Spread out as she was, naked and rosy-skinned and debauched, it was easy to imagine keeping her there in his bed. But it was only an illusion. His gaze lifted and swept around the nearly empty room. Aside from the bed and washstand, there was only a wardrobe and chair for furnishings. This evening with Eliza was the longest stretch of time he’d spent awake in his bedchamber since he took up residence in the house. In the normal course of his life, there would be laughter and loud voices filtering up from the lower floor. He would be adhering to a tight schedule, working as many hours as possible to keep income flowing. After all, there was nothing he wanted done that didn’t require coin to see to it.
Try as he might, Jasper couldn’t picture Eliza in any part of his home beyond this private space. The men who worked for him were coarse and sometimes ill-mannered. They would have no notion of what to do with a lady like Eliza. He had no dining table at which to feed her, no formal parlor in which she could entertain what few guests would deign to call on her here. His home was less than half the size of Melville’s and located in a part of town that, while acceptable, had never been fashionable.
Things would have to change drastically…
Eliza made a soft noise. He looked at her and found her rousing. She blinked, then rubbed at her eyes. He watched her vision focus on him. Awareness swept over her face along with a heated blush. She grew unnaturally still.
“Ah,” he murmured, smiling. “You look scandalized.”
“You look smug,” she accused, but with warmth in her eyes.
“Do I?” He stroked his hand down the curve of her back. How could he resist, when she looked at him as she was doing now? “If I do, so should you.”
He knew some of her feelings were inspired by the aftermath of orgasmic bliss and gratitude for it, but some of them were more deeply rooted. God knew he had never expected nor wanted anyone to love him, but he’d have a better chance of keeping Eliza if her attachment deepened.
She looked at her fingers, which toyed with a wrinkle in the counterpane. “I did nothing.”
Jasper tapped the end of her nose with his finger. “You’ll have to take my word for it. There are many ways to have sex, ranging from horribly disappointing to quite nicely done. What you and I just experienced is another sort of matter altogether. It takes two people with singular chemistry to achieve such a delectable end.”
Eliza remained strangely quiet.
“Sixpence for your thoughts,” he said, aware of tension eating into his contentment. “Is regret setting in?”
“No. No regrets,” she replied carefully, glancing at him. “The first day we met, you spoke of rare skills in sexual congress, and clearly you have them. What woman could regret ending up in your bed?”
“Your thoughts on the matter are the only ones that concern me.”
“I fail to see how that can be true. I didn’t even touch you. You were required to do all of the work-”
Laughing, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Sweetheart, that was far from ‘work.’”
“I should have done something!” she protested, looking less shy and more animated. She set her chin in her hand, which elevated her torso just enough to bare the upper curve of her breasts. “I feel sorely inadequate.”
Jasper was somewhat startled by the ferocity with which he was stirring again, simply from the sight of her and the thought of her deliberately arousing him. “Rubbish. If you had been any more adequate, the business would have been done before I was inside you. That’s why I made a point of facing you away from me.”
“You made certain I could not participate?” Eliza frowned. “I find that very unsporting.”
“Unsporting?” He grinned, enjoying her immensely as always. In all of his days, he’d yet to bed a woman who wanted to put more effort into pleasing him. Leastwise, not any he hadn’t paid for their services.
He gestured at his cock, which was half-hard. The semi-erection should not have been possible, not after the galvanic orgasm he’d been devastated by only a short time ago. “Men are easily enticed into the necessary physical state for sexual congress. It takes considerably more effort to arouse a woman. That’s why so many are left disappointed-in the race to climax, men always run the distance faster.”
“Disappointed? How can-”
“You asked me for more,” he reminded. “Imagine if I had given you less, or worse, said I was finished and it was a shame you couldn’t keep pace.”
“Oh…But you would never do that.”
“I would never do that,” he agreed. Even if it meant nearly killing himself every time he had her.
She pushed up, stealing his wits with the unexpected view of her perfect breasts. They were neither large-as he’d erroneously thought he preferred-nor small. When she sat back on her heels with her hands on her knees, he found himself speechless.
Then, her eyes widened and she bit her lower lip. Red-faced, she made a move as if to leave the bed.
He caught her wrist. “What is it?”
“I need a towel,” she whispered.
Sitting up, he grabbed one he’d thrown on the bed earlier. With his other hand, he gestured for her to widen her kneeling stance.
“Jasper…” Eliza was clearly mortified.
“It’s mine,” he said, tapping his shoulder in a silent order for her to put her hand there for balance. “Let me.”
His cock hardened at the visible evidence of how explosively he’d climaxed. She was soaked with his semen. Thick trickles of it coursed down either thigh. He could hardly believe he was ready for her again. By all rights, he should be drained dry.
He cleaned her as gently as possible.
“You knew to have towels ready,” she noted breathlessly, as he parted her delicately and dried the dark red curls between her legs. “I should have suggested sheep-gut condoms. I…I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“It was my responsibility to do that.”
“It’s
“Only in public and when you are dressed. When you’re naked, your body belongs to me.”
Her chin lifted. “Does your body belong to me when it’s bared?”
“Clothed and unclothed, for as long as you’ll have me.” If he had his way, even longer than that…
Jasper looked her in the eye. “I always use French letters, Eliza. I haven’t gone without one since I was young and too ignorant to know better. I assure you, that was many years ago.”
“Did you forget tonight? Or find you lacked-”
“I never forget.” He paused in his ministrations. “Tomorrow, when you’re repaired and rested and feeling entirely in control of your mental faculties, we’ll discuss everything that transpired tonight.”
Her fingertips dug into his shoulder. “You deliberately spilled your seed inside me? Did you not think of the consequences I might face? Have you no care for me?”
Dropping the towel, Jasper caught her around the waist and tugged her against him. “I would do anything for you. Break any law, violate every rule, circumvent any competition-”
“Montague,” she interjected, comprehension leaving her jaw slack. “You know he visited with Melville, and why.”
“To hell with Montague,” he said fiercely. “I want you
“I gave myself to you freely.” Eliza tried to wriggle away. “You didn’t have to…
“I did.” He gripped her with as much tenderness as her resistance allowed. “The moment you saw me, you knew what I was. My nature is no surprise to you.”
“I hired you to protect me!”
Jasper inhaled sharply, cut to the quick by the truth of what she said. “Christ, Eliza.”
He released her, but she didn’t pull away. Instead she stared at him, breathing roughly. With her face and pale shoulders framed by gloriously hued tousled locks, she was the loveliest creature he’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
“Not for what you did,” she surmised. “But because I’m unhappy about it.”
There was nothing he could say to that. Lying to her was not an option.
The silence stretched out. They were only inches apart, both kneeling. He sat on his heels; she was upright, bringing them nearly eye to eye. He waited on tenterhooks, wondering if she would want to leave and what he could do to convince her to stay. Seducing a woman in a temper often led to hot sex, but the fury afterward was
