A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor (Tempting Monsters Book 1)

by Kathryn Moon

  Magdalena looked up suddenly, leaning back to peer through a crack in the letters that covered her windows. "That looks like Amon's carriage. Good luck, darling."

  I took a quick gulp to finish my tea and jumped up from the chair. "Thank you, Mags," I said, flashing a smile over my shoulder and using the nickname I always heard from Auguste. She chuckled as I ran from the room, hurrying to the entrance of the manor to meet Amon in the drive.

  I had one of the simpler dresses from Auguste on, pale blue with yards upon yards of an airy skirt, and long fitted sleeves that started just off my shoulders, lace panels running down the princess bodice and peekaboo-ing the sides of the sleeves. The skirt billowed with the breeze as I stepped out of the manor just in time for the carriage to pull to a stop. It was as big as the one we'd used in London, shining a dark cherry red with gold curtains and delicately painted gold trim.

  Amon pushed the door open, and it was like being struck immediately by the sun, the force of his glowing gaze lighting me up from the inside. My breath caught in my lungs as he stepped out, daylight revealing the faint shimmer of the feline features hiding just beneath the surface of his human disguise.

  "My star," he murmured.

  "Amon," I greeted, dipping into a low curtsey.

  His purr rumbled through the space between us, polished dark shoes eating up the distance, and then strong fingers lifted my chin and drew me back to standing. Amon bent forward, resting his brow against mine, and I let my eyes fall shut, inhaling the dizzy whiff of him and nuzzling into that velvety touch of his fur.

  "I ached for you," Amon murmured, his nose brushing against my own.

  "I missed you too," I said, reaching between us.

  His hands caught my wrists, stopping me from wrapping myself around him. "Show me the loch. We'll walk together."

  Amon looked especially romantic out by the loch, with the hills rolling around us and the black sheet of his hair playing on the breeze. His eyes were focused forward as we walked, but there was a slight feline curve to his mouth that made it clear he was aware of just how thoroughly I was admiring him.

  "We're lucky Mr. Tanner found you for Rooksgrave before the theater discovered you," Amon said. His eyes were just a little tight. Enough that I thought he didn't love the idea of the theater's audience watching me on stage, but he hadn't made a complaint yet.

  "That's probably true," I said, grinning as his head whipped to me, glaring just a touch until he realized I was teasing. "But I've never been very good at following directions."

  "Mmm, it does take…reinforcements," he answered, eyes warming to caramel brown. "You enjoy being admired."

  "I do. You do too," I pointed out, and he dipped his head in acknowledgment. "If we ever meet an akkorokamui,” Amon huffed out a laugh, heading shaking as I continued, "I may have a request. But otherwise, I…"

  We were nearly back to the manor, most of the walk spent catching up or enjoying each other's quiet company, and Amon's steps slowed as he waited for me to finish my thought.

  "I'm learning that I like the intimacy that comes with…with knowing my partner. It makes sex better. And I value it on its own too," I said, watching every minute twitch of Amon's reaction.

  His eyes landed on the water, watching the faint rippling of the surface. It was my turn to wait on him, and I did so for a long stretch, memorizing the lines of his lips and the deep dip of the upper bow.

  "I want that with you, my star, but I feel as though my place with you has already been claimed," he said, voice floating away from us as though I wasn't meant to hear.

  "It isn't," I said, and he finally met my gaze again, eyes widening slightly. "Unless what you want from me is to possess me completely without room for the others."

  "I would give you anything you asked from me," Amon said, turning me to face him, hands cupping my shoulders gently, fingers brushing over the bared skin at the collar.

  "I don't think you would really want me if I was the sort of girl who handed you a list of possessions I wanted in order to hand myself over to you," I said softly. "You could've found that already. I know you can be good to me, but I need to know if you can be good to them as well."

  Amon blinked at me, and I held my breath. "You have connections with them."

  "I'm falling in love with them," I whispered, a little surprised by my answer. It was true, even if it was happening in small measures, it was only a matter of momentum now. Amon's expression shuttered, eyes flicking away, and I pushed. "I imagine I'll fall in love with you, as long as us moving forward doesn't jeopardize the same with the others."

  Amon's throat flexed with a swallow, and he started to step around me, but his hand trailed down my sleeve to catch my fingers in his, tugging me along at his side as he headed back for the house. I caught a trembling breath, hurrying my steps and clutching the back of his jacket as I followed. The conversation had been fragile, little tiptoes of meaning and hope, but I'd been honest, and I tried to remind myself that it would be better to know if Amon couldn't stand sharing me than to let it drag on and create friction with the others.

  We walked inside, ducking through the patio door and into a library. I blinked and squinted against the sudden loss of sunlight until Amon guided me to a seat on a couch, cushions warm from the sun through the window. He knelt in front of me, and as my eyes readjusted, I reached up to smooth the furrow on his brow.

  "You're right of course. You aren't worth waiting for because you're easily bought," Amon said.

  I held my breath, hoping this was turning in the direction I wanted, sliding my hands up to fist at his collar as if I could keep him from leaving me this way.

  "I do want what you're offering, you understand that, don't you?" I whispered. "It's just—"

  "I understand, my star. And you're offering more than I'd predicted too. I will adjust and learn. I can't argue that you deserve all the love you want to claim for yourself. Now, tell me again that you'll fall in love with me," he said, and even though his smile was sly, there was a tremble on his mouth that made me ache.

  I dove down and steadied it with a press of my lips to his, and Amon rose higher on his knees, pushing back into the kiss, his hands pulling my hips forward.

  "Be good," I said, nipping his lips and grinning. "Be kind to the others, and stern with me."

  "Indulgent," he argued with a soft growl.

  "Both. Offer me gifts and then wrestle me into them when I protest. Tie me to the bed when I stay up too late."

  "Esther," Amon snarled, rising and pushing me down into the cushions of the couch as I laughed.

  "Make me scream your name when I've been too busy to kiss you, oh!"

  Amon stole my breath in a deep kiss, leaping gracefully onto the couch, stretching out above me and caging me within the frame of his arms and legs. His mouth moved to my throat, finding the mark Ezra had left when I'd returned to Rooksgrave, and laving at the spot.

  "What else?" he purred.

  "Don't give Booker orders, he's not my servant," I gasped out, arching my neck. "Tease Ezra and tell him off for stealing, but try to remember how alike he and I are."

  Amon grunted, fingers unbuttoning the high collar of my dress so he could kiss more skin. "Shall I give him pretty presents as I do with you?"

  I giggled, sliding my hands under Amon's coat to stroke his chest through the linen of his shirt. "Let me watch if you do."

  "And the others?"

  "Learn from them," I whispered, Amon freezing under my touch. I thought that might be the riskiest request, after talking to Auguste about the social ranks last night. Amon was at the top, which meant Auguste was probably the next closest in his rank and still far below according to Auguste himself.

  Amon lifted his head, eyes narrowed. "Learn from them? Esther, I don't think you realize—"

  "Do you know how to use electricity to make me come so hard I can't see?" I asked, blinking innocently up at my sphinx and privately crowing at the constipated expression that took over
his handsome features. "Or how to revel in my sexual interests so that I feel free to explore, but from the safety of your company?"

  Amon huffed and collapsed on top of me, groaning into my shoulder. "No empty promises from me today, I see."

  "Try for me," I mumbled into his hair, sliding my hands around to soothe the tension out of his back.

  Amon's head lifted, eyes finding mine again, studying me. "You want more than just one gentleman visitor for each evening."

  "You want more than a girl at a house you can offer gifts to in exchange for sex," I answered, shrugging a little. "And yes, I do. I feel it when one of you is away."

  Amon smiled at that, bending and nuzzling our noses and mouths together. "Then I will learn from them, and from you. And vice versa, I'm sure," he added a little tartly, but he nipped my lip as I giggled. "And now I would like to learn how much you missed me, my little star."

  His arms circled me, grin brilliant as he hauled me up until I was a heap on his lap. His tail appeared from beneath his long coat, swatting at my hip playfully as he stretched his arms out across the back of the couch and offered himself to me like that.

  I scooted back to admire him, arching an eyebrow as I remembered what Auguste had said about Amon the night before. "Is it true that you're some kind of prince or king amongst your kind?"

  Amon was letting his disguise fall away, and I ran a finger over the fine suede of fur running from his brow down to his nose as it wrinkled with annoyance. "Sphinxes are equally respectful to one another, we don't have human titles like that."

  "Hmm, well you are my king then," I said, and Amon’s annoyance with the word seemed to vanish with my answer. I rose and curtsied again as he laughed. "I think, given that, I ought to get on my knees before you."

  Amon growled as I sank between his spread thighs, but he slouched into the couch, eyes hooded as he watched me go coquettishly about unfastening his pants.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Discoveries

  “You intend to tame him, then?" Auguste whispered in my ear as we watched Amon get into his carriage at the doors to Rooksgrave.

  I'd managed to convince Amon to take dinner with me and Ezra, and while there'd been enough bickering to last me a lifetime, it was done primarily with humor. When Auguste rose and made it up to my room, Amon had offered my vampire a slight bow that I could tell surprised Auguste and Ezra both.

  "I do," I said with a sharp nod, but only after Amon's carriage had started to leave so I could be sure he didn't hear me.

  "Good," Auguste answered, his hand cupping my waist and drawing me into his side.

  I raised my eyebrows, curious about his answer, and when his lips twitched and he didn't elaborate, I pinched his side for good measure. "Tell me."

  "Mr. Tanner is a good deterrent to others of our kind taking an interest in you. Amon will be even better. Between the two of them, I shouldn't have to lift a finger," Auguste added with an airy note of teasing. "Ouch! I'm immortal, not invincible, woman!" Auguste caught my wandering pinches, snatching my wrists in his grip and hauling me back inside as he fought his grin.

  "I think those words really mean the same thing," I said, frowning.

  "The death of many a vampire would prove you wrong. No, you're right, too morbid. I promise not to perish by your grabby little fingers," Auguste said, drawing me roughly to his chest and wrapping his arms around me. "Now, what shall we do with our evening, hm? Or are you spending it with Ezra?"

  I shook my head and leaned in to whisper in Auguste's ear. "He still has business to manage for Magdalena until tomorrow." Which was when Julian and Siobhan would be leaving again. Auguste hummed and nodded. I drew back and bounced on my toes as I considered Magdalena's conversation with me earlier. "Would you teach me to make something? Like what you do."

  Unlike Amon probably would have, Auguste didn't immediately offer to simply make me anything I wanted so I wouldn't have to do the work myself. His eyes lit up and he nodded. "Of course, what would you like to learn? No, I should be master in this, yes? And teach you what you must know first, as I learned?"

  "Well, I do like when you're my master," I said, tipping my head thoughtfully, and Auguste let out a low growl.

  "Wicked darling girl. I shall make you my slave in the kitchen first, and then later up in bed for that remark," Auguste said, dragging me to the back of the manor. He paused briefly, turning back to ask, "You wouldn't rather visit with the others?"

  I was curious about the social rooms of the manor at night, but I was too aware of the strange dynamic of the other house owners being on hand too, so I shook my head.

  "Tomorrow night, or when Jonathon comes up so I can…" I trailed off, licking my lower lip and blushing, but Auguste only squeezed my hand. "So I can have you all with me."

  He lured me in slowly, his expression finding some common ground with predatory and affectionate, and he waited in place for me to rise to my toes, offering my mouth to him before he took the kiss, slow and sipping.

  "I'm going to have you for dessert right on the floor of the kitchen, mon coeur," Auguste rasped. Then he blinked, returning to teasing, "But only after I've been a thorough tyrant as your teacher."

  "I might like you as a tyrant," I answered, and then Auguste was dragging me down the hall and into the quiet kitchen.

  I stretched as I woke the next morning, and then proceeded to roll directly into an unforgivingly hard figure.

  "Mrph!"

  Two massive firm hands circled my waist as I winced and glared through the sunlight. Booker was in the bed with me! He drew me up and over him as if I were simply his blanket, the sun warming the pale shade of stone to something almost faintly golden. My lips parted as I stared down at him, my eyes crossing slightly to meet his gaze.

  "Morning," he said.

  I let out a slow sigh, and his dense body seemed to soften with mine.

  "Ezra said I could," he added, eyes flicking sideways to where I'd been sleeping a moment ago.

  "I say you can too," I answered, blinking, sliding my hands up his chest—for the first time, he was only in his white shirt without the black butler's jacket—to brace on either side of his head and lift myself up. "Good morning. I've missed you."

  Booker nodded at that, and then his hands on my waist moved down to take twin grips of my ass. "Every morning."

  I blinked, partly distracted by the faint shimmer in the gray vein running over his face like a scar and partly by the ridge of muscle I was draped over. Finally, as Booker began to bunch my nightgown in his grip, exposing me to the room, I remembered his promise of days ago.

  "Oh!" I gasped as his fingers slid down, sinking so smoothly into me.

  My forehead dropped to his and I moaned as he kept to his word of getting me off in the mornings, touch simple but effective. I searched for his mouth with mine, his lips full and firm but giving as I bit and tugged on the flesh, Booker grunting in response, following for more.

  He sat up abruptly, forcing me up with him, but my arms circled his shoulders gladly, my body riding the two fingers inside of me. I kissed his lips, biting his smooth jaw, the bridge of his nose, and grinning as Booker rumbled, arching back and groaning as he stretched me with a scissoring of his fingers.

  "Booker, fuck me, please," I whimpered.

  His touch stilled and I straightened, smiling down at him, still using my movement to fuck myself on his touch. He blinked at me, and then glanced down to his own lap and back up again.

  "Auguste said to wait."

  Now it was my turn to freeze, breath hitching as I sank onto Booker's hand, the heel of his palm rubbing against my clit as if our conversation and what he was doing to my sex were two entirely unrelated activities.

  "He what? When?"

  "Said to wait. Last night."

  "Why?" I cried out, throwing a hand in the air.

  Booker shrugged, and then his lips curled up as he switched hands, taking the fingers now slippery with my arousal and moving them to the creas
e of my ass. My eyes widened with the first press of a digit into my ass.

  Auguste was telling Booker when he was allowed to fuck me. Booker was playing with my ass. Ezra was spying, Amon was trying, Jonathon wasn't even here.

  "Oh, Christ, Booker!" I gasped as he filled my cunt again with two fingers and sank the other up to the third knuckle, wiggling it as his smile grew. "Why…why should Auguste tell you what to do?"

  "I like Auguste," Booker said, which gave me a funny little warm blooming sensation in my chest. I fell forward, hiding my face in Booker's shoulder as he created a wave of rhythm inside of me. "He said I should do as much as I want with my mouth and fingers today, but to wait until tonight."

  "He wants to watch," I gasped, burying my squeaks behind my lips as I rocked between Booker's fingers, sending them deeper inside of me with every stroke.

  "I have to be gentle," Booker said, his face turning into my hair as fingers twisted, and I clutched so hard at the fabric of the shirt he was wearing, I thought I might tear it right off.

  "I like rough," I whispered.

  "I'm made of stone."

  I was wonderfully and vividly aware of that, Booker's touch inside me uncompromising. And as much as I found it annoying that Auguste was making decisions for me—stone sounded lovely and smooth and powerful and I wanted Booker now, not later—they were both probably right about being careful. I would get carried away as I always did, and maybe Booker would too, but Auguste would make sure I was safe and not bruised in my overenthusiasm.

  I let out a low moan as Booker's fingers in my sex crooked, rubbing against the front of me until my thighs tingled and I froze with the first soft flush of my orgasm.

  He turned me on the bed, sinking me into the mattress as I shuddered with relief, a second finger working its way into my ass as I sagged and softened. Booker's fingers withdrew from my cunt, and he settled on his stomach between my thighs, spreading me open for him to study.

  "Now mouth," he murmured.