by Anna Macy
Perhaps he was a nobleman, but he didn’t sit idle behind a desk all the time. In the back of her mind, she pictured the wind tossing his dark hair about his face as he rode a white horse across a rich green pasture.
“Hello? Juliet, did you hear me?” Marian's voice crashed into her daydream.
Juliet’s mouth fell open, and she stared back and forth between Robert, Marian, and William before realizing that she had been caught openly fantasizing about the man beside her. Forcing an awkward laugh, Juliet attempted to cover it up with a smile. She was sure her cheeks were aflame.
“I’m sorry, Marian, could you repeat the question?” she said sweetly, her eyes begging her friend for mercy. She received none though, Marian covered her mouth quickly, obviously covering up her laughter. Smoothing a hair over her carefully coiffed hair, Marian gathered herself before looking back to Juliet.
“No question Juliet, I just wanted to remark how lovely your dress is tonight. That shade of rose is perfect for you.” Marian said. Juliet tried to bury the nervous chuckle that desperately wanted to bubble-free of her chest.
Grateful the conversation was gaining less embarrassing momentum, Juliet immediately questioned Robert on stories of his youth with Marian, especially hoping to tease out any good tales where Marian had embarrassed herself similarly. If she was planning on spending more time around William, Juliet needed to prepare adequately with stories to hold over her giggling friend’s head.
Robert was immediately aware of her meaning and quickly jumped to her rescue. His arms flailed about wildly as he regaled them with tales of the outrageous and tiny Marian who had mercilessly tortured her brother, Nicholas, and William any chance she got. Marian played along with them, her affection for both her brother and William evident in every retort and laugh.
Watching them, Juliet was captivated. She had always longed for a sibling. Even after her mother had married Marshall, she had prayed that perhaps another child would mend her family's broken relationship. But no sibling had come, and her family stayed as damaged as it had been since the day her father had died.
Glancing coyly up at William as he watched the siblings immersed in their story, Juliet’s stomach clenched. Perhaps this was her chance to have a real family. Sure, they had not gotten off to the best start, but she could not deny the man was magnetic, drawing her to him as if his every word were vital to her very survival.
She had had girlhood crushes before. Being trapped alone at Greystone may have limited her exposure to the outside world, but she knew what it felt like to have her heart skip a beat or flush when a handsome boy would look her way.
This feeling, this was not that. Juliet felt like her body craved him as if being close to him would cure the ache that had settled into her soul after their midnight kisses.
It was true that she did not know the marquess well, but her body claimed otherwise. Begging for her to release her hold on the reins and let her sinful thoughts run rampant, with no concerns for the dangerous ramifications.
Juliet hoped that her lustful thoughts weren’t written as plainly across her face as she felt them across her body. She took several long, deep breaths. She skimmed her hand across her waist, to her hip, closing her eyes gently as even the touch of her own hand tightened her breasts and caused her to bite her lip, holding in a soft gasp of pleasure.
Was this what being tucked in, close to this man did to her? Juliet’s rebellious mind flew. What would it possibly be like to be back in his arms? To celebrate these rushing feelings, this heat that threatened to overwhelm her careful facade.
Marian and Robert were waving now, seeing another guest they had not greeted yet. The siblings marched off jauntily, the bright hair weaving through the small assembly and disappearing from Juliet’s view. Unsure of what to do, Juliet swallowed hard and snuck a look at her escort.
There was no way he had heard her pitiful, restrained noises just a minute ago. Was there?
Amber eyes met silver as Juliet’s mind went blank. He knew her thoughts. He had to. It was the only reason he would be staring at her like this, like an overly polite starving man at the dining table, waiting to feast, to devour.
His jaw was twitching, teeth clenched, he tried to smile at her, but it came out a snarl. The soft growling noise was sending heat coursing through her body straight to the place between her thighs.
“We should walk,” William had barely spoken before his hand covered her own against his sleeve, and they moved through the foyer and into one of the manor’s many rooms. The dark paneled wood walls seemed muted as Juliet’s eyes glazed over.
She continued to hold her lip between her teeth, worrying over the marquess’ sudden change of scene and mood.
“Are you alright?” Juliet finally asked, her voice small in the darkened room. They were alone. This chamber was traditionally the Duke’s office, and save a few opportunistic scones the servants had lit, they were the only two souls inside.
That didn’t stop William from prowling the room like a great black cat, surveying the room as if someone may be hiding in wait, his overcoat’s tails flaring out behind. Her words stopped him, though, and as he turned to her, she took an involuntary step back.
“Am I alright?” His voice was like velvet against her skin. He walked gracefully to her, sliding one of his hands through his dark hair as he approached. Juliet locked her knees, forcing her face to remain serene, calm, even as he brought his body right up against her own. Breast to breast, belly to belly. Breathe, she chanted to herself, just breathe.
“The answer is no. No, I am not alright. I was going to spend the whole of the night ignoring you, punishing you for that trick you played on me last night.”
Juliet opened her mouth, but William put a finger over her lips, pressing them closed again with the firm, calloused skin. She glared at him over his fingers but stayed quiet.
“But then I saw you, in that dress, with that smile, and most of all, biting this poor, bottom lip.” He let his fingers whisper a stroke against her bottom lip, and Juliet’s body quaked in response. Her knees threatened to buckle.
“Now I can’t stop thinking about it. Nor can I stop wondering what you could possibly be thinking about that causes you so much distress.”
Juliet tore her mind away from his fingers, slowly let her eyes crawl up his chest, past the thick column of his neck, and finally to stare straight into his wide, dark granite eyes. There was no way to deny it. “I was thinking about you kissing me. About you--”
With a groan of half vindication, half anguish, William cut off her words with his mouth. “Thank god,” he murmured before capturing her lips in his.
The kiss was hard, forceful, his strong hands holding each side of her face as his mouth conquered hers. Juliet moaned softly, letting her lips slide open. His hot tongue swept in to explore her mouth with the vigor of a desperate man.
This was almost too much. Juliet felt her legs give as her thighs quivered; the desire to wrap herself around him, to press herself against the hard length of his body overwhelmed her. As if sensing her dilemma, William caught her around her waist, taking handfuls of her body as he searched her body for what he craved.
Juliet realized her hands were knotted into his hair when he pulled back, holding him to her. A sensual smile curved his lips as he took a step between her legs, practically carrying her as he moved them closer to the parlor walls.
Reaching off to one side, William grabbed for the parlor door, which had been slightly ajar. Slowly, and with great purpose, William shut the door silently, his eyes never leaving hers.
Juliet blushed but didn’t release him. His body was folded into hers, his muscular thigh separating each of hers, his hands rubbing slowly, hypnotizing circles on her lower back.
“How did it compare?” William asked quietly, his nose caressing the side of her face as he pressed her body back against the wall. Juliet briefly registered the pinpricks of pain through the fog of desire as her body was pinned between two
hundred pounds of powerful man and the harsh paneled wall.
“The kiss?” Juliet choked out. How could he ever ask her such a thing? Ladies never spoke about male performance, let alone to the man responsible. But then his lips followed, leaving a blazing trail of kisses up the side of her neck to her ears, where he breathed gently, waiting for her answer.
“Yes, the kiss,” came his rumbling reply. Juliet swallowed, frantically trying to string the words together while her mind was filled with delicious and very forbidden thoughts about the man wrapped around her.
“Well. All things considered, I think it was wonderful for a first attempt.” Juliet responded, dragging her fingers enticingly across his nape. These feelings, this rush, this heat. It made her bold.
William snorted. “For a first attempt?” His teeth mouthed her ear, but Juliet could hear the laughter in his voice. Trying to ground herself back in the real world, Juliet smiled as well.
“Yes, for a first attempt. Although I believe I would be agreeable if you wanted to give it one more try before dinner.”
“Oh, would you. How kind.” William drew back, his incredible eyes sparkling as he surveyed her. When he stayed like that for more than a few moments, looking lost in the moment, Juliet began to feel uncomfortable. Here she was pressed up against the wall for this man, suddenly keenly aware how sinfully wanton she had been, begging him for more kisses.
“But...erm...perhaps we should just get back to dinner? They will be missing us soon.” Shame slid into her voice, choking her words.
He frowned, clearly worried he had done something wrong. “But I don’t want to go to dinner,” William said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. The vibrations from his words and the implications of them set Juliet’s finally quieting heart back to racing.
“You’re not hungry?” Juliet said, looking at him through her lashes. Barely believing the voice that slipped out was her own.
“I didn’t say that,” William said, a hungry smile on his lips as his bold gaze was swept across her exposed collarbones, down to her breasts as they were pushed up between their bodies.
Juliet sighed into his gaze; her body felt sluggish, heavy, except for the sharp points of her nipples, which rubbed against the lace of her corset.
With a careful, practiced motion, William ran his fingers from the curve of her waist, gliding over the valley of her waist and straight to the line of fabric over her bust. His hand lingered there, holding both of them on the edge of a blade.
On one side lay what was left of their control. The other was a blur of passion, hot lips, and pleasure Juliet had never experienced.
William was waiting. Patiently, as if he had nothing better to do but to wait on her decision. Juliet could feel the heat of his body and knew that his calm expression was hiding a dark, powerful hunger, ready to strike. Her control over him at this moment made her mind sharp, focused. She could feel every inch of his body against her own, except where she wanted it, needed it the most.
Licking her lips slowly, Juliet gripped his shoulders as if to push him away, his eyes following every move of her tongue. His expression dropped just a little, but his body shifted back respectfully as if to release her when she used her grip on his body to raise her generous hips to cradle his.
Pressing her heat against the burning core of his body, Juliet couldn’t help but sink her teeth into her bottom lip again. She could feel all of him, from the broad shoulders to the hard, eager length of him throbbing against her. It was addicting. Now that she had felt him, how was she to let him go?
With a soft moan, William dropped his head to the side of her neck, his heavy breath warming her skin as he panted with her. Juliet felt a smugness settle over her body, two could play this seduction game, and while she had made the first move last night, it was turning out to be quite the volley.
“You are killing me,” William murmured against her skin, but he did move his hips just slightly against her, dragging a soft moan from her lips. Even with the fabric between them, Juliet ached for him. Somehow moving against that hard body eased just a little of her need.
“I assure you, you feel very much alive from this end,” Juliet responded breathlessly, continuing to run her fingers across the planes of his upper back, feeling the thick muscle under his formal coat.
“Ha, very funny. Bad joke,” William spoke into her neck, his words muffled as if his lips didn’t want to lift off of her body to form the words properly. He pulled back to look at her, his tousled hair making him look younger, and a bit wild, but no less handsome.
“What now?” Juliet whispered every fiber in her being, waiting with harsh awareness of all the places they were woven together and all the places they were not. William groaned loudly, his shoulders sagging under her hands.
With an unhappy expression on his face, William began to set her down when a sharp rap of knuckles on wood startled them apart. William dropped Juliet the rest of the distance to the ground and stepped away as quickly as possible, his feet stumbling slightly as the door swung open to reveal Nicholas.
The lanky man immediately made a face; his left eyebrow arched to his hairline as he stared at the two of them. Juliet knew that even while they were separated, her dress, hair, and face had been displaced by William’s embrace.
“Really? You two are begging to be caught. Again!” Nicholas put his hand on a narrow hip, glaring at the both of them.
“It’s not what you think.” Juliet began, her hands hurriedly straightening her gown back in place.
“Oh yeah? It is not you two sneaking off with the best intentions to get to know each other better, then spiraling into a fit of repressed passion?” Nicholas looked between the two of them as they looked guiltily back. “You must’ve forgotten; I am both of your friends, so know both of your stories.”
William coughed lightly into a fist. His pallor was a bit more crimson than Juliet had ever seen it.
“Well. Perhaps you are closer to mark than I expected,” Juliet said coolly, smoothing a shaking hand over her hair. Thank goodness all the pins that Amelia had tirelessly placed seemed to have held.
“And also, as your friend, I highly recommend both of you get yourselves back to the foyer so we can pretend that I’ve been with two the entire time.”
“Thank you, Nicholas.” Juliet moved to his side, tucking her hand into his arm; she sent a broad smile back to William. He had leaned back against a sofa and was decidedly looking everywhere but at her. Seeing her smiling back at him, holding Nicholas back from their exit, William stood to straighten his jacket.
“No,” Nicholas said, pointing an accusing finger at William, “I’ve told everyone I had promised Juliet a quick tour of the manor’s library, which is coincidentally down this hall as well. But you, you get to stay here and cool off.” Nicholas nodded pointedly at William, who sat quickly, crossing his leg and sending a disgruntled look at his friend.
Juliet covered her mouth at the inappropriate remark, suddenly feeling very exposed by Nicholas’ keen eyes. When she turned to look up at the tall man, she was worried he would be upset at her. However, as soon as they left the room, an easy smile graced his face.
“I’m sorry for all that, Juliet. You have to understand that I never, and I mean never, have had this many opportunities to torture William. So, I have to take advantage of every single one I can.”
“Oh, Nicholas, isn’t that rude? And you never know what might be coming back your way.”
That’s the best part. Someone has to be having some fun at these things.” Nicholas eyed Juliet carefully, making her blush. “Well, someone besides the two of you.” Juliet snorted, covering her suddenly hot face with a hand.
“You are out of control, Nicholas.”
“Again, kettle, meet pot.” Nicholas grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows as they entered the foyer. Thankfully, it was as if William and Juliet had never left the room. General hubbub surrounded them; merriment and drinks were in high demand.
Across the room, Juliet and Nicholas both spotted Marian, who held a glass of champagne in one hand, while staring intensely at both of them. Quickly they looked at each other, then down at their clothes; nothing was out of place. Nicholas cleared his throat and leaned down to speak directly into her ear.
“I cannot be responsible for what I’ll do if Marian comes at me over this. I was not built for interrogation.”
Juliet laughed, the sound ringing from her body. “I understand.”
Nicholas winked at her one more time, brushing his lips across her knuckles quickly before stealing a glance at Marian. Seeing her come this way, he suddenly saw someone on the other side of the room who needed to speak with him. Mumbling a hasty goodbye, he disappeared, leaving Juliet with a grin on her face.