Captured by a Gentleman (Regency Unlaced 6) (11 page)

Her pride was one of the few things she had left.

Her parents were gone.

Her home was sold.

Having run away from her uncle’s house, she had also forgone her place in Society. And along with it, any chance she might have had of ever making a suitable marriage.

“You are at liberty to end our arrangement whenever you wish.”

She glanced quickly at Ranulf, knowing by the coldness of his expression and in his eyes as he looked down the length of his nose at her, he knew exactly what she was thinking. That he expected, even wished, for her to bring an end to the intimate side of their association.

She straightened her shoulders. “I am not ready to do that just yet.”

His expression was only marginally less stern as he gave an acknowledging inclination of his head.

“I am, however,” Darcy continued firmly, “of the opinion we should continue on to Scotland rather than return to London.”

“Your reason being…?”

“That I have no wish to return to London. Now or at any other time.”

“And I am to consider that in my decision?”

Temper burned in her cheeks at his mocking tone. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“When you are done amusing yourself with me, you may leave me wherever you wish along the way, and then decide for yourself whether you wish to continue to Scotland or return to London.”

Ranulf’s eyes narrowed. “And if I am
not done amusing myself with you
until we reach Scotland? It is a long and tedious journey, after all,” he added insultingly.

“Then I will find a home for myself in Scotland. Perhaps there might even be a cottage on the Montgomery estate I could rent from your cousin.” Her mood lightened a little at the thought of living close to Ranulf, even if the two of them were no longer lovers. She was not too proud to want to live near the man she loved, even if he would never be hers.

“There would be no need to end our arrangement if that were the case.” Strange how much Ranulf liked the idea of having Darcy living conveniently close enough to continue their intimate association, when minutes ago, he had given her the opportunity to end it. He—

“The carriage is all secure and ready to depart now, Mr. Montgomery.”

He glanced at Graves standing several feet away from them. The blandness of the older man’s expression did not reveal if he had overheard any of their conversation. Not that it mattered if he had; it would soon become obvious Darcy was sharing Ranulf’s bedchamber in whatever roadside inn they spent the night.

“Scotland,” he instructed the coach driver as he took a firm hold of Darcy’s arm and accompanied and then assisted her into the carriage. He sat on the seat opposite her, barely waiting for the carriage door to close behind them before pulling the curtains across the windows. “Unfasten the bodice of your gown and bare your breasts.” These past few minutes of arguing with Darcy had roused his passions, his cock now a throbbing ache inside his pantaloons.

Her fingers shook slightly as she obeyed. A relieved sigh left her lips as the material no longer chafed against her sensitive flesh.

“I said bare them.”

Her fingers clenched on the material of her gown. “Have I not made it clear my surrender was not an invitation to treat me with a lack of respect?”

“How should I treat you, then?”

“Without subjugation or humiliation.”

“I have no wish to humiliate you.”

“Or subjugate me?”

He shrugged. “There is a fine line between surrender and subjugation.”

“Then might I suggest you go only as far as that line?”

He nodded. “On the understanding you will allow that I have more experience in these matters. That I will never ask you for more than I know you have to give or can take.”

Considering her uncontrollable reaction to him, Darcy was not altogether sure this was much of a concession on Ranulf’s part. Once he began touching her, caressing her, she lost all sense of what she could or could not give. Of what was surrender and what was subjugation. At those times, she wished only to pleasure Ranulf and for him to pleasure her.

“Will you please bare your breasts for me now?” he encouraged.

Darcy’s gown
was
so very uncomfortable against her bare skin, and Ranulf
had
asked nicely. She held his gaze as she slowly parted the front of her gown and bared her breasts.

Ranulf was the first to break their gaze as he looked hungrily at her breasts. “Delicious.”

Darcy glanced down, her cheeks flushing hotly as she saw her nipples were bright red and fully engorged. In fact, they seemed larger than they used to be, no doubt from Ranulf’s recent manipulations. “They are exceedingly sore.”

“Making them even more sensitive.” Ranulf crossed the coach to sit beside her. “Would you allow me to suckle them? I will be gentle,” he assured her as her eyes widened. “My saliva may help ease the soreness.”

Darcy could find no argument with that. Besides which, she wanted Ranulf’s mouth on her. “You will stop if it hurts?”

“You like a little pain with the pleasure, Darcy…” he reminded her.

Darcy had no idea what that made her, only knew that it was true. Last night, Ranulf had pushed her to the edge of that pain. And she had enjoyed every moment of it.

Even if she was suffering for it today.

“Very well.” She settled back against the seat as she offered her bared breasts to him.

He chuckled. “That was not so difficult, was it?”

Not difficult at all. It became even less so as she was unable to take her gaze from Ranulf as he licked and swirled the wetness of his tongue over her sore nipples, each in turn, until Darcy was completely malleable and panting with pleasure.

He raised his head to look at her. “I am going to kiss you now.”

“I would like— What are you doing?” She gasped her surprise as, instead of kissing her on the mouth as she had expected him to, Ranulf instead moved to kneel between her parted legs.

He pushed the skirt of her gown up to her naked thighs, glancing up at her with wickedly gleaming eyes. “Are you not a little sore here too?” His fingers caressed lightly along her swollen and wet nether lips, and then up to the hard nubbin above.

Well. Yes. She was. Just a little sore. But was this not the height of embarrassment, to have Ranulf looking at her as he pleasured her there?

Last night, it had been candlelight as they made love, but here in the carriage, despite those pulled curtains, it was fully light of day. Ranulf could see, as she could when she looked down, all of her intimate parts. Her red-gold curls. Her plumped nether lips, slick with the juices created by his having minutes ago suckled and licked her nipples. The nubbin above fully erect and peeping out, red and swollen, from amongst those red-gold curls.

“What is that called?”

“Hmm?”

Her cheeks burned. “The little nubbin that becomes erect like a man’s cock. What is it called?”

“The clitoris.”

Clitoris.

It sounded like the name of a flower or—

Oh dear God!

This could not be happening. Could it…?

Ranulf has placed his mouth on my pussy lips, and he is now kissing me
there
!

Darcy had never dreamed of sharing such intense intimacy with any man.

His tongue now swirled along the seam of her nether lips and then over and against that nubbin above. The growth of stubble on his unshaven jaw was an added pleasurable rasp against her highly sensitized flesh.

She exhaled shakily, her limbs starting to shake, as she felt Ranulf’s fingers parting and holding open the entrance to her channel, before the heat of his tongue slipped inside.

His tongue was nowhere near the length or girth of his fingers, and yet Darcy felt filled to capacity as he began to thrust that rigidness in and out of her slick pussy.

God, even thinking those naughty words deepened her excitement!

She felt totally wanton, owned, as she parted her legs even wider and she raised her hips to meet those increasingly rapid thrusts. Pleasure swirled and gathered inside her, and she groaned low in her throat as Ranulf’s fingers stroked her clitoris. Such a pretty name for such a—

She let out a gasp as Ranulf removed his tongue from her pussy and replaced it with two of his long fingers, stroking a knot of nerves inside her as he began to thrust deeply.

The world coalesced into a rainbow of colors and pleasure the moment Ranulf placed his mouth over her clitoris and began to suck on it, his tongue probing and stroking that erect nubbin until he had extracted every last measure of her release.

Chapter 9

“I cannot,” Darcy protested. “It is too— What if Graves should open the carriage door and
see
?”

“We will know the moment he stops the carriage.” Ranulf, now returned to his seat opposite her, dismissed her objection to his request she remain seated exactly as she was.

He had never seen anything so beautiful and desirable in his life. The skirt of Darcy’s gown was up about her waist, her legs still parted. The latter fully revealed the folds of her pussy, glistening and slick with her release. Her bare breasts jiggled enticingly with each bump of the carriage wheels on the uneven surface of the road.

“I feel far too exposed.” She squirmed her discomfort with that vulnerability.

Ranulf narrowed his eyes. Of course she felt exposed. She
was
exposed. And he was loving every second of it. “We are newly lovers…but is this your way of asking for another spanking for once again disobeying me?”

“No! No, of course not…” The feverish glitter in her eyes gave instant lie to her denial. “But would you not like me to—”

“I would like you to remain seated exactly as you are.”

“But… I will do as you ask,” she agreed hastily as Ranulf moved as if about to rise. “It is not very ladylike, that is all,” she muttered under her breath.

Ranulf tried, he tried very hard for half a minute or so, not to give in to the threatening laughter.

He lost the battle.

Darcy frowned at Ranulf as he burst out laughing, her frown easing a little as she saw how boyish that humor made him appear. “I fail to see what is so funny. How would you like it if I asked you to sit there with your—your cock exposed, for all to gape at?”

He laughed all the harder.

Several seconds later, Darcy joined in. She had no idea why, only that his laughter was infectious. He looked years younger when he laughed, and more like the happy man she had first seen a year ago. Perhaps it was even worth this discomfort to see that…

“There is no way you can remain ladylike and fully enjoy and explore lovemaking in the way I wish us to.” He finally dismissed, his mouth still curved into a smile, green gaze warm.

Darcy was afraid he was right. And there was no denying the effect of Ranulf’s lovemaking on her.

“Come over here and sit beside me,” he invited.

She tilted her head. “With or without my gown up to my waist and my breasts hanging out of the bodice?”

His mouth twitched as if he were on the edge of more laughter. “Gown down, breasts out.”

The moment Darcy rose to her feet, the skirt of her gown fell down to her ankles, but there was nothing she could do to hide the jiggling of her exposed breasts as she was forced to bend over slightly in order to cross the carriage and sit at Ranulf’s side. “Now what shall we do?”

“Now you will sit and enjoy the view of the countryside.” He pulled back the curtains on the window beside him. “And I shall sit and enjoy you.” His arm moved behind her and across her shoulders, allowing his hand to drape down and capture one of her breasts. “You have the most responsive nipples,” he murmured appreciatively as he began to tweak and squeeze the swollen berry.

Darcy attained her release twice more, from only the stimulation of Ranulf playing with her nipples, before the carriage pulled into the coaching inn for lunch. Ranulf had not climaxed even once.

If not for the fact she could see the outline of his engorged cock pressing against his pantaloons as they entered the inn, Darcy would have thought Ranulf immune to their lovemaking. He stood in front of a window with his back toward the room, unspeaking, the tenting of his pantaloons hidden from view, once they had entered the private parlor and their luncheon was being served.

The landlord and a young maid had barely departed after delivering their cold luncheon when Ranulf turned, his expression urgent. “Lift the back of your skirt up and bend over this chair,” he instructed as he moved a chair to the middle of the room. He continued on to lock the parlor door.

Darcy eyed him uncertainly. “Are you going to spank me again?”

“Absolutely not.” There was a flush to his cheeks, his eyes feverish as he crossed the room in two long strides before bending her over the chair himself and then throwing up her skirts.

There was the rustle of clothing behind her. Darcy gave a gasp when she felt the silken length of Ranulf’s bared and rigid cock sliding between her thighs.

Ranulf grasped hold of her hips to hold her in place. “I will not penetrate… I just need… All those hours… Why did I not realize the torment would be on me, not you!” he ground out as he began to thrust and then pound his cock like a man possessed, against and along her nether lips and clitoris.

Or a man who could not wait a second longer to attain his own release.

“Squeeze your thighs more tightly together,” he instructed fiercely.

Darcy closed and clamped her thighs, imprisoning his cock, her knuckles white as she held on to the chair to push back and meet each of Ranulf’s thrusts.

“God, yes! Harder! Tighter!” His shout was harsh.

Her head was bent forward as she watched the bulbous head of Ranulf’s cock appear between her thighs every time his hips snapped forward. It was a deep and engorged red, the skin fully pulled back, and becoming slicker and wetter with her juices each time it bounced against her clitoris before once again retreating.

His thrusts became more urgent, desperate, and then erratic as he let out a shout and his cock began to pulse and throb, shooting long ropes of thick, creamy release all over Darcy’s thighs, her pussy, and the back of the chair.