“Please,” she said, grasping at his shoulders.
“You want me?” he asked, his voice deep and husky.
“Yes. Yes, please,” she said, almost panting.
Nic teased her, pressing forward just a fraction only to withdraw and slide over her, repeating the action over and again, each time pushing just a little harder, a little farther.
“Eliza,” he said, staring down at her neck.
His cheeks were flushed, his eyes as dark as she had ever seen them, his black hair all disordered where she had raked her hands through it. He was the most glorious sight, and he was hers.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He thrust inside her and Eliza caught her breath, holding on tight. There was a painful little pinch and she braced herself in case there was more to come, but her body relaxed by degrees, accepting the strange invasion far quicker than she might have supposed.
“Eliza?” he said again, her name a question, his voice trembling with urgency as he held himself still.
Eliza smiled helplessly.
“Don’t stop,” she said. “Don’t stop.”
She giggled as he let out a breath of relief, but her laughter stopped as he moved, and sensation overwhelmed her. Eliza glided her hands down his broad back, revelling in the shift of muscle under her palms, the feel of his big body joined with her, of being as close as two people could get.
Nic groaned and sought her mouth again, kissing her deeply, but still tender, still gentle.
“Nic,” she said, staring up at him as he broke the kiss. “I want you.”
“You… have me,” he managed.
She grinned at him but shook his head. “All of you. Everything, don’t be so careful.”
He frowned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You never could,” she said simply. “Now love me like you want to.”
Nic stared at her for a moment before murmuring a soft curse and then took her at her word. He picked up his pace, hooking her thigh over his arm and pulling it higher so he could sink deeper inside her. Eliza gasped, her head thrown back in response to the new angle, the pleasure so intense she cried out and grabbed at his arms. It was astonishing, and his passion only fed her own, the two of them increasingly frantic, moving faster and with mounting desperation. That remarkable pressure, so tantalisingly close, gathered as he moved. Nic made a harsh, guttural sound that seemed to contract something inside her. Liquid heat burst through her, the exquisite tension ratcheting higher and higher until she felt she would lose her mind. His body was damp with exertion. He thrust harder, his rhythm faltering as he lost control. Eliza cried out in exultation and he shuddered and jerked, spilling inside her. She reacted in kind, pulsing around him in spasms of pure bliss. Finally they subsided into the afterglow, sweaty and breathing hard. Eliza’s body was still tingling and alive with sensation.
“Dieu,” he gasped, his big body collapsing on top of her as he tried steady his breathing. “Mon Dieu, I shall die of you. It’s too much. Too much pleasure for one man to stand.”
“Does that mean you don’t want to do it again?” Eliza asked innocently.
Nic snorted, his body trembling with helpless laughter. “Wretch. You will kill me.”
He clambered off her, which Eliza regretted, but then he pulled her back into his arms, which was rather better. She laid her head on his chest, hearing his heart beating fast and strong, and she let out a happy sigh.
“Are you well? I didn’t—”
“You didn’t,” she agreed, snuggling against him. “It was perfect. Marvellous. Everything is marvellous today, just as you said. I love you.”
“Je’taime,” he murmured softly, kissing the top of her head.
“What a wonderful day.”
“Marvellous.” She could hear that he was grinning.
They lay together in a tangle of damp sheets and Eliza listened as his heart beat steadied and his breathing returned to normal.
“I can’t wait to see Rouge et Noir. Will everyone be very shocked if you arrive home with a wife? I suppose your old lovers will throw themselves into the Seine.”
Nic made an amused sound. “What on earth gives you that idea? There weren’t that many of them.”
“Really?” Eliza asked sceptically.
Nic stroked her hair.
“There’s been no one like you, Eliza,” he said, his voice soft. “There’s never been anyone in the whole world like you.”
Eliza smiled and closed her eyes, knowing there had never been anyone in the whole world for her before, not until Nic, and now he was hers. She’d accepted her dare and taken that thing which did not belong to her… did not belong in her world, according to some. Well, they would show the world that Nic was right where he was supposed to be.
Exactly where he belonged.
Epilogue
Dear Eliza,
I do hope you and your new husband are having a wonderful time. Have you visited Rouge et Noir yet? Is it very glamorous?
Just to reassure you that everything is running smoothly at the school. I have still not admitted to my parents that I have accepted a full-time position here. I am afraid they believe I am just helping out in your absence, but I am enjoying myself so much.
There are, as predicted, a few troublemakers in the school, but there have been far fewer problems than we might have anticipated. Much of this is thanks to Agatha, who is a wonderful influence on those who might be swayed into following into bad behaviour. She has a remarkable gift for diffusing difficult situations, though she is not entirely innocent of mischief herself. Hers is of a different variety, however, as she has taken to sneaking out at night to visit Louis César. The last time, he brought her back the following morning and it was rather amusing to see him trying to be dreadfully cross with her when everyone could see how touched he was at her having wished so badly to see him. He visits almost daily now to keep her from doing it again.
I must sign off now as I am to attend a party tonight, despite all my protests that I do not wish to go. I would not mind so much if I could just sit with the wallflowers and read a book, but Mama will insist that I ‘enjoy myself’. She has never understood that sitting quietly with a book is enjoying myself!
The poor dear, she so wishes for me to have fun.
―Excerpt of a letter from Miss Elspeth Cadogan (daughter of Jerome and Bonne Cadogan) to Lady Elizabeth Demarteau.
5th May 1839, Rouge et Noir, 7th Arrondissement, Paris.
Nic grinned at the bemused look on his wife’s face. Though she would never have said so, her first impression of Rouge et Noir was… underwhelming.
“It’s….” she began, clearly searching for a polite way to describe the rather bland building that looked like any other on the street.
The hanging sign, one side black, the other side red, was the only indication that this was anything other than a private house. There was no gold lettering proclaiming the club’s name, no number on the black-painted door.
“Hold that thought,” Nic said with a chuckle.
He knocked once, and the door swung open to reveal two burly men. They gaped on seeing him.
“Monsieur Demarteau!” they exclaimed in unison.
The two men took their coats and made much of Nic, fussing until he politely told them to go about their business.
Nic guided Eliza inside, trying to see the club through her eyes. He wondered what she made of the dimly lit entrance hall and the corridor which led to two doors on opposite sides, one painted red, the other black. From behind the doors came the muted buzz of conversation.
She looked up at him quizzically.
“The red door,” he said, his voice firm.
“Why not the black?” she demanded at once.
Nic grinned at her. “Because that is not a place a respectable lady goes with her husband.”
“And without her husband?” Eliza asked, one eyebrow quirking.
He reached out and traced the line of her jaw,
enjoying her shiver of pleasure and the way her eyes darkened at his touch. “That rather depends on whether her husband pleases her. I suspect you would find few happily married women beyond the black door.”
Eliza smiled at him and held his hand against her cheek, leaning into it and kissing his palm. It was Nic’s turn to shiver at the press of her mouth to his skin, and the tantalising flicker of her tongue.
“The red door it is, then,” she said softly.
Nic fought the idea of turning her around and dragging her back to the hotel where he could be alone with her, aware of how much she had looked forward to this. Swallowing a resigned sigh, he leaned forward and pushed the door open.
Eliza gasped.
“Good heavens.”
Guiding her inside, Nic cast his eye over the place to see what, if anything, had changed in his absence. To his satisfaction, everything was just as it ought to be.
“It’s…It’s… enormous,” Eliza said in wonder. “From the outside it looks so small, like… like one building, but….”
“There are eight properties in all, though we own several more should we decide to expand farther. We have knocked them together. Rouge to the left, Noir to the right.”
Nic slid his arm about Eliza’s waist, watching her stunned expression as she took in the lavishly painted and rather erotic frescoes that covered the walls. Their feet sank into the thick red carpet beneath them as he guided her farther into the club, and Eliza turned in a circle, staring about her, drinking it all in. The building dripped opulence, with huge crystal chandeliers glittering, heavy swathes of red velvet covering the windows, and vast gilt-framed mirrors reflecting the sumptuous display of wealth back on itself, creating light and making the place look grander even than it was.
“Are you shocked?”
Eliza looked up at him.
“Yes!” she said, flushed and laughing. “I am. It’s… It’s like nothing I ever dreamed and… my word, Nic. It’s magnificent.”
Nic grinned, delighted by her reaction. He guided her through the throng, nodding politely as people called out greetings to him. Occasionally he stopped, introducing Eliza—if he felt the person was respectable enough to have the honour of knowing his wife—and swelling with pride as he did so. He could see the astonishment in their eyes as they realised who Eliza was, and that he had married the daughter of a duke, no less.
“Nic?”
Nic turned and was immediately swamped by an enthusiastic hug.
“Jacques!” he said, slapping the big fellow on the back. “Alors, I see the place is still standing and relatively unscathed. Well done.”
“Unscathed,” the fellow said with indignation. “I’ll have you know takings are up, you devil, and you know as well as I do the place is just as you left it. Possibly even better!”
His eyes grew wide as he took in Eliza. To Nic’s amusement, his brusque and tough as nails manager blushed, possibly for the first time in his life.
“Mille excuses, Lady Elizabeth,” the man said, looking mortified and then trying in halting English to apologise again. “So sorry… I not see you ’ere.”
Nic laughed, putting the fellow out of his misery. “My wife speaks excellent French, Jacques, so do stop trying to tie yourself in knots. I’m sorry to arrive unexpectedly. It wasn’t a test, I assure you. We meant to come tomorrow, only my lady would not deign to wait another moment to see her new club.”
“Que veux-tu dire, Nic? My new club?” Eliza asked with interest.
Nic smiled helplessly, beguiled as always by the way her English accent changed the words.
“What’s mine is yours, mon amour. So, what do you think?”
Eliza stared at him, uncomprehending, and then threw her arms about his neck with a little yelp of laughter.
“Eliza!” he said, delighted and a little shocked by her exuberance in public.
“But this is my club!” She laughed. “And you told me things are different in Paris, especially for a married lady, and especially here. So I may throw my arms about my husband, and kiss him too, if I wish.”
Nic stared at her, wondering if his heart would beat out of his chest, if it could contain this much love and happiness without bursting. “You can do whatever you want, Eliza. Have whatever you want. You only need name it.”
Eliza stared up at him, her green eyes shining as she pressed closer. “Only you, Nic, and for all the world to know you are mine, and how much I love you.”
Nic let out a little huff of laughter and looked around the room. Everyone had stopped to watch them: titled ladies and gentlemen, politicians and artists, mistresses and military men, opera singers, and everyone else in between, everyone dressed in their finery, sparkling with jewels, crystal glasses filled with champagne.
“Done,” he said, and lowered his head to kiss her.
Next in the exciting new Daring Daughters series…
Their mothers dared all for love
Just imagine what their daughters will do.
Dare to be Wild
Daring Daughters Book Three
A serious dilemma…
Miss Elspeth Cadogan is a cuckoo in a very lively nest. Her parents, Jerome and Bonnie Cadogan, are notorious for their wild parties and practical jokes. Elspeth is sensible, bookish, and just wants a quiet life. Having helped her friend Eliza create her charitable school for girls, she is even considering becoming a teacher. Until…
A rake and a libertine…
‘Dare’ Kelburn, Viscount Roxborough, has never refused a wager, turned down a dare, or walked away from a fight. He can’t, however, ignore the pile of bills that is threatening to become a serious fire hazard or the fact his house is falling down. When his friends point out that pretty little wallflower, Elspeth Cadogan has a dowry weighty enough to buy half of Derbyshire, Dare can hardly disagree.
Loathing at first sight…
When Dare’s usual brand of charm and wickedness fail to impress, it is clear desperate measures are called for. With a little help from his friends, a scandal is easy enough to arrange.
A dull little killjoy or a challenge he cannot resist…
Elspeth may have been tricked into marrying the most loathsome man in all of England, but he can’t make her dance to his tune. If he wanted a nice, quiet, docile wife who would sit at home while he spends all her money, he’s misjudged. Elspeth has learned from the best what it means to be wild…
… and she’s damn well going to show him.
The Peculiar Ladies who started it all…
Girls Who Dare – The exciting series from Emma V Leech, the multi-award-winning, Amazon Top 10 romance writer behind the Rogues & Gentlemen series.
Inside every wallflower is the beating heart of a lioness, a passionate individual willing to risk all for their dream, if only they can find the courage to begin. When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can happen.
Eleven girls – Eleven dares in a hat. Twelves stories of passion. Who will dare to risk it all?
To Dare a Duke
Girls Who Dare Book 1
Dreams of true love and happy ever afters
Dreams of love are all well and good, but all Prunella Chuffington-Smythe wants is to publish her novel. Marriage at the price of her independence is something she will not consider. Having tasted success writing under a false name in The Lady’s Weekly Review, her alter ego is attaining notoriety and fame and Prue rather likes it.
A Duty that must be endured
Robert Adolphus, The Duke of Bedwin, is in no hurry to marry, he’s done it once and repeating that disaster is the last thing he desires. Yet, an heir is a necessary evil for a duke and one he cannot shirk. A dark reputation precedes him though, his first wife may have died young, but the scandals the beautiful, vivacious and spiteful creature supplied the ton have not. A wife must be found. A wife who is neither beautiful nor vivacious but sweet and dull, and certain to stay out of trouble.
Dared to do something drasti
c
The sudden interest of a certain dastardly duke is as bewildering as it is unwelcome. She’ll not throw her ambitions aside to marry a scoundrel just as her plans for self-sufficiency and freedom are coming to fruition. Surely showing the man she’s not actually the meek little wallflower he is looking for should be enough to put paid to his intentions? When Prue is dared by her friends to do something drastic, it seems the perfect opportunity to kill two birds.
However, Prue cannot help being intrigued by the rogue who has inspired so many of her romances. Ordinarily, he plays the part of handsome rake, set on destroying her plucky heroine. But is he really the villain of the piece this time, or could he be the hero?
Finding out will be dangerous, but it just might inspire her greatest story yet.
To Dare a Duke
Also check out Emma’s regency romance series, Rogues & Gentlemen. Available now!
The Rogue
Rogues & Gentlemen Book 1
The notorious Rogue that began it all.
Set in Cornwall, 1815. Wild, untamed and isolated.
Lawlessness is the order of the day and smuggling is rife.
Henrietta always felt most at home in the wilds of the outdoors but even she had no idea how the mysterious and untamed would sweep her away in a moment.
Bewitched by his wicked blue eyes
Dare to be Brazen (Daring Daughters Book 2) Page 26