A Lady’s Christmas Rake

by Andresen, Tammy

  William rubbed her button and kept up his relentless invasion. May rocked toward his touch, her need for more of what he could give her overriding all decorum and ladylike manners she ought to have.

  “Hell, yes. I want you to come.”

  She met his gaze, his eyes large and luminous in the flickering lantern light. “Come?”

  “Orgasm,” he said, stimulating her once more. “Pleasure, absolute pleasure.”

  May grinned, but agreed to do whatever he wished, especially if the things he did to her felt this good, like her body was not her own, and something marvelous was about to happen that she didn’t yet know existed.

  She held on to his shoulders, the muscles beneath his clothing taut and flexing with every stroke he bestowed on her wanting body. He kissed her again, making her dizzy and yet a part of her realized he wasn’t experiencing anything like she was right now. All this attention was just for her. Determined to remedy the shortfall, May glided her hand down his chest, enjoying the feel of a man beneath her. His stomach was tight and flat, his breathing fast and getting quicker the further her hand moved toward his breeches. Finding what she was looking for, May clasped his hardness and reveled in the startled gasp from him. “Do you enjoy it when I touch you this way?”

  He slowed his strokes upon her flesh and met her gaze. “Very much so.”

  * * *

  William swallowed the desire to lift May onto the ledge to the side of them, push her skirts further up her body and take her sweet, hot core in one thrust. His body roared with need. Hunger to make her his clawed at his very soul. He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted any other woman before in his life. Her frankness in his arms, her enjoyment and innocence pulled at his heart.

  The thought should scare him and yet it didn’t. For even with all of May’s ideas over the future she thought she craved, what they were doing together right now only proved to him it would be mortal sin to place her in a church married to the almighty God. The pliant, sexually awakening woman in his arms who waltzed with him so deliciously in the most sexual of ways would never last in a convent. It would be a sin indeed to hide such a treasure behind robes and prayer.

  And he was determined to ensure she altered her ideals and instead, saw him as her future. To walk away from a woman who was smart, well educated and easy to speak with while also making the blood in his veins sing, would be absurd. She was kind, loving and passionate young woman. A prize too precious to leave behind when he sailed.

  The thought of settling down and marrying May ought to scare him, but it did not, if anything, the idea left him calm.

  He increased the pressure to her sweet nubbin with his thumb, while he worked his finger relentlessly inside her. She panted, her body riding him as he dreamed she would. Just the thought of her riding his cock made him dizzy. The wetness coating his fingers proof she’d been aching for a man’s touch for too long.

  And not just any man’s touch—his.

  Her fingers bit into his skin, her body tightening about him and he could feel how close she was to release. Each sigh and labored breath dragged him deeper within her enthralling spell. Then with a hiccup of a sigh, she convulsed about him and shattered in his arms.

  “That’s it. Enjoy me.” William nipped her chin and kissed her, milking every last tremor from her body. In the shadowed light, her eyes glistened with awakening and enjoyment. He smiled. “You’re so beautiful. I wish to make you do this every day for the rest of your life.”

  She sat back a fraction, her bottom lip clasped between her teeth, her cheeks flushed. “I should feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself, but I cannot. I had no idea it could be like that between a man and woman.”

  William grinned. “It can be a lot better than that. I assure you. And when you’re ready, I can show you if you like.”

  May pushed his hand away and settled her skirts, before adjusting her bodice. “While I did enjoy our encounter, I don’t believe we should go any further. Our lives are going in two different directions, and while what you just showed me was amazing, I don’t want to risk getting with a child.”

  William stepped away and adjusted his engorged cock so not to scare her entirely. He had another three weeks or so before his departure, and she may not think an encore of what they’d just shared was necessary, but he had time to change her mind and make her see sense.

  There was so much to explore, to see, do and visit in the world, and although he’d not known this woman for long, to know she’d missed out on life cocooned in a convent just wouldn’t suit. He wanted to show her a life she could only ever dream about, but make it her reality. “Of course.” He smiled. “Whatever you think is best.”

  Chapter Four

  May sat at the table the following morning, her body relaxed and still sated after her brush with William the day before. Just the thought of what they’d done together threatened to make her blush.

  Again…

  In the quiet comfort of her room after leaving William and unable to rein in her desires, she had touched herself just as he had. It was no stretch to her imagination to imagine the hands stroking her flesh were William’s. And although she’d not experienced the same powerful release she’d enjoyed in his arms, it was a pleasurable experience.

  And one she hoped would happen again, for it certainly would not after she’d taken her vows to God. May sighed, not sure what she was feeling about her impending future. As much as the nuns were lovely and very welcoming to her at the convent, William had shown her a side of life that she’d never thought to see, to experience. And to walk away from such a future, was no longer as easy as she thought.

  Her attention snapped to the clock. Would William be joining her this morning? Just as if the thought had conjured him, the breakfast room door opened and he entered. His greeting smile brought forth hers, and she watched transfixed as he selected his meal from the sideboard, giving her a lovely view of his backside in freshly pressed breeches.

  The memory of what his firm, perfectly shaped bottom felt like the day before left a delicious twist in her stomach. May reached for her tea, needing to something, anything than ogle the man.

  William settled beside her, reached for his linen napkin and placed it in his lap. A single finger glided over the top of her thigh and she stilled, not expecting the touch. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, eating as if his hand was not currently playing with her person.

  The blood in her veins boiled and warmth burst upon her cheeks. May met his gaze, the fieriness from his eyes all the poof she needed as to what he was thinking, wanting to do with her. She swallowed. “I slept very well. Thank you.” She cleared her throat, hating the fact he knew very well by her breathless tone he’d affected her.

  Cursing her inability not to be affected by him, she asked, “Why is your hand upon my leg?”

  He shifted closer, and the fresh scent of soap teased her senses, not to mention the thought of William being naked… May reveled in his presence. William had a lovely complexion for a man, a healthy tan color she could only dream of having. Her coloring was a pasty white shade. Some thought it a lovely English Rose hue. May had always thought it made her looked washed out like a ghost.

  “I like it there. I like how when I touch you here,” he stroked her through her gown at her most private of places, “you tremble, your eyes widening as your breath hitches. I love that you react to me in this way.”

  May bit her lip but kept her gaze locked on him. His movements remained unseen by the staff due to the large linen table cloth covering their lower bodies, but still, it was scandalous, and marvelous too. “I like that I react this way to you too.”

  He sat back. The sudden emptiness within her at the loss of his touch frightened her. She shouldn’t be so reliant on him. He would be gone in a month and so would she. But she couldn’t get enough of him. In truth, couldn’t stop thinking about him and what could be.

  William’s hands clenched on top of the table. “It is taking all my w
ill not to lift you up, place you in front of me and take you here and now in front of everyone. I want you.” He growled the last and she shut her eyes to stop herself acting on his desire.

  The breakfast room door opened with a bang and May was startled back into reality. She needed to remember who and where they were. Her father with his concerns over the estate’s lack of finances did not need his daughter creating a scandal that would bring shame on him in their small community.

  “I didn’t expect to see you up so early, Papa. What has brought you down this morning?”

  He smiled and waved a newspaper at her. “I received the weekly news, my dear. I wanted William’s opinion on an investment I read about.”

  May listened as the gentleman proceeded to discuss said investment along with the latest on-dits in the society pages. She was thankful for the distraction and opportunity to escape since she’d finished breakfast before William had arrived.

  May stood and excused herself. She knew what she had to do. She had a little over three weeks left at her ancestral home. It was time she enjoyed herself as a woman before entering the church. She doubted William was looking for a wife, but a lover she had no doubt he would be agreeable to.

  And maybe she would as well if their time together yesterday was any indication.

  She strode toward the billiard room and paused to look at the small closet that sat nestled beneath the staircase. A wicked idea entered her mind and she made a snap decision to act upon her thoughts instead of mulling them over as she was wont to do and thus thinking herself out of exciting situations altogether.

  She entered the small space but left the door ajar. William always played billiards after breakfast, so hopefully today wouldn’t be any different.

  Heavy steps sounded before the stairs and May peeked into the hallway. A grin formed on her lips seeing William headed her way. Noting no one else about, she let herself be seen and then stepped back inside. The pause in step and the widening of William’s eyes she’d caught before going out of sight made her smile.

  He joined her a moment later and closed the door. Only a modest amount of light penetrated the space, just enough to see body forms, but no features. Excitement, trepidation and need thrummed through her and made her squirm. “What are you doing, May?”

  She stepped forward, no longer willing to miss the one opportunity she had with a man. In a convent, it was assured nothing like this would ever happen to her and during her Season in town, it most certainly had not. May skimmed her hands up his arms, his body taut as if ready to pounce. Was it too much to hope he would pounce and devour her?. “I want you too,” she said, finally answering the statement he had made at breakfast.

  * * *

  William forced himself to control his breathing. The four words he’d ached to hear finally left lips he hungered to taste. Had it only been yesterday since he’d pleasured her? It seemed like an eternity. He dragged May the rest of the short distance that separated them and kissed her. Hard. There was no slow seduction. No stopping how he felt for her or showing through touch what she did to him.

  Makes me burn and as grow hard as hell.

  He ran his hand into her hair, spilling the tightly woven coiffure to cascade down her back. She gasped for air, and he nipped her chin enjoying the moan of encouragement his action brought forth. He scooped her into his arms and placed her on the small wooden table he could only just see in the darkened space. Without letting her think better of what they were about to do he spread her thighs wide, stepped between them and slid her gown slowly up to her waist.

  A shiver rocked her body, but she didn’t halt his progress. Desire tainted the air, along with a scent that encompassed May entirely—roses, sweet and beautiful.

  William stood. “Lean back on your hands for me and just enjoy. Do you trust me enough to do that?”

  He felt her nod, before she said, “Of course.”

  She did as he asked and he pulled her morning gown down past one breast and took her puckered nipple between his lips. She moaned as he flicked the beaded flesh with his tongue. His cock hardened more and he wanted to thrust into her welcoming heat and make her his.

  Instead, he continued to kiss and tease her without touching any other part of her body. May writhed beneath him and he inwardly smiled. Her pants, soft moans and sighs drove him to distraction. He could listen to her decadent sounds for the rest of his life and never get bored. He released her nipple with a pop and pulled her pantalets over her slim hips and down her legs, exposing her to his hungry gaze. William lifted one foot and kissed along her leg. May shook in his arms, her hunger for him matching his. He reached her thigh and licked the softest skin he’d ever felt.

  “What are you doing to me?” She whispered, threading her fingers through his hair.

  “Everything I can,” he said, truthfully.

  May tensed in his arms, and it wasn’t hard to know why. Somehow she’d figured out what he wanted to do, and yet, she remained seated, her legs spread and open to him like a sweetmeat on a plate.

  William growled as he tasted her for the very first time. Unable to deny himself her essence a moment more, he flicked his tongue over her hooded button and stroked her mons, slow at first, his need to tease and bring her slowly to climax as important to him as the reason why he was here in Cornwall to begin with. “I want you to enjoy me, May. I never want you to forget our time together.” He stood and claimed her lips. She kissed him with matching fire, her tongue no longer hesitant but demanding, commanding as his. William’s body hardened to the point of pain and he slid his hand down her stomach, across her curls and into the sweet moist heat between her thighs.

  She moaned as he pushed a finger inside her tight passage. “Do you like that?” he asked, repeating the strokes over and over again.

  “Yes,” she panted, pulling him closer still. “What you do to me is truly…enthralling.”

  “I have plenty more enthralling to show you yet, beautiful.” William kneeled and added his mouth to where his fingers stroked. The flick of his tongue upon her flesh along with his touch, relentlessly teased her. And he couldn’t stop. The delightful gasps, the bite of her fingers splayed throughout his hair, holding him hostage against her flesh was the only place he wished to be.

  “William,” she moaned. “Don’t stop.” She lifted herself a little and undulated against his mouth.

  “Yes,” he said. “Take your pleasure. I want you to come.”

  Her movements became frenzied, her gasps louder, but he couldn’t tell her to stop or quieten. She was a hidden gem among the unforgiving landscape that was Cornwall and one he intended to enjoy for as long as she would allow him. Her body convulsed about his fingers and he made love to her with his mouth. May fell apart in his arms, her orgasm long and fulfilling if her heightened breathing, and soft continual moan was anything to go by.

  William stood and settled the hem of her gown. He took a deep breath, his cock throbbing with unsated desire. “Next time I will take my pleasure as well. Do you agree?”

  She clasped his sounders and pulled him close. “If you don’t take me soon, William, I may be forced to act in an even more unladylike manner.”

  He chuckled. “You promise?”

  She kissed him, long and deep. “Oh yes, that I promise.”

  Chapter Five

  May checked that the hallway was clear. Only a few candlelit sconces upon the wall burned at the late hour. She left her door ajar instead of closing it to save even the slightest sound that could result in her being discovered.

  The house was quiet, only the sounds of the distant ocean crashing over the shore thrummed from outside. Good. She didn’t need anyone awake to see her stealing away at this late hour.

  May padded down the stairs and left through the kitchen door. A well-worn path led down to a cove she hadn’t shown William on the day they went riding. She turned to look back at the house to be certain no one followed. Satisfied she was alone, she continued on. A flicking lig
ht of a ship off the coast told her what she needed to know—Stephen had arrived with the second-to-last shipment.

  She made her way to the cave partially hidden with sea greases and vines. Pulling them aside, she thanked the lord for the moonlight and found her lantern just inside the entrance. May lit it quickly, and shone it facing the vessel. She then sat and waited for Stephen to come ashore. She only had one more shipment to store for them after this one, and her time as a smuggler would be over. She would miss this life and the thrill she always received when the blunt they so desperately needed changed hands. Smuggling may be against the law, but when needs must…May had done what she must.

  A slight breeze blew in from the ocean and she shivered. Stephen had never told her what it was he was smuggling, but she assumed it to be sugar, lace or alcohol of some kind. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to her. All that mattered was the money that would come in handy for her brother’s future and the care of an estate she loved just as much as her sibling.

  A small wooden craft slid onto the shore and Stephen jumped out, the usual group of men following him toward the cave. “Good evening, Stephen,” she said, shaking his hand, their usual response whenever they met.

  “May.” He bowed and gestured for his men to enter the cave. “I trust all is well here.”

  “Yes, very well.” She stepped away from where the men were stacking the crates and met Stephen’s gaze. “One more shipment and we’re done. Correct?”

  “Right ye are. One more.” He handed over an envelope and May placed it into the pocket of her cloak.

  “I can’t say I won’t miss our interludes, but I shall miss the money.”