To Romance a Charming Rogue

“So what is the purpose of your invitation, sweeting?” he asked when she remained silent.

“I told you, I am weary of always acting the lady. I intend to behave a little scandalously for a change.”

His slashing black eyebrows rose a measure. “There are three hundred guests in the house in addition to an army of servants.”

Eleanor nodded. She could hear the refrains of music and the far-off din of voices chattering and laughing, yet she was completely alone with Damon, and she meant to keep it that way.

Turning to lock the door, she glanced provocatively over her shoulder at him. “I doubt we will be discovered, but the risk we are taking only adds to the titil-lation. Of course, if you are afraid, we can call off the whole thing…”

She let her voice trail away as her hand remained resting on the key, suggesting her willingness to unlock the door if he wished her to.

Damon's slow, enchanting smile made her heart jump. “I am not in the least afraid. I only thought you would be.”

She couldn't let him affect her this way, Eleanor scolded herself. She needed to hold on to her resolve and her resentment if she had any hope of success just now.

With renewed determination, she crossed the library to Damon, standing so close that she could feel the heat of his skin through their clothing. Reaching up, she tangled her fingers in his silky mane of hair and lifted her face to his, letting her warm breath taunt his lips.

But when he started to draw her into his arms, Eleanor stepped back quickly, pressing a hand against his chest to forestall him.

“No, you cannot touch me,” she said, keeping her tone light. “I cannot leave here with my hair or my gown disheveled.”

Moreover, she wanted to be completely in charge. For once she wanted to unsettle him, to see him lose his legendary poise. He knew how to reduce her to trembling submission, and she meant to do the same to him-not to mention making him regret interfering in her romantic affairs.

She gestured at the brocade sofa at one side of the library. “Why don't you make yourself comfortable?”

When he obliged her by sitting down, she moved to stand before Damon, then knelt on the Aubusson carpet at his feet, to his evident surprise.

With a faint smile, she slipped off his silver-buckled evening pumps and set them aside, admiring his well- muscled calves covered by white silk stockings. Then she surprised him further by easing herself between his spread thighs.

“Just what do you have in mind, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice holding a husky edge.

“You will see all in good time,” Eleanor replied. “You must cultivate a little patience.”

When she lightly licked her lips, he followed the seductive movement avidly with his gaze. As he watched, she raised her hand and touched her fingers to his lips, then trailed them down his throat, along his lace cravat, then lower to the buttons of his coat. Unfastening those, she pushed aside the lapels and opened his waistcoat as well, exposing his fine cambric shirt.

Placing her hand on his chest, Eleanor could feel his heart pounding hard where her palm lay. Then, with her own heart thudding in nervous anticipation, she slowly grazed her hand downward to his flat abdomen to hover over his loins.

Damon was watching her with intent focus, no doubt wondering how far she would go.

“You make an alluring temptress, bright-eyes,” he murmured when she hesitated, “but do you have any idea what you are about?”

Her mouth curled playfully. “Truthfully, no. I have learned some things from my friends who are married and from you yourself. I know you grow hard when we are kissing, and that it is painful for you when you cannot find relief-”

“Indeed, extremely painful,” Damon supplied.

“-but otherwise, I have little experience in carnal matters. I suspect you will need to tell me what to do.”

A glimmer of humor shone in his eyes. “Your book does not advise you?”

“Not specifically, no. My book is for ladies.”

“What do your feminine instincts tell you then?”

“That I should try to arouse your desires. I thought I would begin by caressing you the way you caressed me two nights ago.”

“That would be a good start. You can use your hands or your mouth to arouse me.”

“My mouth?”

Damon smiled at her surprise. “Yes, darling. I told you, there is much about lovemaking that you have yet to learn.”

A tremor of excitement ran through her. “Will you teach me, Damon?” Eleanor asked coyly, her tone belying her agitation. “Will you show me how I can give you the same pleasure you gave me?”

“Gladly.”

The dark gleam in his eyes revealed his approval as he caught her hand and drew it against his loins. He was already greatly aroused, judging from the large bulge in his breeches. Eleanor could feel the thick ridge of his male member beneath the satin. She also felt how his body tensed at the slight pressure of her hand.

Hoping to increase his tension, she slowly slid her hand over the swollen hardness, stroking gently. A flare of heat sparked in Damon's dark eyes, giving her encouragement. But did she dare go further? Eleanor wondered, her entire body tightening at the forbidden thrill rushing through her.

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she used both hands to unbutton the front placket of his breeches. Then drawing a slow breath, she opened his drawers and bared his naked loins to her gaze.

She stared, fascinated by his male anatomy and the long, dark phallus that jutted from the curling hair at his groin. He was every bit as virile as she had imagined him to be.

Reaching out tentatively, she brushed the surging, silky flesh with her knuckles. His rampant member jerked involuntarily, making her breath catch.

“Did I do something wrong?” Eleanor asked, drawing back her hand.

“No, not at all. Touch me again.”

“Where?” she queried unevenly.

“My sacs. The head of my cock.”

Obligingly, she cupped the heavy sacs beneath his arousal. His flesh was smooth and hot, she noted, savoring the feel of him. Moving upward, she traced her forefinger over the blunt, rounded head of his shaft.

At her light touch, Damon sucked in a breath. Emboldened by his response, she shifted her fingers lower to stroke the full length. Then letting her fingers curl around him, she cradled the rigid shaft with her palm.

The hot, granite thickness of his manhood felt strangely erotic and quivered in her hand. In response, something deep within Eleanor shivered in purely sensual reaction.

“Is this the way?” she asked.

“Yes,” Damon replied, his voice suddenly hoarse. “But stroke me harder.”

His hand moving over hers, he coaxed her to fondle his straining erection. When he gave a soft groan, Eleanor looked up and found herself caught in the smoldering heat of his gaze.

Ensnared, she was hard-pressed to breathe or to calm her own pounding pulse. A yearning filled her, a welling bubble of desire that threatened to burst inside her.

Struggling to gather her control, however, she reminded herself of her aim and offered Damon a smile that was both sweet and seductive, innocent and tantalizing, as she went on exploring the hardness and detail of him.

Damon was caught in her enchantment; his entire body clenched with the arousal that simple smile had awakened in him.

He had never seen Eleanor quite like this. She was vibrant and intoxicatingly alive, a sparkling-eyed beauty who radiated temptation.

When another groan escaped him, she asked almost tauntingly, “Does that hurt?”

“It's pure torment,” he answered truthfully.