The Devilish Trollop, page 4
She peeked down, warming even further as she saw what he saw. Her chemise and petticoat were soaked through and clinging to her body. The thin fabric did absolutely nothing to hide any part of her from his gaze whatsoever. She might as well have been standing naked before him. What was more, her nipples were as tight as pebbles, and the way she hugged herself only thrust her breasts up so that they were pointing straight at him.
“Oh,” she said, shifting restlessly and wriggling as her mind attempted in vain to decide whether she wanted to hide herself from him or let him look all he wanted. “Oh, my.”
From all appearances, Lord Whitlock was undecided himself. He looked to be debating whether to turn away to protect her modesty or to lunge at her, sweep her into his arms, and ravish her like a pirate. She rather hoped he would decide the latter.
All decisions were put on hold the moment a frog popped its head above the water only a few feet from where they stood.
“Get him,” Felicity yelped, turning to make a grab for the poor frog.
It evaded her reach, and she splashed in vain as she went after it.
“You’re catching frogs?” Lord Whitlock said at last, a smile breaking through the carnal heat in his eyes.
“Yes,” Felicity explained, making a swipe for another one that had come up to see what the bloody hell was going on.
“Why?” he asked. He edged his way around the lily pads, clearly having spotted a frog to catch himself. He made a lunge toward it, but the beast leapt out of his way.
“For a prank,” Felicity said, laughing openly. “Lady Malvis deserves a whole pond full of frogs in her wardrobe.”
Lord Whitlock joined her laughing. “She does indeed,” he said.
Felicity paused and straightened, delighted that he would see things her way. It made him seem even more handsome somehow. The mist rising off the pond complimented his dark good looks, and the water that slowly dampened his shirt and breeches as he doubled his efforts to catch frogs had the most dazzling effect on his overall appearance. Suddenly, the pond didn’t seem so cold after all.
“I would think that catching frogs to torment a fine lady of society would be beneath you, my lord,” she said, twisting so that she could jump after a frog herself.
“It’s Sully,” he said, missing a frog himself.
“I beg your pardon?” Felicity straightened, nearly losing her balance on the slippery pond bottom.
“My name.” He glanced in her direction, a rascally glint in his eyes. “Well, I suppose it’s Sullivan, but my friends call me Sully.”
“How charming,” she said, glancing sideways at him, her heart racing, as she snatched at another frog. “I’ve only ever been Felicity,” she said.
“It suits you,” he said with a nod. She was convinced he would have winked as well, but at that moment he spotted a particularly fat frog and darted his arms out, actually catching the thing.
Felicity shouted in wordless triumph, straightening and clapping her hands. The gesture also called her to slip on the pond bottom once more and to fall backward with a shriek. Fortunately, she’d waded to a part of the pond that was only inches deep and merely sat hard in the mud.
“Are you well?” Sully asked, suddenly full of concern, sloshing through the water toward her.
“Don’t let the frog go,” she called out, wiping wet hair from her face. “I brought a box.”
“Don’t let the…you brought a….” He laughed, shaking his head.
“Over there.” Felicity pointed to her abandoned things in the spot of moss, then gathered herself to stand.
“Are you certain you do not require assistance?” Sully asked as he waded to the shore, then carried the frog around the bank to the hat box.
“I need all manner of assistance,” Felicity murmured to herself, feeling wicked down to her core, which was aching deliciously, as she stood. “I am well,” she said aloud, dragging her sodden self to the bank and following him to her things under the willow.
She only realized how cold she truly was when she passed through a spot of breeze blowing between the sheltering trees. Then she squealed and hugged herself tight, rubbing her arms.
“You look chilled through,” Sully said with a grin as he straightened from securing the frog in the box.
“Perhaps I should have brought a net as you suggested,” she said with a laugh, or perhaps it was her teeth chattering.
“It surprises me to find you out of bed at such an early hour on such an errand to begin with,” he went on, crossing his arms and studying her with one raised eyebrow.
Felicity laughed, though she shook violently as she did. “There are a great many things about me that would surprise you, I’m certain.”
“I have no doubt,” he said, his tone decidedly suggestive.
Felicity could hardly contain the wriggling, excited sensations that swirled through her at his comment. He was so bold, so daring. She should have found the heat in his eyes and the obvious hunger in his gaze frightening, but she adored it. So few men had looked at her as an object of adoration. She was usually either a pariah or nothing more than a means to her father’s money. And Lord help her, but she wanted to encourage his inappropriate attention like a trollop.
“And what are you doing out and about at such an hour?” she asked through still-chattering teeth.
“Taking my morning constitutional,” he said, stepping slowly toward her and letting his arms drop. “Avoiding the company of a great many men I do not know and do not particularly wish to know. Rescuing frog-hunting ladies who look as though they might freeze to death.”
“I am cold,” Felicity admitted.
“Then let me warm you,” he said, lowering his voice to a delicious purr, as he slipped an arm around her waist and yanked her against him.
The shock of finding herself pressed against the warm bulk of his form with nothing but her wet underthings and his shirt and breeches between them was one thing, but the way he tipped her head back and slanted his mouth over hers was beyond astounding. She should have been terrified by his aggression or questioned it at the very least, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to feel anything but heat. She’d kissed men before, passionately, even, but it was nothing compared to the way Sully enveloped her entire being.
His lips were magical against hers, but not half so much as his tongue when he slipped it alongside hers, invading her mouth. She moaned deep in her throat at the sensation and the taste of him. His hands traveled boldly up her sides, pushing aside the wet fabric of her chemise to close around the bare skin of her torso. And when he moved one hand up to cup her heavy breast under the wet fabric, rolling her tight, sensitive nipple against his palm, she made a sound so primal and needy that it fired her blood even hotter.
“It seems as though you are warming up quickly,” he said, his tone wolfish.
“Oh, yes,” she hummed, grabbing handfuls of his shirt against his back and tugging it up so that she could smooth her hands along the flesh of his back. “But I’m not the only one.”
Indeed, heat radiated from him, and the spear of his erection pressed against her belly. She was seized with the wild notion that she wanted to unbutton his breeches and bring his cock out into the light of day so that she could play with it. A few, silly fumbles with one of her brother’s friends years ago, when they were too young to really know what they were doing, had left Felicity curious and hungry for more, and now her chance to explore the mystery of the male body further was upon her.
“This won’t do,” Sully murmured, nuzzling her neck and trailing kisses against her throat as his hands explored her. “We simply must get you out of these wet things.”
“Yes, we must,” she hummed, not caring how immoral it was.
He answered with an intake of breath, as though he hadn’t expected her answer to be so acquiescent, and reached for the ties at the back of her petticoat. With one sharp tug, he loosened the drawstring. The weight of the water instantly pulled the sodden skirts over her hips, and with one quick push, the whole thing pooled in a cold puddle around her feet. He followed that by brushing her chemise up over her head, leaving her utterly naked and shivering for a variety of reasons in front of him.
“You’re like some sort of wicked water nymph,” he said, his words breathless, as he stepped back to look at her.
“Perhaps I am,” she said, biting her lip and making eyes at him, even though she wasn’t quite sure what to do with her exposed body.
As it turned out, she didn’t need to know. He swept her back into his arms, sliding his hands over her chilled skin and the hot flesh beneath it before scooping a hand between her legs and lifting her. She straddled his waist on instinct, then gasped as his fingers delved impossibly deep between her legs.
“My, but you are wet,” he growled as he turned to carry her a few yards under the willow tree to the patch of moss.
Somehow he managed to sink onto the moss, spreading Felicity on her back in the most scandalously sensual position she could imagine. The cold ceased to matter to her. The open air and possibility of being seen was a dot at the edge of her thoughts. She stretched her arms above her head, wriggling and stretching beneath him in way she knew full well was wicked.
He responded with a groan, rocking back to his haunches and peeling his shirt up over his head. Felicity watched, her mouth dropping open with desire, as the hard lines of his chest and abdomen were revealed. He was masculine in every way, from the width of his shoulders to the hair on his chest. And when he unbuttoned his breeches and pushed them down over his hips, sending his erection springing straight up, she gasped.
He was large, bigger than any of her brother’s friends had been. His staff was thick and rigid, its tip flared and already shining with moisture. His balls were drawn up under the base of his staff, adding to the delicious sensation that, at last, she was in the presence of a real man.
“I don’t know which I want more,” he growled, taking hold of his cock and stroking it. “To fuck you or to toss off while watching you like this.”
“Perhaps I can help you to decide,” she said, dragging her gaze from the marvelous things his hand was doing to his cock, up to his eyes.
She bit her lip and grinned, then slowly drew her arms down, brushing the side of her face with one hand, then caressing her own body. It was wicked. It was scandalous. It was utterly immoral. But the fire that raged in Sully’s eyes as she fondled her own breasts, teasing her nipples into even tighter peaks, was irresistible. It flared hotter when she let one of her hands drift lower across her belly, reaching between the dark curls on her mons.
She’d pleasured herself more times than she could count before—yet another delicious thing she’d learned while under the roof of Miss Dobson’s School—but there was something a thousand times more arousing about stroking herself while a man, while Sully, watched her do it. The glorious tension of building pleasure was more potent by far as his eyes followed the movement of her hands. She enjoyed it so much that she opened her hips farther to give him a complete view of her sex.
“You wicked woman,” he gasped, pumping himself harder. His whole body flushed pink with cold and heat combined.
Felicity wasn’t sure how long she could hold out under such an onslaught of pleasure. A part of her burned to have him plunge his magnificent cock inside of her, taking her with all the thoroughness of Zeus himself. But another part of her was curious to see him unman himself where he was, to see the completion of the male act as she’d completed herself so many times before.
“I wager I can come before you do,” she sighed, feeling as though she was within inches of the brink already.
He growled a particularly vulgar curse as he worked himself, looking as though he might burst into pieces at any moment. That in itself was enough to send her over the edge. She sucked in a breath, then let it out in an exaggerated cry as her body throbbed into orgasm. She writhed with pleasure, her legs spread so that he could see every pulse of her sex as he knelt between her knees. Her pleasure felt doubly good, knowing he was witnessing it.
That was all it took for him to come undone himself. Felicity watched in fascination as he tensed, clenching his jaw over a groan, as milky-white liquid erupted from his cock. It spilled across her belly as he pumped every last drop, then hunched forward, letting out a deep breath of satisfaction. He caught himself with his arms on either side of her, panting for a moment, then sagged to cover her body with his.
The heat and the weight of him were perfect. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, humming low in her throat with satisfaction, as if they’d completed the act instead of merely imitating it in their own way. She felt as though she belonged exactly where she was, entwined with him, feeling the pounding of his heart against hers and the heat of his softening cock pressed against her sex.
“I feel quite sufficiently warm now,” she said breathlessly, raking her fingers through his hair as she clasped him close. “Though I don’t expect I’ll be dry any time soon.”
She wasn’t certain how she expected him to respond, but his laughter tickled her heart. He regained enough strength to roll to his side, bringing her with him. “I’m sure I’ll regret that once I have the ability to think about it,” he said. Felicity’s soaring spirits sank a bit, at least until he added, “Next time, we fuck.”
She couldn’t help but giggle as she nuzzled against him. It was such a short sentence, only four words, but every bit of it elated her, filling her with hope. He wanted to tangle with her again, and he wanted to do so much more than they’d just done. And while she wasn’t naïve enough to think that his carnal attention was tantamount to an offer of marriage, he was everything her father had charged her with finding in a husband, and she was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was exactly what he was looking for and then some.
“I knew this house party would provide—”
She got no further before the rumble of male voices far too close shook her to her core. She tensed, and Sully tensed around her, twisting just enough to shield her body from whoever was passing, should they come close enough to spot the two of them. Worse still, as they came closer, she recognized one of the voices as that of Lord Cunningham.
They held their breath. Felicity put everything she had into remaining absolutely still. She willed her heart to stop beating so loudly, but in vain.
“…and, of course, I said to him that if he was going to convince me to bet on a bitch like that, he would have to show me her pedigree to boot,” Lord Cunningham said.
His companion laughed and they came far, far too close for Felicity’s comfort, but they seemed to move on without breaking stride.
“Cloverton’s bitches are excellent,” the other man said as they passed and their voices and footsteps in the grass began to subside. “I’ve had one from him myself.”
Felicity hoped the men were talking about dogs, but with the likes of Lord Cunningham, there was no way to tell. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she and Sully hadn’t been seen.
Several minutes later, when everything was silent again, Sully finally let out a breath and sank to the side. “That was devilishly close.”
“It was,” Felicity agreed. She sat up, reaching for a tuft of grass to wipe away what Sully had left on her, suddenly questioning the wisdom of her actions. “I should get back to the house,” she said, glancing warily to Sully.
“We both should,” he said, rolling to his knees and yanking his breeches—which he’d never fully removed—back up to his waist. Felicity’s sudden fears were banished when he grinned at her. “What a surprising way to pass a morning.” His eyes raked her body hungrily once more before a bit of sense returned to his expression. “Do you need help putting yourself to rights?”
“No, I can manage,” she said, even as he jumped up to retrieve his shirt and then her soaked petticoat and chemise. Her garments were ruined, of course, but he was kind to fetch them for her anyhow.
She was halfway through dressing when he said, “I’d like to spend more time with you, if I may.”
She finished wriggling into her gown, then paused before reaching behind her to do up the ties. “I’d like that as well,” she said with a smile.
He gestured for her to turn around so that he could tie her gown for her. As he did, he leaned in closer to say, “We’ve unfinished business between us, after all.”
A delicious ripple of lust passed through her, igniting everything that had just finished burning all over again. “I’d like that too,” she said, twisting to press herself against him. “I think I’d like a great many things.” She punctuated her comment by sliding her hand over the front of his breeches and squeezing.
He made a sound of appreciation deep in his throat and closed his eyes for a moment, grinning as though he’d discovered a treasure trove. “I’d better go,” he said at last. “It wouldn’t do for us to be seen sneaking back into the house together. Not in this state.”
“You’re right,” Felicity whispered, taking a step back. “Go. We will see each other later.”
He turned to head off, winking at her as though promising they would repeat their encounter and then some at the earliest possible convenience.
Felicity watched him go, then sighed happily and set about collecting her wrapper and the hat box, which, happily, still contained a frog. She had to find her friends, and the sooner the better. They wouldn’t believe the delicious trouble she’d already gotten herself into.
Chapter 4
Dazzled. That was the only word to describe it. Sully stepped out of the canopy of willows surrounding one end of the pond and onto the damp grass of the hillside that stretched up to the house with a feeling as though he were stepping out of an enchanted realm. He glanced over his shoulder, catching a faint glimpse of Felicity gathering up the rest of her things, then pushed himself on. She was correct in saying that it wouldn’t do for the two of them to be seen together at such an odd hour, and he was certain he looked exactly the way he felt—as though he’d had a good tumble.
