The Earl's Spark, page 3
“Do you not typically do the books daily?”
“No, my lord. If you would like that to change, I can do them daily, starting in two days.”
There was a bite to her words, like she dared him to defy her. He longed to nibble on that plump lower lip, tug it and suck it into his mouth.
He laced his fingers and took his time in looking over her. “Two days then.” The moment she nodded, he added, “In the morning. I will feed you breakfast so be here early. There will be a lot to cover.”
He watched it, in her eyes, the desire to snip back at him. She wasn’t a fan of being told what to do. God, she was magnificent.
“Very good, my lord. I will see you in two days.” She curtsied and walked out.
The housekeeper stood there, watching their interaction.
“You can leave,” he said without looking at her again. He wanted to get up and go after Fyre, take her home.
Shit, it was dark out. He couldn’t have her walk.
Shooting to his feet, he was striding to the door before the housekeeper even made it from the room. He called for a footman and sent them after Fyre, to detain her while the carriage was readied.
She was off to the side when he was able to lay eyes on her once more, as he stepped outside. Phillip didn’t appreciate her expression, which he saw in the flickering torchlight.
He knew she saw him and he didn’t bother calling out her name, just held his hand out in her direction. Fyre hesitated for a moment before walking toward him.
The carriage rumbled up and the footman got the door. Phillip walked her up and pointed for her to get in.
“I told you I would see you got home. Did you think I would allow you to walk at night?”
“I walk all the time at night.”
He took her hand, not giving her the chance to refuse him. She stepped into the carriage and brushed against him, showering him with a scent he’d not smelled before being around this woman. What it was, he didn’t know, but he did know he longed for more of it. On him. Everywhere.
At the last moment he remembered to have a maid come along. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin her reputation.
I mean, I want it ruined so she will be mine but I will not do it this way.
The coach rocked as he climbed in after the maid and sat across from the women, his back to the horses.
The maid was confused but she didn’t say a word. Fyre, however, watched him with suspicion. He didn’t blame her, for his wants for this woman were definitely not anything for the faint of heart.
He was a lot of things, but a right bastard wasn’t one of them. So he would wait. Bide his time. And wear her down, one tantalizing touch after another.
Then he would be sated from his irrational need for this woman he’d just met today.
God, if his friends could see him now. Rafe and Lucien wouldn’t believe this. He’d been the reckless one. The bastard who didn’t think of anyone else’s needs but his own. Hell, he’d nearly ruined Lucien’s happiness because he’d been an ass.
He was lucky they were still speaking to him.
However, as he got older and watched their families grow, it only emphasized how alone he was. Usually he would just find a mistress and slake his hunger. But the second he’d laid eyes on Fyre, something else had taken over. His craving for her had been much deeper than simplistic lust. He wanted to be hers. Have her be his. Make his the only touch she craved. The only one she experienced. He wanted to hover over her as she arched into his touch and gasped his name in pleasure. Fuck, he longed to see her swell with his child.
I am in so much trouble.
A fact that was only illustrated further when the driver stuck his head in to ask where they were going.
* * * *
“What happened?”
Fyre groaned and rolled over as her brother repeated his insistent question.
“Elonne, this is my one day to sleep past dawn and you are in here squawking like a chicken. Leave me alone.”
“I have a bucket of cold water and I will use it.”
Coming from her brother, it wasn’t an idle threat. With an exaggerated groan, she sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes.
“What is so important that it can’t wait until I have coffee?”
The rich, heady scent filled her nostrils and her mouth watered in response. This was a delicacy that she’d become addicted to and she jealously guarded what beans she was able to get her hands on.
“I did not state I only had cold water.”
She still didn’t open her eyes for her brother, just accepted the warm, chipped cup and inhaled the fragrance once more. It curled around her like the warmth of the sea around their home. At first sip, she purred and finally opened her eyes.
Elonne watched her, shaking his head with amusement. Yet she could see the concern in his gaze.
“Everything is fine, Elonne. I explained the system to him. I go back tomorrow and will see if I have lost that account. If so, I am sorry. I never meant for that to happen.”
He sat beside her on the narrow bed and nudged her with his shoulder. “It is my fault, Fyre. I should have taken better care in regards to the new owner of Hawk’s Cove. It would be a large account to lose, but I can find more work.”
She drank in silence for a while before digging her toes into the thick rug by her bed, made by Elonne’s wife.
“Albie would be a thought if needed.” While she wasn’t a fan of working for him more, she would do it.
“No.” Her brother’s single-word refusal said it all. “Stay away from him, Fyre. He is no good.”
“I have no interest in him in such a way, Elonne. I only mentioned it because he has asked me a few times to work on his books.” Her brother wasn’t going to be happy to learn she already had the man on her schedule.
“He is not thinking books when he looks at you, Fyre. And before you argue with me, the next time he offers, tell him I can fit him in. He will back off and say something about waiting for you.”
“Just a thought.” Her words were barely above a whisper.
He draped an arm around her and hugged her tight. “I know you are just trying to help, but I worry. We worry about you.”
“And I tell you all that I am fine. I cannot work the fields like you do, but I can do this.”
He tugged on her hair that peeked below the wrap around her head. “You always had a penchant for numbers.”
“I hate you feel that you have to take care of me.”
Elonne growled. “Listen to me, little sister. I will always take care of you. It is not a chore.”
She finished her coffee. “It is. You have your wife and children. All I am is another mouth to feed.” She ignored that she lied to him, she knew the real reason.
“Not up for discussion. You are not a bother.”
But she was and she could see it on his wife’s face. No, she never said anything in front of Elonne, but the looks were there.
“I want a place of my own. Something small.”
“No.”
“Elonne, listen, I am three and twenty. I want to move out and I have money to do so. I also found a place.” She got off the bed and left the room, her clothes in hand to change into.
Her brother remained in her room when she came back dressed for the day. Braiding her hair, she didn’t look at him until she held on to the tip of her braid as she tied a red bow around it. She draped it forward over the left side of her neck, hiding what the collar of her dress could not.
Cup in hand, she left the room again, and this time he was on her heels, arguing with her.
Elonne’s wife Cara was in the small kitchen and she looked up, the expression on her features smoothing out when she spied Elonne.
“Morning, Gwen.”
Cara refused to call her Fyre.
“Good morning. Maybe you can help me convince Elonne my idea is the right one.”
“My wife sides with me, Fyre. She will agree with me, not you.”
Her dark eyes moving between the siblings, Cara waited.
“I think,” Fyre began.
“She thinks she should move out to her own place,” Elonne snapped.
Cara’s eyes grew wide. Fyre took advantage and pressed on. “It would be a small place, not too far away, and I would still be able to help out with the children, but they are growing and my room could be better used for one of them.”
She very deliberately did not mention assisting them with money anymore. Despite how Cara acted, Fyre more than earned her keep staying in this place with them.
“Tell her she is not going, Cara.”
Fyre watched her sister-in-law. For about a minute, she didn’t say anything. After she stirred whatever was on the stove, she sighed.
“I think we should support Gwen in this.”
As she’d expected, Elonne lost it. Her brother was a large man and could be extremely menacing, but she wasn’t going to back down.
Swallowing before she tried to get him to see it her way, Cara waited a moment then spoke again. Where her brother was large and loud, Cara never had to raise her voice to get her point made.
“She is a grown woman, Elonne. Why would she want to live with a married couple and their children?”
“Because we are family, and it is dangerous out there for her.”
“I am not leaving the town, Elonne. Just this house. I have never lived alone and you two have never been married without me in the house. At least let me give this a try. If it does not work, then I will come back.”
She had no intention of returning to this house.
She watched him think it over, then when his broad shoulders slumped when he looked at his wife, she knew he was caving.
“Fine.” He stomped off.
Fyre moved up beside Cara, who had returned her attention to her food.
“I know you did not do that for me, Cara, but thank you anyway.”
“Just make sure it works and you never have to come back here again to live.”
“Like I want to keep living with you.” Irritation rose, as was often the case when she dealt with this woman.
Cara narrowed her beady eyes. “You should be thanking me for letting you stay this long.”
“You should be grateful I contributed money to the coffers, given how much you like to spend. You will have to slow that down when I leave.”
Fyre walked back to her room and packed her meager belongings. She had somewhere to be and a place to rent.
Not long after, she walked along the dirt road, waving at the occasional passer-by. It was still far too early for most people to be up, well, the people who had servants to take care of things for them. The people she saw were the servants.
Stopping off at the baker’s, she knocked and smiled when Georges answered.
“Morning, Fyre.”
“Georges. I know it is early but I wanted to see if you were still willing to rent out that small place?”
“I am. Are you sure you want to take it?”
“I am positive.”
He smiled at her, the aged wrinkles in his face making her want to hug him. The man never failed to set her at ease.
“Marta was hoping you would be interested. She was not comfortable with having a man rent it as she is alone much of the time.”
“I would be happy to keep an eye on her.”
He opened the door and gestured. “Come in and we will eat fresh bread while we work out the details.”
Chapter Three
Her hands smoothed down his back, short nails digging into his skin as she tugged him closer. She arched her hips, taking him in deeper.
More.
He craved more of her. More of the moans. Groans. Mewls. Begging. Panting. Sweat. The way her slit clamped on his cock while he thrust deep inside her heat.
Dipping his head, he feathered kisses along her cheek until he could once again capture her mouth. Her flavor burst over his tongue as he drove it into her at the same pace as his hips delivered his shaft.
Silvered moonlight surrounded them, making her skin gleam with a softness that could have taken his heart if it hadn’t already been given. To her.
Legs high up around his waist, she undulated and rolled her hips, taking him deep and keeping up with every powerful stroke. He flexed the hand buried in her hair, holding her head where he could plunder her mouth as he wanted.
Fast, slow, deep, shallow. He couldn’t contain his movement.
Sweat ran down his skin, dropping onto the woman beneath him. Her eyes were nearly closed, but she watched him. He knew this because she made his blood burn when she watched him.
He dragged the hand that wasn’t sunk into her thick hair down her side, over the swell of one soft breast, moving along after pinching her nipple—an act that had another sharp gasp leaving her throat as her internal muscles gripped him harder.
Need hummed in his veins, popping and sizzling like lightning in a storm, and he knew he hovered along the edge of losing his control. He dipped his head and nipped at her lower lip after pulling back to stare down at her.
It wasn’t fair—her flawless skin, thick lashes. Full, pillowy lips that had enticed him from the moment he’d first met her. Watching them widen as he slid his length between her legs only served to increase the pain of holding his orgasm at bay.
“Phillip!” Her cry came on the heels of her tossing her head back, exposing her delicate throat to his view.
He skimmed his fingers along her hips before pushing between them and finding the little swollen nub there. Phillip flicked it, loving the response she gave. Everything went tighter, and for a woman who was tight anyway, this was another level of torture for him.
He took a little bite of her neck, then kissed away the sting as she bucked beneath him.
“More. Oh God, I need… Phillip…”
“Give it to me.” He pinched her bundle of nerves and held on as she squirmed.
Her short fingernails tore into his skin, body arching as a cry exploded from her mouth, filling the night sky. The moment she crested he let go of her clit and she cried out once more, coming hard again.
Slamming his mouth over hers, he ate the remainder of her screams as he thrust once more, gripping her hip, and released deep inside her. He stayed deep, filling her with his seed, and for the first time in his life hoping he got a woman with child. Not just any woman. Her.
He longed to see her swollen with his seed. Carrying their child.
Phillip’s eyes shot open as he lay in his huge bed. Alone. Except for the hard length of his cock, throbbing and demanding relief. His heart pounded and he struggled to breathe.
“My lord.”
It wasn’t easy to ignore his thickness but he did, sitting up and making sure the length stayed covered.
“What?”
The servant who had walked in went by the name of Lloyd, but more than that didn’t come to mind because all his thoughts were still focused on the erection between his legs and the dream he’d been having.
“You have a visitor, my lord.”
Phillip exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d not even had his first meal.
“Who is here, Lloyd?”
The man pulled back almost like he’d been struck at the use of his name. But, Phillip had to admit, he recovered quickly.
“Fyre. She states the two of you have an appointment this morning.”
His blood burst with pops of pleasure. The struggle to keep his smile contained was a serious battle.
“She is correct. Tell her I will be there momentarily. Put her in my office, bring some food and drink.”
“Very good, my lord.” A bow and he walked out, as quietly as he’d entered.
Phillip exhaled on a moan and fell back on the bed. He hadn’t known that she would show up in the morning. Honestly, he’d figured she would be by later in the day, after completing whatever other work she had to complete.
Then again, I did insist on morning and having breakfast with her.
He thought about how long she had to walk to get to his place. Anger simmered as he imagined her walking without any protection.
With a groan of capitulation, he wrapped his hand around his cock and fisted it. Slowly, he stroked. Up and down, squeezing and pinching to try to prolong his self-inflicted torture.
Then he remembered she was waiting for him. After that, it didn’t take long before he shot his seed into the sheet around his waist. After regaining his breath, he cleaned up and dressed in record time. By the time he hit the stairs, he’d found a bit more decorum.
Not completely honest, but he was hoping it didn’t look like he was a youth on his first trip to a brothel.
Handing out morning greetings to the staff as he passed them, he strode to his office, heart picking up in speed the closer he got.
He didn’t know what it was about this woman that made him crazy. If Lucien were not so far away, he would have asked him if this had happened to him with Ciara. However, his best friend was over in England.
Stepping into the room, Phillip scanned it and breathed a bit easier the moment he spied her. She stood by the far couch, hands clasped before her.
Lust knocked him hard, like he’d not just found release less than ten minutes ago.
“Good morning, Fyre.”
She didn’t jump but turned her head toward him, calm and collected. He hid another smile. She would be running the other way if she knew the thoughts that circled his mind when it came to her.
Her curtsey brought shafts of morning’s early light to glance along the purple of her dress.
“Good morning, my lord. I hope this was not too early for you.”
He smiled. “Of course not. I was just thinking about you.”
She stiffened and swallowed.
He moved closer to her. “Want to know what I was thinking?”
Fyre didn’t meet his gaze. “I am sure you will tell me if you feel it important, my lord.”
A quick glance around made him aware they were still alone. “It is, very.” She finally lifted her gaze to his. “I was thinking of—”
