by Leela Ash
“You’re so different, so beautiful, in every way,” he praised her, adding as he graced her beaming lips with another impassioned kiss, “I so hate to leave you now, but the hour is late.”
Callista shrugged.
“Well, why break up the party now, when we’re hitting it off so well?” she asked him, arching her eyebrows to teasing effect. “Perhaps I could see you up to your chamber, Alex? Or you could see me up to mine?”
She frowned, confused moments later, as Alex dropped her hand and rose from the settee; turning sharp and swift away from her as he said over his shoulder, “I am a gentleman, Miss Callista, and shall not take advantage of a proper young lady.”
Callista snorted.
“What if it turns out that the proper young lady in question really has a hankering to—I don’t know—get lucky?” she queried with a teasing grin.
This grin dissolved moments later, as Alexander raised a firm hand between them and headed with seemingly expedient haste in the direction of the staircase.
“What I am currently seeking, Miss, is the woman of my heart,” he assured her, “Not simply a woman with whom I can—ahem—get lucky. Good evening, Miss Callista.”
Chapter six
“Are you quite all right, my darling?”
Ensconced together in the deluxe master suite, originally designated as Jasmin’s guestroom, she and Nathaniel huddled together in an ebullient sleeping place distinguished by a lace canopied bed doused in ivory silk comforters, polished brass-trimmed cherry wood bureaus, plush white carpeting, and a candle-lined brass chandelier that hung low from an ivory corniced ceiling.
Although laying astride her handsome lover in the luxury of their private trysting place, Jasmin made no move to open herself to Nathaniel’s heated advances; instead staring out the crystalline panes of a nearby lace swathed window, her generally smiling features now beset with a deep, pronounced frown.
“I cannot bear to see you this way,” Nathaniel told her, wrapping his arms tight around her shoulders as he implored, “I thought that you’d be so pleased to see your friend. Please tell me what ails you.”
Jasmin sighed.
“Of course I am absolutely over the moon to see Calli,” she admitted, adding as she looked him straight in the eyes, “Only I couldn’t help but notice that you offered her the full and free use of your wife’s wardrobe—an offer that you did not make me when I first arrived here. Now I must say that, back in our own time, I never felt jealous of or threatened by Callista. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s absolutely beautiful, inside and out—but with her fair skin and her notable lack of—well—substantial cleavage, she wasn’t exactly coveted by our male friends and co-workers, any more than I was. In this time, though, that slender frame and fiery hair just renders her perfect.”
Suddenly, Jasmin was silenced by a kiss; a passionate advance that sealed her lover’s lips to hers as he plied her with the most tender of affections.
“In my eyes, dear Jasmin, you are perfect,” he assured her, adding with a wicked grin, “And I do believe I know just how to prove it to you.”
Jasmin shook her head.
“Don’t even think about it tonight, Beb,” she told him, holding up a restraining hand between them. “Between my best friend careening here across the bounds of time to my own personal crisis of confidence, I am simply not in the mood tonight.”
Chuckling in response to her somber words, Nathaniel reached behind him to open the drawer of his ivory corniced bedside table.
“Well, for once Darling, I wasn’t talking about sex,” he assured her. “I was, in fact, thinking more in terms of a marriage proposal.”
Jasmin gasped outright as her lover presented her with a dazzling diamond ring; a glimmering, sizable gem that caught the light of the candle glowing bright at their bedside.
“Jasmin Lawrence,” Nathaniel spoke again, taking her hand in his. “Will you be my wife?”
Tears flooded Jasmin’s eyes as she considered this tender query. Then she figured that she’d better hurry up and answer it, before the dude changed his mind and escaped her steely clutches.
“Yes,” she told him, voice barely above a whisper as he slipped the glowing ring clear across her finger. “Yes I will, Nathaniel.”
Chapter seven
The next morning, Alexander awoke from a light, restless sleep to rise still tired from his guest bed at the Barrett estate; slipping on a crisp high-collared white cotton shirt and tight taupe riding breeches before heading downstairs.
Although he tried to paste on a casual smile as he descended the winding brass-railed staircase that led to the grand dining room, his psyche brimmed with conflicting emotions regarding the events of the previous night.
As much as his heart soared with joy at meeting such a remarkable woman, one who seemed to be a perfect match in every way, Alex’s mind was plagued with the knowledge that he had offended his new lady friend—or, worse yet, that he had rejected her.
Of course I wanted to make love to Callista, he thought, adding with a grimace, Yet I did not want her to think me less than gentlemanly—nor did I wish to move things along too quickly.
Then he saw her standing at the foot of the stairs, and all thoughts scattered.
She was dressed this day in a resplendent day dress of satin and lace, a lovely peach colored effort comprised of a finely tailored lace-lined jacket with a stand up collar as well as a double layered bustled skirt that came complete with a ruffled underskirt and a rich waterfall bustle.
“Madame, I must say it,” he breathed. “You are a marvel.”
Callista smiled, but only briefly.
“Thanks,” she allowed, tone stiff and noncommittal, adding as her gaze took a casual walk down the length of his tall muscled frame, “And you, as usual, are sufficiently hunky and appropriately hawt.”
Alex nodded.
“Um, many thanks, Miss,” he mumbled, not at all sure just how to respond to this most peculiarly worded compliment. “What do you say we go for a ride this morn? Just the two of us?” he paused here, searing her with an intimate smile and passion-narrowed eyes. “I’d love to take you on a private tour of the estate—just you and me, Love. We just might be away all day.”
Callista looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head.
“Sorry, but I fear I’ll have to decline,” she told him as she turned away. “We have a game of croquet scheduled this morning—after, of course, we have a proper English breakfast.” She paused here, adding with a defined smirk, “And do allow me to assure you once again that it will be a proper English breakfast; otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be bothered to eat it.”
Wincing at these words, Alexander fell silent as he completed his descent down the brass-railed staircase; following Callista into the main dining room as he folded his hands before him.
So she’d far prefer a game of croquet to a promised passionate interlude with me, he mused in silence. As the people in her time might say, Ouch!
Yet he smiled moments later as he saw his brother and their hostess kissing and cuddling at the table.
“Good morn to you, my brother,” Nathaniel nodded, though he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the glowing woman whose hand he held across the table.
A hand, Alexander couldn’t help but notice, that now came adorned with a shiny diamond ring.
“Blimey!” he exclaimed. “So tell me, dear brother. Did you finally come to your senses and ask this wondrous woman to marry you?”
“Did you finally put a ring on it?” Callista translated, rushing forward to engage her longtime friend in a warm, affirming hug.
“Yes,” Jasmin affirmed, choking back tears as she held her hand up to the light; putting her gleaming diamond on full display for all to admire. “Nathaniel and I are getting hitched!”
In the wake of a celebratory breakfast that featured eggs, pastries, cinnamon tea, as well as biscuits topped with fresh churned butter and strawberry jam, the happ
y foursome ventured out onto the sprawling front lawn of their host’s emerald grassed estate; starting the day off by engaging in a spirited match of the time-honored game of croquet.
Alexander watched in obvious admiration as Callista took her croquet mallet firmly in hand and knocked a round ruby red ball through the center of the shiny semicircular hoops that stood upright from the ground.
“Have you played croquet before?” he asked her, feathered eyebrows arched in a show of keen curiosity.
Callista shook her head.
“Never,” she admitted. “I just seem to take to any and all kinds of sports,” she paused here, arching her shoulders to proud effect. “In high school, in fact, I was the only girl who played on the Townley High Baseball Team. Softball and tee ball, I figured, were strictly for wussies! I wanted to play with the big boys—and in doing so, I helped us win three county baseball tournaments. They even named me MVP my senior year.”
“MVP?” Alex repeated, blue eyes flying wide as he considered these words. “Most Valuable Princess?”
Callista guffawed outright.
“Player,” she corrected him, planting her hands on two strong hips as she clarified, “I was never anybody’s princess.”
Alexander grinned.
“Ah Callista, you’re such a breath of fresh air,” he praised her. “Many ladies of my time would faint at the sight of a sports field, let alone at the idea of actually exerting themselves through the playing of a game.”
Callista arched her eyebrows.
“So I take it that their idea of a triathlon would consist of a chess muscle challenge, supercharged swooning and coquettish croquet?” she clarified.
Alex guffawed outright.
“My lady, you are a delight!” he praised her, adding through the pursing of his full soft lips, “And just so you know, Nathaniel and I are sportsmen as well. We excelled at equestrian sports in finishing school, and at university.” He paused here, softening his voice and narrowing his eyes seductive in her direction, “If you would care to see a demonstration of my particular physical skills, then I’d love to take you for a ride this noon on the grounds of the estate.”
Callista looked at him for a long moment, then nodded.
“Okay, so only a dude as hot and British as you could get away with such a cheesy line,” she asserted. “But coming out of your mouth, well, somehow it works. Yes, I will go for a ride with you.”
Later that afternoon, Callista found herself riding high astride a sleek coated ivory charger through the vast expanse of an emerald leaved meadow; in a seeming race with the azure skyline as the horse trotted hard and free through the daisy lined grasses beneath her.
Riding by her side was a gorgeous companion who rode tall and proud in the polished English saddle of his signature black stallion; his lustrous mane of golden hair flying like a flag behind him as he rode as one with his glorious mount.
Callista loved the way that his muscles bulged and rippled beneath the fabric of his high necked shirt; also admiring the poised position of his planed back and sculpted derriere in the seat of his elegant saddle.
“I haven’t been riding in forever,” she struggled to maintain a steady tone as a raw, highly sensual sense of intrigue threatened to overcome her (Translation: She wanted this dude. And bad).
Alexander nodded.
“Have you been racing in forever?” he asked her, raising his strong arm to ceremonious effect as he declared in a bellowing, stately tone, “Miss Callista Vale, I hereby challenge you to a race this day!”
Callista shrugged.
“It’s Ms.,” she corrected him, digging her heels gently but purposefully into the sides of her regal mount, “And providing that you allow me to win, of course, I will indeed accept your challenge.”
Alex thought a moment, then nodded.
“Sounds fair enough,” he agreed.
Letting loose with a joyful whoop that delighted her tour guide, Callista launched her mount into a frenetic trot as they charged far ahead of their lagging competitors; and, Callista couldn’t help but notice an abiding Alex was reining in his mount in a deliberate effort to remain far behind her.
Good move, she thought, enjoying the speed and pounding rhythm of the ride as she and her majestic mount careened in the direction of an invisible finish line.
Finally, both skidded to a smooth stop at the side of a sparkling pond that sported the presence of pure ivory swans flowing free across its crystalline surface; one that formed the glittery centerpiece of this 100-acre estate.
Arriving beside her—eventually—was her defeated companion; one who slid in a smooth flourish from the back of his horse and came to stand tall and proud before her.
“I declare you, Callista Vale, as the grand victor of this day’s race,” Alexander declared, accenting his words with a downright wicked white-toothed smile. “Now I invite you to claim your trophy.”
With these words, he unbuttoned his crisp white shirt with slow, deliberate moves; searing her with a brazen look of narrow-eyed seduction as he revealed his body to her.
Even as her eyes flew wide at the vision of his massive bronzed chest, one that came complete with sculpted pectorals and fine chiseled abs, Callista shook her head in response to his advances.
“Now Alex,” she told him in a guarded tone, even as her unruly gaze devoured his toned, chiseled physique, “You don’t have to accommodate me now, just because you rejected me last night.”
Alex shook his head.
“It wasn’t me that rejected you, Love. It was a ridiculous, staunch code of Victoria’s morals that—thank the fates—has apparently disappeared by the time of your birth,” he assured her, stripping his shirt off in a slow, teasing motion over one muscled shoulder at a time.
Slipping off of her horse as she returned his wicked smile, Callista shook her head from side to side as she approached him with deliberate, catlike strides.
“Oh, the code of morals to which you refer still exists in my time,” she admitted, continuing through gritted teeth, “Only if you dare to break it, you’re not guillotined or emblazoned with the scarlet letter A. You’re just branded as a slut.”
Sweeping her up in two muscled arms as his rock hard chest pressed tight against hers, an impassioned Alexander stared deep into her eyes as he whispered, “Well, on this day, Love, do allow me to be your prince—and/or your slut. Whichever you so prefer.”
Seizing her lips in a passionate kiss, Alexander swept her, most literally, off her feet and lowered her softly and gently to the grasses beneath them, kneeling at her feet as he freed them from the bounds of her tight, confining riding boots.
Callista sighed contentedly as he suckled her toes and licked the pads of her feet; reaching his sturdy hands upward to strip off her cumbersome petticoats before stealing beneath her skirt.
Alex licked his way up her legs before arriving with a wicked chuckle at the juncture of her trim thighs; lapping open her feminine folds as she invited him inward with a lusty moan.
“Relax, my darling,” he released on a growl. “Just lie back and allow me to do everything—everything, for your pleasure.”
He put these poetic lips to equally good use moments later, gracing his lady with the intimate kiss.
Sealing his full soft lips onto the surface of her hard, throbbing clit, Alexander kissed and suckled her hungry nub as she tossed her head back, letting loose with an aroused growl as shards of pure erotic ecstasy raced upward through every fiber of her being.
Shifting his head from side to side to intensify the sensation, Alex massaged her hips with loving hands as he continued to lick and suckle her; relishing her elated moans as she trembled outright beneath him.
Bucking her hips upward to encourage his advances, an enchanted Callista reveled in a tender rain of sheer orgasmic sparks, ecstasy overcoming her as she reached down to stroke the silken locks of his brilliant golden hair.
Finally and with a long last lick, he sent her careening acro
ss the bounds of an incredible clitoral orgasm; one that immersed her in waves of pleasure as she opened her arms to him.
“Come to me,” Callista gasped out, her heart pounding and her pussy gushing in a single divine accord. “I want you inside of me.”
“All in good time, Love,” Alex assured her, crawling like a cat up the length of her body until finally he stared deep into her eyes. “Rest assured that I well plan to take my time with you.”
Accenting these words with a good dose of action moments later, Alexander unbuttoned her satin jacket with agonizing slowness and peeled it away from her sweat-lined skin; also relieving her of her skin tight corset as he licked and suckled her breasts.
Long and languorously, he kissed the skin of her exposed breasts and licked her nipples to hard erect points; his hands running like warm water down the base of her spine as she wriggled and slithered in his arms.
“You are so friggin’ beautiful,” she breathed, her hungry hands massaging and caressing the surface of his rock hard pecs before lowering to tickle his abs.
Then, in a brash and daring move, she unbuttoned and stripped off the taupe fabrics of his long thick pantaloons; releasing as she did a hard erect shaft that seemed to salute her presence.
Soon, her billowy satin skirt joined the rest of their clothes on the emerald crest of a nearby grassy knoll; immersing themselves in a loving embrace as his hard trim hips gyrated playful against her own.
Their joined bodies rolled wild in the grasses beneath them as the song of sweet nightingales christened their passion; their lips again colliding in an intense kiss as the balmy winds of an English afternoon soothed and caressed them.
Wrapping her legs around his trim waist and thrusting herself against him, an aroused Callista ran her fingernails down his planed back as she parted her hard trim thighs before him.
Acting immediate on the lady’s invitation, Alexander fully and finally surged his long hard member to the very depths of her soaking wet pussy; their hips finding an immediate motion as the couple united as one.