Contract with Consequences

Scarlet could not believe she’d been so bold as to touch him like that. Or that she’d loved it-loved the feel of him, so hard and yet so soft. It came to her as John lifted her hand away that she might not mind putting her lips where her hand had been-an astonishing thought, given she’d never been keen on that particular form of foreplay. Not that she hadn’t tried it once or twice. She had; men seemed crazy about it. But she’d hated the way it made her feel. She’d never imagined for one moment that she might actually enjoy it. Or be turned on by it. But she rather suspected she would be, if she did it to John. Just the thought of doing it turned her on. So did the thought of taking him into her body. A wave of naked desire brought a frustrated groan to her lips.

‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Just do it to me,’ she said, her eyes as pleading as her voice.

He stared down into her flushed face as he positioned himself between her thighs.

‘Lift your knees,’ he commanded. ‘Place the soles of your feet flat on the mattress.’

Her stomach tightened as she did so, her heart pounding against her ribs.

His entry was slow and gentle, but it still brought a gasp to her lips.

He didn’t stop, pushing in further till she was filled to the hilt. But he wasn’t finished. Another gasp escaped her lips when he suddenly took her by the ankles and wrapped her legs up around his waist. This new position seemed to allow him to slide in even deeper, by which time Scarlet could not wait for him to move.

When he didn’t, she did.

Scarlet lifting her hips from the bed evoked something close to panic in John. Never before had a woman been able to make him lose control. Now, suddenly, he was overwhelmed by a powerful urge just to take her! Without finesse. Without further waiting or watching. His body began to move quite involuntarily, not slowly or gently, but vigorously, almost violently. Back and forth. Back and forth. She moved with him, squeezing him mercilessly, making his teeth clench down hard in his jaw as he tried to resist the sensations which were threatening to tip him over the edge with humiliating speed. In desperation he grabbed her hips, holding her still with a brutal grip whilst he tried to slow things down-his own body especially. But it would not be denied. There was no hope of lasting much longer, he realised with dismay. No hope at all!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SCARLET’S mouth dropped open when she came, so astonished was she by the intensity of her climax. Never before had she experienced spasms so powerful, or so pleasurable. Never before had she made such sounds, moaning and groaning in a wildly wanton fashion as her flesh contracted around his. But any sound she made was soon eclipsed when John came. Holding her even tighter, he shuddered violently into her, his head thrown back, eyes shut.

When his orgasm finished, his head dropping forward, his eyes opened to reveal an expression which Scarlet could only describe as confused. But any confusion was gone as quickly as it came, leaving Scarlet to wonder if she’d imagined it. By then he was smiling-though the smile was sardonic.

‘You’re not even a teeny tiny bit frigid, Scarlet,’ he said in droll tones as he removed her legs from his back and let them flop back onto the bed. ‘In truth, you have the makings of a great courtesan.’

Scarlet, who was in the throes of coming back to earth, found herself thrown down with a thud by this last remark.

‘Well, thank you very much,’ she said tartly. ‘What a lovely compliment, saying I’d make a great prostitute. Now, if you don’t mind…’ She lifted her shoulders and wriggled her hips in a vain attempt to eject him from her body.

A foolish move, for all it did was remind her how it felt with him inside her. Such blissful sensations did not lend themselves to her staying angry.

‘I do mind,’ he said sternly. ‘It’s very comfy, the way we are. So stop being silly, lie back and just relax.’

It did seem silly to keep struggling.

‘Much better,’ John said when she slumped back against the pillows. ‘Now, how about the relaxing part?’ he went on. ‘Breathe in deeply and then let the air out slowly. Yes. That’s the way.’

Despite doing as he suggested, Scarlet was still not totally relaxed.

‘For your information,’ John said, cupping her face with his hands before sliding his fingers up into the hair, ‘a courtesan was not a common prostitute, but an attractive and often poor woman who made her living by using her erotic skills to ensnare herself a wealthy lover. She was much valued by her patron. He would often buy her a house, hire staff for her and pay her bills, all for the privilege of having exclusive access to her very beautiful body.’

‘How interesting,’ Scarlet said, finding herself perversely flattered by his words. It was somehow seductive for a girl to be told that she could be so brilliant at sex that a man would do that much to have her. Such praise was as corrupting as words of love.

‘What kind of erotic skills did a good courtesan possess?’ she asked, her curiosity piqued.

John positioned himself more comfortably on top of her, his bent forearms pressing into the bed on either side to ease his weight off her chest whilst his lower half remained intimately locked with hers.

‘They were many and varied,’ he informed her. ‘But a good courtesan concentrated on discovering what her lover liked best in bed, what foreplay he enjoyed the most, what fantasies he had. And then she catered to them all.’

‘So what fantasies do you have?’ she asked.

John looked down into her wide blue eyes and considered how he should answer that.

Not the truth, of course. Most of his sexual fantasies were too decadent to be voiced aloud. At the same time, there were some fantasies which could be safely indulged in if and when the opportunity presented itself. John had often fantasised over having Scarlet at his sexual beck and call. It was a temptation impossible to resist.

‘That’s for me to know and you to find out, my darling Scarlet. Because you’re going to become my courtesan for the duration of your stay here.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me.’

‘That wasn’t part of our deal.’

‘No. It came to me when I discovered how good you were in bed.’

‘Oh,’ she said, and stared up at him. He really was rather wicked. And very knowing about women.

‘Have you done this kind of thing before?’ she suddenly asked.

‘What kind of thing?’

‘Don’t play dumb, John. You know what I mean. Is role playing one of your fantasies?’

‘No. I just thought it would be fun, that’s all. Why, aren’t you up for it?’ he said in the kind of challenging fashion which he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist. Scarlet was nothing if not competitive. Or she had been, at school with him. It had killed her whenever he’d beaten her in an exam.

Scarlet’s first reaction was to fire back, Yes, of course I am. But hard on the heels of that pride-driven urge came the stark reality of the situation. A courtesan she was not. John was flattering her when he said she was good in bed. She wasn’t; not usually. If she’d been good just now, it was because she’d been so incredibly turned on. She didn’t even know what she’d done to make him say that. Was it when she’d touched him? Or later, when she’d been writhing around under him? There’d been nothing skilled about that. She’d just gone crazy with need. Just thinking about it was turning her on again.

John sucked in sharply when he felt her move against him.

The little minx! She was answering his challenge by showing him what she could do.

‘Obviously your answer is yes,’ he said thickly.

‘Now you’re being silly. I don’t have the experience or the expertise necessary for such a role.’

‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ he muttered through gritted teeth.

‘You can do it to me again, if you want to,’ she said, her eyes having gone as smoky as her voice.

He had every intention of doing so, especially when she lifted her legs and wrapped them around him. But the