Once he managed to tame his mirth, he looked at her, his eyes nearly watering. “Are you referring to Lady Stonemere? My best friend’s wife?”
Emily gave him a cold stare. “The very one you embraced in a public spectacle this evening? If that is she, then yes.”
He stopped and blinked. “Yes, well she shared some good tidings with me, and I believe I became overwhelmed with the news. I suppose hugging her was a bit inappropriate, but we—Stone, Theo, and I—are quite close.”
His phrasing struck her as odd. She narrowed her gaze at him. “How close?”
Cooper glanced away from her and then back, but more in the vicinity of her feet as his cheeks flushed.
Her free hand fluttered to her throat and rose from her seat. “Oh, my. How close?”
He rose, set his glass on a nearby table, and strode over to where she stood. “I shall not disclose another’s secrets. You may rest assured there is nothing between Theo and me but companionable affection. If Stone thought for one moment either of us harbored some romantic feeling, I assure you he would trounce me soundly and tie his wife to their bed after spanking her thoroughly.”
“Perhaps you shared too much, at any rate? I cannot imagine any lady of the ton allowing her husband to spank her and tie her to the bed.” She gnashed her teeth, unsure she believed another lady might welcome such treatment.
He took her drink and set it aside, then pulled her into his arms. “Ah, but then you have yet to be properly spanked while tied to my bed.”
Rich male laughter surrounded her until he swooped in and stole a kiss, their lips melding together as they pressed closer. She whimpered and opened to him, unable to resist his sensual assault. And if the kisses she’d experienced with him were any evidence, she thought she might enjoy anything he wished to do to her. But she would never admit that to him.
As his scent and taste overwhelmed her senses, she felt his clever fingers working the laces of her dress loose. Her heart sped up as she realized there was no turning back from what lay ahead. She wanted to know the touch of a man, but she could not deny the agitation that made her limbs restless.
The men in her life had been less than reliable, most betraying her in one fashion or another. Her reserves of fortitude had been well used up by her brother of late, she had little left to deal with another man who might be of a similar bent. She pressed a palm to his chest. “Cooper, do not toy with me. Our agreement stated we would remain faithful for the duration of the contract.”
She ignored the squeezing sensation that gripped her heart.
“And I told you, there is nothing but platonic love between Theo and me. She belongs to Stone.” Then, like an expert, he worked her gown open and then over her head. Next, he started on the rest of her undergarments, each layer coming away as he pressed kisses to her shoulders, her neck, the tops of her breasts, and then even her back.
All the while, she considered his words. She believed him, and yet there was this uncontrollable doubt that assailed her. With a sigh, she set the unwanted emotion aside. After all, she had no time for such entanglements. This was about her sexual exploration, nothing more.
When she finally stood wearing naught but her stockings and garters, she bent to pluck them free, but he stopped her.
“Those can stay. I will enjoy the silky feel of your stockings as you wrap your legs around me.” His wolfish grin had her thighs squeezing together as her center grew damp with need.
“Oh. Well, if you prefer them.” She straightened up and stepped closer to him. She worked his tie free and then started on his shirt as he tugged at his trousers and slipped his shoes off. Within moments, he was naked, his cock springing up from a nest of blond curls. She imagined many men looked ridiculous in this state, but somehow it made Cooper look even more beautiful, more appealing.
Her previous rancor forgotten, she stood awkwardly, wanting very much to cover herself. Of their own volition, her arms crossed over her breasts, but Cooper intercepted them midpath. “You are a beautiful woman with nothing to be ashamed of.”
She glanced at the bed and back to him as her cheeks heated. “Could we…”
“Shhh.” He stepped into her and pulled her into his arms. “I promise I will be as gentle as I can.”
Then he swooped down and captured her lips in a searing kiss that had her forgetting about their nudity. Her pulse thrummed under her skin, a steady drumbeat of desire. His tongue tangled with hers, a wet heat that was both sensual and demanding.
Between her thighs, she ached with a need that made her wish to press closer to him. To find some part of him that might relieve the pressure. Why she wanted to do such a thing or even where the notion had sprung from eluded her, considering her years of training to be a good wife had not prepared her for such desires. Of course, neither had her years of being a freethinker and, even of late, a thief.
She hated it when her mind took over and nearly paralyzed her with too many thoughts. It didn’t happen often these days, but every once in a while, when she pushed up against some unforeseen boundary, her old habit popped up. And still, despite the whirlwind of thoughts spinning through her mind, she managed to lose herself in his kiss.
Finally, he broke away, gasping for the same much-needed air as her. After a breath or two, he demanded, “On the bed.”
Again, her mind raced as she struggled within. She stood there frozen in indecision. Then he moved a foot or so away from her, and she wondered what he was about.
“I am going to assume that all that good breeding that makes you Lady Emmaline is interfering with your desires. Yes?”
She nodded.
“I see. Well, fortunately for you, I am an expert at getting past these issues. If you want something or want me to do something, you must state it clearly for me.”
Her face grew very hot as she imagined explaining what she had wanted to do only moments earlier.
“Otherwise, I shall simply do as I wish.” He waited for her to react. When she said nothing, he scooped her into his arms.
The next Emily knew, she was on the bed with Cooper coming down beside her. His bulk created a dip in the mattress, which caused her to roll into his side.
He faced her, lying on his side, and tipped her chin up to him. He kissed her again, a soft sweet press of his lips. Then he dropped kisses down her cheek, along her neck, and over her collarbones.
All the while, her nipples felt swollen and the ache between her thighs grew more intense. A soft whimper escaped her as Cooper latched on to one nipple and sucked. Her upper back arched up off the bed, pushing more of her breast into his mouth. His big, warm hands chased away the chill of the English night more effectively than the fire that crackled merrily in the fireplace across the room.
He moved lower, still using his lips to brand a trail over her skin as he kissed down her ribs and across her belly until his face was far too near the spot that ached with some need she did not understand.
And then he wedged his shoulders between her thighs and let his warm breath feather across her skin.
She jerked partway up, her weight on her elbows. “Cooper! What are you doing?”
He grinned at her over the length of her body. “I’m preparing to sample your sweet, sweet pussy.”
Emily gasped at his words, shocked to hear such language. But then he flicked the very spot that ached so severely, and her body trembled with pleasure. He licked her flesh, a long slow stroke that sent sparks of heat up her limbs and had her moaning with need.
“That’s it, lie back and enjoy the sensations. Let me make you feel good.” His voice sounded low and rough, not at all like his usual smooth baritone.
When he pushed his tongue into her, all coherent thought fled. He licked and suckled at her swollen flesh, increasing the pressure that felt like steam trapped in a kettle. When he slid something long and hard inside her, she bucked against him and cried out. “Please, Cooper!”
Without a reply, he focused on that sensitive bundle of
nerves, licking and lapping at it while he pumped his finger in and out. When he added a second finger and amped up the suction on her nub, her world exploded. She cried out an incoherent string of words as lights danced behind her eyes and her body seemed to shatter into thousands of pieces.
Chapter 8
Cooper rose up from between her thighs and laid next to a still slightly dazed Emily. As she returned to herself, he stroked her body. Long gentle touches to both bring her back to him and to keep her now sensitized body still humming. What came next would not be as enjoyable for her, but it was a necessary step.
While he’d not bedded a virgin before, he was aware enough about the mechanics to realize that a swift approach would get them past the painful part. His cock ached with the desire to be inside his little hellion, but he refused to rush her. And so, counter to his usual style, he lay there continuing to stroke her skin until her lashes fluttered, and then her beautiful hazel eyes appeared.
“That was…” Her cheeks were still flushed from her orgasm.
He resisted the urge to command her to tell him what she was thinking. But he reminded himself this was how married men treated their wives. In fact, he’d already broken protocol by stripping her naked and loving her with his mouth. But there were only so many concessions a man could make.
“There is more to come if you’re ready.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, finding the urge to lick and taste every inch of her all but impossible to resist.
Her nipples tightened into peaks either from his words or his touch, he didn’t particularly care which once she nodded her head.
He hesitated. Normally, he would require verbal consent. There was far more pleasure in a shared experience. Perhaps some things shouldn’t be changed?
“Say yes. I want to be sure you are ready for this. No regrets come morning.”
“We are far past the point where regrets could be avoided if I were to have them.” She paused and snared his gaze with her own. “Please, take me.”
Cooper groaned, her words making him desperate with desire. He wanted to thrust into her and fuck until his top blew off. But his sweet Emily was not ready for such vigorous activity. Instead, he levered himself over her and knelt between her spread thighs. There, he donned a French letter he’d kept handy for the evening and pressed his tip against her still-soaked pussy. Leaning over her, braced on his arms, he warned her, “This will hurt the first time, and there is little I can do to mitigate it for you.”
“Go ahead, I’m ready.” She looked up at him, a wariness in her gaze that gave him pause.
Still determined to try to make her first time as pleasurable as possible, he rubbed the tip of his cock along her slit until she writhed against him once more. Then, he paused at her opening, took a moment to appreciate her gift to him, and pushed into her. He sank about halfway on one firm thrust and then seated himself to the root with a second.
Emily cried out, her hazel eyes wide in surprise as the green flecks glowed in the gaslight.
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as she trembled beneath him. “The pain will pass in a moment or two.”
She nodded as her white teeth nibbled on her lower lip, already plump from his kisses.
Still bearing his weight on his arms, he hovered over her until she squirmed beneath him a bit. “Are you well?”
“Oh my,” she said. “I feel so full. I never imagined it would be like this.”
He groaned, lost in the tight clasp of her pussy, the way she looked up at him with wonder and a tiny flicker of desire. Needing to move, he shifted his hips and drew back from her body until just his tip remained. Resisting the urge to thrust deeply, he pushed back inside her on a slow easy glide. With each plunge inside her, he picked up his speed but maintained the smoothness of motion. His arms quivered with his restraint as sweat slicked down his back. All the while he worked in and out of her.
Once her breath changed to panting and she gripped him more securely, both with her core and her hands, he balanced on one elbow and reached between them with his free hand. A few soft strokes over her clit and she came for him. Not as intense as her first orgasm, but under the circumstances, he was pleased she was even able to find a second release.
With his own need driving him, he rose up on his knees for better leverage and grabbed her lushly round arse as he shuttled in and out of her snug heat. Once. Twice. And then he came. His body seized up until his hips jerked haphazardly, as every inch of his skin tingled with pleasure.
And as he withdrew from her sweet clasp, he knew he had to have her again. Once would never be enough, because he greatly suspected the next time would far outstrip the first.
Cooper walked into the Kilpatricks’ ball accompanied by Stone and Theo; however, he only had one woman on his mind. He deftly surveyed the crowd in search of Lady Emmaline. Her golden-brown hair offered her a certain anonymity in a sea of such similar hair colors, and it was the gleam in her hazel eyes that made her stand out. Finally, he caught a glimpse of her as she walked behind Lady Vardy, her usual chaperone. They appeared to be heading toward the refreshments.
“Stone, may I fetch anything from the refreshments for you and your lady wife?” He did not bother to look at his friend as he tossed the question over his shoulder.
Stone chuckled behind him. “Considering we’ve only just arrived, I can’t imagine either of us being in need of nourishment so soon. But do go about your business. Do not delay on our accounts.”
Ignoring his friends’ laughter, Cooper took off in the direction of his quarry. Perhaps he was being a bit fanciful, but it seemed to him that it had been too long since he last saw Lady Emmaline. Was it only the previous night that he had held her in his arms for the first time? He could not help but admire the straight column of her back as he approached her and her companion.
“Lady Vardy.” He bowed and kissed the woman’s hand. “Lady Emmaline.” He bowed again, repeating the gesture, but this time, he lingered as long as was polite while he stroked the underside of her hand in as intimate a gesture as he could muster under the circumstances.
“Lord Brougham.” Emily turned a fetching shade of pink as she curtsied.
He released her hand and offered a dashing smile—or at least he hoped she found it so. “I have come to claim a dance or two with you.”
“Have you? I don’t recall—” She stopped midthought and glanced at an all-too-interested Lady Vardy.
“What don’t you recall, Lady Emmaline?” Lady Vardy was too earnest in her query for anyone’s comfort.
Emily glanced at him, and he could see the wheels turning as she tried to muster up some plausible answer.
“I’m afraid I’ve caught the lady off guard.” Cooper pressed a hand to his chest as though he were responsible for the confusion. “When last I saw Lady Emmaline, having called on her earlier this week for a friendly visit, I had told her I would not be attending the Kilpatricks’ soiree. But as it turned out, I was able to make it. It seems my unexpected arrival has flustered her.”
Cooper couldn’t resist the urge to tease Emily just a little more. He leaned closer to Lady Vardy and put his hand up as though shielding his next words. “My lady, I believe she may harbor a tendre for me.”
As he had hopped, the matronly woman tittered and smacked his arm with her fan. Emily’s gaze shifted from calculation to shock to outrage. She sputtered for a moment and then snapped her mouth shut, as she must have realized she could neither acknowledge nor deny his claim. If she refused to respond, then Lady Vardy would rightly assume he was being playful.
“May I, Lady Emmaline?” Cooper pointed to her dance card and waited for her to relinquish the small paper with far too many blanks on it.
She did so with relatively good grace, and he promptly picked the two waltzes for his dances. It might have been pushing the socially acceptable boundaries, but he was a Lustful Lord. Appearances had to be maintained where they could.
“Lady Vardy, would you mind if I esc
orted Lady Emmaline over to meet Lord and Lady Stonemere? They are two of my dearest friends.”
“Of course, you may. I shall be right here when you are finished saying hello.” Lady Vardy indicated a spot out of the way.
“Thank you, my lady.” He scooped up Emily’s hand, tucking it in the crook of his arm, and escorted her over to where his friends stood. After the formal introductions, Cooper turned to Emily. “Lord and Lady Stonemere were only just wed.”
Emmaline smiled. “Felicitations, Lord and Lady Stonemere.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Theo beamed at her husband, and for a moment, jealousy pierced Cooper’s heart. He wanted what his friends had, and strangely, he very much wanted it with the woman standing next to him.
“Lady Stonemere, I believe you and Lady Emmaline share some of the same notions on the independence of women.”
Cooper heard Emily snort softly.
“I wouldn’t wish to bore anyone with such conversation, my lord,” Emily demurred as she glared at him.
Theo leaned in excitedly. “Lady Emmaline, please tell me you have read Wollstonecraft.”
Nonplussed, Emily swung her gaze from Theo to Cooper and then back. “I have, my lady.”
The ladies launched into a discussion of the merits of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, leaving Stone free to ask questions.
“Rather unusual of you to introduce someone to us.”
Cooper could feel his face heating, but did his best to ignore the sensation. “I suspected your wife would find her engaging.”
He refused to say so aloud, but he hoped Theo might be a softening influence on Emily. Show her that married life might not be so repugnant.
Stone’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “May I suggest you not leave her alone with my wife if you wish her to be less independent? While Theo has settled into marriage, that is not indicative of her willfulness having been curbed.” Stone leaned closer to Cooper and lowered his voice. “She still provides plenty of reasons for me to spank her.”
Taming His Hellion Countess (The Lustful Lords Series Book 2) Page 6