“I don’t approve of you hurting my brother. You are hard on a man’s heart, Chastity. I find myself grateful you did not choose me.”
Chassy gasped. “You’re being mean, C.C.”
“You’re right. That was unworthy of me, milady. My apologies.”
Her heart sank. “Oh, C.C., I don’t want to lose your friendship over this.”
“We’re here.” He pulled up on the reigns, brought the carriage to a halt. He jumped down and came around to help her down from her high perch.
He looked too much like Dare. And though he was not his brother, being rejected by him was like taking a knife in the chest. Panic choked her, froze her forward momentum and scattered her resolve. “I can’t do this. Take me back, C.C. Take me home.”
His hands were on her shoulders, shaking her. “Calm down! Listen, Chassy. Listen to me. My brother loves you. In all the years we’ve known each other, he’s never refused me anything, but last night he refused to back away from you, knowing how much I wanted you for myself.”
He released her and stepped back. A gamin smile lit his handsome facial features. “So I sulked a bit. What can I say…?” He splayed his open hands and lifted and dropped his shoulders in a rueful shrug. “I’m used to getting my way, but you haven’t lost my friendship and you won’t.”
She hugged him tight. “Thank you, C.C. You cannot know how much I appreciate that. You’re about the only man I know who doesn’t expect me to simper and bat my eyelashes like the usual run of silly debutants. You don’t belittle me for trying to better myself.”
Chezann laughed low and shook his head. “If I am such a paragon, how can you not love me?”
She placed a gentle hand on his cheek and he rolled his head into the palm of her hand, pressing against her skin. “I do love you, C.C. I just don’t lust after you. One day--”
He raised a cautioning hand. “Please don’t tell me some day I’ll find a woman who will love me as I deserve. I couldn’t stand that right now. Just make me one promise…”
“Anything.”
“If this thing between you and Dare doesn’t work out, don’t overlook me as a possible replacement.”
Chassy closed her eyes and thought about that, thought about missing Dare, needing him and finding his phantom echo in the lines of Chezann’s lithe body. Her soul rebelled against the notion, knowing it would kill her as surely as a knife through the heart. She raised a hand and rubbed the skin between her breasts, feeling the ache on a spiritual plane.
She wasn’t aware of shaking her head so frantically her hair broke loose from its moorings and tumbled about her shoulders. Cognizance came back when C.C. rocked her against him a hand smoothing from shoulder to waist and returning in a calming pattern.
“Bad idea, huh?”
She shuddered, buried herself closer for a moment as she fought to regain her equilibrium. Her hesitant words, when they came, were forced from a constricted throat. “You are so alike…it would be an abomination.” She raised her head and looked at him, courageously met his deep blue gaze. “It wouldn’t be fair to you. Everyday, I’d be cheating you because when I touched you, loved you, I’d be touching Dare, loving Dare. It would make you a substitute…and you’re worth more than that.”
“I wouldn’t care—”
She placed a finger across his lips. “Yes you would. Eventually, you would. We’d end up hating each other. You’d hate me because I used you and yourself because you allowed me to. I’d hate you because you wouldn’t be him. And I’d hate myself for hurting my best friend.”
C.C. sighed. His chest rose and fell under her head. She could feel the slow, resigned beating of his heart. “Best friend, huh?”
“The best.”
He sighed again. His arms squeezed tight for a moment, before he released her and took a step back. “I guess I can live with that.”
Chapter Seven
Chastity stood on the doorstep of Dare’s apartments, rubbing her aching knuckles and wondering what had brought her to this strait. A small icy snake of fear curled low in her belly, hissing in warning each time she banged on the door. Bold as she usually acted, she’d surprised even herself showing up on a man’s doorstep in broad daylight, determined to apologize for hurting his feelings only so she could try to talk him into becoming her personal fuck toy.
She didn’t want just anyone. Her reaction to C.C.’s advances had proved to her she only heated up for Dare. And right now, the heat within her threatened to burn her to cinders. But it wasn’t just about fucking. Not really. She hadn’t even done that, yet, so it wasn’t like her entire life revolved around sex. She’d fingered herself before, but simply, sex with Dare, what little bit she’d had, surpassed anything she’d ever experienced. She remembered…
Back in New India, during the seasonal heat when the land sweltered under the two suns of Paradyse and the damp, clammy air pressed close and heavy against her skin, she took to her room. There, she would strip off her clothes and sluice her skin with the cool, room-tempered water in her washing basin.
The water always felt silky and slick running over her heated flesh, cooling her and heating her both at the same time. Hands cupped, she would lift her bounty above her head and allow the coolness to flow down her face and over her shoulders. Each shining drop scintillated in the afternoon lights, lending the sheen of diamonds to her skin.
After she’d rubbed the silken moisture into her thirsty skin she would bring the basin to her bedside and again dip her hands in the basin. Lying back, she’d spread her legs and bring her dripping fingers to the hottest, aching part of her. Fingers swirling, she would dip and rub, dip and rub, working the cool into her tight folds until the heat swallowed up the coolness. Liquid met liquid and she smoothed the slippery fluid over the small knot of nerves that rested at the apex of her thighs.
Languid minutes would pass as she pleasured herself, rising on a drifting cloud of sensation that threatened to dump her into a cauldron of boiling delight. Fighting for breath, she would bring her knees up, hugging her hand between her thighs as she stroked and stroked, fingers slipping in the wet delta of her sex. Hips responding to the cadence of her pistoning hand, she’d lift into her circling movements, melting as the summer heat invaded the room, crawled under her skin.
When her breasts swelled and nipples tightened, she’d lift her hands to the pouty tips and twist. Sharp spikes of sensation would burn through her veins, connect the diamond hard tips of her breasts with the pulsing core of her clit. When the crisis came, she’d crest with a smothered scream, stuffing her balled fists in her mouth. The servants mustn’t hear, her father mustn’t know…
Chastity blinked her way out of her memories of sultry summer sessions. That was how it had always been before; a close-held secret pleasure. But when she’d come for Dare last night, she’d screamed aloud, not caring who might hear or even see.
And now here she was, still waiting on Dare’s doorstep. Where was he? C.C. had assured her he was inside, yet she’d knocked thrice, more than that—to her knuckles’ detriment—and had received no response.
Hurt welled up, tears threatened to spill. She gasped as chills rippled across her chest and spread down her arms. A lump of ice formed in the pit of her belly freezing her all the way to her soul. Was this his way of rejecting her? Please, no! Refusing to accept his denial of her, she let loose the anger rising within. He might be coward enough to refuse to face her. She would show him she did not suffer from a lack of courage.
She banged on the door again, determined to get a response. He wasn’t going to get away with ignoring her. This time, she added a verbal demand for attention. “Darian Acer! Darian Acer, you open this door! I’m not going away until I speak to you.”
The door opened abruptly and her fist, already launched for another hit, landed against a firm, broad chest.
Arms grabbed her and yanked her through the portal. “What the hell are you doing here?” Dare stuck his head out and scanned the street b
oth ways before slamming the door shut. Turning to face her, he leaned against the door, his hands tucked behind his back. “What are you trying to do…ruin your reputation and blacken mine even further? You know better than to show up at a bachelor’s digs without a chaperone.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he raised his voice, continuing before she could get a word in edgewise. “Chastity, you need spanking. Your behavior is unacceptable.”
His displeasure scalded her, hurt in a way her father’s frequent scolding never had. Her pain quickly gave way to anger. How dare he pass judgment on her when he was no angel, himself? “You didn’t find it so last evening, when you begged me to come back with you so I could…presumably…come again.”
He had the grace to look shamefaced. “Don’t remind me. That was your fault--”
“Mine!”
“Yes, yours,” he accused. “You had me out of my mind with lust.”
Her lip turned up in a fine sneer. “Trust a man to blame the woman in these situations. I suppose I tied you down and had my wicked way with you until I rendered you totally under my control.”
Long fingers raked a furrow through thick black hair. “Something along those lines, yes,” he mumbled, flicking a guilty glance down at her.
“You lie!” Chassy wagged an accusing digit in his face. Stalking over to him, she stabbed her stiff finger in his chest, emphasizing each point.
“First, if I had been in control, you never would have left me last night. Second, I wouldn’t have been standing outside begging for you to let me in. Third, I wouldn’t still be a virgin…and a hungry one, at that!”
Dare straightened away from the door and loomed over her. His eyes gleamed with a growing fire, an intimate flame that seared the tips of her stiffening nipples and twanged the cord that ran between her breast and her vagina.
“You know, I wasn’t going to see you again. I was going to be noble and show you I was worthy of your regard. Then I thought better of it. I decided what the hell…if you want an affair, I’ll give you one. After all, I come off ahead in this win/win situation.”
Moving past her, he headed for his bedroom, beginning to unbutton and discard his shirt.
“After all, this way I get to fuck you any time I want, any way I want, without having to worry about marrying you. And you can tell the whole world how you tamed bad-boy Dare-the-devil-Darian Acer and made him heel at your dainty ankles.”
His words set her belly quivering with nerves. Her labia swelled and moistened. Chassy backed up, eyes caught, held captive by the sheer power of his black fathomless gaze. Her tongue darted out to bath suddenly dry lips. She held up both hands, whether to ward him off or offer her body up, she didn’t know. “Dare, you sound angry…”
“Baby, I aint angry, I’m horny. I’ve got a boner a mile long I plan to shove up your hot little twat.”
A wicked grin on his face, he taunted her with words she’d never heard, promised actions she’d never imagined. “You’re getting a good bargain for your money, you know. I have it on the best authority that no one can suckle a nipple like I can. And hot, juicy pussy is my favorite dish. Most men want to cut to the chase—a few kisses, a couple of finger-thrusts, then on to the main meal of fucking. Not me.” He winked at her.
She moaned.
He began to stalk her, his broad chest drawing her hungry gaze. Without his shirt he appeared larger, more menacing, though she knew deep down he’d never harm her. Hurt her, yes. He already had. She would guard her emotions around him, but she needn’t fear physical damage.
“I like to linger over my food. I’ll make you come two or three times on my tongue before I’ll be ready to mount you. You’ve never had cock and mine is on the large side so I’ll be hard—excuse the pun—pressed to initiate you without pain, but I’ll manage it. Wouldn’t want to lose out on that double bonus, you know. I’ll have to open you up good, loosen your inner muscles with a finger, then two, then three.”
She retreated further, never taking her eyes off his advancing form. Oh, god, he was beautiful. Even menacing as he appeared now, he moved like living poetry in motion. Long legs fluidly, effortlessly brought him closer with every step. Her eyes were drawn to his powerful thigh muscles that shifted with each movement, to the huge bulge nestled between them. She pressed a hand over her heart, trying to calm the frenzied pounding. The other hand rose to rest at the hollow of her throat where her pulse raced out of control. She swallowed thickly. “N-now, Dare…”
“Yes, now,” he agreed, voice raspy and low cutting over her disjointed protest.
“Once again you have taken control of me. I will not leave you, this time. I am the one begging you to let me come in.” His sinful mouth smiled at her, his lustful eyes stared into hers. “I will feed you so well from passion’s cup that you will no longer be hungry…or a virgin.”
The nether lips between her legs actually fluttered. They swelled and pulsed. A wash of liquid bathed her thighs, embarrassing her at how ready her body became by just listening to his provocative words. Conversing proved difficult. Two words trickled out. “Oh, god--”
“On the contrary…” His teeth gleamed in the afternoon suns light, lips curved wickedly as he reached for the ties of her dress and began to unravel her.
Chapter Eight
“Look at you, baby.”
Dare gazed down on Chassy, his mouth drying as he took in the picture he’d created. The plush plump cushions of the red velvet settee made a decadent backdrop for her creamy naked skin and the masses of brunette hair spilling over the side of the retiring couch.
Midst slow, languid lovemaking, he’d removed ten hair-bobs, plying her with a honey-sweet open-mouthed kiss each time he tugged a shining silver pin a loose.
As he stripped her, readied her for his possession, her body became his cornucopia of delights. She was like no woman he’d had before. She blazed beneath his hands, her emotions so open and responsive to him. He loved everything about loving her. The way she shifted and moved, moaned and made those little helpless noises in the back of her throat…she made him feel like a conqueror.
“I’m going to savor every inch of you, taste and sample your face, shoulders, arms…” he propped himself up on an elbow and traced her eyebrows with his forefinger. “I want to explore the very veins beneath your skin, trace every rivulet and estuary back to their source.”
She moaned and shivered under the caress of his hand, lifting toward the moving digit as it glided down her neck and skirted the outsides of her breasts. “S-s-source?”
He dipped is finger into the shadowed hill of her breast and stroked rhythmically, palmed a straining nipple and pressed down, pinching the tight flesh between his thumb and forefinger. Dipping his head, he put mouth to nipple and suckled, drawing strongly on the tender bit. Opening his lips he swallowed the stiff morsel, hollowing his cheeks as he worked her determinately, pulling on her crest until it popped out of his greedy mouth with a loud slurp.
She bucked beneath him. Her high-pitched mewling tightened the secret spots along his spine. The helpless sounds hardened his cock and tingled in his balls. He played with her wet nipple, flicking it carefully, giving just enough of a sting to make her lift to him in needy supplication. Taking it back in his mouth he used his teeth and tongue so devilishly her eyes rolled back in her head.
Not wanting her to crest, he released the stiff morsel and leaned back.
His hand coasted down the flat pale plane of her belly, the silky unblemished skin a vast contrast to his calloused, rough palm. “Your pelvic bones are your inner shores. They contain a primal sea, a turbulent ocean that seeks to escape the confines of its fleshly prison.”
He rubbed his hand over her mound, cupped her sex and used his thumb to circle her clit. “Can you feel it cresting, the waves breaking inside you?”
“My bones feel liquid…like I’m melting. Too hot…too much…” Her body rippled beneath him, undulated in a sensuous curve that had him gritting his t
eeth and scrabbling for control.
Moving stiffly, afraid he’d fall upon her and ravish her, Dare lowered him self down her body, until his hands and mouth reached the sheltered cove of her sex. Eyes glued on the glorious sight, he reverently parted her labia with his thumbs, exposing the flushed, swollen center that gleamed with the evidence of her desire for him.
“You humble me with your beauty and willingness,” he whispered into her flesh, stroking a path of fire up her fluttering folds. “There is a heartbeat in your pretty little pussy. Does it beat for me?”
“Y-yes…oh…Dare…!”
Her broken response moved him, melted some of the anger that had built inside him over the years, made him want to cherish her. She was his bright flame, his salvation. He’d lost all desire for others, didn’t want anyone but her spread beneath him, accepting his touch and his worship.
Her hands clenched in his hair, tugging at his scalp. The small pain twisted in his gut, sparked an impatience to be inside her. Bending his head, he extended his tongue and lapped roughly at her little button of nerves. His teeth nibbled at her, nipped a sharp warning of coming turbulence.
When he lifted his head, his face was wet with her intimate juices. His stomach muscles clenched in need and dread as he watched her swoon under his ministrations.
Her face had gone slack. Her sherry-brown eyes, glazed with the pleasure he’d worked into her body, gleamed behind heavy lids. Her breasts quivered with each unsteady breath. Her rosy nipples stabbed ceiling ward in a begging arch. He could chart the waves of her inner sea under the thin skin of her belly.
A growl rumbled low in his chest as he stood and flung off the rest of his clothes. Intemperate, impatient, he kicked off his shoes, snatched at the buttons holding his trousers together, ripping the cloth in his hurry.
Freed, his cock sprang up, ruddy and red and aching, already dripping with the need to be buried in the hot, wet channel he’d stretched carefully with two fingers.
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