Mistress By Mistake (7 page)

He held the spoon, empty now, and traced a pattern on her inner thigh as the raspberry fool slithered downward. The edge of the spoon tickled as Bay wrote his secret message. What was he writing? What was he waiting for? She wouldn’t bother begging him to stop. She couldn’t beg him to begin.

He took a step back, appraising her again from head to toe. She was open to him, splayed as wide as he could tie her without causing discomfort. She flushed, embarrassed that he would see just how anxious she was for him. There was no use in pretending she wasn’t interested—her nipples were as rosy and firm as fresh berries.
She
was dessert, a banquet of carnal pleasures.

And then he bent to her. Finally. She had no choice but to accept his wicked ministrations, and she had no desire to do anything else. He parted her folds, slipping one long warm finger, then two, in and out of her passage as he laved her center. The cold of the cream, the heat of his mouth on her bud sent spirals of hunger deep within. And he was still dressed, denying her access to what she needed beyond need.

She shut her eyes and let him take her over the edge, not that there was any other place for her to go. She was at the mercy of a master seducer whose patient skill wiped away the reality of the room. There was no point to looking at a painted heaven on the ceiling when Bay was escorting her to his own particular paradise. Charlotte was aware of every lick and stroke, every breath, every ripple. Her skin was on fire, her voice hoarse. And still he did not stop, when one would have to be blind and certainly deaf not to know that she had been flung off the earth too many times to count. Even if her hands had been free, she could not have pushed him away for all the ruby necklaces in the world. The exquisite tug and tingle on her most private place went beyond anything she had ever felt. His lips, his teeth, his fingers worked in wicked concert. The man was a fiend. A talented one who knew precisely how to unlock the prim Charlotte from her prison and set her free. Too free. She would drown and disappear in her freedom, swept away by forces she’d never imagined.

The waves came hard, one after another until she lost her voice completely. How had she lived for thirty years not knowing such a thing was possible and so necessary? Two days with Bay had completely ruined her for her cottage and cats.

Mrs. Kelly’s sister had made raspberry fool often when Bay was a boy, apparently using the very same recipe. He licked the familiar tart and sweet concoction from Charlie’s soft white skin, savoring her shivers and his memories of innocence. He was no longer innocent, of course, which suited the occasion, for he was going to brand Charlie Fallon with his teeth and tongue. She would not think to brain him with brass candlesticks again, or run away, or steal from him. He intended to make her his slave to passion, and from her quaking and quick breaths, he was halfway there.

He shut his insistent erection from his mind, concentrating on her pleasure, lapping the cream from each fruit-stained nipple, drawing her flesh into his mouth, suckling. Her eyes were closed, but her lips were in their telltale position of transcendence. Little rabbit. He smoothed his hand down her body, combing his fingers through her springy black curls. The contrast between her midnight hair and pearl skin was totally erotic to him. She was a creature of extremes, going from governess to goddess. From rabbit to tigress. He spooned out more raspberry fool from the crystal bowl, coating her nether lips and her own berry within.

And then he feasted. Her tang mixed with the taste of the dessert nearly unmanned him. He buried his nose in her fragrant curls, inhaling raspberries and her citrus perfume. His patient sampling of her swollen center was rewarded as she strained against her bonds, crying his name at each orgasmic jolt.
This
was the true torture, to keep her flying higher and higher until she begged him to stop. And he would not. Could not.

When he was sure she had no more fight left in her, he cut the ropes, shedding his clothes before he disgraced himself like a schoolboy. She curled around him like a cat, every inch of her skin seeking his. His cock drove into her sweet heat and he kissed her, gifting her with her own essence. She shattered and he deepened the kiss, feeling that she was branding him now, making him a slave to
her
. He was plummeting, spinning, losing his bearings.

But now she caught him. Ensnared him in her honeyed trap. Anchored him inside her, her legs wrapped around him, hips soaring up to complete the job he’d started. Control had shifted, and it was she who drove him in deeper, she who held him so tight. She who robbed his mind and rocked his body like the expert she was.

Sex was supposed to be simple, elemental. But there was something about Charlie Fallon that complicated their coupling. She was everything he loathed—a manipulative woman—yet he couldn’t get enough of her. The taste of her, with or without raspberry fool. The feel of her. The orange-y scent of her, which made him hungry to kiss her everywhere all over again.

She was a thief. A liar. A whore. And right now, those words meant nothing at all.

C
harlotte’s body felt like it had been brutally beaten, but the truth was she had been pounded with bliss all through the night. When she woke up, all traces of Bay and what they’d shared were gone, save for the smudge of chocolate frosting on the pillowcase. At some point, he had painted her lips with the corner of a petit four, then licked her clean. The leftover fool had not gone to waste either. His cock had looked a bit silly cloaked in pink fluff when she’d taken her turn to do the licking. She’d lost count of the number of times they had brought each other to exaltation.

Charlotte struggled to sit up. The tray, even the squashed figs, had disappeared. She must have slept like the dead. She
must
stop drinking, although each bubble of champagne had burst on her tongue like a delicious explosion. She and Bay had consumed a second bottle at midnight during a slight lull in the festivities. Charlotte was uncertain precisely when she’d fallen asleep, but judging from the brightness in the room, she’d slept half the day away.

She couldn’t blame the wine for the abandon she’d exhibited. But she could blame Bay. The man was a tireless seducer. As his mistress, she was supposed to seduce
him,
but he had given her very little opportunity.

She was resigned now to her role, possibly reveled in it. Poor Deb did not know what she was missing. Marriage and respectability were all very well, Charlotte supposed, but she would not trade Deb’s new life for hers. Who could imagine that Charlotte was the more wicked of the Fallon sisters?

Sighing, she got out of bed and put on her robe. There was fresh water in the dressing room, quite cold now, but that’s just what she needed. She was significantly sticky. When Irene came up, she’d order a bath.

No. Irene had been given an impromptu vacation. Charlotte would have to haul the bathwater up on her own. She wouldn’t want Mrs. Kelly straining herself. To lose a cook of her caliber would be a sin.

Bay poked his head into the dressing room. “Ah, Sleeping Beauty. Up at last.”

Charlotte had not expected to see him. In daylight, their night seemed even more delectably decadent. “G-good morning, Bay.” He was still wearing his black robe, but looked far fresher than she was feeling.

“Mrs. Kelly has breakfast for us in the dining room. Just come as you are. We won’t stand on ceremony. Afterward, I’ll bathe you.”

Charlotte stared at him, shocked. She hadn’t been bathed by anybody since she was a baby. Her streak of modesty, up until she had encountered Sir Michael Xavier Bayard, had been deep and wide. Surely a protector was supposed to go off in the daytime and protect his club or his finances or something, leaving his mistress to her own devices.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Bay approached her, a grin on his face. He picked a sugared almond out of her tangled hair and popped it in his mouth. “Oh, Charlie, it’s very necessary. We both are disgracefully dirty. And as you can see, the tub is plenty big enough for two.”

Good Lord
. Was she to have no privacy? But perhaps he just wanted to keep an eye on her so she wouldn’t try to bolt again. Her stomach rumbled and reminded her that the first order of business was breakfast. She’d think about the bath and bolting later.

Charlotte followed Bay down the carpeted stairs. Her boots were probably ruined after spending the night out of doors, and now she didn’t have a nightgown either. There were any number of things she wanted to speak to Bay about, but her mama always said a man had to eat before he could think. The sideboard was spread with enough food to feed every mistress on the street. Charlotte helped herself to eggs, toast, and a bowl of stewed fruit. She watched Bay load his plate with a variety of meats and shuddered. There was no need of meat in the morning. Then the hall clock struck once and she realized he was entitled to whatever he wanted.

She had never slept so late in her life. She had never had so much reason to sleep late. Lifting her tea to her lips, she peeked over the cup’s rim at Bay, who was reading a newspaper and enjoying a forkful of sausage. He looked handsome even ingesting pork products. Suddenly, he stopped chewing.

“The announcement is in the
Times
.”

“What announcement?”

“‘Lately, Arthur Alistair Bannister, Esq., Bard’s End, Elham, Canterbury, Kent to Miss Deborah Elizabeth Fallon, by special license.’”

Bard’s End! That was it. “Does it say anything else?”

“Not a word. No mention of his father the Earl of Cranmore and no mention of Jane Street for your sister, needless to say. I daresay the earl is having an apoplexy right about now.”

“Arthur could have done worse,” Charlotte said loyally.

“And could have done better, but let’s not argue. I wonder where they are. Are you
sure
she didn’t drop any hints?”

Charlotte had hardly paid attention as Deborah babbled on four days ago. Was it possible it was only four days? Quite a lot had transpired. The only thing she remembered definitively was ‘the Continent,’ which had comprised far too many countries in her geography book when she was a girl. She shook her head.

“Well, I daresay they’ll turn up somewhere. I have half a mind to go see Cranmore.” He tossed the paper down.

She pushed her eggs to one side, her appetite gone. “Why would you?”

“Perhaps he could talk some sense into his son.”

“Oh, Bay. If you were to tell the Earl of Cranmore that his new daughter-in-law stole your necklace, she’d never get Arthur’s family to accept her. Please don’t.”

“You are softhearted, aren’t you? After what your sister did, I don’t see how you can defend her. Unless—”

She saw the muscle clench in his jaw. “Unless I helped her trick you, you mean. When will you believe I had nothing to do with all this? I was just minding my own business, fast asleep—”

“In
my
bed.”

Charlotte waved his words away. “Fast asleep and having the most beautiful dream. It has become a nightmare I cannot wake from.”

His black eyes glittered. “A nightmare? I did not get the impression you felt that way last night. Or this morning.”

Charlotte stood up. “Perhaps I became somewhat deranged after being tied up naked for hours, inhaling fumes from your assault on my headwear. I obviously lost my mind.”

“I’ll be happy to help you find it.” Bay threw his fork down with a clatter.

“I doubt you could find anything as your head is wedged so far up your—” Charlotte gasped as Bay scooped her up and headed up the stairs. “Put me down!”

“With the greatest of pleasure. In my bed. Where you belong.” She pummeled his shoulders but he just squeezed her tighter. Changing her tactics, she let her body go limp.

“Playing dead, are we? That won’t last long.”

He wasn’t even winded carrying her, and she was no sylph. How she hated him. He didn’t trust her, yet lusted for her. It made no sense to Charlotte at all. But soon she was too busy to analyze the mystery of his male mind, when there were other male parts to attend to.

He could feel her eyes as he plodded back and forth with the water pails. If they needed a bath before, it was now absolutely essential. The cloud of Charlotte’s scent and sex was imprinted on him. He hadn’t smelled this feminine since his army days in Spain when he’d been a guest at a very pleasant brothel. Those days were thankfully behind him. He’d survived without a scratch.

Except for the rakish scar on his cheek. He had received that wound not on the battlefield, but while home on leave. He’d been told it only enhanced his beauty, but beauty was as beauty did. He felt far from beautiful. There was something about Charlie Fallon that brought out the beast in him.

She very probably was innocent, at least initially. But she had made up for lost time when she tried to steal his paintings and cosh him on the head. He didn’t trust her an inch. The only way to subdue her was to fuck her senseless, which he had done, and quite masterfully if he said so himself. He needed to find her sister and get Charlotte out of his house and back to Little Hiccup before he was saddled with her permanently.

He was afraid his little thief was addictive despite all her starchy primness, maybe because of it. Charlie Fallon almost seemed the sort of woman one might marry, if one were so inclined. But she hadn’t been a virgin, so how prim could she be? If she had a sad story, he didn’t want to hear it. The sooner he got rid of her, the happier he would be.

After his bath, he’d go home and see if there was news from Mr. Mulgrew. Right now, he was going to wash every glistening square inch of Charlie’s skin. He arranged the bath table with soap, sponges, and pitchers. Rubbing his jaw, he decided he’d shave later at home. There was no point in letting Charlie near a razor.

She hadn’t moved from the bed, but was not asleep. Her cornflower-blue eyes were focused on the ceiling, the tempera home to all the angels Angelique had insisted upon. It was not his best work, and his neck had gotten an awful crick painting it. How Michelangelo had endured the Sistine Chapel truly was a miracle. Bay would have been much happier with a mirror over the bed.

“Everything is ready.”

Charlotte twisted the sheet around her. “You go ahead. I’ll bathe after you finish.”

“Indeed you will not.” He strode over and lifted her from the bed.

“Oh, do stop carrying me around like a sack of coal! Am I to be completely at your mercy, even my ablutions?”

He dropped her into the tub with a splash. “Exactly so. You are at my mercy, and I will have my wicked way with you.” She scooted to one end as he unbuttoned the placket of his breeches. Just holding her in his arms for a few steps had made him hard again.

She rolled her eyes. “Please. Not again.”

“No? I’ll give you the opportunity to change your mind.” Her breasts bobbed in the deep tub, two snowy orbs tipped with pale pink. He climbed in and stretched his toes to tickle her sweet rounded tummy. “Come here.”

“I’m fine where I am.” She covered her breasts with her arms. Bay felt a pang.

“Very well.” He picked up one bar of lime-scented soap, lathering his hands. He scrubbed his head, neck and face, knowing all the while she hoped he was getting soap in his eyes. He reached for a pitcher and rinsed, then stood, his feet planted firmly on the copper tub’s bottom. He soaped his chest, his belly, his thighs. Charlie pointedly looked at the little marble fireplace. There was no flickering fire to watch, as it was a warm spring afternoon. He knew how he could get her attention.

Sitting on the broad edge of the tub, he stroked himself, his hands slippery with suds. His cock jerked to life, although the not-so-little fellow should be napping until next Tuesday after his recent workout. Bay closed his eyes, picturing Charlie on her knees before him, water beading down her breasts. He found his rhythm, honed by years of solitude and celibacy. He lifted one eyelid and saw her staring, her lips parted.

“Touch me, Charlie,” he ordered, his voice rough.

She picked up the sponge, then dipped it into the water. Moving toward him, she dabbed lightly at his cock to remove the soap.

“Harder.”

Her blue eyes widened. He was putting himself in her hands, literally.

She rubbed the sponge against his belly, then brushed along the underside of his penis with meticulous care. Circled the tip. Stroked his ever-expanding length. It was not enough. He needed more. He pulled the sponge from her fingers and tossed it aside impatiently. Her eyes darkened. They both knew what he wanted.

Soon she was in the position he’d imagined, her tongue hesitant as she trailed it along his flesh. He was not adorned with raspberry fool now, and he sensed she had little experience how to please a man this way. For a novice, her mouth was pure, fiery sin. The blush on her cheek showed a touch of reluctance, but the rest of her seemed disarmingly engaged. One small hand cupped his stones while the other held his cock firm. He murmured encouraging words to her until she enveloped him in her hot mouth and he couldn’t speak any longer.

What wasn’t surrounded by moisture was eased with warm strokes. She found her stride, teasing him, tormenting him, drawing him in so far until he struggled for balance. She was the embodiment of every man’s dream. Or his, at any rate, and that was all that mattered. Her lips curled slyly around his cock, her breasts rose and fell with each gasping breath, her tongue was beautifully busy.

As if she knew he was close, she raised her eyes, the blue quite overtaken by black desire. She would deny him nothing. Wordless and grateful, his fingers threaded through the wildness of her hair as he selfishly held her in place. She startled only a little when he came, didn’t disappoint him by trying to pull away. Through heavy lids, he watched the column of her throat as he spent. He’d never in his life seen or felt anything so sensual.

Ah. Yes, she was addictive. He was totally enslaved. He lifted her wet body up against his and kissed her, claimed her. Her dark lashes fluttered against her cheeks as he foamed lime froth along her curves, over her nether curls, into the cleft of her arse. Unsteady from the urge to taste her everywhere, he slipped back into the water, seating her back-to on his lap to wash her fall of ebony hair. She fitted perfectly, felt perfect against him, her softness yielding to the hard muscle of his body. She tipped her head back like a trusting child as he poured water over her. When she gave a little sigh of contentment, his cock twitched in response.

They sat together in their own liquid fiefdom, his thumb grazing her nipple as his other hand found her tickler plump and erect. He pressed and pinched, stroked and strummed until she broke apart. It seemed impossible so soon, but he was marble-hard. He lifted her hips and drove in, the cooling water sloshing onto the carpet. Without a word, he slowly raised and set her down on his shaft. She was pliant, yielding, all irritation forgotten. Her muscles contracted in a dizzying series of shocks, compelling him to spill into her with hardly any effort. She settled back against him, her body lax. The only flaws in the process had been that he was unable to kiss her mouth as he emptied himself, and that the water was now damned cold. She was shivering.