The Distinguished Rogues Bundle

by Heather Boyd

  Giles inched closer, elated that she had used his given name. “Do you know any of them?”

  Her eyes dropped to the floor. “I am not completely certain which part of England I am currently in. How would I know?”

  Giles looked at the top of Lilly’s head a long time before speaking again. She did not know her current location? How stupid of him to assume she knew everything about his estate. “We are in Northhamptonshire.”

  “Ah.”

  Giles slipped his knuckle beneath her chin to raise her face. “Do you remember where that is?”

  “Not exactly,” Lilly admitted, then worried at her lip as if the response embarrassed her.

  He clasped her hand, led her to a map open on a lectern by the far wall, and pointed out her location, then that of London. Lilly ran her fingertip over the lines and then crisscrossed the map’s surface, pausing on names that must have been familiar. When her finger found Exeter, Lilly sighed. Dumas, her family estate, lay south of Exeter. A long way from Cottingstone Manor.

  She traced the line back to Northamptonshire and looked north. She found the border of Scotland, traced across to Wales, and then dragged her fingers away.

  “Did Papa say where he was going?”

  “Somewhere in Wales, I believe. He did not give me any specific directions.” Giles watched her nervously. They had engaged in small talk before, but it had never been this awkward. His stomach had never churned like this before. “Is your neck paining you again? You are rubbing it.”

  “Yes, it’s just a bit stiff. I had trouble sleeping.”

  Lilly did not accuse him, but he knew the fault was his. His place in hell was assured. He could never make amends.

  “Would you mind rubbing it for me, Giles?” Her voice sounded so hesitant that he had to smother the urge to crush her to him. Did she doubt that he wanted to help her? Foolish, foolish girl.

  Giles moved behind her. He sensed Lilly’s confusion when he nudged her to rest her arms against the lectern. He gently arranged her limbs so her shoulders were relaxed and set to work. Lilly breathed deeply, perfectly compliant to his wishes, but his treacherous body couldn’t do the same. He was perfectly hard, aroused swiftly to the point of pain.

  Eyes fixed on the curve of her neck, he ran his hands along her arms, shoulders and upper back. Her sigh on the first sweep of his hands was deep and satisfied. She needed him. No one had ever needed him beyond sex before. It was a heady realization.

  Giles leaned in, brushed his lips against the elegant knot of hair and applied firmer pressure. She was unique, his Lilly, and he would do his best not to disappoint her again. They stayed like that for some time. Lilly softened by degrees and he smiled. He enjoyed doing this for her. It felt natural and easy to be alone with her. She played no games and made no demands.

  When she was softer, he pressed his lips to her cheek. “You should go get some rest now.”

  Lilly pushed back from the lectern, right into him. “I suppose I should, but it is time to dine.”

  “You will feel better for it.” Giles slid a hand around her waist, imagining her stretched out in her bed, waiting for him to give her relief and pleasure. “Do you want me to take you?” Well, of course, Lilly shouldn’t say yes to that.

  “No, I promised to dine downstairs.” Lilly sighed.

  Giles pressed another kiss to her hair then had a great deal of trouble keeping his lips from her skin. She tasted better than any pheasant, better than any dessert in creation. He would rather feast on her.

  A knock sounded on the door. Giles put some distance between them, and a tall chair between his body and the door.

  “Come.”

  His butler stepped into the room. “Dinner is ready when you desire, milord.”

  The butler retreated quickly, but his eyes held amusement.

  ~ * ~

  Giles’ lower body pulsed as Lilly licked her lips to capture the last of Cook’s most decadent dessert.

  “Did you like that?” Giles shifted his position in his chair.

  Lilly’s eyes glowed. “Oh, that was delightful. What did you call it again?”

  “My father christened it Passion’s Peak.”

  She laughed. “Giles, I don’t think that could be the correct name.”

  Despite his discomfort, he laughed with her. “Well, I don’t question Cook too closely in case she stops creating these masterpieces for me,” Giles confided, sliding to the edge of his chair and standing with trepidation. He was still aroused, painfully aware of every innocent movement Lilly made with her mouth or hands.

  The table had hidden his state for the meal, but now that dinner was over, he needed to walk Lilly to the drawing room.

  Lilly stood, but turned to face him. “Giles, are you in pain?”

  “To a small degree, but it is nothing I can’t live with.” And had lived with for weeks. Lilly was driving him to the edge of his sanity.

  “What is wrong?” Lilly’s grey eyes widened and Giles found it hard to breathe. She looked sincerely worried for his health. Precious angel – if she knew the real reason, she wouldn’t look so concerned.

  He tugged her toward the drawing room where he hoped no servants awaited. Luck was with him – the room was bare of servant chaperones. He closed the door behind him and locked it for good measure. “You are so very lovely, Lilly, and I want you badly. But I am trying to behave myself,” Giles confessed with apprehension. This level of honesty was a surefire way of scaring her off again.

  “Why?”

  Giles laughed and the pressure in his trousers lessened. “Angel, you say the most astonishing things.”

  Lilly laughed with him but settled her hands on his chest. Of their own accord, his hands curled around her back and slid downwards.

  “You look like you want to kiss me again.”

  The blue muslin didn’t hide the warmth of her derrière, or the lush curve of her hip. “True.”

  “Actually, I think you want to do more than kiss me.” Lilly was teasing him, flirting. The thought was so provoking that he lost a little more control over his libido. “True as well,” Giles sighed and pressed his lips to hers lightly. “You are not making this easy for me.”

  “I forgot that you don’t want complications.” Lilly pulled out of his embrace and walked a few steps away.

  Giles followed along behind. “I … don’t know what I want, Lilly. But I do know I don’t want to upset you again.”

  Lilly picked up a deck of cards and handed them to him over her shoulder. The way her head turned to him, the angle of her neck beckoned, and he lowered his lips to kiss her skin.

  He didn’t wander further and clutched the cards tightly in his fist to keep at least one hand under control. Lilly angled her neck and he nibbled her ear lobe.

  She moaned. “Will you come to me tonight?”

  Giles swallowed and tried to think of a reason to refuse. He didn’t want to refuse. He pressed a lingering kiss behind her ear. “I shouldn’t.”

  “I want you to,” Lilly said hesitantly.

  He turned her and gave in to the urge to kiss her properly. He deepened the kiss as soon as her lips parted, teasing her tongue, invading her warmth, and drowning his senses in the rightness of her lips.

  Lilly sighed when their lips parted, as if she was as consumed by passion as he. He allowed his hands to caress lower and he gripped the firm swells of her bottom possessively, feeling her smile around his kisses. As their tongues brushed and played, Lilly pushed her hands up around his neck and held him tightly.

  “Teach me to play,” Lilly whispered between kisses.

  “Whist or something else?” Giles murmured before he caught her ear lobe with his teeth.

  Lilly squirmed in his arms, brushing against his groin with less innocence than he expected. “Something else.”

  Giles froze. “Are you sure you want that?”

  “I’m sure I want you.”

  Giles pushed her away, but held her head with one hand at he
r nape. He dragged in several deep breaths before he spoke, readying himself to be a gentleman and back away. “Even if it’s not forever?”

  Lilly nodded. “Even a single night can be enough.”

  Giles locked every muscle in place lest he launch himself at her bodily. Blood roared in his ears, drowning out the world around them. All he could hear was Lilly’s panting breaths. All he could see was her face flushed by desire. “It’s too early to go to bed yet and hope to fool the servants.”

  “Then teach me to play Whist to pass the time.” Lilly suggested, appearing surprised that the most decadent pleasure-seeker in London was quaking in his boots.

  How little she knew him. He felt unbalanced for the first time in a decade around a beautiful woman. He was drowning in the unfamiliar waters of a different kind of lust. Different, better, and far stronger than anything he’d known before.

  And all because of Lilly, the one woman he hadn’t imagined feeling anything for. She could have been his wife once. A woman he’d have bedded to do his duty to produce an heir, but little else beyond. Arranged marriages had never been about love. Tolerance, perhaps, and hoped-for affection.

  What he felt for Lilly at this moment defied his considerable experience. “All right,” Giles said after a pause. “But no more kisses till later.”

  “Whatever you want, Giles,” Lilly agreed.

  Giles shook his head to clear it of endless decadent possibilities.

  Chapter Seventeen

  THE BEDCHAMBER DOOR shut with the softest pressure of his hand and Giles hurried to turn the key in the lock. What he intended to do was foolish, dangerous, and altogether arousing. An event that could see him face her father’s pistol or blade on the field of honor.

  Tonight he would share Lilly’s bed for more than a quick massage. Tonight he’d become her lover.

  Lilly’s eyes followed him as he came closer, her glance flickering over his body. Despite her bold appraisal, glances that skittered along his nerves and hastened his heartbeat, she hid beneath the covers. Perhaps she wasn’t quite comfortable with her own suggestion to share her bed with him. If she’d changed her mind, he’d give her a chance to call a halt to this mad slide into sin. He wouldn’t hold her to her invitation.

  He touched the bed, letting his fingers drag across the linen as he walked around to the far side. Lilly turned to follow his movements, and that was all it took to convince Giles that he was welcome. She lay on her stomach as usual, but her shoulders and upper back were already bare.

  Lilly had stripped for him, but maidenly nerves kept her buried beneath linen. That image clouded his mind so much that Giles could not move for a moment. She smiled shyly and then burrowed under the covers, dropping her face into the pillow.

  Careful to keep his impulses under control, Giles removed his jacket slowly, but hesitated to remove more. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make love to Lilly, but the constricting clothing would slow him down. More than anything, he wanted Lilly to enjoy his touch, his attention, even at the expense of his own pleasure.

  His hand reached for the blanket’s edge, exposing her bare upper back to the air. Once he lifted the counterpane fully, enough to admit him to her bed, he found that his ability to compartmentalize caring for Lilly had vanished completely.

  He slipped into bed, boots and all, tugged the covers over his hips and pressed his lips to her spine. “Good evening, Angel.”

  “Good evening.”

  Despite the situation, a smile tugged at his lips. They both sounded so dreadfully formal, but he had to speak. He had to say something to mark the moment. Unlike the other women he’d known, he couldn’t relax into bed with her so easily or so quickly. He knew what he was doing would change Lilly’s life. Losing even part of her innocence deserved his utmost respect and care.

  Rising so his weight rested on one arm, he touched her ribs, sliding his fingers over her skin, pressing little kisses along her spine. He stopped thinking, kneading muscles and caressing Lilly in a wholly different manner than normal, more sensual and erotic. Touches designed to soothe as well as arouse her.

  Lilly shifted, a slight rock of her hips against the bedding, letting him know he was affecting her just as badly as she affected him. He let his hands wander into her hair and pulled the pins free, letting the soft locks flow across her shoulder and spill across the pillow. He pushed the sweet smelling tresses aside and buried his lips in her neck. God she tasted so sweet, so good.

  Remembering that Lilly had needs he had to cater to, he sat up and straddled her carefully, while silently cursing his reluctance to remove his boots. But he couldn’t pause long enough to remove them. The night was passing and he didn’t want himself and Lilly found together like this. He gave her the massage she sorely needed, but when was done he kissed the back of her knee, her ankle, and captured her wriggling feet to press a kiss to the arch.

  “Giles?” Lilly complained in a whisper.

  He chuckled. “I thought you might like that, but it seems you are far too ticklish yet to enjoy it fully.” He crawled up the bed and lay beside her, again resting his weight on one arm.

  Lilly’s passion-clouded eyes held his. “Do you like that?”

  He shrugged. “No one has ever tried before so I cannot say for certain.”

  Lilly, dropped her head, thinking something through. He let her think. She might want to call the whole thing off and there was still time. He could still walk away from her bed, although it would be with considerable regret.

  Lilly’s bare toes slipped onto the top of his boots and pressed against him. With that small encouragement, Giles kissed her back, kissed a path down her ribs, letting his breath fan across the base of spine just above her glorious derrière. He debated whether to go lower.

  “What do you like, Giles?”

  He rose to his knees, straddling her so he could use both hands. He settled them at her waist, slid them hard along her sides until he encountered the first swells of her breasts.

  Lilly lifted her chest marginally, and he palmed her breasts. Glorious, soft and a perfect fit to his palm. He dropped his mouth level with her ear. “I like you.”

  Dragging his hands away, his fingertips grazed her hardened nipples. She moaned, body trembling at the new sensation. Giles swirled his fingertips around the hard buds and then palmed the whole breast again, squeezing and rolling her flesh to give her pleasure.

  Lilly tried to turn over, but his position restricted her movement. He tweaked her nipple and she shuddered, a movement that shook the whole bed. He flexed his hips so his aroused cock pressed against the firm swell of her bottom. The slight friction drove him wild.

  But he didn’t want to rush – he wanted to please her first.

  Climbing carefully over her, he fell to the mattress. Sharing a bed with Lilly was overwhelming. He sucked in deep breaths, fighting to regain control.

  “Is anything wrong?”

  Lilly had turned to her side and was watching him with wary eyes.

  “You are so beautiful,” Giles whispered, pressing a long kiss to her shoulder. Hair tickled his nose and he pushed it away, exposing more of her skin and a full ripe breast.

  Control was overvalued. He pulled Lilly to him, took her lips in a hard kiss and slid his body under hers. Soft, warm flesh branded his skin even through the clothing he wore. Lilly kissed him back, sliding her tongue into his mouth, settling off an avalanche of desire he had to fight hard to suppress.

  She lay over his body, thighs spread and the heart of her pressed tight against his erection. She rocked, whimpering in frustration as pleasure built slowly. Too slowly for her, but much too fast for him. If she continued, he wouldn’t be able to wait for her pleasure to come.

  He rolled her to her back, held his weight above so as not to crush her, and slid his hand downwards. As his fingers crossed her belly, she sucked her stomach in. When his fingers touched her curls, a needy moan broke free.

  “Soon, Angel. Just wait for the pleasure t
o come.”

  Giles was not normally a vocal man in bed, but desire and Lilly prodded him to speak. He could not seem to help himself —just as with everything else to do with Lilly. He could blame it on being in bed with a naked woman and still being fully dressed. It was one of his least used fantasies. To be the one to pleasure, to be the one to control what happened, was heady. Most of his partners pressured him.

  But Lilly was not like that at all. Aside from the fact that she had not done this before, she seemed content to take things at his pace, to let him decide the position too.

  He kissed her jaw. “I have dreamed of being in bed with you for so long.”

  Lilly’s eyes opened and the grey depths were stormy. “How long?”

  Should he confess the whole? Should he tell her that every other lover paled in comparison to just this much pleasure? Giles dragged in a breath. “Since the first night I saw you in Huntley House.”

  Confession was good for the soul he’d heard, and it appeared to be very good for Lilly, too. Her hot little hands cupped his face and he groaned loudly at the desire he saw reflected back at him.

  Fingers traced his jaw, burnt a line to his ear and then scraped into his hair, torturing his body with gooseflesh. She curled her arm around his head and held his lips to hers. Convinced that kissing her was not to be given up, Giles gave her the kisses she demanded.

  His hands could not remain idle under such an assault, so he stoked the side of her body, feeling the end coming closer. When he brushed the bony ridge of her hip, he kept going. Caressing and kneading the globe of her bottom, he drowned in the scent of her body, the texture of her skin.

  Giles broke the kiss and let his lips trail off her face, letting her body fall to the mattress in a messy heap. He kissed down her neck and into the valley between her breasts. He knew what he wanted. Giles took her nipple into his mouth the exact moment his fingers tangled in her blonde curls. He gave Lilly no time to reconsider. He suckled at her breast hungrily as his fingers parted her thighs and delved into her heat, reveling in her whimpers of pleasure and the sharp tugging at his hair.