A Question of Lust

by Angeline Fortin

  “Sometimes I wonder if she might have some padding in there to have breasts like that. Do you wonder the same?” Aylesbury grinned cockily at Vin, playing the part of the roué and ardent suitor but the look on Vin’s face caught his curiosity. There was little conjecture or inquisitiveness there, merely appreciation and desire. “It seems you have lost the look of wondering what is beneath her clothes. Before you undressed her with your eyes, now you have the look of a cat that’s gotten the cream, yes?” Aylesbury studied Vin, noting the clenching jaw, the hands tight on the reins. Good Lord, he had been only joking but sure enough he’d come on the truth. Harry looked back to Moira noting her cheerful air.

  His breath caught as the truth of it hit him.

  “My God, you’ve had her already, haven’t you?”

  Vin’s heart jolted at his words. Aylesbury made it sound so crude, as if Vin had rudely taken what he wanted without concern or caring. The marquis couldn’t imagine the intimate intensity of what they had shared, he made it sound only like new fodder for the gossip mill and Vin couldn’t have that. He would not risk bringing shame or disgrace down on her. “Moira is a lady, Aylesbury. I’ll thank you to remember that before you think to sully her good name.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” Aylesbury protested, waiting for the jealousy to come, the anger that would tell him he’d been wrong in his feelings for Moira. None came beyond concern for a friend combined with an envy any man would feel. Vin had bedded a prize any red-blooded man would have wanted. But Aylesbury couldn’t be sad for it. It was what Moira wanted.

  Remembering his role then, his vainglorious wager that he could push Vin into an act of jealousy within a fortnight, Aylesbury considered how best to jab this man who saw him as a rival for Moira’s affections. “It matters not to me, of course, beyond a distasteful image. Moira is free to do as she wishes while she is unwed. However, soon she’ll be my wife and, when she is, I’ll thank you to keep your hands off what is mine. Though you can feel free to keep imaging all you want. God knows I cannot wait to get my hands on her, to take her in every way imaginable. You might have had her for a night or two, but she’ll be mine for a lifetime.”

  Without warning, Vin’s fist shot out between them catching Aylesbury on the jaw. Taken unawares, the force of the blow rocked Aylesbury in his saddle nearly spilling him over the opposite side. His horse pranced nervously as the marquis pulled himself back upright on his mount rubbing his jaw. The sacrifices one made in the name of friendship! Damn, the fellow had a hard left! Aylesbury stretched his jaw, grimacing through the pain before he shot a mocking smile at Vin. “Jealous, old chap?”

  “Not at all. Merely defending the honor of a dear friend.” Vin stared ahead at Moira’s slim back as she rode sedately through the park. There had been a time when she preferred to ride wildly astride across the Highlands. Gone was the lass and in place was a lady. She had changed. Things had changed a great deal more than he ever thought if Moira was still intent on marry this horse’s ass. Why would she want him? He hadn’t a serious bone in his body and was a cocky bastard beyond bearing. He simply wasn’t a good match for her. “As you said, Moira is free to do as she wishes including sinking so low to marry you if that’s what she wants.”

  Harry bit back a laugh when Vin’s tone emerged completely mismatched from the words he spoke. Vin was a very jealous man, he just didn’t know it yet!

  “What has you two dawdling so?” Moira asked, reining in her mount as she turned back. Taking in Vin’s set jaw and Harry’s amusement, she could only imagine that Harry was trying to draw Vin’s envy. Vin was glaring at her as if she’d done something wrong when moments ago he had been looking at her with hot desire. While she preferred the other, she wondered what Harry had said to make Vin so angry. Curious, but determined not to give in to it, Moira merely tossed her head. “I thought you lads were going to learn to get along? If you can’t, we might as well finish this now.”

  “I fear we must anyway, Moira darling,” Aylesbury swept a hand to the horizon. “I think the weather will turn bad quicker than we thought. I should be getting back to Guthrie’s before it breaks. I’m sure Clarendon will see you safely home. Won’t you, old chap?”

  “Of course,” Vin ground out, glad to see the last of the fellow.

  “Think of me while I’m gone, Moira my love!” Aylesbury made a show of kissing Moira lightly in farewell and kicked his mount down the trail leading back to Prince’s Street while Vin and Moira turned back up the longer distance to Carlton Terrace.

  Chapter 27

  The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.

  William Penn

  By the time they arrived back at the Glenrothes mews, Moira was starting to get worried. Vin hadn’t said a word to her the entire ride back and his constant glower was darker than the approaching skies. Surely, Harry wouldn’t have said anything to turn Vin against her? That would go expressly against their purpose, but whatever he’d said had left Vin with a healthy dose of anger.

  She hoped the storm when it came wasn’t worse than the one advancing from the west.

  Kicking Angel over to the mounting block, Moira thought to dismount in the same manner she’d gotten up there. However, Vin growled a low warning and Moira waited pensively for him to dismount and come to her side. Feeling his warm fingers slide around her ankle, Moira gasped as he pulled her foot from the stirrup before he reached up and grasped Moira around the waist to help her down, his hands almost spanning the tiny circumference. She absently thanked God for Sung Li feeling the strength in Vin’s body, the flex of the muscles beneath her hands. With her hands on his shoulders, she allowed him to lower her slowly to the ground savoring every moment of bodily contact during her descent until her toes touched the ground.

  She met his eyes, felt the force of barely controlled anger and want in their depths and a shudder of expectation raced through her. With a shaky hand, she took Angel by the reins and led him into the stables while Vin followed along behind. A groom rushed forward to take the horses and Moira delivered her normal instructions for their care, but as she turned to leave, Vin grabbed her hand pulling her into the tack room.

  The moment the door shut, Vin crushed his lips against hers even as he pulled her body forcefully against his. Pressing her back against the wall, he speared his fingers into her tidy chignon and dragged her head back so he could devour her more fully. With a gasp of surprise over his ferociousness, Moira moaned in surrender wrapping her arms around him kissing him back and drawing his tongue with her own. “Vin,” she murmured, feeling the passion build up inside her as Vin slid a hand between her thighs cupping her. Even through the many layers of her habit, Moira felt the pressure as intensely as if she were naked and a low keening escaped her as she rocked against his hand.

  Swearing under his breath, Vin dropped down, gathering her skirts and pushing them up until his hands burned through her pantalets. Grasping her bottom in both hands, Vin lifted her up against him and slammed her back against the wall grinding himself against her core as her legs came up to wrap around his waist. He devoured her lips as if she were to be his last meal, leaving Moira gasping for air and yet begging for more.

  “You drive me to madness,” he grumbled in her ear as his fingers found the slit in the center of her pantalets and slipped into her heat.

  A desperate quiver of want started in Moira’s chest and spiraled outward until she was shaking with need. She swallowed deeply, asking, “Are you going to take me right here, Vin?”

  “God, no,” he moaned still kissing her tilting her head masterfully to gain better access to her neck. He pressed against her once more and the both shuddered in response. “Bloody hell,” he cursed, pulling away from her, lowering her until she leaned weakly against the wall. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. My God, what do you see in that man?”

  “What?” Moira asked in confusion.

  “Aylesbury,” he ground out. “What is so blo
ody special about him?”

  “Harry?” Moira repeated, still wondering what was going on. She could barely think over the frantic beating of her heart. “Why, he’s handsome, witty, charming…”

  “Enough! You sound like Fiona now!” he grouched still panting heavily.

  A bubble of joy burst through Moira’s confusion and she couldn’t help but grin foolishly. “Vin, are you jealous?” Vin growled low in his throat and she reached out to caress his cheek, turning him so she could look into his eyes. “You are, aren’t you?”

  “Of course not,” Vin looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. He knew it was not the truth of it at all. The very thought that Moira found all those qualities in a man Vin now recognized as a rival was hard to bear. What did she think of him, Vin wondered. Did she find him handsome? Perhaps. Charming? Witty? Vin grimaced knowing, given his years of solitude, it was unlikely. What did he have that appealed to her then? He couldn’t help but wonder. “I just don’t understand what you find so appealing about that fellow. I find him most irritating myself.”

  “Well, if it helps, I don’t want to do with him what I want to do with you,” she assured him, nudging her nose against his cheek before nuzzling her lips against his throat.

  That caught Vin’s attention. “What do you want to do with me?” his voice took on a husky edge as he pressed her against the wall with the weight of his body as he toyed with a curl of hair at her temple.

  A shiver of excitement shot through Moira as she felt the length of his body warm hers and she slanted him a devilish look. “All sorts of things I probably shouldn’t.”

  “You have certainly aroused my…curiosity.” Vin grinned in return as he ran a hand through his hair and straightened his jacket. “Shall we?”

  Making their way out of the barn, they were caught off guard by a rush of raindrops descending upon them. Catching Moira by the hand, Vin pulled her to the townhouse dashing through the rain as they laughed together. Up they went four flights of stairs until they were in Moira’s room breathing heavily and bubbling with amusement. Locking the door behind him, Vin opened his arms. “Come here, lovey.”

  Moira went into his embrace without hesitation, raising her lips for his kiss tasting the raindrops on his lips even as they dripped from her hair and his nose. Running her hands over his cheeks, she dug them into his hair shaking out the water with a chuckle before smoothing back his damp locks. She held his head in her hands reading the blend of humor and desire in his eyes. His forehead was smoothed of the worry lines that had lingered there these past weeks. Instead, he looked relaxed and playful. Vin grinned and Moira’s heart skipped. Playfully, he licked a drop from her chin and the end of her nose before reaching up to pull the pins from her hair, untangling the knot and spreading it over her shoulders.

  Returning his smile, Moira met and held his dark gaze, pushing his jacket off his shoulders. He did the same with hers before attacking the buttons on the front of her blouse. When he spread it wide, his eyes did leave hers to caress the lush mounds of her breasts as they thrust upward under her corset. His hands came up to cup the luscious mounds worshipfully before he bent his head to pay homage with soft kisses.

  Cradling his head in her arms, Moira threw her head back and savored the feel of his lips and tongue against her flesh. “You’re so beautiful, lovey,” he murmured against her skin.

  “So are you,” she whispered back.

  He raised his head looking at her peculiarly. “How can you say that?”

  “You’ve always been beautiful to me, Vin.”

  Vin heard the sincerity in her whispered words and felt it reverberate within him. Self-consciousness fled and he felt suddenly powerful. Yet with a trembling hand, he cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly. “Well, you take my breath away,” he returned.

  “You make my heart leap,” she volleyed back.

  “You make me feel like I can conquer the world,” he whispered raising his other hand until he cupped her face and brought her lips tenderly to his.

  “And yet you devastate me.”

  With a groan, Vin wrapped his arms around her pulling her tightly against him. He took her lips once more in a passionate kiss pressing her lips open. Meeting his tongue with her own, Moira drank him in, her heart trembling with love for him. Vin might not be perfect, but he was perfect for her. She wanted him now and forever.

  They undressed each other between kisses, touching and caressing bared flesh along the way until finally Vin turned her around to untie the laces to her corset. He worked the knots while he kissed her neck, biting lightly on the tendons there, sucking and licking. With little else to do, Moira reached up behind her, running her hands through his hair until, at last, the heavy garment fell to the ground with a solid thunk.

  Turning her, Vin clasped his hands around Moira’s tiny waist and lifted her out of the corset. Pulling her chemise over her head, he caught her lips with his once more backing her to the bed as he did so. Then wrapping an arm around her, lifted her to him and lowered them both down without ever breaking their kiss.

  He lifted her again, scooting them father onto the bed and farther still until a tiny giggle escaped Moira’s lips. Vin lifted his head with a smile, “You think that’s funny, do you?”

  “I do,” Moira pushed him off her and onto his back before climbing up to straddle his hips. She bent over him, holding herself up with her hands against his chest. Her hair formed a curtain around them. She looked down at him as he grinned up at her taking in the lopsided lift of his lips, the flash of his white teeth, the manly slash of a dimple down his cheeks. The light in his eyes. That soft glow.

  There were no shadows lingering there, no ghosts.

  Her heart clenched with joy to see him so happy. “I love to see you smile, Vin.” She traced a finger across his lips and down over his chin to trail down the hard tendon of his neck.

  “I love to see you smile, too. You have a smile that lights up a room.” Vin reached up and pushed her hair back from her face before pulling Moira down to meet his kiss once more.

  Moira , though, pulled back and grinned wickedly down at him. “I’ll wager I can make you smile even more.”

  “That won’t be too hard.” He was surprised at the truth in his words. For whatever reason, he felt as if it would be more difficult not to smile when Moira was with him.

  “You just wait,” she warned before she slid back down his thighs and leaned over him, pressing kisses against his chest, licking his flat nipple before traveling farther down. She scraped her teeth against the hard rippled planes of his abdomen, her hands and fingers joining in to caress and massage the muscle there before skimming over his hips.

  When her lips reaching his navel, Vin looked down at her, her red hair streaming across his chest and his mind went almost blank for a moment when he gathered her intention. “Lovey, I don’t think you know what you’re about.”

  Propping her chin on his on his stomach, Moira grinned up at him. “I think I do.”

  Vin’s entire body tightened as her hand tickled at his inner thigh before slowly wrapping around the thick length of him. He nearly choked when her other hand cupped his heavy sac squeezing lightly. “How?”

  “I told you I have books, haven’t it? I took them from Papa’s library years ago.” She looked up at him before looking down at the flesh in her hands. “I will admit I am working on theory here. You will tell me if I get it wrong, won’t you?”

  A strangled grunt was the only sound he could make as Moira took him between her sweet lips, running her tongue over the tip. Flinging a forearm over his eyes, Vin lost himself in the sensation of her tongue, lips and teeth working tentatively over him. Her hands caressed while she ran her tongue down the length of him and Vin shuddered with need. When she took him inside her mouth, Vin arched up with a shout before grasping her arms and pulling her back over him.

  “Did I do it wrong, Vin?” she asked with a frown.

  “God, no, lovey, I rather think you
have a natural talent for it.”

  “Then let me finish.”

  “Bloody hell, no!” Vin flipped her beneath him, taking her mouth in a fierce kiss. He ran his hands roughly down her body squeezing her waist before running under her bottom to lift her to him. “Maybe someday, lovey. Lord knows that moment would probably make my entire life worth living, but not now.” He kissed her again letting her feel all the passionate and desire roiling within him. “These are your days to take, lovey. For me to return what you have given me.”

  Moira didn’t know what Vin meant by that, but couldn’t hold back the cry of delight that escaped her when Vin took one nipple between his lips and suckled intently even as he slid a finger inside of her. She grasped his head to her and arched her hips torn between two sensations. He kept suckling as he pumped his finger then thrust another with it deeply. A harsh cry escaped her, almost agonizing in its intensity when his fingers slid out and circled the nub of her desire. They moved slickly over her, wet from her wanting, teasing, rubbing, circling. Tension caught and spiraled in her abdomen, her heart pounded ferociously in her chest and her body quivered.

  “Oh my…” she bit her lips as Vin thrust his fingers once more before once again circling that most sensitive spot. He looked up to watch her as he pushed her higher and higher. Over and over. His fingers moved. In, out and around. In. Out. Around…with a hoarse scream Moira arched against him, throwing back her head as her climax exploded. She throbbed and pulsed around his fingers as he slid them slowly back and forth keeping her there, straining against him until she begged for him to stop.

  Vin pulled himself over her and Moira’s legs came up of their own will to wrap around him, urging him on. Propping himself up on his elbows, Vin looked down into Moira’s flushed face, brushing her hair back from her damp temples. Moira could feel Vin’s heart pounding against her, could feel the need burning within him leaving him shaking with need, but he just looked down at her for a long moment, leaving Moira wondering.