. But he...he is not any of that.” He splayed his hands on his knees, looking more at the floor than to her.
“I don't know,” she answered as honestly as she could. “He is a difficult man, he is stubborn and he is most uncouth. I do not know why I care for him, but I do.”
“You made a fool of me.”
She looked down. “I know. Does it help if I say that it was never my intention?”
“No, not really.” He sighed and looked down at his lap. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, oh of course not! You were perfect. You are perfect.”
“And yet you are not going to wed me.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I'm not.”
“You will wed him.”
She felt tears fill her eyes. “No, it does not look as if that will happen either.”
It was a mark of just how kind a man Hudson was when his concern colored his features. “Emily, what do you mean? He...well...he..”
“I am supremely aware of what he did, but Mister Harding is adamant that he has no desire to be married, not even to me,” her tears filled her eyes. “Forgive me, I don't mean to...to..” She found that she could not finish her statement.
“Oh, Emily.”
He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and bent his brow to hers, offering a kerchief for her tears. She took it. For a long time, he simply held her as she cried. She had not the first clue what she had done to gain such friendship from a man.
“I know that there is not love between us. But there is, I believe, friendship.”
“You would still be friends with me after what I have done?”
“Forgiveness and understanding are both terrible character flaws of mine,” he said with a shadow of a smile on his lips.
“So, you forgive me?”
“You did what you did out of love, did you not?”
“I did.”
“Then yes,” he placed his hand over hers. “I forgive you.”
“What am I going to do?”
He took a deep breath and wrapped his fingers over hers. “I am afraid that is not a question for me to answer. While I would be more than willing to hunt down the scamp who made you feel this way and demand that he takes you to the altar...I am of the opinion that this would make no one happy.”
Emily dabbed her eyes with his kerchief. “No, no I am afraid it wouldn't.”
“Well, maybe I can be of service.”
Emily and Hudson jumped at the sound of Owen's voice. For a moment she was sure that she was imagining things.
“Mister Harding.” Hudson surged to his feet. “What exactly are you doing here?”
“Well, I am Miss Crawford's appointed escort to this nonsense.” He waved one flippant hand in the general direction of the party. “It would be improper if I weren't here, wouldn't it?”
Emily adjusted her seat on the piano bench, turning her back to Owen. “As if you have ever cared one fig for propriety.”
“That is...true enough. However, in the weeks since you have left your rather impressive mark on my cheek, I realized that I do care more than a few figs for you.”
“I should leave,” Hudson said.
“No, no not yet,” Owen said. “I owe you an apology as well and I am sure that if I don't say it now, I won’t.”
Emily and Hudson shared a glance.
“Alright,” Hudson stood up.
“I have been a terrible brute, and while I have many reasons for such, I have come to realize that they are excuses. I have admitted to Emily, and now to you Lord Hudson, that my father was a rather despicable creature, and while I will not go into details I have come to believe that I never felt worthy of friendship, nor of love because of it...”
If Emily didn't know any better, she would have believed that Owen's voice broke. He cleared his throat and went on.
“I have acted a terrible fool, and I would like to know what I can do to fix that.”
“You know, Emily, I'm not entirely sure that this is Owen at all.”
Emily stood up and gently pushed passed Hudson. Her hand went to Owen's cheek and he tilted his face until she could stare into those beautiful eyes, and their starburst color.
“Oh it is,” she whispered. “It certainly is.”
“Am I forgiven?”
Lord Hudson took a very deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I will leave it to the lady to decide.”
Emily ran her thumb across the dip in Owen's chin. “There will be a great deal for you to make up for. You can start, of course, by agreeing to marry me.”
“Are you proposing to me?”
“I am,” she smiled as his lips dipped towards hers. '
“That is most unladylike,” he whispered. “I approve.”
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 20 of 44
THE KINKY PROPOSAL
Description
This is a romance story in which Derek Churchill, whose recent divorce issue left him devastated to the point that he never stopped being moody and melancholic, but since he set his eyes on Alex Newman he became obsessed with the sweet girl’s aura of charms and charisma.
As Derek tried to fight over his mousy nature and get the chance to meet the sexy Bartender, his expectations and quest was cut short when he discovered that the sexy girl of his dream was a girlfriend to his good friend in college (Louis Brown)
Derek was shocked to get the approval from Louis to have an affair with Alex even though that led to the kinky proposal of having a threesome with the two lovers. At first, it was insane for Derek to think about such indecent proposal from Louis but the lewdness of his thoughts for Alex pushed him to do the inevitable which wasn’t easy to accept at first, but when he finally gave it a trial, the experience left him exposed to the point of bringing out his true nature that he never noticed about himself.
***Love or lust***
Yearning for happiness, I couldn’t find any; seeking for emotional satisfaction, I couldn’t lay my hands on such luxury. My life was really bottled in a limbo of solitude up to a point that the resounding voice of the aged female lawyer that declared my marriage with Isabel legally separated couldn’t stop echoing in my head.
I remained hunched over the steering wheel of my car as I pulled over along the main street to think about my life awhile. I could hear the indistinct horn from the road users but I wasn’t perturbed but kept sinking deeper into my world of thoughts and melancholy. I really didn’t see it coming but I finally became a single guy again.
A buzz from my cell phone
forced me back to consciousness which made me feel like flinging the phone out from the window to enjoy the solace that allowed me to wallow in nostalgia and gloom. The buzz continued but I didn’t care to check the phone screen because I knew that it could be one of those emergency calls that would require me to lead my team for firefighting which I wasn’t ready for at the moment.
The phone kept beeping to the point that I became so restive and disturbed. I took the call even without checking to know the caller but immediately I heard my supervisor’s voice from the other side of the telephone; I knew it wasn’t just a call anymore but an order.
“Sorry, s….sir,” I faltered and fought to keep my phone firm on my palm because I was really jittery, “I was really…”
“Take your team to Reality Bar immediately,” he hollered angrily, “Don’t waste any time because if more damages occur, you have me to face,” he hung up without delay.
Angrily I hit my knuckle on the steering wheel but that wouldn’t stop me from the duty calls that just needed my attention.
I hastily took my phone and dialed John Miller’s number. I was glad that John was already on his way to the scene of the fire outbreak.
I zoomed off into the streets with a loud screech and kept changing to my firefighting uniform as I speeded without thinking of being issued a ticket.
On getting to the scene, I was really glad that my men were already at it and extinguishing the fire. I took over my position as the leader and helped them quench the fire before it got to the main part of the Bar. It was only the parking lot that was affected adversely but not much damage done.
People started clapping and cheering my team but I was still not happy because of the sadness that had lingered in my thoughts.
As I gave that sheepish grin and tried to enter my car and drive out, I saw a very pretty girl that really caught my eyes. I felt so cold and numb because the feelings that I got at that particular time was really encompassing to the point that I began to gape without knowing it. My lips fell apart and my eyes narrowed to see her clearly.
She looked at me and smiled which made my heart sink into an untold joy. I parted my lips with smiles but was surprised that she wasn’t even smiling for me but was centered on one of my men (Blake T) who came to work with me. She actually looked at me as if she was seeing through me not that I was the recipient of those inviting smiles from her.